Testing The Waters

(a story by Viqsi)

So, you want to know how I got here, eh?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised... that's what everyone inevitably asks me whenever I show up. Well, everyone who doesn't run away, at least. You might be surprised how few actually do run. Or you might not be. I wouldn't know.

From some perspective, you might argue that they should have run away earlier. I don't really agree myself, and neither do the rest of us here, but hey, I'm not those folks. I'm me. And I've never been much of a philosopher.

Well, I might as well tell you what you want to know...

It had been just another typical day at work. The sort of day that's more commonly known as "hellacious". My boss was anti-social, the pay was awful, and the hours were worse. Of course, there's more to it than that, but that's a different story for a different time...

I'd just gotten off of an 8-hour shift and I was feeling a little worse for my usage, so I decided to relax in the best way I knew how. A good old nature hike. So I stopped quickly by home to pick up a few necessaries, and then I headed for any nearby forest preserve.

I passed the first one I saw, as well as the second. I'm still not entirely sure why. You could argue it was destiny or fate or something like that, or you could argue that the enchantment had a long reach and wanted me here... I don't really bother to consider that much. I'm just happy with what happened, and so I don't see the point in questioning why it happened.

Anyway, I'd passed a few of these and was beginning to wonder whether or not I really wanted to go on this hike when I suddenly got this urge to stop, here, NOW. I quickly pulled over to the side of the street and looked around, wondering what made me think that...

But there was nothing on the road. No cars, no animals crossing, nothing.

Then I looked over to the right and saw... the forest. Again, I don't know why, but I had this amazing urge to just walk in there and explore.

I took this as a sign that I really did want to go on a hiking trip. So I went over to the car, got out my backpack, and headed into the forest.

It was exceptionally beautiful... but you already know that, don't you? You'd have had to go through it to get here...

Anyway, I was relaxing and enjoying myself, just walking along and seeing things. It never occurred to me that I wasn't following a path of any kind (though I doubt there was a path there anyway), that I might get lost, that my supplies might run out, or that night might come and I could be stuck out here. Absolutely none of these possibilities entered my mind. They only occurred to me after I realized that I was hopelessly lost.

Well, as you can probably guess from your own experiences, I did what was probably the strangest thing I'd ever done in my life.

I dismissed it and kept walking.

I really don't know why I was more concerned about this. Now that I think back, I probably would have worried about my mental health. But now with all that's happened... I can sort of understand it. I'm pretty sure you will, soon enough.

So I kept walking. And walking. And walking.

And eventually I came to... you guessed it... the pond. This very pond, actually.

I don't think I really should have to describe it to you, considering that you probably experienced it yourself... you did, didn't you? That sort of vague haziness in your mind while you were here? That sort of feeling like "everything is all right"?

And most of all, the urge to go for a swim? Or to at least touch the pond, if only to test the waters?

I guess that's our "penalty" for not reading more fantasy stories - we don't recognize real magical enchantment when we see it. But then again, I don't feel like I've been wronged or penalized. I'm pretty sure you'll feel the same way.

Transforming is a very... unique experience. You'll be figuring that out in a moment. I might as well tell you what to expect... I'd just gotten out of the pond, when my back started to itch. I didn't think that much of it at the time, though that was about to quickly change. I simply reached back and scratched.

I guess you can imagine my shock when my hand came in contact with the fur. I must have leaped a few feet into the air in surprise. Kind of appropriate considering what I am now, right?

Well, I didn't have much time to wonder why fur was sprouting from my back before the itch came back. And it was worse now - it was ALL OVER my body. Can you imagine what that would feel like? Oh, wait, I forgot - you'll probably be feeling it soon enough. Don't worry, it's not painful, merely...uncomfortable. I guess it must have been quite the sight - a mostly naked man rolling on the ground desperately scratching at his legs, arms, chest, face, back... I was quite the spectacle.

There were other things happening, too. I didn't notice all of them until after the itching had stopped, but I noticed a few things. My shrinking to about a sixth of my size, for example. Or my face pushing outward and becoming more elongated. My ears moving to the top of my head. My fingernails becoming more clawlike.

But the tail was probably the part that I noticed the most. It's kind of hard not to notice something as long as you are sprouting from your backside. Especially when it's covered in very bushy hair.

Strangely enough, however, when it was over and done I didn't feel all that panicked or frightened. In fact, I was... curious. I was very interested.

I suppose if I'd thought about it, I'd call myself crazy. Here I am, I've just been transformed into a gray squirrel, and yet I'm going about as if nothing's wrong. Heck, I'm even acting like a squirrel and not noticing anything amiss.

It's part of the enchantment around this place. Or at least that's what the other folks around here told me. You know, the others who showed up at this pond to test the waters.

What are you becoming? I have no idea. But whatever you end up as, you'll be gladly accepted here. We've got ourselves a nice little community built up. We all have our own stories to tell, and our own thoughts on how we managed to find the pond. It's a nice life - I think you might enjoy it. Most folks who run away nearly always end up coming back. Others, though... well, the outside world isn't nearly as forgiving as we are. It's too bad - we would have loved to hear their stories.

So why do I show up? That one's easy. I try to convince the folks who end up here not to run away. It's not because I've been brainwashed or anything - it truly is a nice place over here. Like I said, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Sure, I'd be glad to help you scratch your back there...

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