You are standing by a tree
There are 3 paths.
One appears to go to a jungle,
one appears to go to a cave,
one appears to go to a beach,
you could try and climb the tree,
there is a nearby shop you could go in,
or you could do something else.
So what's its going to be?
Written by catprog on 01 April 2003
In the shop
There is a table with a sign saying
<strong>Free Sample:</strong>
Take one
On the table there is a fridge with a range of liquids. Also on the table are various magical trinkets including costumes. What would you like to take, or would you like to buy something?
Written by catprog on 10 April 2003
Other
You decide to get something else. But what?
Written by catprog on 13 December 2005
A lamp
You take a lamp. Now what are you going to do with it?
Written by catprog on 05 March 2004
Transformation Genie
Just then, a huge puff of green smoke appears.
The smoke forms the shape of a humanoid, then finally materializes into a turquoise-skinned man who appears to be about 25 years old. You quiver with fear, staring at him (after all, you're not used to seeing turquoise-skinned men appear out of lamps).
"Who has rubbed the lamp of the Genie of Transformation?", the man asks in a light, yet stern voice.
"I-I did", you answer softly.
He steps closer to you and bows. "Thank You, Master, Thank You!", he says as he kneels to you.
"Master?"
He stands. "Yes", he says. "You have released me from the Lamp, and now you may have three wishes.
The wishes carry certain limitations, however..."
"Yes, like what?", you ask again, almost bursting with excitement (having your own genie and all).
"First, there are only three wishes, no more and no less, and this may not be changed by any wishes made. Second, all wishes made by the master should be precisely worded. If the wish is too vague, then I shall choose the remaining factors of the wish. And third, all wishes must be related to the change of the master, or of someone else that the master chooses. In other words, all wishes must be transformative."
Well what are you going to wish for?
Written by on 11 March 2004
I don't need a **** Transformation
"I don't need a transformation thank you very much," you say. "I am perfectly happy as a human". "You can take your conditional wishes elsewhere, you ****".
The genie's eyes widen. "You are going to regret mocking me". " You don't want a transformation, too bad you're getting one.
GULP!!!
Written by on 18 May 2004
Park
"You are going to my animal park and help with the breeding programs" booms the genie.
All of a sudden a portal appears and sucks you in.As you go through you get knocked out.
When you awake your in...
Written by on 22 May 2004
Myth Room
You awaken in a room with 3 doors.
Each door has a word inscribed on it.
Air
Land
And Water
Which one do you want?
Written by on 27 July 2004
Air
You go through the door.
You step out into open air.
You try to get back to the door but to your horror it has gone.
You then notice you are growing wings but what kind?
Written by on 27 July 2004
Sphinx
As you change you realize that they are sphinx wings. But what kind of sphinx are you becoming.
Written by catprog on 26 June 2012
Trickery #1
It is never a good idea to insult a genie...
If some well-meaning soul had said that to you, in good faith, any time before this point, you would not have believed them. Who would have believed that genies existed? Not you, of course not - they were just a fairy tale. Something of fiction and fantasy, not of the "real world". You should never have picked up that old pot from the overflowing wheelie bin, surroundings spinning with drink, and staggered to the ground, leering at it like it a prize of great value and did not cage a demon within. Your sleeve rubbed the brass surface into a subtle shine, a gleam rising after years of misuse, and you swore loudly as hot steam hissed from beneath the lid, searing a line of pain across your hand.
If you had known that the being within was a genie, you would not have said the crude and vulgar things that you did, when the steam materialised into a blue-skinned something, muscled like a skilfully carved statue. He frowned after your tirade, for the figure was clearly male, and shook his head despairingly at your insults, saying that punishment was due to you for speaking so.
Punishment? Your mind became hazy, as if you had spent hours laying in the heat of the summer sun, subsequently becoming ill. You looked down at your hands, stumbling backwards with a half-strangled cry - they were not your hands! There was some monstrous growth making them bulge out, more animal than human and coated in a rapidly spreading tawny-gold layer of fur. How could this be? Trying to shriek, your vocal chords rebelled, permitting only a cat-like yowl of pain, you crashed heavily to the broken paving stones, writhing and twisting in unprecedented agony. Your spine cracked ferociously and you feared that it might have snapped in two, but it seemed to be stretching, elongating into a bestial shape...
That was the last you remember of that particular interlude. You blacked out and sank into restless unconsciousness, the sole sound fading into nothingness being a malicious, cruel laugh.
*
It takes your eyes a few minutes to adjust when you finally awake, blinking blearily in the startlingly bright sunlight. You are in a barren wasteland of a desert, frail looking cacti bearing their way up through the parched soil - the only thing that may be able to find substance in this ruthless land. Shaking your head to clear it (the effort goes in vain with the sun beating down upon your skull) you raise your hand to your head. But...the action does not quite go as you imagined it would and you are compelled to bend your head forward in order for your hand to reach it at all. How very peculiar.
It then comes to your attention that you are lying in a strange position on the ground with your arms curled beneath your body and your legs angled in a way that you would have expected to be painful... However, you are comfortable. Sighing deeply, you cannot make head or tail of this change, until a lengthy, leonine tail swishes behind you, disturbing the sand with the tufted tip.
Written by Amethyst Mare on 26 June 2012
Trickery #2
What? That cannot be right! How can you have a tail? Leaping to your feet and whirling around in a dizzying tight circle, you realise that you are on all fours. Something has happened to your limbs and you're walking like an animal! Are you an animal? It's not a ridiculous conclusion if you have a tail. Can you still talk? What if you cannot talk? Are you a simple beast now? What happened?
"H...hello?" You try cautiously and are relieved to hear a voice of sorts, although it does not seem like your voice; the voice that comes from your lips is lighter and of a higher pitch. At least you can talk and that is all that matters in this instance, that you are not a dumb, mute animal.
"Having fun, are we?"
To your left, near a spindly cactus with extraordinarily long spines, the man from the alleyway appears. Blue from head to...well...he dissipates into nothingness at the waist, but he has striking blue skin and a toned body that induces a jealous wish in you to have those hours, which you spent in the gym, returned to you.
"You?!" You shriek, rearing on to your hind legs and striking the air warningly with your paws, which you see are tipped with dangerous, sharp claws. "You did this to me? Just who the hell do you think you are? What have you turned me into? What are you?"
"Now, now," he chuckles, his attempt at placating you falling terribly flat with his amusement. "You should not have taken the liberty of insulting a genie now, should you, little sphinx?"
Sphinx?
You crane your head back over your shoulder and yelp to see the broad pair of feathery wings resting against your back, the fur coating your animal body like to the tawny fur of a lion. Jaw slack with astonishment, you flap the wings experimentally, surprised at the strength in your he new muscles, and stir up a cloud of sand with just a single down stroke, your lion-like tail waving as if with a mind of its own beyond them. Your face still appears human though, as you can talk, even if there is something not quite right that you cannot put your finger on. Unbelievable... Wait, he is a genie? Are they real after all then?
"Oh, and I made the decision to make a small change to your gender...none of the traditional sphinxes look male after all," the genie remarks, breaking into your stream of thought and looking up expectantly to enjoy your reaction.
"You...you what? But I'm not female!" You shout, baring your teeth and advancing towards the genie, who struggles to banish a growing look of alarm from his expression. That's right, you think, that's good: he should be afraid of you!
Written by Amethyst Mare on 27 June 2012
A cure?
“Regardless of what you were before,” the genie says. “You are a mystical creature of the female persuasion now. You should be thanking me, you know. Not everyone is so fortunate to be blessed as you.”
“Blessed?” You ask between the rough rumbles of a growl. “I am a man! I liked being a human man! Turn me back or so help me…” The toes of your large front paws spread wide. You feel your long claws reach out and dig deeper into the sands beneath you. Your body moves naturally. You’re angry. You want to attack this creature what has turned you into a monster, so your hind quarters rise up and your wings flatten against your back. Your shoulders hunch as your head drops low to the ground. You can feel your feathers tickling the soft fur of your flank and your breasts kiss the hot sand, but the heat doesn’t bother you in the least and all your attention is focused on the genie. “I’ll tear you apart.”
The threat you pose is great, for the genie begins to levitate higher in the air and he backs several paces from you. He raises a hand and smiles deviously. Despite his poise, you realize you can smell his fear. The unique fragrance makes it feel as if every hair on your newly transformed body is standing on end. You have to lap away the saliva collecting on your lips and swallow the pool building in your mouth so that you don’t begin to drool. The sharp points of your fangs tease your tongue. You are confident that you are not a force to be taken lightly.
“Now wait just a moment,” the genie says. “I gave you this gift, but if you truly do not want it then I can provide you with the cure.”
You lift your head just a touch in excitement. “A cure?” You are still ready to jump, but you hope that, perhaps, it won’t come to all that.
“Yes.” The genie snaps his fingers and a beautiful, small, crystal bottle with an elegant glass stopper appears above his hand. It floats there before he seizes it between his forefinger and thumb. He turns the bottle slowly so that the light reflecting through its body dances in a way that nearly mesmerizes you. “A potion that can turn you into the form you truly desire most.”
Written by on 18 March 2019
Take it
“That’s what I want,” you call out. Then you lunge forward, desperately, in an attempt to grab the bottle. Your outreached paw swipes at the genie’s hand. You almost have it, but then he pulls back and your claws meet only air.
“Tsk. Tsk.” The genie chides you with clicking sounds and the wagging of his free index finger. “Not so fast, little sphinx.”
You find yourself snarling. You see the shadows of your uplifted wings before you even realize you had raised them. You are in no mood to play games, and you tell the trickster as much. How dare he taunt you, tease you this way. You won’t be a toy for his amusement. You’ve had enough of his games. You want the vial, and so you decide you’ll simply take it.
The muscles in your thick, feline thighs quiver as you push off the ground with all your might. Your front paws reach out, claws bared, as you attack. You know in that moment, as you soar through the air towards your prey, that you will destroy the genie if you must.
Oh no! You think, just before all four paws touch the ground again. Below you, there is nothing but sand. You turn around and look at where the genie had just been. Now only a few wisps of the rolling clouds of smoke that had replaced him remained. He’d escaped you somehow.
To the left!
Your ears tell you where to look before any other sense. You could hear the subtle shift of his ghostly tail and the stray flecks of sand that shuffled under toe.
You turn to face the genie again quickly. It is astonishing to you just how fluidly your powerful body moves. However, this is no time to admire the demon’s handy work. You will not be a sphinx much longer, you tell yourself, so there was no point in thinking about it too much.
“Give me the vial!” you scream. You show off your fangs and swipe with your extended claws again as a sign of intimidation only. You know you can’t reach him from here, but you are frustrated and he still seems impressed by your might, at the very least.
“Such an impatient one you are.” The genie sighs as though he is the one who has any right to be irritated in this moment. “Don’t attack me, or I won’t help you,” he warns. Then, he moves towards you, holding out the crystal case. “Do you see now?” He pauses.
Written by on 19 March 2019
Empty Bottle
You look at the bottle. You gasp. The genie was not mocking you without cause. You were so foolish to not notice before. The bottle is empty! There is nothing inside. No fluid or dust or goo or tiny eats. It is vacant and clean.
“I can make you the potion. There is a spell I know very well,” he says. Then he backs away again and tucks the small bottle into the dark blue fabric of his belt. “But to craft the potion I will need something from you.”
“I have nothing to give you!” You stomp your right forward paw against the ground in irritation. “You turned me into this thing and I don’t even have the clothes I was wearing before that.”
The genie shakes his head at you. His grin and hearty chuckle almost bring tears to your eyes. “It is nothing like that. What I need from you is a piece of fruit from the Mutatio Tree.” As the genie speaks, he creates a cloud with a mirror at its core. At first, the reflection is your own. Then, as you stare more intently at the surface, the image changes. The scene pulls away from you and shows that you and the genie are standing in an oasis in the midst of a great desert. You see through a bird’s-eye view the landscape towards the Northeast. “You must travel through the Bonedust Desert, to the Dreamer’s Forest.” The desert turns to forest and the scene drifts over canopy and rock until it reaches a river. It slows to show you the river in closer detail. “From there, you will find the Yellow Tongue River. Just cross at the leaping stones and you’ll make it across without worry. On the other side you will find a clearing. In the center of the clearing is the Mutatio Tree.” The magic mirror shows you how to cross the river, where to go through the brush on the other side, and takes you to the clearing. You see the mighty tree in the reflection and do your best to memorize every detail of the path and object shown but the amount of detail is overwhelming. Your eyes widen and your pupils slit as the mirror’s vision closes in on the tree’s thick, leafy branches and a piece of fruit like a glowing golden pear comes into sight. “This is the fruit I require. Fetch me a single piece and I’ll craft the potion as promised.”
Your mind is racing. The mirror vanishes and the genie begins to disappear from sight, tail first. You slowly pad towards him, your jaw flapping as you incoherently babble in his direction. “W-wait! How do I-? What am I supposed to-? What if I can’t find it? Why can’t you just-? No! Wait! Don’t go! I- Wai- No! Hold on!”
It is too late. He is gone. Now, you must travel to the forest and do what the genie asked or else you will be stuck in the form of a sphinx forever.
With no other choice, you begin your journey.
Written by on 21 March 2019
Through the Desert
You plod along but the sands seem to stretch on for an eternity. The near silence makes you abundantly aware of your new body. It feels like you have a thousand muscles you didn't have before. Your haunches tense and release with each step. Your hips sway from one side to the other as your footfalls naturally tip in front of one another. You're moving like an animal and a feminine one to boot.
Each step leaves a paw print in the sand that is deep and gives suggestion of how much your new, larger form must weigh. The sand between your toes feels unusual and the way grains slide up beneath your fur makes you itch in a way you've never felt. There is strength in being this thing, but there is a surplus of peculiarities that make it all too strange.
I'll simply find this fruit and be back to myself, you think. You don't have any desire to stay as this creature. You find it all very distracting. Your own tail flicks against your hips and startles you now and then. Your nose tickles, but you have no hands with which to scratch it. Your chest feels heavier now. Your fur-covered breasts are large and humanoid and leave you feeling embarrassed, imbalanced, and just a little empowered. You can look down to see them whenever you like, but the oddity that they are lined with rich, dark fur and the reality that they are yours and not those of a beautiful woman abates you.
They jiggle when you walk and you are grateful for a time that no one else is around to see them. Yet your relief dwindles the longer you trod over the seemingly endless desert.
"Hello?" You call out, but no one greets you. The sound of your voice is still startling to you. You sound so soft and lilting that it barely seems real. You'll just have to endure until you can find this strange tree.
Though the desert, it seems, has little to offer. It feels like you've been walking for hours. The heat is not as intense as it should be because your fur insulates you, but even still you can feel the warmth getting to be too much. The thick pink pads on your toes burn from the sands and you know you could use a drink of water.
For a moment, you contemplate digging through the sand until you dig up something to take to the genie instead of the fruit. Perhaps he would take something like a sand dollar as payment for a teleportation spell so that you wouldn’t have to walk all the way through the desert to the forest’s edge, or maybe for a charm that would keep you from dehydrating is this horrid heat. The silliness of that waivers quickly and you choose not to exert your energy. There was no telling that he would even appear if you ventured back to the oasis. He hadn’t been courteous enough to help you more before you set out, so it was unlikely he’d do so for some unrequested token.
You travel for a long while. Walking feels more natural now. Pushing your weight from paw to paw, using hind and fore legs in sync grows rhythmic. You learn to step more lightly to conserve strength and lessen the quaking of your lean frame and generous bosom. Your joints don't fight against you when you step down. Your balance has improved. It's as such that you feel lighter and your motions almost effortless. You think you might be able to walk on your hinds now, but you decide against it. It's simpler this way. When you are human you'll return to your rightful posture.
Your fur is starting to become a comfort too. The way it falls is almost unnoticeable. The ripple of it in brief wind sends shivers up your spine. The private places on your body are soft and don't wriggle or shift in discomfort like your old ones. You're tempted to learn more about yourself, but you feel it better not to get attached to new things. You'll be a man again in no time.
Even still, just as you're getting used to your body, you fear you may be ended in it. The sun is at its highest point and it’s seeping through your fur and lighting your new body on fire. A little shade would provide the greatest ease.
Written by on 23 March 2019
A forest
Then, in the distance, you see it. It could be a mirage, you fear it is, but as you draw closer the edge of a forest becomes clear. You are half way to the fruit now, but you are more concerned with seeking shade than anything.
You dash down the sandy hills, try not to stumble over your massive paws. For a moment you misstep and your cheek collides with the ground. Sand kernels skid roughly down your chest. Your fur mostly shields you, but you can feel the rough drag of the dusty earth along your nipples and navel. You untangle your limbs and push your paws out beneath you. You shake the sand from your mane of hair and stand up once more.
The forest is still in sight, only slightly closer. You decide to walk more carefully.
You walk closer and closer until the trees transform from blobs of color to individual objects. None bare fruit, but you are one step closer to completing your task.
Then out from the woods flies something strange. At first you can't see it clearly. It buzzes out like an insect right toward you. On instinct when it is close you raise your paw to swat at it.
"Hey! Watch where you swing those!" A tiny, chirpy voice reprimands.
You halt and your eyes grow wide with surprise. "Who are you?" There it is again, that pretty, girly voice. It's almost musical compared to the stiff timbre of your old one. You decide perhaps it's pleasant after all.
"I am a forest pixie. Name's Reth. Who do you think you are taking a swipe at me?"
You tell it your name, then swiftly apologize. "I thought you were a bug," you confess.
"Hmph! How terribly rude." Reth flies closer and you can see now it is in fact a very tiny person with pink skin and long white hair, though it is not clear if it is male or female. It seems to consider you for a moment. "Where are you headed, rude one?"
You are slightly annoyed by this creature, but you struck first. "I said I was sorry. I'm trying to find a fruit for the genie that turned me into a sphinx. If I do, he'll turn me back."
"Back? What were you before?" Reth buzzes from one side of your face to the other and you resist the urge to smack it.
"A human man," you clarify.
"I see. Well, you don't have to play with the genie. I'll change you around if you like."
Written by on 25 March 2019
Get Changed
Your wings flap on instinct. The feeling surprises you but you only give your back a glance before turning your gaze eagerly back to the pixie. "You can? You would? Do I have to do anything in return?"
"No," laughs Reth. "I'd be happy to." It lifts a tiny arm and shows you its dazzling wand. It sparkles almost more brightly than the pixie. Reth waves it about and a tiny blast of light collides with your face.
You feel something warm spread through your body. You look down eagerly, but instead of seeing yourself changing back, you appear to be shrinking. Your torso and paws get smaller and smaller. You look up in alarm and Reth is getting further away as you shrink toward the ground. "Stop!" Your voice squeaks like you are a tiny mouse, though–in fact–you are just a tiny sphinx. "I want to be big!"
"Oh?" Reth's voice is large and booming now. It flies closer and you feel a shock of terror roll down your long form. You lift up on your hinds, prepared to fight for your life.
Yet Reth does not attack. Instead it blasts you with another beam of light. It's hot this time, hot everywhere, but soothing unlike the desert heat. It feels so good your new body parts react and tingle. You look around, dazed. Everything is getting smaller again. Then Reth is back to its proper size. Then it gets smaller and smaller.
You look behind you and see your back goes on for ages. The sky seems to be getting closer. You look downward and see your long tawny legs are like stilts. You think if you flap your wings you might blow the forest away. "Too big!" Your lamenting sounds like a roar and the breeze from your breath billows the trees you tower over.
You see a tiny beam of yellow strike your chest and you’re shrinking again. You feel strange, like your body is full of bubbles from all the magic. You think you might get tiny again, but this time you stop at normal size.
"You didn't have to shout," Reth chuckles mischievously.
"What are you doing?! I asked to be human!"
"I said I'd change you!" Reth waves the wand and you feel your hips widening, your legs setting further apart.
You look at your behind to see it is larger and more rounded and your waist is narrowing. "Stop! I don't want this!"
The pixie laughs again. "I'm just having some fun! Don't be so serious! Besides you're way sexier now!"
You feel heat in your face. You hadn't thought of this new form as attractive and suddenly you wish you had a mirror. However, this is no time for vanity. "Please change me back," you say.
"Fine," Reth agrees, annoyed. A wave of the wand and once more you are a perfectly regular sphinx girl. "Back to normal!"
A rush of relief falls over you, but then you feel a chill. "This isn't normal," you sigh. Still it is better than the other options. You eye Reth warily, afraid it may toy with you more.
"Relax! I've had my fun!" It laughs as it buzzes around you. "Head deeper into the woods. You'll encounter what you seek."
Written by on 27 March 2019
Into the woods
You travel past many trees and they all look alike. However, the deeper you go the more you swear you can hear something in the distance. It takes a while for you to understand your sensitive ears are picking up the sound of water. Your ears are still human in shape, but they are tender with ability. You can't believe your good fortune and you test a run toward the sound.
Your gallop lasts only a moment before a gruff voice causes you to stumble to a stop.
"I said hold it right there!" The voice growls out and you can tell it is getting closer.
"Okay!" You sit down on your butt, tail curling around your legs as you look to and fro. You expect to see some mighty beast, but instead you glance down at the sound of snorting to see a very angry pig-type beast. It looks very much like a piglet, but with a red face and jewels built into its forehead.
It squints up at you, grunts once territorially, then speaks. "This is my land you're traipsing through! You think because you're big you can do as you please?"
It seems angry and you feel a little guilty. "No. I didn't realize it was yours. Sorry. I'm just passing through."
"No one passes!" The pig squeals and you stumble back. It may be small, but it sounds vicious and you fear it may have magic of its own.
"Please? I have to get to beyond the river," you explain.
"No! No one passes! Not without toll," grunts the pig.
"Toll?"
"Toll! Payment! You give something to me!" The pig bounces when it speaks.
You sigh heavily. Splendid, you think, more quests. "Like what?"
The pig considers, then says, "A ride. Fly me about! Then I'll let you pass!"
"I-I don't know how," you stutter. It's true that you don't know a thing about it. If you knew how to make your wings work, surely flying to the clearing would be simpler.
"Then no deal! Back to where you came from!" The pig starts to nudge you with its nose, pushing you like dirt. It's surprisingly strong and you feel yourself sliding back toward the main portion of forest.
Written by on 29 March 2019
Give a Ride
"Wait! Stop! Okay, I'll give you a ride." You decide it is better to try than give up already. So you kneel down on all four legs and allow the pig to jump aboard your flank.
It sits on your back and gives a happy little snort. "Fly! Fly!" You realize it is very goading, and the feeling of having it upon your back is a bit embarrassing. Even still, it is also strangely satisfying to be mounted, even by a strange little pig.
You stand and outstretch your wings. You flap once and the wind ruffles the leaves on the trees. Twice and the dirt on the ground skitters outward. Then you flap over and over, more quickly until you start to rise from the ground.
The feeling of hovering fills you with elation. It seems you can fly after all!
It takes a bit of effort to really get your wings going, but once you do you are rising toward the sky. Then you are flying outward and over the trees. You can feel the pig shifting and chuckling on your back. "I'm riding a woman," it laughs lecherously.
Despite the cargo, you cannot feel anything but joy as your wings kiss the sky. You can feel and see the forest stretched out beneath you. Wind tussles your hair and you feel like you can go anywhere. Your wings are strong and feel incredible as they cut the breeze.
Your paws curl naturally under your body and you feel almost weightless, though you can sense the strain in your wings from the effort. It sends shocks through you with each pump of the feathered limbs.
You fly in circles over the trees, stroking the air and gliding in equal turns. You close your eyes to feel the cool air on your cheeks. You want to fly forever, but the pig has other business. "Much as I'm enjoying this, missy, I need to get heading back," it grunts.
Reluctantly, you circle back to drop the pig off where you found it. It jumps down when you land and gives you a pig's bow.
"You have my permission to go to the river," it says.
"Thank you," you say, although you did the work.
The pig runs off into the trees and you set your sights back toward the river and hope there will be no more distractions.
Written by on 31 March 2019
Cross the River
You sigh a breath of relief as the river comes into full view. The genie hadn’t mentioned all the potential obstacles you had faced thus far and you wondered if he knew you would be inconvenienced by a pixie and a tiny boar or not.
“Now is no time to get distracted,” you tell yourself. You’re almost there. Just cross the river, make your way through the brush, and move towards the center of the meadow. Now that you know how to fly and you’re more comfortable than ever in your new skin, getting to the fruit at that point should be a breeze. You smile, pride and confidence filling your chest. On the inhale, your breasts push outward as you hold your head high.
“Easy peasy,” you say aloud.
You decide that flying across the river would be much simpler than any other path you could take. You think you may be blushing a little as you internally admit how eager you are to take to the air once more. You even find yourself pondering how attractive you might look, female form and all, gliding triumphantly towards your goal. Then your mind ventures to other details. You wonder if you are beautiful and if the pig had been so pleased because he thought so. That notion sends flattering shivers through you and you have to shake your head to clear it of the vanity so that you can focus.
You spread your wings and start to flap them. You wince and scream from the sudden pain of a cramped limb that strikes you. Your wings, it seems, are more exhausted from that short flight than you had thought. “ Oh well,” you say with a sigh. At least you already know of a way to cross the river. “Now, where are those stones?”
You remember vaguely that there are supposed to be smooth rocks to jump across the river on. As you look from side to side, you don’t see anything but the quickly flowing waters. This part of the river is anything but still. You think, perhaps, that you could simply swim across. After all, you are a huge sphinx with powerful legs and large wings. Tigers don’t have any trouble swimming, right? So why should you?
A chill runs through your body as you dip your paw into the water. The current tugs on your arm, but you don’t think it could do much against the entirety of your form. You laugh. “Who needs rocks?”
Written by on 01 April 2019
Another Creature
Before you can leap into the river, a change in the lighting of the water catches your eyes, causing you to pause. You squint, trying to get a better look at whatever has your fur standing on end. Instinct has your nerves tingling like pins and needles. Suddenly, you leap backwards. Your body reacted before you even realized that something huge was emerging from the river. Now, glaring against the spray of freshwater, you hold your breath and examine the figure now looming above you.
A giant serpent, a boa constrictor with a head as wide as your shoulders and a body easily the girth of yours balled up on itself, towers out from the river’s depths. The smell coming off of its scales reminds you of cut grass after it has molded in the sun after soaking in rainwater through the night, that mixed with the fishy smell of the river water and something rather pungent. You only now realize that there are downsides to your heightened senses. You can tell this beast has no fear of you. It is a predator. Your knees quake as the fear that you are the snake’s dinner consumes you.
A long, purple, forked tongue slides out between the boa’s scaled lips. You understand, to your horror, that the thing is smelling you. You are sure you reek of fear and you feel your tail tuck down between your hind legs. Your eyes timidly scale from the monster’s head, down its long neck, and you begin to haphazardly guess just how far down the river its body must travel. Then, you hear the peel of saliva as it parts its jaws and your eyes fixate on the boa’s snout again. Your body tenses, expecting a strike.
“Yooooou are tresssssssspassing,” the snake hisses. Its body sways hypnotically as it slithers forward, stopping just before the receding of the bank.
You blink, taken aback by the ability of the giant to communicate in such a way. Of course, nothing up to this point should have led to that surprise, but for some reason you simply hadn’t considered the option of the serpent talking to you. However, the fact that it is speaking to you gives you hope. Perhaps you can reason with it.
"I'm just trying to cross the river," you explain. You shuffle from paw to paw nervously and your tail remains tucked beneath you.
"Oooonly for a tassssssk," the serpent hisses. It cocks its head and its eye gazes at you and you tremble.
"What sort of task?" You would be willing to do most anything to keep it from harming you, but if it will allow you passage then all the better. You have already endured taunting and chores. Surely you can handle another.
"There isssss a pooond deeper in the foresssst to the easssst. Travel along the rivvver and depart ssssouth to find it. Within isss a fisssh of the finessst tasste. Bring me sssuch a fisssh and I ssshall allow you passsssage."
You nod eagerly. You look to the east and even beyond the trees you can see a thinning of foliage. Perhaps there is where the pond rests. "How shall I catch it?"
The serpent only gazes at you. You feel tension through your entire body.
"Nevermind! I'll figure it out." With that you shuffle back and hightail it toward the pond.
It is indeed close and you realize the serpent cannot leave the river. That would be important if anything happened. You think, very briefly, of ditching your promise and running away into the distance, away from the giant snake and its deadly coil. Guilt tugs at your stomach for even considering such a thing. You swallow the ache and fear and remind yourself that, besides honor, there would be little point in running away. You need across the river and pleasing the snake is the only way to accomplish that.
You see the pond in a small circle of brush and step closer. The waters are a bit murky, but you can still see shimmering golden fish scales highlight the creatures as they swim. They seem quick and you nervously bite your lower lip. You know the only way to catch one is with your hands--rather your paws--but you don't know if you can do it.
You sit close to the edge and lift your paw up high and bring it down into the water. Splashes go everywhere as your limb makes contact with the liquid.
Written by on 05 April 2019
The end (for now)