Fear
*If you see any text errors, feel free to point them out in the comments*
So it was another boring old week at work, wearing this dorky blue uniform. god I hated the thing! And the worst thing was,It did nothing to shield from the cold, which I desperately needed since winter had decided to kick in early this year.
Seriously, what the hell fall? I mean, did we even have a fall? I was regretting moving into the 'frozen wasteland of the north' already. Move up north they said, it'll be fun they said....yea right. To top it off, I'd been feeling a little 'off' somewhere between sick and odd for the past week. I Inwardly sighed, shook my head and got back to work. I'd been slacking for the last half hour already and it showed. I just couldn't convince myself to concentrate and I was way behind on my shelve stocking duties already. So like the worker drone I was, I continued to stack products on the shelves.. Canned corn... molasses... 'Oh! Cute guy, he's probably straight though.. Snap out of it! get back to work!'... pickles.. coffee...Holy shit! Lunch already? YES!! I finished my cart full of stock and dumped off the cardboard then headed to the isles to decide what I wanted to eat. This was always the hardest part of the day... goddamit, there was too much choice!! I worked in a friggin' grocery store for christ sakes and I still couldn't decide what I wanted to eat. I settled on a bowl instant noodles and dollar organic soda, It would have to do.
I made my way up to the break room and thought "Oh boy, time to but on the mask again" It really sucked to be, what seemed to be the only gay guy in the 'straight canadian north' as I had taken to calling it recently. I put on my straight guy mask and walked in. The gay jokes were almost instintaneous, and if they weren't outright said, they were inplied. I laughed and joked along with the others as they talked about hockey, and the huge tits on that one brunette in grade twelve. as I listened and slurped down my noodles I began to feel more sick. In fact, I was loosing my appetite.. rapidly; Was it the food? or maybe the atmosphere? I wasn't sure. I looked distainfully down at the greasy, sodium filled mixture of soup 'broth' and noodles.. yea, no way I was eating the rest of that. I listened for A few seconds longer until I couldn't stand it anymore and went downstairs.
I began to work again but the customers just... pissed me off.. "What do you mean you dont have any of this? your store sucks!" or "Where the hell are you hiding the fucking mayo?!" Some days I just wanted to yell, but I wasn't that stupid, that would be the end of a job for me if I did that.
"Excuse me, what Isle would I find popcorn in?" the customer asked.
Hah! That was an easy one 'aisle seven' I was about to reply before a wave of nausea swept through my body. Not unlike the feeling before throwing up. The customer just stared at me, and gave me a funny look. "Well, what aisle is it?" they said, getting impatient. " It's down aisle seven" I managed to squeak out before running back into the warehouse and into the washroom, leaving behind a very stunned looking customer.
I slammed the door closed and locked it. I leaned over the sink, prepared to puke, yet nothing came; yet the nausea continued to run through my body. What the hell was going on? I felt all... tingly And my eyes seemed so... golden. They'd always been such a boring brown. Then I felt a pinch in my lower back, then.. OW FUCK!.. that REALLY hurt, what the fuck is going on here?! I gripped the counter so hard my knuckles turned white as searing white hot pain erupted from my lower back. I breathed heavily as I felt around my lower back. Then something twitched. I nearly flipped out right then and there. was that really what I thought it was? A Long furry appendage had grown out of my backside, In other words, a tail.. no fucking way! Just as I began to celebrate, another crippling wave of nausea hit me and I could see the hairs on my arms darken. yea, I had to get the fuck out of here. I quickly stuffed my tail back into my pants and dashed upstairs.I bursted into the break room and grabbed my car keys and jacket from my locker before yelling "Goin home sick!" To the manager who was on his lunch. People in the store were all staring at me. Come on, I mean really? Did I really look that strange? I mean sure there was a mishaped lump in my pants, but I still looked human!... right? Well I wasn't so sure, and I didn't want to find out.
As soon as I was out the front door, I sprinted through the parking lot, nearly causing two or three cars to hit me. I didn't care though, I just wanted the hell out of here! I must have broken speed records with how fast I drove back home..
'goddamit, I just hope my roommates aren't home'
I had no idea how I would ever explain me having a real tail to them. 'Hey derrick, don't mind me.. oh what? this? don't worry about it. it's just my tail. that's completely normal and everything" Yea. I'm sure that'd go over real well. Luckily when I got home, no one was there, which was a stroke of goodluck, considering how shitty this day had been. As soon as I'd made it to the bathroom, the waves of nausea started again, as well as the tingling; Which in itsself wasn't that unpleasant, if it hadn't been for the nausea, it would've almost been a pleasant sensation. I closed my eyes and gripped the counter and begged for it to go away. At first it tickled, then it started to make all my clothes feel really uncomfortable. I opened my eyes in time to see silky black fur run all the way down my arms and then my hards. I twisted my hands around in amazement, and then looked at the portrusions of my palms that looked somewhat like a feline's paw pads. Cool, but strange. I mean, I had dreamed of something like this happening for a very long time, but it was just that. A dream. I had never actually considered it could happen in real life, I mean, that was impossible! but yet here it was happening to me. I didn't have much time to dwell on that though as the next level of nausea was rearing it's ugly head, and this time it was by far the most powerful. My face tingled, and all at once distorted and pushed out. I slapped my hands over my mouth to stifle my shriek as my entire jaw and face reformed itself. After it was finished, I felt so weak I collapsed to the floor and just closed my eyes.
It was a while before I gained the strength, or courage for that matter, to look in the mirror.
What I saw made me gasp. There, right where I stood was a black panther, who was the same build and height as. I guess It really was me, but just not as I recognized myself. I stood there in front of the mirror and felt every part of my face, just to make sure it still really was me.. which it was of course, but understandibly I was in a state of utter disbelief. What had happened? and more importantly.. why? I pondered this until I heard the front door unlock. Oh. shit. I sprinted upstairs as quietly as I could, which was suprisingly not that hard with my newly aquired feline grace, then hid in my room.
What would I do now? there was no way I could go back to work, not like this! or Any job for that matter. I started to freak out with the implications of what these new changes would mean..
end... For now. OR IS IT!
I may right more to this at some point if I feel like it. I had that main chunk of story in my head that I had wanted to get out of my head.