Élphame

Chapter Four

          Naomi noticed Papa had left the garage door open and she could see his car parked inside. She decided to forego the front door and came in through the garage.

          "Papa, I'm home," she called as she set her bag down on the couch.

          "Hey, Squirt," came the reply from the kitchen. "How was your day?"

          She found him at the stove, stirring something in a pot, wearing a flowered apron around his neck. Naomi couldn't help but giggle a little. "Nice outfit," she said.

          Papa glanced down and smiled. "What, this? I thought it made me look dashing."

          "It suits you." She smiled. "What's for dinner?"

          "I was thinking chicken alfredo." He showed her the noodles sitting in the pot of hot water. "With your maman's homemade alfredo recipe. How does that sound?"

          Naomi was a little shocked. "We haven't had that in ages. What's the occasion?"

          "Well, I figured you'd want something yummy to refuel on after your tests today, and prepare you for the ones you have tomorrow. How did it go, by the way?"

          Naomi shrugged. "Alright, I guess. I think I did pretty well on the history test, but math definitely kicked my butt. After I finished, I followed your example and imagined the teacher getting eaten by a chimera. Though, I think I one-upped you."

          Papa raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how's that?"

          "I was riding it."

          He smiled and gave her a high five. "That's my girl."

          Naomi grinned, but it quickly faded as she noticed a strange but familiar feeling in her hands. At first, she thought her fingers were just buzzing from the impact of hitting her father's hand, but the feeling was too familiar and brought too much dread into her stomach for it to be a mere sting from a high five. Her heart dropped into her stomach and her breath caught in her throat. Two days in a row? That had never happened before.

          Papa's voice sounded echoey and far away. "You okay there, Squirt? You just got really pale all of a sudden."

          "Uh, uhh, yeah, I'm fine, I, uh, just... I just realized I answered a question wrong on my math final." Naomi tried to keep the shaking out of her voice. The tingling was moving at an alarming rate. It had already completely covered her hands and was halfway to her elbows.

          "Don't you hate that?" Papa said sympathetically. The tingling was a few inches from her shoulders. "The same thing happened to me when I was taking a final in my chemistry class my freshman year of college. The question was about--"

          "Interesting as that sounds, Papa," Naomi interrupted, "I've gotta run to the bathroom. I've been holding it since lunch." She smiled apologetically and ran for the bathroom. The feeling enveloped her chest and was quickly traveling down her stomach and up her neck. Her head and face were tingling in four seconds. Her abdomen was completely covered in six.

          What is happening? Naomi thought in a panic as her legs started to shake, whether from the buzzing feeling or fear she couldn't tell. The Shift had never come two days in a row before, and it certainly had never struck so quickly and suddenly. Is this it? she thought. What if this was the time she Shifted for good? Was this the last night she would ever see her normal face?

          Don't be so melodramatic, the rational part of her brain said. The one thing that's predictable about the Shift is that it's unpredictable. It's probably nothing serious.