The Beast Within (#Wattys2016)

Reborn

I blinked in the bright light, gingerly opening my eyes.

Cold and hard beneath me, the floor of my prison was just as I remembered it, though the hospital gown I had been trapped in was absent. Not that I missed the scratchy fabric much, anyways. It had just been an annoyance during my painful endeavor, causing me to become ensnared in it as I twisted and turned, fought and kicked and screamed. The remembrance of my agony made me cringe.

The pain I had endured was now only a recollection, a memory fresh in my mind, a ghost of the past.  Now, my body felt strange, energy and life coursing through my veins. Revived, renewed, remade, I had no lingering headaches, no throbbing in my muscles, no ringing in my ears. I felt as if I had been reborn, as if I had risen from the ashes, something bright and beautiful.

My heart thudded within my chest as I realized that eyes through which I saw the world were new. Now, instead of 180 degrees of vision, I was shocked to discover that I had 200 degrees, making my worldview much wider. My gain in peripheral vision, however, was not the only change; I saw things in a more panoramic manner, and the edges of my vision were slightly blurred.

Had there been any colors in my tiny white box, I would have noticed that they appeared faded; I would have been shocked to discover that now I had difficult time discerning between pinks and reds, that purples looked like shades of blue, and that the vibrant hues I had known before were gone.

Squeezing my eyes shut, hoping that my vision would clear, I felt thousands of thoughts swimming through my mind. When I opened them, slowly, nothing had changed. I blinked again, trying desperately to fix my warped perspective, but to no avail.

Upon further inspection, my surroundings seemed larger, my once suffocating prison more spacious. No, it couldn't really have gotten any bigger... Maybe I had gotten smaller? That would certainly explain the once normal-sized hospital gown suddenly drowning me in its itchy, colorless folds.

My nose twitched faintly as it met foreign odors.

Unusual scents drifted through the air, strange new smells that I had not noticed before. The air smelled faintly of cleaning chemicals, of paint, of the lingering scents of the two scientists that my nose couldn't have detected before. There was also another scent, one mixed and difficult to figure out, but after a while I discovered that it was the smell of fear, of pain, of loneliness, and of despair, all blended together. This overwhelming scent of hopelessness and agony masked the fading traces of my own, human scent.

What on earth was wrong with me?

I attempted to get up, but at my first movement, I realized that something was very, very wrong. My body not only felt different; it was different.

Wobbling to unsteady feet, I realized that the entire construction of my skeleton and structure had been drastically altered. For one, I now had four feet instead of two, and no hands to speak of. 

I stared incredulously at the two tiny, dainty black paws, such a sharp contrast against the painfully white floor.  

Suddenly, the world slowed to an agonizing halt, and I was everywhere, nowhere, anywhere but here. My thoughts ran together, panicked and numerous, swirling through my brain as I struggled to process what I had just seen.

This can't be happening, no, these paws aren't mine. This is all just a dream, this isn't real, no, no, no. These aren't my paws, I don't have paws! These paws don't belong to me, maybe I'm just seeing things...? A dream, it's all a dream. Oh, somebody tell me this isn't real.

By the time my head had cleared and I had slipped out of my state of shock and disbelief, I found it difficult to stand on my new feet. They were so tiny, so delicate and perfect, so foreign. They were light, nimble, quick and darting feet, this I knew, but I felt clumsy and awkward in my new body; I was unsure of how to even take a step forward.

I flexed my newfound claws and gaped at them, these sharp, pointed things that I could retract and unsheath as I pleased. Turning over one midnight-colored paw, I marveled at the soft pink pads on the bottom of it. 

Carefully taking a step forward, I was amazed by my soft, soundless footstep, by the gentle and poised placement of my paw upon the ground. Maybe getting used to my new form wouldn't be so hard after all.

My tail twitched with delight and I turned my head, watching it swish hypnotically back and forth. With a graceful flourish, I flicked it upwards, enjoying trying out my new appendage, waving it around playfully.

I arched my back, stretching, and then surveyed my chamber of confinement. There, sitting innocently on the other side of the room, was a mirror. It had been mounted on the wall, near the floor, as if provided for my use.

Strolling over to it, my paws falling ever so soflty againt the floor, I sat back on my haunches, gazing in disbelief and awe at my reflection.

Staring back at me was a beautiful cat, her fur as black as night, silky and smooth. A tiny splash of white on her chest fur was pure and colorless, like fresh snowfall. Her brilliant emerald eyes shone with a dazzling sparkle, strangely simlar to the shimmering green eyes my human form possessed.

She looked a bit shocked at first, upon seeing herself, but then she watched herself with wonder, examining her new body, which was lean and limber, covered in downy fur so soft it practically begged to be stroked. Elegance and loveliness radiated from her, her wise and blazing eyes lighting up the blank room, dancing with green flames.

Her chest puffed out slightly with pride as she seemed to smile.

This was me.