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Circe's Traveling Circus

By William W. Kelso

It was dark and wet and I was pretty miserable all things considered. My last ride had dumped in a small town in the middle of nowhere and the local "long arm of the law" had told me in no uncertain terms that "bums weren't welcome" in his nice little town. My efforts to tell him I wasn't a bum but was just on the way home and had decided to see the country by hiking fell on deaf ears. I was given a choice, spend a few days in the local jail or get the "hell out of Dodge". Well I'd been to Dodge and they were a lot nicer than this. So I decided to leave the rather limited charms of his little town and move on.

I was about a mile out of town and the sheriff had stopped following me in his patrol car finally. The jerk hadn't even let me get a bite to eat at the local diner but from the looks of the place he probably save my life. And now it was raining and looking like it might turn to sleet. I had a good jacket, but the cold and wet has a way of seeping in regardless after long exposure. So like I said, I was wet and cold and miserable. I had a small mountain tent in my pack, so started to look for a decent place to set it up for the night as according to the signs the next town was a good twenty miles away. I finally settled for a spot under some trees lining a large clearing about two miles outside of town. The trees would provide some shelter and made a good windbreak, plus since there was no lightening I didn't have to worry about that. All in all it was a very cold and uncomfortable night.

Very early the next morning; after only a few hours of very restless sleep, I heard some noise, and sticking my head outside the tent was surprised to see the circus had arrived. They were pulling into the clearing and starting to set up. It was one of the rather decrepit little traveling circuses you still see in more isolated rural areas. They spent the better months traveling from town to town, and then would winter down south somewhere. I used to love them when I was a kid. This one looked pretty typical, a few rather beat up looking rides, vans, station wagons, trailers, etc. While I watched they put up a sign over the main entrance with the ticket booth "Circe's Traveling Circus". Circe, I'd heard the name somewhere, but couldn't place it. I watched as one of the carnies hung a sign on a post "Temporary Help Needed". Well, what the hell I thought, I could always use a few extra bucks and it would warm me up. I got up, got dressed, struck camp, and headed down to apply for a job.

I walked up to the front "entrance" were the signs were and asked one of the carnies,

"Hey buddy, where do I apply for a job?" He just looked at me like I was the strangest thing he'd ever seen and said,

"Uh, ask for Hughie, he's around somewhere."

Well, thank you very little, I thought. I walked past him while he still stared at me and had to ask two more workers before I found the elusive Hughie. He was a big hulking guy, bald as a cue ball and had the thickest bushiest eyebrows I'd ever seen. I walked up to him and asked,

"Are you Mr. Hughie, some of your crew said you're the one to see about getting a temporary job." He looked at me and said,

"First off I ain't no Mister, and yeah, I'm the one to see. You got any problems like a bad back or anything? It's mostly grunt work. You know, lifting heavy stuff, helping put up the tents, that kind of stuff. Pay is $10.00 an hour; you get food and a bunk in one of the trailers. It's good for five days, and if you work out we might take you one more permanent, always can use good workers."

"I'm fine, been hoofing it the last few weeks and am in good shape. It sounds good to me if I'll do." Frankly I'd do it more for the company and dry bed than any other reason, this crappy weather was supposed to last several more days.

"Hoofing it, Ha, ha, I like that. I'll take a chance, you look good and strong. First a couple of rules. Stay out of the boss's trailer, and stay out of the animal trailer. Both are off limits; otherwise feel free to poke around. Now Louie here will show you were to stow your gear and give you something to do. Hey Louie, new guy! Get him squared away! Welcome aboard."

"Aye aye Captain", I replied, which got another laugh.

Louie said, "Come on, I'll show you were to crash. As soon as you get your stuff put up come over to that big tent over there." He took me to one of the bigger trailers and said "This it, Home Sweet Home". I thanked him and he left me to get settled.

Actually the place was cleaner then I'd been expecting, someone ran a pretty tight ship. It was a dump, but a clean one. It looked like one of those old crew trailers you see sometimes, kind of like a train's sleeper car. There were tiny compartments with double folding bunks and a small sink with an old "Broken" sign on it. I got the top bunk, so chucked my pack up top and then headed off to my first work assignment.

They worked me hard, but I didn't bitch because they worked hard too. We got the tent up in the cold drizzle, set up some collapsible booths, ran strings of lights, set up some trailers that folded out into the setting for the "Freak Show" and other fun things. The show was supposed to open at noon so we worked our butts off. An older lady had set up a small cook tent and kept us supplied with hot coffee or cocoa (I took the cocoa, I'm a chocolate nut) in hug ceramic mugs. Then there was a break for a rather plain, but bountiful, lunch. After that they were open for business and I was assigned to patrol the perimeter and keep anyone from sneaking in, which was easier said than done, but I didn't see anyone anyway so I guess I did a good job. A little later Louie found me and we headed into town with a few others, a couple in clown costumes, to hand out flyers and the occasional free ticket. I was given a big bundle of posters, a staple gun, and given my marching orders. Basically I was supposed to stick a poster on anything that wasn't alive or moving, living trees being the exception. It was easy work and I took my time, but put posters everywhere possible. I had a run in with Deputy Dawg again, but as soon as Louie verified that I was indeed an employee of the circus everything was cool. Then we headed back to the circus and dinner.

I guess they had about five customers that first day, but it was only Wednesday afternoon, the real show didn't start until Friday. We had a very good; but rather plain, dinner and since the place was shutting down for the night I retired to the trailer to dry off, get warm, and get some rest. I met my roomie, a rather large fairly simple kid named Gus who was just as tired as I was, and we both crashed and I got a good night's sleep. I could get to like this I thought.

Thursday was pretty much a repeat of the previous day. The posters and flyers had gotten some results though, and the "crowd" was a little bigger. The main attractions were the rides, which though old were well maintained. Most of the other workers were a little stand offish, but it didn't bother me as I was the new kid on the block. I worked hard so none of them had anything to gripe about, and I got a few grudgingly given "good work" nods of the head and our fearless leader Hughie seemed satisfied. He teamed me with Gus which worked out fine, I was the brains and he was the brawn, but I helped in the grunt department too as I was no lightweight. Turns out Gus loved comic books, and he proudly showed me his collection. Later we went into town to pick up some feed for the animals which were arriving this evening, and I took the opportunity to buy him several comic books at the local quick stop. I presented them to him after dinner and his huge grin was reward enough, and we spent a couple of hours in the cook tent debating the virtues of Batman as opposed to other heroes.

About the time it got dark another small convoy arrived. There were a couple of large trailers, one with bars on the doors and small high set windows, and a large very fancy brand new travel trailer or mobile home. To my surprise Gus got up and nervously said "I'm going to bed now, see ya tomorrow Michael." And several other workers made themselves scarce as well. Hughie and Louie ran over to meet the fancy trailer, and all but kowtowed to the lady that debarked. Must be the owner or resident hooker I thought (shame on me). The lady was dressed rather ostentatiously though, wearing a fancy fur coat (if it was real it was worth a fortune) and she was stunningly beautiful. I felt myself come to attention and crossed my legs to keep from being obvious as she walked by the cook tent to inspect the setup. She paused when she saw me and I nodded politely but didn't get up for the aforementioned reason. She asked Hughie something I couldn't hear, and he looked at me kind of guilty like and said something to her. She smiled at me and I nodded again. Then they went on with their inspection.

I heard a commotion from the large trailer with the bars on the doors and windows and watched as several figures in oversize bulky overcoats and actual capes climbed down and moved towards the "Freak Show" booth under the watchful eyes of Louie and a couple of other carnies. I'd helped set it up and it was a serious setup, not some cheapo plywood thing. We'd had to bolt it together and the "display cages" had heavy glass or plastic viewing windows and real heavy duty wooden doors with locks on the outside only. There were fifteen of the booths. Some of the billboards had stuff like "The Alligator Man", "Bambi the Deer Woman, Half Woman Half Deer!", "See the Wolf Man", etc. I guess the people heading over there were the "Freaks". Most were probably fakes, but for the real ones I felt sorry. Then it was time to hit the sack as the show opened early in the morning and I'd been assigned to "security" again to keep the local kids from sneaking in.

I woke up during the night when there was a disturbance of some kind. I heard what sounded like someone screaming, or maybe bleating, it was hard to tell. It sounded like whoever it was making them was scared to death, and I opened the door to the trailer and looked out. Hughie and two men were "escorting" a struggling figure towards the fancy trailer, the two men holding it by the arms as it kicked and squealed.

"Hey Hughie, I yelled, what's going on?" He looked at me and said,

"Ain't none of your concern, got a thief is all. Tried to break into the office trailer and steal the cashbox. The owner is just going to have a little talk with him."

I watched as they opened the door to the fancy trailer and dragged the guy inside and I swear he said "Naaa! Naaaa!" as the door shut behind them. Oh well, none of my business I guess.

Got up early the next morning, ate breakfast, and it was show time. I spent most of the morning patrolling the perimeter of the circus, and ran off a few local yokels trying to sneak in and got a thumbs up from Hughie. When I was relieved for lunch I decided to have a look around as all of the exhibits and booths were open now. They had the usual stuff, a Gypsy fortune teller, game booths which were probably rigged, the rides etc. They also had a petting zoo with a bunch of very dispirited looking animals, mainly goats and sheep, a donkey, and a bear sleeping in his cage. One of Billy goats looked at me and said "Naaa, Naaaa!" and gave me a real start as he sounded just like the thief I'd heard the night before. It caused me to freeze for a second and I stared at the goat. It moved over to the fence and looked back at me with strange pleading eyes, "Baaaa, Naaaa!" and I swear it was trying to talk to me! Finally I just shook my head and kept on going.

My next stop was the "Freak Show", and since I was an "employee" I got in for free. The first room had the usual deformed fetuses and weird things in jars and I pretty much ignored those poor things, gross! Not my thing. There were the Siamese twins, which may or may not have been real, the bearded lady, the fat lady (and boy was she fat!), and the usual stuff. To my surprise the door to the "Beast House" was actually guarded, and the guy opened the door to let me in. I joined a small crowd of rather stunned looked people, and soon I was stunned as well. There was no doubt these "freaks" were the real deal, but instead of freaks I'd have called them aberrations of nature.

The first one I looked at was the "Alligator Man" and it was certainly a good name as he had a head pretty much like one, was covered in scales, and had a tail. He had a tub of water he'd take a dip in every so often, but mostly he just stood in the center of the display and looked back with that reptilian lack of emotion. The Wolf Man looked like one too, weirdly shaped legs, covered in fur, muzzle with fangs, but he looked anything but dangerous. He sat on a chair and it was obvious he was male because he was naked, but he was sexed like a wolf too so not much to see really except for furry balls and sheath. One exhibit labeled "Billy the Goat Boy" was empty. There was "Ewey the Sheep Woman" and again the "freak" had basically the hindquarters of an animal, but she also was completely covered in white kinky wool except for black on her arms, legs, and head. Instead of breasts she had udders. She looked out at the viewers nervously, chewing cud the whole time. If you'd put her on all fours she probably could have blended in with a herd of real sheep with no trouble. The last "display" was "Bambi the Deer Woman". I guess they didn't realize Bambi had been a guy, idiots. She had the hindquarters of an animal, but her torso was more human with only a very light covering of fur, or hair, or whatever. She sat on a chair with her head hanging down, or really more kind of leaned against it. She had her arms over her breasts in an obvious attempt at modesty. The white fur between her legs was bare, so I guess her sex was on her rump like a real dear. She raised her head once and while she had a muzzle and large hairy ears she also still had human features and as I watched I realized she'd been crying, and then she hung her head again. God, I thought, to be like that, to have to be put on display to earn a living. Is her mind more animal then human, or the other way? Life can really suck sometimes. I stared at her a little longer as she really was beautiful in an exotic kind of way.

As I left the jerk watching the door told me, "Hey buddy, it you see something you like, um, you can rent any of them for fifty bucks an hour. Hell, maybe I can get you an employee discount."

"What the hell do you mean "rent them"? I asked incredulously.

"Well, hey, if you got a hard-on looking at any of the females what do you think I meant? Or if your taste runs to guys? Or if you pay a little extra you can watch them do each other. They'll let you do anything you want, they have to."

"You're a sick fuck, you know that!" was all I could say as I walked away in disgust. He just flipped me the bird, and said,

"Your loss buddy!"

Then it was back to work patrolling the perimeter until closing time. I'd already decided I was quitting the next day, that thing with the "Freak Show" had soured me to this whole operation. They may be freaks, but to rent them for sex went beyond sick. I mean the poor things must have enough problems already. As I was heading back to the sleeping trailer in pouring rain Hughie cut me off,

"Hey Michael, wait up!" He ran up to me with an umbrella over his head and said, "Boss would like to see you in her trailer. She likes to meet all the new employees." So I told him,

"Sorry Hughie, I'm heading out in the morning. Got things to do, places to see." He replied, "Well, that's too bad, you're a good worker. She'd still like to see you though, do me a favor will'ya, she'll get pissed off at me if you don't. While you're talking I'll get your pay and you can stay the rest of the night if you want, hopefully the weather will be better by then too."

I told him, "Well, OK. Thanks, I guess I can head out first thing in the morning."

Well, better get it over with, I thought. I wonder if the boss lady knows what's going on with the "freaks". Yeah, she must. As I was heading over to trailer a figure suddenly loomed out of the rain and startled me at first, but it was just Gus. He seemed agitated about something, and said,

"Mikey, don't go see the owner lady, she's bad. She does things to people, I don't like her."

He was a nice kid, but a little goofy. "Hey Gus, don't worry I'm big and can take care of any bad ladies. I'm just going to visit and say Hi, and then I'll be leaving in the morning."

He replied, "Go now, don't wait!"

"Hey buddy, I'll be OK. We'll look at your great comic book collection again later, OK?" He just stood there in the rain and looked at me as I walked away. I know now what he was trying to warn me about.

I walked up to the steps leading to the door of the boss ladies trailer, scrapped the mud off my boots as best I could, and knocked on the door. I heard a voice say,

"Hughie, is that you? Do you have the new one with you?" a very sultry woman's voice said.

"Um, no Ma'am, I said. It's the new employee; he said you wanted to see me."

"Oh yes, please do come in. I like to get to know all of those who work for me. I'm in here, through the bead curtain." She replied.

I pushed past the hanging beads and entered a rather large room (for a trailer) and to say it was luxurious was an understatement. It was done in what I would call modern decadent, but tastefully. The whole motif was designed for one thing, romance and/or seduction. The most beautiful woman I'd ever seen was sitting on a low couch, or divan, in front of a low table with all sorts of fruit and beverages on it. She was fairly short, about maybe 5'10" with dark curly hair and looked Italian or something, and had a figure to die for, full and voluptuous. I'm an ordinary guy, and she had the ordinary effect on me, plus she gave off a kind of sexual energy like nothing I'd ever experienced. The second I saw her, God help me, I wanted her! The fact was wearing some sort of almost-but-not-quite-see-through outfit didn't help any. She smiled at me, Oh Jeez, and told me,

"Please, have a seat and a snack. Tell me a little about yourself young man."

Even her voice was incredibly arousing, soft and sultry with an accent I couldn't place. She leaned over to pour me a beer and, Oh my God talk about cleavage. I was more than glad to sit down as it was the only way to hide what was happening in my pants.

I told her a little about myself. How I was just out of the Navy and kind of bumming around before going back to my home town and settling down. She seemed to be hanging on every word I said and I was flattered as what appeared to be her sincere interest. She gave a plate of sliced fruit and I ate some, and drank another beer. I didn't even notice the brand. When I told her I was leaving in the morning she seemed genuinely sorry. She said,

"But I was hoping to get to know you better", and then God help me she leaned over the small table and kissed me!

It had been a long time since I'd been with a woman, and I had never been kissed by a woman like this! I froze a little at first but then took her head in my hands and kissed her back long and hard. She pulled back with a smile and somehow her top just seemed to fall away and I found myself staring at the most beautiful breasts I had ever seen. I got up and went around the table and sat on the divan next to her and we kissed again as I fondled her breasts and felt her nipples grow hard. If this is how she gets to know new employees I may change my mind about quitting! I thought.

She pulled off my shirt and we kissed again with her breasts rubbing against my chest. I hadn't bathed in a few days, but that didn't seem to bother her, but I wasn't ripe or anything. She stood up and shinnied out of her short skirt and panties and I almost came, she was the most perfect woman I'd ever seen in every way. She was the kind of woman every boy and man has wet dreams about but rarely ever even sees, and I was with her! I stood up and she pulled my pants down and took me her mouth before I could even step out of them. I held the back of her head as she tongued and sucked me and could hardly believe this was happening. Finally she pulled away from me with a soft moan, then spun around and got down on her hands and knees and looked at me over her shoulder.

"I want you, now!" she said in a deep throaty voice.

Normally I prefer the good old missionary position, but I would have had to have been dead to refuse that request, or order, or whatever. I crouched down over her and pressed the head of my rampant penis against her lips, and with a thrust I mounted her. I grabbed her around her waist and started fucking her with a grunt of pleasure. She was slick, wet, and tight and it was fantastic, the best fuck I'd ever had. Like I said it had been awhile since I'd gotten laid, and I came much sooner then I wanted to. It was a marvelously powerful orgasm too. As soon as I was through I pulled out of her, and sat down on the divan. I still had my shorts and pants around my ankles I realized. Talk about a quickie! To my surprise instead of getting up she just turned, and reaching between my legs went to work on me again! I had just started to go soft, but under her expert touch was soon hard again. Then she pushed me back so I was leaning against the back of the divan, and climbing up she straddled me and lowered herself onto my rock hard erection, and oh My God. She held my shoulders and rode me while I pressed my face against those fantastic breasts and licked and tongued her nipples. She threw her head back was making really deep almost animal like sounds as she ground down on me and I just sat there in heaven. When I came this time she did too from the sounds she made, and I held her waist and thrust as hard as I could and we both writhed as we climaxed. It was utterly mind bogglingly fantastic. She rested for awhile still on top of me, then slowly lifted herself off and sat down next to me with a sigh. Then she said something kind of weird,

"Not bad dearie, with the right training you could be fantastic. Now how about a little nightcap before you leave? It's a very rare vintage from my home country."

Training? I thought. I'd have hoped she'd ask me to spend the night, I had the suspicion I'd be able to do her a couple of more times without much trouble. Like I said it's had been a long time and I'd been saving up. She offered me a cup of sweet smelling wine, and not even thinking I took a couple of big gulps and drained at as I was very thirsty. It was sweat and cloying, but delicious. She refilled my glass and I drank some more. It was good and it felt warm went it hit my stomach.

She sat back and looked at me with a huge smile on her face. "And now we wait my fine young stud."

"Wait for what?" I asked curiously.

Then I gasped as the pleasant warm feeling in my stomach suddenly exploded into searing heat and spread throughout my body. "Uggggggh!" I moaned, and bent over and tried to vomit, but nothing came up. Oh God! I had never felt pain or nausea like this before. I looked up at her in horror,

"You, you poisoned me!" I gasped, and then bent over doubled up as a powerful cramp spread from my stomach to my legs.

"Not exactly my dear." She said, smiling at me.

I fell off the couch onto the floor as another cramp made me convulse, "What the hell do you mean! Please, get me to a doctor!"

"You'll understand soon, and no doctor could help anyway. Don't worry; you'll be fine in a few minutes." She replied.

"Please, I sobbed, please help me!" Then another massive cramp spread throughout my body and I screamed at the agony and passed out.

Circe looked down in satisfaction as the man started to change. She had hoped to pick up a couple of new "exhibits" for her Circus at this stop, but his one had just fallen into her lap. He had been a decent lover too, but now it was time for him to serve her in another way, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be servicing her again, not at all. She liked to play with her new pets until she tired of them. The man gave a muffled moan of pain and she leaned forward and watched as the fur spread over his body and his legs warped and changed shape as his feet and toes became hooves. He made guttural grunts and squeals; thrashing and writhing as his body contorted and took on a new form, and as the change progressed to the point she was waiting for she grabbed his head and forced a long narrow funnel down his throat and poured in another potion. He gave a final gasping shudder and the transformation slowed and stopped. She never tired of watching the transformations, she found it incredibly arousing.

He was curled in a fetal position, so she took him by the shoulder and rolled him over and he was limp and unresponsive, but that was normal. She looked at the white fur covering his stomach and chest, and the dark brown fur on the rest of body, thick on his legs and hindquarters, but thinner on his torso. She reached down and fondled his new balls, inline and covered in white fur and larger now, and his penis slid out of its sheath. It was longer now, but not much thicker and tapered to a point. He moaned as he gasped and sucked deep breaths into his lungs, his black wet nose quivering. She knew it would be several hours before he woke up which was a shame, she wanted the new young buck to mount her now, but it would have to wait. She reached into a box under the table and took out a fancy leather collar with characters embossed its whole length. She slipped it around the comatose deer's neck and said "With this collar I bind thee!" and speaking a phrase in a foreign language watched as the buckle fused and the collar glowed for a few seconds. Only she could remove it now. She noticed with distaste that the animal had fouled itself, and yelled for Louie to come and take the newest exhibit for the "Freak Show" away and send someone to clean up.

Louie got Gus to help them drag the newest addition to the "Freak Show" to the animal trailer. Gus was really upset,

"She ought not to have done that Louie, he was nice." He said in a sad voice.

"Well, he's just another freak now Gus, so don't worry about it. They get to like it you know." He was worried about the Gus, the big dummy was too emotional about their business sometimes. He thought he should tell the Mistress it might be time to add him to the zoo too.

They reached the trailer and he unlocked the heavy padlock and they dragged the deer into the trailer and put him in one of the "stalls" and bolted the door. He made sure he had water and food, and then he padlocked the trailer again as they left and then sent Gus to get the guys belongings. They'd keep what they could use and destroy all his ID's and personal stuff, he'd never need them again anyway. He gave a snort of amusement, it's not like he matched any of the photos on them anymore anyway. He could just see the guy trying to explain the muzzle and antlers to a cop that pulled him over. "It's really me officer, I've just changed some since the photo was taken!" Ha! That was a good one.

Hughie wasn't really evil, but his Mistress had a way of insuring loyalty. He felt his own tail stir at the base of his spine. Everyone in her "employ" had been changed to a certain extent, and the only thing that kept that change from progressing was the other potion that stopped it for awhile with regular doses. And only she could make it, and without it her "employees" would soon be going on all fours and they knew it. Yes, it was a most effective way of insuring loyalty, that plus the collars they all wore. They had a need for new exhibits; otherwise the new animal might have become a "normal" looking employee with only minimal physical changes. As it was he'd spend some time as an exhibit before she tired of him, then he'd join the petting zoo until he could be sold off.

I woke up and immediately rolled over and puked. God, I hurt all over. What the hell had happened? I remembered getting laid, and a fantastic fuck it had been, but it got hazy after that. I reached up to rub my pounding head and felt, what the hell?!? That can't be my ear! Since when was my ear long and hairy and when I touched it the damn thing moved! I sat up and felt my other ear and it was the same, and I also felt the hard bases of something growing out of my skull. I whimpered and I ran my hands up the hard growths and they branched out and there were sharp points on the tips, and they branched out more than once. Then I remembered, the bitch had poisoned me! But if she had, then why was I still alive and what the fuck was wrong with me? I was sitting on something and reaching under my rear I felt fur (?) and pulled at something and felt it pop out from under me and stand up and it felt like part of my spine? What the fuck! I reached around and felt it and there was no doubt, it was a stubby fluffy fucking TAIL! With a bawling squeal I jumped up, did that sound come out of me???

Where was I anyway? It was dark and I could only see from very dim light coming from a small high barred window. I was in a fairly small long and narrow room and the floor was covered in straw and there were a couple of buckets hanging from hooks and that was it. I tired the heavy wooden door, but it was securely locked from the other side. The walls of the room were planks with maybe an inch of open space between each one. I stood in the small square of brighter light the window let in and looked down in horror at a furry body with misshapen legs ending in, God help me, hooves! I moaned and collapsed into a corner, and feeling my face found I now had a blunt muzzle and my face had a light coating of fur as well. I heard something move in the darkness of the room next to mine and a female voice said,

"Welcome to Circe's Freak and Sex Show!" and then it gave a weird sad bleating laugh. "Baaaa-Haaaa-aaaa!"

And I could smell her now too, in fact I could smell several "others" as well, some male, some female, but how did I know that? "Who a-aare you? I asked, and since when did I stutter?

"Me?" the voice said, "Why I'm Ewey the she-e-ep woman and fuck toy-y! B-aaa-aaa, Haa-aaaa!" and she started sobbing and bleating.

Jesus Christ! I thought. Then I heard another voice from the room on the other side. Female from the voice, and from the scent, like me! "Don't blame her, she's been here longer than a-any of us. Poor thing, she's very popular with the ma-ales, human and otherwise. I'm sure the Mistress will be putting her down on a-all fours soon, she can't last much longer like she is or her mind will go entirely."

Jesus Christ! I thought again. "Who, who a-are you?" I asked. I looked as some fingers came through the slot in the wall and gripped the board.

"Just call me Bambi, that's the only name I'm allowed now."

"You, you're, the um, er, uh." I started to say, but she interrupted.

"Yes, I'm the deer woman from the "Freak Show". And just like you I used to be human too, a-at least until a few months ago." She said.

"Used to be human? But I'm, I'm..." and my voice trailed off as I looked down at the strange new body that was mine now, and reaching up felt my, antlers? "I'm, what AM I? This is fucking impossible!"

The sheep woman said "Ye-e-es, Impossible! Baaaaa! But look wha-a-at she did to-o-o meee!" and started crying.

Oh God, I thought. I went over to the wall and tried to look through the slots, "I'm sorry", I said. I heard some snuffling bleating sounds, but she didn't answer.

"That's the most she's talked in weeks, I was beginning to think she'd lost that a-ability since her last trip to see the Mistress. She won't be around much longer I'm a-afraid."

I sat down next to the wall again, being careful not to sit on my, my tail. I held my head in my hands and moaned. This had to be some sick dream! I looked down at my genitals, my large hairy balls that hung inline now, and the penis sheath with the wet tip of a pointed penis sticking out about half an inch. It HAD to be a dream! Oh God, this can't be real!

The deer woman said, "I know, takes some getting u-used to, but the sooner you do the better. Some advice, do whatever she w-a-ants you to do and act like you enjoy it, you'll stay upright longer that w-a-ay. Besides, it's not like we have any choice anyway."

"Enjoy WHAT? I said, being a freak? How the HELL can I enjoy th-a-at, and how did we end up like this? This kind of thing is, well, just not possible!"

"So we a-all thought at first, but it's possible for the Goddess Circe. She made us and we're hers now, at least our bodies are."

"Circe? I've heard that name before. Wasn't she some kind of Roman God or something like th-a-at?" I said.

"Close, she's a Greek Goddess, been around longer then Rome, I guess she's immortal or something. You ever re-a-ad the "Odyssey", or see a-any history channel shows about it? She turned Odysseus's crew into animals. Seems she's real, and not a myth. But this is one hell of a w-a-ay to find out."

"I've heard of the Odyssey, but wasn't that like a g-a-azillion years ago? How could she still be a-alive?"

"Well, like I said she's a-a Goddess and it's been more like 3500 years, but I think her potions have something to do with it. She uses them for all sorts of stuff, a-as you'll soon find out." The deer lady told me.

I held my, my muzzle and face in my hands, and said "This really, really sucks! I don't WANT to be a Godd-a-amn deer! How the hell can she get away with this? I mean, we're still people, I guess, we can still talk, can't we yell for help or anything?"

"How do you think? With m-a-agic! Try and talk to anyone but her, her so-called "employees", or a fellow animal and a-all you can do is grunt and bleat like a deer. It's these d-a-amn collars, they make us obey her and keep us from talking except to someone else wearing a collar. She's been doing this a long time and has it down to perfection, the bitch."

"But wh-a-at about the circus workers, surely they much know!" I asked.

"Of course they do, but they're just like us, only not changed so much. They a-all have tails or other signs that can be hidden easily. A few even have hooves or paws, but wear special shoes to hide it. As long a-as they work hard and obey her she gives them the potion that stops the change, but they have to have it once every twenty four hours or they'll start to change again, just like us. If anyone runs away then within twenty four hours they ch-a-ange all the way into animals, so of course no one does. Poor Billy tried to escape more than once, but she finally lost her p-a-atience and changed him all the way into a Billy Goat, poor kid."

OMG, I realized, that guy I saw the other night, and that goat at the petting zoo, they were the same person, or animal, or whatever we are! This crazy, OMG! I leaned back in the corner and closed my eyes and sat there stunned for awhile. At this point I began to realize that this whole nightmare was real, not some drug induced dream or mean prank. I didn't want to be a damn animal. Hell I used to hunt dear; and I sure didn't want to BE one! I leaned my head back, as far as my antlers would allow, and started crying. I hadn't cried in years, I was supposed to be a big strong man, but I cried like a little kid that was scared shitless, because I was.

Bless her heart, the sheep woman tried to comfort me some, they both did. She said "I'm sor-r-ry, I didn't me-e-e-an to frighten you. The-e-ey don't tre-e-at us badly, it's the-e-e things we-eee have to do-o-o."

Finally cried out, for now, I asked "What things?" The sheep woman tried to tell me,

"I,I, we-e-e-e, we-e-e haave to , to, BAAAAA!" The deer woman broke in and said,

"Sorry, it's h-a-ard for her to talk when she gets upset. What she was trying to say is they use us; and rent us out, for sex. With them, with each other, and with anyone willing to pay. And we do it because we h-a-ave too."

"WHAT! I yelled, like HELL! There is no w-a-ay I'm going to perform for them like that! That, th-a-at's SICK! And I'll tell you one thing, there is NO w-a-ay they can make a dude do anything unless he wants to. And no WAY will I do anything like th-a-at!"

They both bleated in amusement. "Oh, we thought the same thing at first, but she has a potion she m-a-akes us drink and it puts us into full blown rut. And believe me when you're like th-a-at sex is the only thing you're interested in, no matter how or where you can get it. But it's animal sex, not human. Once you've had that done to you a few times believe me, you'll cooperate. It's the ultimate humiliation, to h-a-ave to perform as an animal when you know you're human. Like I s-a-aid, she's been doing this for thousands of years. She's a kind of Sex Goddess herself, so expects it of her "pets" when we "worship" her.

"We'll see about that, that kind of cr-a-ap!" I said resolutely, but they both just gave sad little laughing bleats of amusement.

I sat back down and moped, but after awhile I heard the sounds of eating coming from the stalls; they were stalls not rooms, next to mine and realized I was hungry. I got up and looked in the two buckets because I could smell the food and water. I drank some water by just sticking my muzzle in it, no cup provided. The other bucket had big chunks of what looked like dog biscuits in it. "What the hell IS this stuff?" I asked.

"Purina deer chow" one of them said.

"Oh HELL no! I said and threw the bucket against the wall. I want a cheeseburger, not fucking dog food!"

"It's deer food, not dog food. You, we, can't e-a-at meat anymore, it would make us sick. Besides, it tastes pretty good. We have to eat it, or go hungry." The deer lady said.

My stomach rumbled, and it did smell OK. I crouched down, which was surprisingly easy to do because of the way my legs were shaped now. I picked up some of the large pellets, sniffed them, and then popped one in my mouth. It wasn't too bad, but I couldn't really identify the flavor for sure. Grain or something I guess. I picked up as much as I could and put it back in the bucket. Then I sat back down and put the bucket in my lap, and just stuck my muzzle in it and shoved the stuff into my mouth with my tongue. It was quicker than using my hands. It's wasn't gourmet food, but at least it filled me up. And shortly thereafter nature worked its wonders, and I had to go.

"Where the hell is the b-a-athroom?" I asked, to great bleating squeals of laughter from the females. The only reply I got was "a-anywhere!"

Oh Gross, but I HAD to go! Finally I picked a corner and squatted down and took a dump. I couldn't help it, and when looked it was little balls of, well, dung. I'd seen it plenty of times when I was hunting. I covered it up with some straw and went and sat down again. This really bites the big one I thought. I am so NOT going to just go along with this. The food had made me drowsy, so I finally fell asleep.

I woke up with a snort when I heard someone opening the door. "Huh, wha?" It took me a few seconds to remember what happened to me and where I was. The first thing I did was look down at myself again, oh God. My next impulse was to jump whoever was coming in the door, maybe these antlers would come in handy. Then Gus came in and said,

"Get back from the door, stand in the corner." And I did, I felt compelled to, it's kind of hard to describe what it felt like. I was still mad and upset, but did as he told me. He came in and took out the old buckets, and brought in new ones with fresh water and more deer chow. Then he mucked out the stall and threw in some fresh straw. I finally said,

"Gus, you've to help us buddy, this is wrong!" I begged.

"I told you to go! He said, but you wouldn't listen. Now you're an animal and I'm not supposed to talk to you no more or I'll get in trouble."

"Gus, I pleaded. Please, I don't want to be like this! It's not right!"

He turned to me and said, "I don't want to be either!" and he pulled up his shirt and I saw fur on his stomach! "If I don't do what Ms. Circe says she'll make me go on all fours, and I don't want to! So don't talk to me!" and he slammed the door and left.

"See, said the deer lady, he's like us, only we're f-a-arther along in our changes then he is. He'll end up like us eventually, but it will be a-awhile, maybe years."

At this point I was pissed off, disheartened, and MAD. "You really like being right a-all the time, don't you Bambi! Ever think if you were wrong just once maybe we'd have a ch-a-ance of blowing this joint!" And before I even realized what I was doing I threw my head back and bawled in frustration. Christ, what the hell was that? I put my hands over my muzzle, no human ever made a sound like that. Crying again I sat back down in the corner for awhile, but eventually I got hungry and ate the food and drank most of the water. I went in a corner again, No.1 and No. 2, and covered it up with straw. The hell I was just going to go anywhere and walk around in it!

A little later the deer lady tentatively said, "Uh, they'll be coming to take us to the exhibit soon. I'd suggest you don't um, try anything."

"You maybe, but I'm st-a-aying right here." I snapped back.

"No, she said, you're not. You won't have a-a choice. I'm sorry, I really am, I don't like this a-anymore then you do, but I've been here long enough to know how to behave. It's better if you just accept it, much better."

"Like Hell I will." I muttered. Mr. Tough Guy, but I had no idea how wrong I was.

Like she said, they came to get us a short time later. I stood in the corner and told them to "Go fuck yourself" when they told me to come with them. And the collar started to choke me, it got tighter and tighter until I was had fallen on my side and was gasping for breath. They told me to follow them again, and when I did the collar loosened back up. So I obediently followed them as like she said, I had no choice. They gave me a ratty oversized overcoat to wear for the short trip to the "Freak Show" exhibit. We went in the back way and I was the last one they put up in the booth. They took the coat away and I was naked, animals don't wear clothes. The only thing in the booth was the chair, and it was bolted to the floor. Because I was new they also chained one of my legs to a ring bolted to the floor and then told me to "Sit or lean against the chair so the rubes can see you good". I was give a bucket of water and that was it. So from noon until ten that night I sat there and it was horrible, embarrassing and degrading beyond anything I could have imagined. The people; I used to be one, stared at me with their mouths open and I couldn't even be modest. I tried to stand in the corner once with my back to the gawkers, but the show manager told me to stand in front of the chair and the collar started choking me again. So I did, with tears running down my face. I remembered how I'd felt when I'd seen the "freaks" myself and had wondered what it was like. Well, now I knew. What was even more disturbing was the way some of the women looked at me. God, I could sense and smell their arousal. Perverts, I thought. Then I remembered how the deer and sheep women had given me a partial erection and realized I wasn't one to judge.

Finally they came and took us back to our stalls. Five scared strange creatures with no hope. But my degradation wasn't over for the day. There was fresh water and more food waiting, and I ate and drank my fill as I was thirsty and starving. A few minutes later I started feeling strange, feverish and anxious. I leaned against the wall and stamped my hooves, snorting, I couldn't help it. I'd never felt like this before. With another snort I pressed my nose against the slot between two of the walls boards and took a deep sniff, I could smell the female in the stall. I felt myself becoming aroused and could do nothing, my penis slid out of its sheath and became rock hard as I leaned against the wall gasping. Oh God what was wrong with me! "Oh Goddd!" I moaned. "I, think, I can't, I, something's wrong" I moaned. The sheep woman stuck her nose through the boards and sniffed, then said,

"The B-a-a-stards put it in his wa-a-ter!" She bleated.

"Uhhhhhh, Oh God." I moaned. "What's happening to me?" Then I threw back my head and gave a loud guttural belling sound. I heard a commotion in the stall with the sheep woman, and a short time later the door to my stall opened and she was thrust in with me and the door was shut. I heard that bastard Louie say "Enjoy!" and the bolt slammed home.

I looked at the sheep and she looked at me, her eyes wide. "I, I, please help me!' I asked. I lowered my head and stared at my rampant erection, my tongue hanging out of my mouth as I breathed heavily. I felt something change inside of me and suddenly felt lust like I'd never thought possible. I flared my nostrils and could smell the female, and raising my head I flared them even more. Giving a deep guttural grunt I approached her, my intention obvious. Part of me was screaming deep inside, "NO! This is wrong!" But I ignored it; my sole concentration was on the female, only she could give me what I needed so badly. For a second my human part broke through, and I stared at her in horror, "I, I can't, I, I, don't want this! I, I,!" She looked at me with a resigned look on her face, and said,

"I know, I know. It's no-o-t your fa-a-a-ult." She said sadly. The she moved over closer to me and dropped to all fours.

The animal took over again, for good this time. I approached her stamping my hooves and giving grunts of lust. I bent over and sniffed her rump and she smelled delicious, ripe and so very female. With a deep grunt I mounted her and clasped her hind legs with my front legs and lunged and thrust into her. She kept her head lowered and turned away, but gave grunts of involuntary pleasure as I mated with her. It didn't take me long and I gave a squeal of pain and pleasure as I climaxed. It was an agonized ecstasy I can't begin to describe. They left her with me all night and I mated with her several more times, with no love or compassion, only bestial lust and desire and an overwhelming need. I don't know how many times I serviced her for sure, or when I finally finished and fell into an exhausted sleep.

I woke up a few hours later and it was still dark, and I was lying on the floor and felt sick to my stomach. I almost took a drink, and then recoiled as I remembered what had happened. Oh God, where was she? I looked and she was huddled in a corner, her back to me.I crawled over to another corner, and bent over I hugged myself and started crying as I remembered what I'd done. I cried with great heaving sobs, I knew they'd made me do it, but I'd still done it. I couldn't stop myself, I'd been too weak. I gave a great gasping sob and couldn't hold it in anymore. I hated myself and what I'd become, I was a monster. I beat my fist against the wall, Damn them, Damn Circe to Hell!

Suddenly I felt warmth as someone crouched down next to me and I could smell the sheep.

I looked at her with tears running down my muzzle, my mouth open as I gasped for air between sobs. "I, I'm so sorry", I sobbed, Oh God, I'm so sorry." She pulled me into a hug, and said,

"Don't be, you ha-a-ad no choice. They ga-a-ave you what they c-a-all the "Pa-a-ssion Potion", we ca-a-ll it the "Rutting Potion". It put you into full blown rut; put the a-a-animal part of you in cha-a-arge. You would ha-a-ve ta-a-ken any female they put with you. A-a-animal or huma-a-n. They've done to a-a-ll of us, a-and will a-again to ma-a-ke sure we're coopera-ative sexual pa-a-rtners, especial-a-ly with pa-a-ying customers. Don't bla-a-ame yourself, I don't". And she held me till I was cried out.

A short time later they came to collect her and told her to "Clean yourself up" and put her back in her stall. That bastard Louie, who I'd really come to hate, made the crack "Boy, smell that? They had a rough night!" I just stood obediently in the corner and glared my hatred at him as Gus took away the tainted water and replaced it with regular water and some more feed. After I had eaten we were taken to the booth again and spent fourteen hours on display, except for a half hour to eat some food that was brought to us and some lucky customers got to watch us eat our "feed".

When they took me back to my stall I refused to drink the water until the others told me it was safe, they said if it smelled like cloves then it was tainted. It didn't so I took a small sip, then later I drank some more and waited in dread, but nothing happened. About an hour later they came for me, "Mistress wants to see you Buck, so come."

"My name is Michael!" I said, which got me a couple minutes of gasping for air and clawing at that damn collar.

"Your name is whatever the Mistress decides animal, so for now you're Buck the half man/half deer and don't think otherwise. Now come, she doesn't like to be kept waiting." Louie said. God I hated that man. They snapped a leash to my collar and led me to her trailer. We passed a few "employees" tending to some late chores, but they avoided my eyes. Louie opened the door, told me to "Be good or else" and took off the leash and shut the door after me. I had no doubt he'd be waiting outside.

"Come here beast" I heard Circe say. When I hesitated I felt the collar start to tighten, so I pushed through bead curtain into the main room. She was waiting for me and she was completely nude. And she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Oh God, I thought, as I felt both the man and the animal in me respond to her scent and voluptuous body. I felt my penis slide out and looked down at it, hard and dark pink and glistening wetly. Oh God. She smiled, and said,

"Good, I like a willing mate. Now come here my fine young stud, your Mistress requires your services."

"Please, I said, why a-are you doing this to us?"

"I assure you it's nothing personal, just business. She replied. You just happened to be in the right place for me, wrong place for you. It's not so bad though, is it? No more worries, someone to take care of you, plenty of lovely sex. I'm sure you're be very popular with the ladies in some of the larger towns we'll be visiting soon."

"You, you, made me r-a-ape her!" I said, even as I flared my nostrils to scent her more. Oh God.

She laughed, and said "Animals don't rape, they mate. I just gave you a taste of what it's like to be a buck in full rut, magnificent wasn't it? Don't tell me you can't wait for the next time? I'm sure she enjoyed it just as much as you. I can give you the potion now if you like; I don't care if you pleasure me as a man or an animal. I'll let you decide my pretty. But don't keep me waiting."

At the thought of becoming that sex crazed thing I'd been the night before I shuddered. But damn her; she was right, part of me did look forward to it again, the animal part. With a soft snort I walked over to her, and she smiled.

I stood there and she gently fondled and caressed my soft furry testicles and it felt so good, I couldn't help but enjoy it. She wrapped her tongue around my erect penis and slid it up and down my shaft and I bleated in pleasure.

"Oh my, you are very nice indeed my fine young buck, you will make many does very happy someday" she murmured. "Now, I am ready for you." She turned away from me and dropped to all fours.

I crouched down behind her, and unable to help myself I pressed my muzzle to her rump and scented her readiness. Her scent was strange, not really human but not animal either, but erotic to the point of being intoxicating. I took another deep whiff, then with a grunt I positioned myself and mounted her. I was a good ten inches long now, but slid into her slick wet embrace easily. I squealed and bleated as I served her and God help me it felt so incredibly good. The next time she had me fuck her while she lay on a low table with her legs locked around my waist and I grunted and bleated as I lunged into her and she held me by my horns. She had me service her four times, and the last time was more pain then pleasure. When she was through with me it was like I didn't exist anymore, she called for Louie and he collected me and took me back to my stall for the night. And damn her, she was right, I HAD enjoyed the sex. It had been more intense and pleasurable then anything I'd experienced as a man.

The next day was only half a day as it was Sunday. We were in the booths from eight to one, and then they closed the doors. I was a little confused as they didn't come to take me back to the trailer right away. After a while Louie came in and handed me a small vial, "Drink it!" he said. I told him to,

"Drink it yourself you mother fucking son of a bitch."

Then while I lay gasping on the floor he poured it down my throat, and for the second time; but much faster this time, I went into rut. I still can't describe what it was like; I became a totally different person, or animal. They took me to another booth and the doe was waiting for me, and like me they'd dosed her as well. When we mated it was as animals, there was nothing human left. For an hour we squealed and bleated and grunted as we coupled numerous times until they broke us up. We never even noticed the small crowd of people watching us perform for Circe's "private viewing" show. After the show they took her to a booth along with several "customers" and took me to another one along with two women who had paid for my services. I was still rampant and eagerly mounted the first woman who moaned and sobbed in pleasure and I gave deep guttural grunts of lust as I serviced her, but the second woman started screaming, "He's too big, get him off of me!" And they dragged me, enraged and bawling off of my mate. They had to choke me into unconsciousness, and when I woke up I was back in my stall.

I held Bambi's hand through the slot in the wall, numbed and traumatized by what I'd done. She was kind and didn't blame me, but told me gently, "Today was about a-average, get used to it. You have to accept what we are now; we don't have a-any rights anymore. We have to do what our owners w-a-ant."

A short time later the trailer started moving as the circus hit the road, and a day later we set up at another small town. And my life as an animal, a "freak" went on. The sexual degradation continued, and I was forced to perform first with the help of the "passion potion", then without it. I lost track of how many times I mated with the sheep or doe, or other females, or serviced my owner. It became a blur as I learned, like an animal, to live for the day or moment. I finally accepted what I was now and didn't fight it anymore and things got "easier". I came to look forward to the sex as it was the only pleasure we were allowed.

One day they took away the sheep to see Circe, and she screamed and bleated and fought because she knew it was her last trip. I screamed too, and kicked at the stall door until they told me to stop and the collar choked me into submission. And I cried because I had loved her, both as a man and an animal. The Wolf and Alligator went also, never to return. But others took their places, a Billy Goat, two Nanny goats, another Wolf, and a sheep. And I became "acquainted" with all the new females, helping to rape them into submission as I had no choice while under the influence of the potion. And I continued to be a favorite of my Mistress; she would have me service her almost every night she was with the circus. I don't even try to talk with her anymore, pleading is useless as her heart is long dead and contains no mercy. I merely gave her what she wanted. One night she withheld the potion that stopped the change and the horrible burning pain started again, and when she finally gave me the potion to stop it I had changed some more. My fur was much thicker now on my upper body and I had a thick white ruff around my neck. My human nipples were gone and my chest was more barrel shaped. My neck had lengthened and thickened and my head was now fully cervine, my ears and rack much larger. Most disturbing was I could no longer talk as my vocal cords had changed, and I now had three large clumsy fingers on each hand and no thumbs. My index and middle fingers had grown together as had my two smaller fingers, and all three of my new "fingers" had shiny black nails that went all the way back to the first joint and were stiff and almost impossible to use. I knew if she'd let the change go much farther than it would have been impossible for me to stand upright anymore, and even so it felt, well, wrong. I had to fight a consistent urge to drop to all fours, and when I did it felt comfortable. And even worse my human mind was intact and aware of what had happened; was still happening, to me. The doe had already been taken to this point a month ago, and after I got back to the stall we pushed our muzzles against the slots in the boards and licked each other, trying to hold hands with our horrible clumsy hoof hands. Both the human and animal I was mostly now saw her as his mate, and I loved her. I never even found out her name, she told me it wasn't important anymore. My biggest fear now was she'd be taken from me like the sheep I had also come to love. So we kept performing for our Mistress and waited for the day we'd join the petting zoo until being sold, and when they let us mate it was so very wonderful.

So it came as a total shock to me one night when I suddenly heard the sound of vehicles pulling up very late and heard shouts and yells, and then the sound of fighting and even gun shots! Maybe it was a police raid I hoped, but even if it was what could they do for us? I doubt we'd even have time to find some way to tell them what had happened before we changed for the final time. But it wasn't the police; it was something so totally unexpected at first I had a hard time believing it even after what had happened so far.

I backed into the back of the stall and held my mates misshapen hand as the sounds got louder, and suddenly I heard the door to the trailer open. I heard a bleat of terror from the next stall and a gun shot, then the door to my stall opened and it was Louie. He had a gun in his hand and a wild look on his face, and he pointed the pistol at me and fired! He was so shaken up it missed though, and with a roar I dropped my head and charged him and pinned him to the far wall with my antlers and proceeded to gore him and pummel him with my hoof/hands until he stopped screaming and went limp. I stood over him for awhile snorting and stamping my hooves, if he showed any sign of life I would resume my attack.

Then I heard someone else enter the trailer, and with a loud challenging bawl I turned to face the new threat, head lowered with blood dripping from the points of my antlers. But then I caught the scent of the new intruder, and he was a goat! With a surprised snort I raised my head and took a closer look at him. He looked down at my hooves and said,

"Oh shit! When he saw Louie's body. He looked at me with a frightened look on his part human part animal face and told me, "Look friend, don't be afr-a-aid! We're here to help, I'm like you!" Then he turned and looked in the stall next to mine and gave a loud bleat of anger and ran into the stall.

I didn't know what the hell was going on, but I believed him. For the first time in months I felt something I'd given up on long ago, hope. I went to the door to my mates stall and pulled back the bolt. When it opened she saw; and smelled, the blood on my antlers. She backed away with her eyes rolling, so I entered the stall and grabbed her in a hug and nuzzled and licked her until she calmed down. I led her out into the hall and towards the trailer door as we came to the stall next to mine I heard someone crying, and looking inside I saw the Billy goat, he was holding one of the Nanny goats in his arms gently stroking her face and bleating and crying. It was obvious she was dead from her open unseeing eyes, that bastard Louie had shot her. He must have come here to kill us all. He saw us looking at him and it seemed to snap him out of his grief long enough to pick up the Nanny and come to the stalls door. He asked me,

"Is that the bastard that shot her?" I shook my head yes. "Good for you." He said and kicked Louie's corpse viciously as we walked past it. As he carried the Nanny he put his head on hers and started crying again. One of the tents was burning and we saw some more unmoving bodies, all "employees" as we walked through the circus. I saw a part human/part pony woman leading some of the animals from the petting zoo towards a waiting livestock trailer, and looked in amazement as a huge honest-to-God Minotaur came clopping up to us and said,

"Get a moove on Tony, we need to get out of here five minutes ago, Mooo!" He looked at us, said "Hi folks" and turned and ran over to the pony to help her with the panicky animals. I saw the sheep and ran over and crouched down and hugged her and she bleated in delight and I saw she still had human eyes, all the "animals" did.

About this time a donkey came running up, his long ears twitching towards every new sound. "Has anybody seen that bitch Circe? Haaw!"

The Billy goat replied, "No, but that buck put Louie out of our misery, stomped the living crap out of him. But Circe wasn't here, she got away again."

"Crap, said the Donkey, OK then, we've got to move out. That burning tent is going to bring every cop within fifty miles to see what's going on. Put the buck and doe in trailer number five with the other cervines, we'll take the goats and sheep in number three. I'm sorry about the Nanny Tony."

Tony had been gently nuzzling the dead Nanny and bleating softly. "He shot her, he just shot her, and she was defenseless. Bastard."

"You know we'll take care of her Tony, we never leave any kindred or changelings behind unless they don't want to come with us. Now we have GOT to move! He turned to us and said "Follow me! Haaaww!"

We followed him as he trotted out to the parking lot indicated a very beat up worn looking livestock trailer, the closed in kind with dark windows. We hopped in the back and two does looked at us fearfully, human eyes staring out of their faces were already there. When they say me they calmed down a little though, having a male nearby helped. The Donkey joined us, banged on the front of the trailer and brayed "EH-AAAWWW!" which I guess was a signal of some kind as the trailer suddenly lurched into motion.

We held on as the trailer careened wildly for a minute or two, then settled down to a steady speed. The Donkey stuck his head out the back for awhile, and then turned with a snort of relief.

"Got away, he said, no sign of pursuit."

I stared at him wishing I could talk, I had so many questions. But I just stood there holding my mate as the other two does pushed against me for comfort and reassurance. I think the Donkey knew what we wanted to know though.

"Maybe it's best if I show you something first." He took off his shorts, the only clothes he was wearing. Then with a grunt he fell over on to all fours and I watched in amazement as he changed all the way into a Donkey, it only took a couple of minutes. I shook my head and snorted, and the does all bleated. He looked at us and gave a loud "Heee-Haaaaaw!" Then he grunted again, stood up and changed until he was a Donkey satyr again, then kept changing and took on an almost human form! I guess we deer looked pretty stupid, all standing there with our mouths open. I shook my head and bleated. He looked almost human now, the exception being hooves instead of feet and some body fur, his ears were a little too large and hairy, and he had rather prominent facial features like a very blunt muzzle. He grinned and his teeth were all square; no canines, and said "That's as far as I can go." You see, I'm what we call a kindred, part human, part Mystic. I'm an equine Pan, or satyr.

Then he explained it all to us. He was the child of a mythical creature (which wasn't really a myth) and a human parent who was also kindred. Kindred were part human/part Mystic. We were changelings, humans transformed by magic by humans using it for evil; or in our case, a rogue Mystic. Evidently they'd been after Circe for a long time, but she keeps on the move. They considered what she'd done to us; and uncountable other poor souls over the centuries, to be the worst possible crime. To trap human souls in animal bodies was sacrilege to them, an unforgivable crime against nature. Evidently there were quite a few of them, of all kinds, but they "hid in plain sight", or for the ones that physically couldn't they had refuges, or colonies, where they could live with others like them in relative safety. Ones like us. It seemed the change was irreversible.

Next he used a special "enchanted" knife to cut those damn collars from our necks, and I gave a loud squeal of delight and rubbed my now bare neck. We threw the horrid things out a window. That's when he told us we were stuck like we were; all they could do was to give us a potion that was an antidote to the Circe's. It would prevent further change, but not change us back.

I looked at my mate and thought about what it would be like to live like we were now. No way we could ever go out in public, having to fight constantly to keep from falling over on all fours, having to mate when we were in heat and rut as neither human or animal. When he offered me a bottle I just shook my head "No" and looked at her again. She gave me an affectionate nuzzle, and refused her bottle as well. Far better to change all the way as that way we'd at least be one thing instead of neither. We'd always know we'd been human once, but we'd also have our natural instincts and be able to survive in the wild just fine. In fact I was looking forward to the freedom. The Donkey seemed to understand. I nuzzled my mate again and licked her muzzle and she gave a sad but happy little bleat.

The Donkey told us we'd be joining a herd of changelings in Yosemite National Park that was watched over by two kindred who were also Park Rangers and cervine like us and there were a few more advanced changelings as well. They would take care of us as far as any medical problems that would arise, and make sure we had whatever else we needed along with the "normal" animals.

When the trailer pulled into a gas station so the truck pulling it could refuel he told us "Goodbye, I'll probably never see you again. I have to go now." He put on some special shoes to make his hooves look like feet, and a beanie that would hide his ears. My mate gave him a big hug with tears in her eyes and I grasped his hand as best I could and said "Thank you" with my eyes. He just grinned and said "My pleasure, Glad I could be of assistance. Haaaw!"

The trailer arrived at our destination; and new home, two days later. When the driver opened the door we all dashed past him, and with bounds and leaps ran into the beckoning woods, bleating and belling in joy. My harem and I were finally free!

The End

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