FSE

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"Audrey?" Howard called out my name. Turning to look, I saw him quickly getting dressed. As he frantically buttoned his shirt, I looked down at my fur-covered body. My chest was flattened and covered in reddish-brown hairs. I couldn't help but have a warm, happy feeling rush throughout my body.

"I look great, right?" I exclaimed as I looked back at Howard. But his eyes were more worried than excited.

"Look great? You look like a-" Howard choked, fumbling with his shirt, "you look like a roo, Audrey." Howard said, defeated.

"And you look like a man." I scoffed.

Howard shook his head, "You really don't see what's happening? Audrey, look at yourself." I looked at my fur-covered hands, but everything seemed fine.

"I'm sorry if I did this to you. I thought everything would be fine, that we could enjoy an evening together." Howard grabbed my hand with his. "I'm going to take a shower. I can't go in smelling like I do." Howard said quietly.

"What? Smelling like me?" I took offense to it. I understand not wanting to smell like a kangaroo, but there is no reason to be mean about it.

Howard looked confused, "I can get away smelling like a kangaroo, but I don't think it's too professional to go in smelling like I just had sex." Howard chuckled as he leaned in a gave my head a quick kiss before walking into the bathroom.

As the door pulled shut and the fan kicked on, I was still shocked to hear his words. But as I thought about it, last night's memories began returning to me. I could remember now, but what was going through my mind? Why was I so absent while we were together? Howard and I were officially together now? The thought of the last one was exciting to me. But my mind, now clearer, began to wander to my new fur. Is that what caused my recent changes? My one chance at a regular night, only to change further than ever before. This really was a curse.

I waited for Howard to finish. As he exited the bathroom, he offered me the shower. At first, I started to take him up on the offer, but upon trying to enter the bathroom, it was clear I would struggle in his cramped stand-up shower. Instead, I said I would hose myself off at work. Initially, he was against it, but he didn't argue much. We left the house, and I again situated myself in the small car, unable to take advantage of a single seat.

Upon arriving at the zoo, Howard helped me out of the car, and we walked together back to the office next to the kangaroo display. Upon entering the office, we found that the joey had gotten out of his temporary enclosure, and immediately he hopped up and entered my pouch. Howard started to ask for help, but I waved my hand, "It's okay. He's not hurting anything worse than it is."

Howard lifted my face to line up with his. "We're going to make this work. We will find a way to slow the changes and take everything as we go." Howard said with a smile.

"Yeah, we will be fine." I leaned forward and kissed him.

I handled feeding the Roos in the exhibit while Howard started the daily paperwork. Afterward, I made my rounds with the public as Jenna requested. I tried to ignore my motherly instincts and did my best to avoid giving in to stray thoughts. Although this proved more difficult as the day went on, I was mostly successful. That is if success can be measured by not having new changes. But the changes I had before to my hips did provide better balance while carrying the little one.

I kept my demeanor about me and tried my best to keep the little roo from taking all of my attention away. Not only did this help me get my tasks done, but if I gave in, there was a good chance of more changes. The thoughts grew stronger, but I fought harder as the day continued. Howard knew that something would have to be done about the joey if I was to keep from changing.

"I'll see what I can find about transferring him out. Jenna isn't going to be of any help, so I'll have to do it myself." Howard picked up a stack of papers as he began to walk away. "If I'm not done before close, I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled.

"Do you want to come to my place tonight? I know I'll fit in that shower." I winked.

Howard sighed and laughed, "As much as we both would like a repeat of last night, I don't feel right until we can make sure you won't change again. It's not worth losing you over."

"Well, next time, we are going to my place. Deal?"

"Sounds great." Howard smiled as he pulled the door shut.

Only an hour remained until the zoo closed. My last task for the day was to hose down the concrete in the kangaroo enclosure. As I unwound the hose from the compartment in the display, I heard something in the office crash. Upon entering the office, I found the little one had pulled a lamp from one of the tables. I coaxed him into my pouch, not wanting to leave him alone to cause more destruction.

I left my rain suit in the office, figuring now is a better time than any to wash myself off. Once out in the exhibit, I began cleaning the concrete. The other Roos left me be, as they never wanted to be around when the hose was running. I knew I was running past my usual clock-out time, but I was close to finishing the job. As I started the last section of concrete, I heard a voice yell into the enclosure.

"Audrey! Howard! Are you two in here?" Jenna called out. I knew I was outside of her view where I was standing; frankly, I didn't feel like hearing her ridicule my new changes. So without a word, I continued cleaning.

The door slammed shut with a loud THUD, and the water in the hose slowly tickled to a stop. Jenna must have thought we left the water running when we left. I only had a few more feet to go, so I hopped back to the doorway to start the water again. Upon grabbing the door handle, it would not turn. The handle was firmly locked in place, and the lights dimmed. Jenna must have shut down the while display for the night! I rapped my hand against the door but got no response.

I reached for my pouch to grab my key ring but quickly realized I had removed my keys so I could carry the baby earlier in the day. My key ring was inside the now locked office on my desk. I started to worry. There was no way I could spend the whole night in the display; I had to find some way out.

After an hour of searching the exhibit, I found no possible way out. I walked onto the dirt area and found a spot to sit in hopes someone would see me. But as the night went on, no one came to rescue me. I felt the joey move about and placed my hand on the bump. My instincts started to fight me, and I wanted to lie down and rest. But I knew that would only harm me in the long run. I got up and started to move about the exhibit again, not allowing my instincts to drive me. The other kangaroos watched, confused, as I walked about in the dim light of the night.

I walked about until I was tired but continued to force myself to move. I would do this all night If it were what it took. But passing by the water trough, I wanted to drink but fight the roo's thoughts. My thirst from walking for over an hour carrying the joey eventually won out. I slowly hopped to the trough and tried to cup the water with my hands. Bringing it up to my face, but such minuscule amounts of water were not helping. I lowered my face to the water and began to drink directly from the trough. As I drank, it became more manageable, and the cold water helped relax my warm mouth.

After drinking, I tried to wipe my lips of excess water, but my hand contacted my mouth and forced it to turn. Reaching both hands up, I felt something new. Protruding from my face was a snout covered in coarse fur. I tried to stay calm and walked back to the dirt-covered ground. I tried to imagine my face again but could not think as my mind was flooded with imagery of kangaroos. I sat on the dirt once again, my body aching with exhaustion. If I fell asleep now, I knew it could be the end for me.

But maybe, I could just rest my eyes for a moment. I closed my eyes, and my mind flooded with alien thoughts.

I imagined a mirror before me, and I saw a plain red kangaroo in its reflection. As I moved, its motions followed me. I moved my leg, and the reflection moved all the same. I lifted my hand, and it followed. I tried to speak, but my voice was raspy and unclear. I felt the bump in my pouch, and as I tensed the muscles, I saw the reflected kangaroo do the same. Looking down at my body, I realized it was the same as the reflection. Indistinguishable from a regular red kangaroo. I closed my eyes, and my thoughts and instincts flooded in again. I tried to decipher which thoughts were mine and which were the roo's, but they all overlapped and seemed equally valid.

My eyes flicked open to see the exhibit again. My head was lying on the dirt. I tried to grab the rock and pull myself up. My hand was unable to grip, and I switched to rolling onto my stomach. Upon sitting up, I looked at my hands, which were entirely changed. My eyes raced up my arms to see that they had also finished changing. The further I looked, the more I found to have changed, but this time it was different. Upon seeing it, my entire body was entirely that of a kangaroo. I felt my head and found to my fears, there wasn't a single human feature left.

My mind raced with conflicting thoughts. I knew the roo's mind was trying to fight for control, but I couldn't fight back. I had no idea which thoughts were mine or the roo's. I knew I needed to get to the office, and I hopped back to the door. The sun was rising, close to the time Howard would have clocked in. I slammed my body against the door, my hands unable to knock. My shoulder began to burn in pain as I hit harder and harder against the steel door. After multiple hard hits, I gave up and fell to the ground in front of the door.

My mind was still buzzing with random thoughts and desires. I tried to wade through them, but they were beginning to overwhelm me. I heard the door open and looked up to see Howard, who stared at me, puzzled.

"What the-" He began to say but stopped as the joey climbed out of my pouch. His eyes widened, and he jumped to my side. "Audrey? Audrey! What... what happened to you?!" Howard shouted as he helped me back to my feet. "You... changed?" His voice began to crack.

I wrapped my arms around him, and for a moment, the alien thoughts began to subside. He slowly rubbed my back and tried to speak, but his crying broke his attempts.

"I l-ove you, Au-drey." Howard tried to speak, and I squeezed him harder with my arms. "It's going to be okay, remember? We are going to get through this," he whispered. "I'm here now. I'm here with you."

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. One of his hands moved to the back of my head, and he slowly rubbed it in circles. "You don't have to fight it anymore. I'm here now." Howard spoke more straightforwardly this time. As he spoke, the thoughts came flooding in again. This time it was much stronger, and they slowly overwhelmed my mind, and I felt pushed back in my mind as I lost control. I felt at ease, no longer fighting the thoughts like a veil was placed before me. I was in the same place the roo was just hours ago, trying to influence its mind as I saw Howard let go. He turned away and shut the door, his face buried in his hands.

I was able to get the zoo to agree to a transfer. Although I blamed Jenna for Audrey's incident in the enclosure, I knew it wasn't on purpose. I still struggled to work with her, especially after how she had treated Audrey before the incident. In the end, I think she did regret how she spoke to Audrey, but at the same time, it could have been for all the wrong reasons. Jenna seemed perfectly fine with being rid of the joey now that Audrey was gone. But I don't know what she expected to happen after what happened that morning.

In the following days, Audrey and the baby were transferred to a different zoo, one needing animals for a recently built expansion. I couldn't leave her like that after everything we had been through. I resigned from my position as keeper and applied for the new zoo she was residing at. Desperate for the job, I did take a massive pay cut, but doing so made me a no-brainer for the position.

For the last three months, I've had to care for my once-human partner. Audrey spent that time slowly weaning off the joey. Once he was on his own, Audrey seemed almost slow-moving and less active. She would occasionally interact with other animals in the exhibit. However, with her and the now juvenile kangaroo being the only of their kind, it was clear she was still lonely.

I attempted to get her to recognize me, but I couldn't tell for sure if she still remembered me. I did my best to hide the fact that I knew her from the other workers. The last thing I needed was for them to find my true motives. I tried to be around her whenever possible, hoping she would give me a sign. After a month of trying, I was close to calling it a loss. I was in charge of closing up the Australia exhibit, her exhibit.

While inside doing the washes with the hose, I felt an itch from my waist. I scratched at the itch through my pants, but it didn't seem to subside. I dropped the hose and pulled my shirt up, surprised to find tiny red hairs covering my belly. Pulling my waistband away, I could see where they continued down in a thick patch. At first, I was terrified, but maybe...

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the new fur spreading up my body. As I did, a wave of warmth began to spread up my chest. My arms and hands felt odd as I imagined the fur spreading down my arms. Nervously I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at my hand. The back of my hand and Arouca my entire arm was reddish-brown fur. I heard a thump, and my eyes darted up to see Audrey, whose colors seemed eerily similar to mine.

I closed my eyes again. Tears began to seep from my closed eyes and roll down my face. This time they were tears of joy rather than sadness. Shaking, I knew what I needed to do, what I needed to picture. I had no hesitation as my mind drifted to thoughts of Audrey and me together again. As the warmth spread across my body once more, I didn't want to open my eyes again. Not until it was over, and I could be with her again.

I wanted a sign, but what I got was much more, and I wouldn't want it any other way.