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Sabin Duvert Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:35 pm
When Cassidy returns to her duplex, inside waiting for her on her nightstand is a long, 20 gallon terrarrium with a sort of bark bedding. There is a small dish of water inside and a branch. There is a wire-mesh top with pins holding it in place, and a note affixed to it.
Quote: Cassidy, Here is the little friend that you requested delivered. We've made sure that he's been fed during your absence and if you ask Delia in the cafeteria, she can get you frozen pinky mice as you need them to keep the little guy (or gal) fed. ~ Duvert
And curled around its waterdish, in a blinkless stare is a small snake:
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:04 am
Cass pushed open the door to her duplex. It was still a sort of home, and it was comforting after all that time in the jungle.
Note to self: Find out what the date was.
Her tongue flickered of its own accord, and she stopped, with her hand on the lightswitch.
There was something in here.
She flicked on the lights, and spied the terrarium immediately.
"Oh god," Cass whispered. She'd almost forgotten about it. Her heart was beginning to thump crazily. "It's all right. You looked at all those pictures. You could do that. This is just like the pictures. It's behind glass. Everything is fine."
Still, she whimpered.
Cassidy slithered across the floor, slow and awkward, trying to see it. She'd expected something orange, so when she did at last see the little greyish-white reptile, it was something of a shock.
She retreated to the other side of the bed. The snake seemed to be looking at her; the obvious thing to do, it seemed to her in her panicked state, was to talk to it. "Um. I'm just. Going to stay over here? Oh god. Why are you next to my bed?"
Maybe she could move it.
That would mean touching the tank.
Ew.
Wait. There was a note.
Cassidy came back to the tank, right over the bed, and gingerly plucked the the paper off the top as though she expected the snake to bite her through the glass. Truthfully, she half expected exactly that. She read the note a few times, and made herself look at the snake.
"You aren't so bad," she said. "You're a really neat colour, I guess, and... oh, gross." Cass clutched her head and moaned. "This was a horrible idea."
The snake's tongue flickered; Cassidy shuddered.
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Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:13 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:07 am
Cassidy stared evenly at the snake on the other side of the glass. He (She? It? 'He' would do) needed feeding. She wasn't going to be responsible for the poor thing's death, even if it was.... well.
She's more-or-less adopted a book on snake care from the entertainment room, had read it thoroughly, and she knew what she had to do.
What she couldn't quite bring herself to do was stick her hand in the terrarium. It was becoming urgent, too, as the snake was definitely in need of new water.
Logically, Cass knew she was a lot better about snakes than she had been. When she'd first arrived on the island, she probably wouldn't have even been able to sit in the same room. So really, she ought to congratulate herself, for being able to look at a snake on the other side of glass, and even being able to sleep next to it.
But it needed to be fed.
Her hand was shaking, but she took the little pink mouse in long-handled tweezers, and lowered it down into the terrarium. She didn't dare look away, but she could hardly bear to watch.
The snake, appetite and interest aroused, crept near, tongue flickering. Cass braced herself on the bed, her fingers digging deep into the mattress. Her feathers were fluffed every which way, but all her attention was focused upon the little snake.
The snake struck; Cass shrieked, dropped the tweezers, and fell backwards onto the bed. When she'd recovered enough to look again, the little greyish corn snake had half the mouse gone.
That left the water to change, and the tweezers to recover.
Cass took a deep breath, and reached down into the tank. The water dish was easily enough to get, though she thought she'd scream, but the tweezers were... very close to the snake. Lucky she hadn't dropped them on him, she reminded herself.
After cleaning out the dish, Cass filled it again and lowered it gently into the terrarium. The snake was almost done with his meal by now, and he slithered clear of the dish.
Oh, he was looking right at her.
Cass made a grab for the tweezers, hurried and frightened, but her fingers grazed against the snake's tiny scaled body. Gasping, she pulled away, clutching the tweezers to her chest. It hadn't been so bad, she told herself.
Actually. It really hadn't.
After a moment to calm herself down, Cassidy leaned in against the glass. "Look," she told the snake, "you're just going to have to be patient with me. I'm learning. But I guess you need a name. I don't suppose you really care, but it makes things easier for me."
She hesitated, and remembered vaguely that discussion with Emelyn about inner snakes and hedgehogs. She'd jokingly named hers...
"Well. You can be Chetter Hummin. It's a good name, and I think you ought to try to live up to it. Don't make fun of me for where I got it, though."
Chetter merely flicked a tongue at her. Cass sighed.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:03 am
New RP
Thom was utterly miserable. Or, well, hungry was probably the better term. Terribly, horribly hungry--starving, even, but not. He could probably go another day or two without eating again if he absolutely had to. Following his last change, he had found that if he particularly stuffed himself, he wouldn't need to bother with another meal for a good few days depending on the size of his last meal.
This was all well and good save for one fact: He couldn't eat. He undoubtably would sooner or later, just as he had before when he grew hungry enough, but right now, knowing he could last another day... The food just didn't appeal to him. He stared down at the assortment on his plate, willing himself to at least try something. But the food just sat there, growing colder by the second, and eventually Thom just pushed his plate away, sighing and slumping over the table.
He was half tempted to request something live from the kitchens...
Cassidy slithered in, feeling in a slightly better mood than she'd been in for a while. She'd actually fed the corn snake, so it wasn't going to die and leave her with the question of how she'd ever bring herself to dispose of a dead snake, and named it, and life wasn't really so bad, all considered, or at least that's what she was telling herself.
At any rate, she was hungry, and even if her usual meal warm, raw steak wasn't quite as appealing as it had been, she was definitely not up to a trip into the jungle for something live. Not if she could help it. As she came in, her tongue flickered, out of habit, and she caught a familiar scent, though somewhat... changed, since the last time she'd tasted it. She glanced over at the tables, and for one horrible moment was so petrified with fear that she could not bring herself to move.
Thom had changed.
Cass drew her breath in sharply, reminded herself that she looked much worse, and made herself call, "Thom! Thom, hi."
One benefit, if it could be considered such, to being a snake was the absolute silence one could move with. Even given the slight sound of the door opening, Cass was no exception, and when she finally did speak her voice took Thom completely by surprise. His head snapped up to figure out who was calling, now-gold eyes fixing on the python woman. And after a pause, he smiled, straightening up and gesturing for her to join him.
Cassidy. Cassidy was a snake too. Surely she had had trouble eating and could offer some advice? Or, just the company would be welcome. Cassidy had made a life for herself on the island even given her changes. If he was going to be stuck here, and going to continue to change...maybe he should do so as well. "'Ey. 'Ow've you been?"
Cass swallowed down her fears and slithered over to coil up next to the table. It was Thom, right? Therefore, nothing to worry about, no reason to be afraid. She smiled faintly. "All right, I suppose." She just did not feel like going into her retreat into the jungle. "There's a snake in my room these days. I'll be cured of my fears in no time, if I don't crack. Other than that, I guess I have no new complaints."
She tilted her head slightly. "What about you? You look... you've changed, since I've seen you. Are you doing okay?"
Oh, right. She was scared of snakes. He had forgotten. Briefly his smile faltered, but it returned when she joined him at the table. He wasn't...that snakelike yet, after all, save perhaps for his tail and scales, so she could tolerate him and eventually get over it? And by the sound of things, she always was. "Really, now? 'Ow'd you manage that? No offense, but I can't see you catchin' somethin' off the island."
It didn't occur to him to ask what kind of snake it was. He didn't even know what kind of snake he was turning in to, nor did he particularly care just yet. A snake was a snake was a snake, and that was that, and he was one. "Mn... Learnin' to tolerate it," he admitted, shrugging slightly. However, he soon grinned, fondly patting the crutch propped against the table at his side. "Could be worse, I s'pose. I don't need a chair."
Cass peered at him carefully, not really sure if she was being made fun of or not. "Staff gave it to me," she admitted. "With a tank and everything. Some of the snakes around here might be poisonous, you know."
She nodded, understanding. "I suppose that's a good thing, too," she agreed. She leaned over onto the table, smiling. Oh god. Just don't think of it. He's not a snake. He's an alien. That's much better. "You can sit anywhere." She hesitated, then said, "Is that your second change, if you don't mind me asking? It's... a lot different from how mine was."
"Did they?" He raised a brow, surprised by the show of generosity. Or perhaps the staff were trying to scare Cassidy out of her mind. Though, by the woman's reaction to the snake, he doubted that. And he had to admit, though he wasn't what one might call 'happy' here, he was well taken care of. They all were. It was just a matter of requesting whatever they wanted from the staff.
"Oh, no, I meant..." Standing was an easy process of simply balancing his weight with his tail while he rose to his feet, and Thom did so, palms flat on the table. "I don't need a wheelchair. Makin' due with a crutch." After a pause, he returned to his seat, nodding. "Second, yes. Is it? How so?"
"Oh. I misunderstood." Cassidy could not help but notice that one shorter foot, but it seemed unkind to point it out. "But that's wonderful! A crutch is probably easier than a wheelchair, as far as getting around goes." She hesitated a moment, trying to recall the details of her second change. "My feet were gone entirely," she said. "I had some prosthetic legs, after I got used to them. My tail wasn't as long as yours, either, I don't think." She shook her head in disbelief. "I'd lost my nose, though."
"Much," he proudly assured her. Thom had only once been injured to the point that he had needed a wheelchair, and the weeks he had been limited to the evil contraption had been sheer hell. In this situation, he would avoid such a thing at all costs. It was bad enough that he was stuck here forever. Being stuck here and confined to a chair would be unbearable.
He listened curiously as she explained her second transformation, nodding slightly once she finished. "Mine's flattened out a bit, t'be 'onest... Let's see... More scales, my 'ands've changed a good deal. Tail's longer, one leg's shorter, an' I've got this...thing on my neck." He grimaced, lifting a hand to the odd formation. "'Aven't th' faintest idea what it is."
Cass looked, head tilted. It reminded her of something, but she could not think what it was. Well, to be honest, it reminded her irresistably of Cardassian neck ridges, and she couldn't help but be a little embarrassed that she would think something like that when it had been so long since she'd seen Star Trek.
"It's sort of weird," she said, doubtfully. "But I'm not sure what it would be. I don't have anything like that..."
Since his change, the mere thought of the change to his neck had tugged at his mind, hinting that the answer to the clue was just out of reach.. He knew it, he was sure, but the pieces didn't want to fit together. Reptiles were not Thom's strong point. Nor, for that matter, were any other animals, or the Cardassion neck ridges their select features may remind people of.
"My thoughts exactly. But you also have feathers. Per'aps they mixed my serum with somethin' as well? There doesn't seem t' be a point t'mine, though."
"Could be," Cass said. Reptiles were certainly not her strong suit, either. "But I can't think what. Someone else might know what they are. I'm sorry. I guess I'm not very helpful. And the only people who would really know... well. I don't know if you want to ask them plain."
She shifted a little. "But they're probably not finished, either, whatever they are. Maybe they'll look more like something when they're done."
"Eh, no worries." He shrugged, letting his hand fall back to the table. "They don't get in th' way or anythin'. I'm just curious as t' why they're there, that's all." They were utterly pointless to his knowledge. However, if she was correct, and she probably was, their purpose would be discovered once his changes were further along...
Oh goody.
"Any'oo," he began, changing the subject, "I 'aven't seen you since.. th' football match, per'aps? What've you been up to?"
"Not quite that long, but almost." There was a faint flush along the scaleless strip of skin along Cass's face. "I haven't... been up to much. I've been in the jungle. I didn't come out for a long time. I haven't seen a lot of people lately."
She folded her hands on the table, staring at them. Her tongue flickered.
"Ahh, you're right. I saw you shortly after my first change." He shook his head at his own forgetfulness, smile fading slowly at her quiet reply. "Can't say I've seen many either... Natsumi, mostly. D'you know her? Alec, but that didn't go well... And you. Since my change."
Pausing briefly, he searched for a way to end the silence, gaze finally falling on his still-full plate. "...D'you ever 'ave problems eatin' th' cafeteria food?"
She shook her head, grimacing slightly in the direction of the table. "I haven't met either. I've been really... antisocial. Bad habit to get into."
Cass did look over at him at last to peer at his meal. That was a familiar problem. "I haven't really been able to chew since my first change," she admitted. "The only thing I ever have around here is steaks and things. And tea or hot chocolate or something, sometimes."
"Natsumi's my upstairs neighbor," he explained absently. "Japanese. And Alec's a ruddy little b*****d. Irish." Thom wasn't feeling remotely amiable towards Alec at present.
"Ahh..." He grimaced, peering down at his plate. That had never occurred to him before. "I can chew well enough. That's not th' problem. I just...can't eat it. I lierally 'ave t'stuff food down my throat a couple of times a week t'eat at all. It's just... Limited activities." He shrugged his shoulders, smiling. "What d'you eat, then?"
"Steak, pork chops, chicken," Cass said, looking embarrassed. "All raw. Or at least so rare it still bleeds. Occassionally sausage, when I need a change." She twisted her fingers together, agitated. This was not something she liked to discuss, and her bashful, nervous tone made this pretty clear. "I try not to eat in front of people, honestly. It's a bit... well, gross. I think so, anyway. I swallow it whole. I used to cut it up into little bits and swallow it that way."
Thom nodded, grimacing slightly. Blood...warm blood might do it. Maybe. He doubted it, somehow. But perhaps it would work. "I couldn't swallow somethin' that big whole yet. I nearly choked when I accidently tried somethin' much smaller. Mind, that was after my last change, but I don't think I've changed enough t' risk it yet... "
He paused, glancing towards the buffet. He hadn't seen anything that had really won his interest, but then, he hadn't thought rare meat would be the thing to do it, and thus hadn't looked. However, he didn't think he would bother just yet... The thought wasn't very appetizing. What he wanted was something, well... "'Ave you ever considered, ah...anythin' live?"
Cassidy was silent for a little while. It was not something she wanted to admit to, but she could hardly lie... "I ate a bird," she admitted at last. "A few weeks ago, I guess. I was really hungry, and it didn't see me, and I didn't even think... just grabbed and squeezed and swallowed." She shook her head. "It was really satisfying, though. I think, on some level, I'd really wanted to do that."
He nodded, relaxing a touch. Good, it wasn't just him.. And Cassidy had actually eaten something. He shuddered at the thought, but at the same time the cobra he was becoming danced a little jig. Cassidy had eaten something living, and he was sure many of the other islanders had at least toyed with the idea. So no one would bat an eye if he did the same...as disgusting as the idea was. His stomach growled. Thom facepalmed. "I 'aven't eaten in two days. Give it another couple an' I'll be able t' force this spread down my throat. Nothin' in th' buffet appeals t' me anymore. It 'asn't since my last change."
Cass stared at him, glum. "Delia has some little pink baby mice," she said suddenly. "She has them so I can feed Chetter, but I admit that don't look half bad to me. You could always try one of those." She looked at him sideways. "Honestly, I haven't been very keen on this stuff since I ate that bird. I just haven't quite got the nerve up to... go out there, again."
Thom grimaced, staring down at the table. Baby mice? Imagine how many of those it would take to make a decent meal. Not to mention they were tiny pink hairless things that he would be eating alive. ...He suddenly felt rather ill. "Per'aps. I'll keep in in mind, thanks. I just 'ave t'find somethin' better than this lot."
"Well. She keeps them frozen in the back somewhere, so, they're there." Cass shrugged vaguely. "It probably would be a good, um. Stepping stone, I guess." She shook her head. "But don't rush it. It's... it's a big step to make. You'll figure something out."
The horrible thing was, this entire conversation was making her hungry.
Frozen. Ah. The snake in his head grumbled, but Thom brightened up a tad. Frozen might not be so bad. He wouldn't have to kill it. However, on the same note, a frozen pinky was likely to be a rather disturbing site, and Thom's human side alone might shove that option away. Still, he could try. Perhaps later. "A big step indeed... I think on it." The point of no return. Once he ate something live, there went his humanity.
Cass smiled. "Well, other than that. Everything's okay for you? You're managing?" She couldn't quite get over that one short leg. She had been thinking before that Thom was lucky, the way he was changing, but that was really sort of disturbing.
"Well enough." He shrugged and, seeming to read her thoughts, turned on his seat so that the short leg was in plain view, eyeing it warily himself. "Can't do 'alf th' things I'd like to, but I'm gettin' there. It's not a permanent limitation, just somethin' to overcome. An', in a way, it's good for me. Gives me somethin' to occupy m'self." He'd certainly had his time full learning how to manage with the short leg, relearning everything he had once accomplished with ease. It kept him busy, and that kept him from sulking. "Between my crutch an' my tail I manage alright. Yourself?"
"I manage," Cass said, shrugging vaguely. "I guess I'm sort of used to it by now." Of course, there was that fabled last injection, still on the horizon, whenever that might come. "And I keep myself busy, best I can. What else is there to do, right?"
"You 'aven't changed at all since I first met you," he acknowledged, nodding slowly. "An' I've changed twice... Ever think it might be over? That you've hit th' last step?"
"I've heard there's four changes," Cass said. She shook her head. "I've had three. Maybe I'm wrong about how many, or..." She trailed off, and touched a finger to her lower lip. Oh, she dreaded it. Maybe it would never happen. She could live like this. It was at least familiar by now. "I don't know. Nothing to do but wait and not think about it."
"Four..." He grimaced. Two more changes to look forward to? If he was this different after only two... He shoved the thoughts from his mind, focusing on the here and now rather than worrying about how he may wind up. Cassidy was right. They could only not think about it and move on with what came. "But they don't come as often after a point, correct? I've only been on the island a few months..."
Cass stopped to count on her fingers. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, that's right. I think I've been... well, like this for almost half the time I've been here. About... five months since I had legs."
Come to think of it, the anniversary of her arrival was in a few days. Yikes.
"They seem to space them out, though, you're right. I don't know when I'll get this last one. Maybe never?" She shrugged.
Good... Good. He didn't have to worry about another transformation for a good long while, by the sounds of it. Maybe by then they'd have found a way off... Thom doubted there was one, personally, but his conversation with Alec had drilled the thought into his mind. Where there was life--or, in this case, time--there was hope.
"One can hope," he replied, sighing. "Though with, ah...what's left of your legs, it doesn't quite seem complete. Long in coming, per'aps, but over..?" He doubted it. Thom was fearing Cassidy's next change as much as she was. Possibly more so.
Cass looked down, wiggling one leg-stump as she did so, and sighed heavily. "No. Whatever's happening, it's not done. Not yet. But even as I am now, I couldn't go home... I'd die of the cold, for one. I hate to think of what's to come."
She shook her head. "You probably don't really want to hear this, though."
Cold... That hadn't even occurred to him. He'd certainly been enjoying the sun since his change, even taking the time to nap on the beach when there was nothing better to occupy him. He'd never thought this was the snake's doing. he had always enjoyed being outside... But the cold. England was dreadfully cold in the winter. Cold and rainy and not at all pleasant; the snake shuddered at the thought, and Thom found himself aching to leave even the cool cafeteria for the beach.
"No... I couldn't go back either," he admitted, shooting a glare down at his misshapen leg. However, he chuckled softly, glancing back up at her with a slight shrug. "I'll have t' face it sooner or later. Easier t' move on when it happens if I know it's comin'."
She glanced down at his leg as he did, despite her best efforts. It was so strange to think of any aspect of her life these days as "lucky," but that was what was on her mind.
"I suppose you're right." Cass grimaced slightly. Her feathers ruffled with her discomfort. "Maybe I should start preparing myself for the inevitable ordeal."
Ugh. What a horrible thing to have to do.
"Eh, I don't know." He shook his head, turning back towards the table and glancing to his neglected plate, more out of the need to look at something than of any real interest. "Know that it's comin', but don't dwell on it. It'll only upset you. Just enjoy yourself while you 'ave th' chance."
"At least then it would be done. I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore." Cass slumped, trying not to look as miserable as she felt. "But it might be a long way off. No need to dwell on it for either of us." She forced a smile.
"Sorry for bringin' it up," he murmured apologetically, looking up. The future was grim for both of them. Might as well enjoy the time they had left with their humanity. "I give up," he muttered, climbing to his feet--or foot, rather--and gathering up his plate. "I'll try to eat t'morrow. Goin' to 'ead to th' beach. Care t' join me?"
Cass stretched a little, and straightened. "I'd love to... but not today. I'm trying to be at least a little productive." Which was not exactly true, but it sometimes got a bit hard looking another giant snake in the eye. "You go ahead without me. I'll see you around."
"Ahh, I see." Productive? ...Well, he would take her word for it. "Good seein' you, then." Nodding a goodbye, he reached for his crutch and, positioning it under his left arm and carrying the plate with his right, made his way first to the trash to dispose of it, then out the door, awkwardly working his way towards the beach. The cafeteria was a bit too cool for his liking. It was time for a long nap on the sands.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:04 pm
You hardly notice the injection mark the morning after some horrid nightmares. Despite finally stepping up to face your fears of snakes, risking even sleeping next to one (sort of ^~) those fears seem to come full force in your dreams that night. The sleek, quick scaley creatures with their unblinking eyes and lightning-fast strike. Over the day, however, a most surprising process begins. Your scales seem to turn a dinny-color, the shine fading to a milky gloss. As the day wears on, it becomes more and more difficult to see as the scale over your eyes changes from transparent to translucent.. until you are barely able to discern light patches from dark behind a milky film. During this process, making matters worse, your arms itch... and the plumage ruffling and becoming messy and matted: the pinions sticking out at odd angles or poking you. What follows is an entirely long, uncomfortable process. Your external scales begin to loosen, while underneath the skin, more rise to the surface... or begin to grow in in the few patches of skin that you had left. You want madly to itch them, but your hands hurt, and begin to distort as the final fingers stretch out and sprout feathers, and are unfit to do the job. Your stubbly legs pull into your body, and in a cracking process, under the loosening skin, your body becomes more and more streamlined. Your whole body becoming quite muscular, and one long series of spine and ribs. Even your face pushes out the rest of the way. You can't see through your milky eyes, but you can certainly feel the process. Finally, as the physical changes subside, you feel madeningly itchy- leaving you on your own to finish shedding your skin for the first time... and molting.
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Island of Moreau Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:55 pm
Snakes. That had always been the basis of most of her nightmares, and it still was. Cass had heard once that many people who went blind later in life still dreamt in pictures, and she had decided that it was for a similar reason that when she dreamed, she was often still human, with hands and feet and hair. She was sitting on the back porch of the house in Vanderhoof she'd grown up in, swinging her legs over the edge. There was a fat black-and-white tomcat sitting on one side of her, and her sister Cheryl on the other. Cheryl was telling her that the cat was a snake, which was ridiculous. It was the same fat, grouchy cat her parents had had for years. She started to argue, turned to look at the cat, and it hissed at her with a forked tongue. Cass looked back at her sister, and discovered a large mass of snakes. They were of all sizes, all colours, and they were hissing loudly. She gave a yell and recoiled, falling into the cat-snake, which had somehow lost its legs, though it was still furred, with a cat's head. She tried to struggle to her feet but she was all tangled in furry, black-and-white snake coils. She opened her mouth to scream, and scream, and nothing came out. The snakes spoke, with one voice, though she knew that it was all the snakes together that addressed her. They extended their heads, smelling her with their many tongues and watching her with their many eyes, inspecting her carefully while they hissed ceaselessly at her. " We give you a gift, and you scorn it, and now you must be punished." All at once, they dived at her, faster than sight, and caught as she was by the furred cat-snake, she could do nothing but try to shield her face. She could feel them slithering over her, covering every inch, too heavy to move. She couldn't breath; snakes filled her mouth and nostrils. She couldn't hear; they curled into her ears and blocked all sound but muffled hissing. She only felt snakes, tasted snakes, saw snakes, heard snakes... the entire universe was snakes, and Cassidy in the middle of it... She woke, her fingers twisted into the sheets tightly. For a moment, she lay there motionless, staring at the ceiling. The last time she'd had a nightmare of such magnitude... Suddenly paranoid, Cass slipped from her bed in the early morning darkness, and sought out the mirror in the bathroom. She felt her face, trying to reassure herself. Just a nightmare. Just a regular old bad dream. Nothing had changed, nothing seemed to be changing. Just a dream. She had a drink, and slithered back to bed to try and get a few more hours of sleep before the sun was fully up.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:16 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:54 am
After Nita left, the door propped open with a large and convenient rock, Cass coiled on the floor for a moment, wanting either to be able to cry or die.
Dammit. It wasn't even like she could slit her wrists, or open a pill bottle.
She was fooling herself with talk of suicide, though, and she knew it. Even if she had the nerve or the will to go through with it, the doctors would stop it.
Cass paused momentarily to flick a tongue at Chetter, and then she made for the bathroom.
The strangest part was just having to look up at everything, all of a sudden. She wasn't any smaller. If anything, she was longer. She was muscle from nose to tail and she could feel it all working and coordinating when she moved. But now, the walls stretched up above her, distorted by her proximity to the floor.
The tiles were smooth against her belly. Cassidy hesitated a moment, then stretched up, rested a coil of herself on the counter for support, and leaned in to inspect her reflection.
She let out a small, dry sob. Just a big snake. No more Cassidy Smith of Vanderhoof, BC. Just a mutant python. It wasn't even like looking at herself in the mirror. It was more like simply coming face to face with a giant snake. She shuddered and slipped back down to the floor.
What was she going to do? She had no hands. What could she do without her hands? How would do anything? Was the best thing to do just to turn Chetter over to Angelina and live wild in the trees?
She didn't want to do that.
Cass slithered out of the bathroom and coiled herself on the bed miserably. Even the people she knew were likely to react badly to this, let alone anyone newer. She couldn't even be self-sufficient in the village, anymore. Too many things with knobs, handles...
Her tail was twitching. Her train of thought stopped abruptly, and she watched it.
She'd already figured, climbing about in the trees, that she could hold onto something very well with her tail. Prehensile, it was.
There was a pen sitting next to Chetter's terrarium.
It was certainly worth a try. Cassidy stretched out her tail, and tried to pick it up. The attempt was clumsy, but she managed to get it up before she fumbled and dropped it down beside the bed.
Undaunted, she shuffled up to the edge of the mattress, and peered down. Finding the pen, she tried again, and this time succeeded in clumsily clutching it in her tail.
Perhaps it was not exactly an appendage designed for such use, but with practice...
In the meantime, she'd keep the door propped open.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:31 pm
(With Amaya, in the jungle)
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