Beastly Little Boy

Chapter 1

"How does it feel to be treated like a monster even though you did nothing wrong?" said the voice from Bernard's nightmares.

Darkness surrounded Bernard, pressing on him like a heavy blanket. He couldn't feel anything else, not even his own body.

"You're lucky they just put you to sleep," said the voice. "It's your father's fault that they did worse to my family."

Bernard awoke with a growl as sunlight shined through the boughs of the pine trees overhead. He yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before hauling himself onto his paws. His legs trembled like tree branches in a storm, and his stomach quivered as he tried to stay on his feet. Bernard squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for his weakness and nausea to pass. Once he stopped feeling like a gentle breeze could knock him over, Bernard opened his eyes and began exploring his surroundings.

Every movement Bernard made took so much effort that it felt as if he was trying to move through honey instead of air. His thoughts felt equally slow. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something seemed off about these woods. There was something missing, something important. Bernard shook his head in an attempt to clear the fog from his mind.

A deep rumbling from his stomach brought his attention to another problem. Bernard sniffed the air, but he couldn't catch even a whiff of bacon. That was the problem. His mom hadn't started cooking his breakfast yet. Bernard glanced at the sky and groaned. The sun had already journeyed far above the horizon.

The smell of his mother's cooking usually woke Bernard up no matter how far he strayed from the house, especially when he was hungry, yet he had managed to sleep through half the day. A few years ago, he would have cheered if he had managed to sleep in this late. Now the extra hours of sleep reminded Bernard of the months he would spend hibernating. He shuddered at the thought. Would he still be himself once winter passed, or would the transformation progress further until his mind changed to match his body?

A gurgled protest from his stomach reminded Bernard that he had more urgent things to deal with. He would have plenty of time to worry about the future once he got his mom to make him breakfast. Hopefully, he could convince her to stop making such a fuss about cooking everything and give him a couple of raw eggs. A plateful of extra fatty bacon would be even better.

The mere thought of breakfast made Bernard's mouth water. "Mom, I'm hungry!" he yelled.

A guttural roar tore through the forest. Bernard looked around, trembling with his ears flat against his head. He waited for an attack that never came until a realization dawned on him.

"Was that me?" Bernard asked himself, eyes widening as his words came out as a strange huffing noise.

"Mom, help me!" The words came out as another roar. "Please..."

Bernard tried again and again to speak English until his voice was hoarse and his throat ached. The only noises he could force out were grunts, growls, and, eventually, whimpers. Finally, Bernard collapsed into a sobbing heap.

Bernard still understood himself when he spoke, but his own voice seemed strange to him. It sounded deep and rough, as if it belonged to a forty-year-old man instead of a kid. He could only imagine how other people would react if they heard him now.

Except they had reacted. Hazy recollections of the night before gradually returned to Bernard. His paws trembled as he remembered the ambush and the sudden pain of the tranquilizer dart. The rangers had come for him before he had discovered that he had lost his voice.

That didn't make sense. The rangers never did anything without a reason. They wouldn't have come to take him unless someone had told them he was causing trouble. But who would have told them about him? His mom had homeschooled him since his nails had started lengthening into what would eventually become claws, so it wasn't as if anyone besides his mom knew what he had become.