Short Stories From Out There

The Curtains Thrown Wide

Yeknom removed his furry suit, taking care not to catch it on any of his scales. Playing a mammal from Earth had won much applause from the initially lackluster audience. As that audience saw him in his waterborne form, sighs of wonder and surprise shot across the smoky room. There was enough illumination for him to reflect a bright sheen, which added to the audience's thrill. He could not see them, but their voices carried the adoration he longed for. He knew that for anyone to openly show their full measure of scales was risqué at best, but this group seemed not only not offended by his nakedness but applauded it. He took a bow, letting the hairy coverings he had shed fall to the stage floor.

He felt an itch at the back of his neck, and it suddenly burned as hot as a torch. He grabbed at the spot and found a zipper. He started to pull and noticed a sound not unlike a vacuum as the smoke in the room disappeared. He could make out dark shapes moving where the audience was as he pulled on the zipper. It came over his head and down the side of his face. He paused as the zipper reached his throat. He didn't remember wearing an extra scale skin, but it wasn't uncommon for one in his position to put on layers of scales shinier than his natural ones. He began to pull again, and as the scale suit fell away, he noticed smooth flesh with a light covering of hair.

No surprise there. Yeknom had been undercover as a fish man for the last few months, and now that they had solved the case, there was no need to endure the hot, stuffy scale suit further. As the jury sat stunned—obviously due to the convincing fish man unzipping his skin—he smiled at the incredible odds he overcame to bring the Northern Saltwater Tribe to justice. No one had been able to infiltrate that particular group for decades. He had gotten his name in the history books and a higher standing than his father, the Chameleon. As the skin fell away, he basked naked in the glow of success, wondering if his father had ever come close to this joy.

Father, what a strange word to apply to someone so cold and distant. If only father had accepted him for the lesbian he was, he might not have gone through with the change (or maybe the more accurate term was 'she' would not have gone through with the change). In trying to please him, she had decided to become the son he always wanted: A son with the 'appropriate' woman-desiring preferences to match. It was a simple matter these days. Take a few pills every morning, and within weeks, you were a man. The pills, however, were wearing off. As she danced for the club, the change spread across their body like wildfire. Male genitalia sucked up into her body, and the female version appeared. His rippled chest dropped briefly and grew out, becoming full breasts. Hair fell off in a small pile as his rough male skin shed for the smoothness of a woman's skin. There was little to no change in musculature anywhere else since she had been a buff woman. The last change was facial: the rough features softened to a feminine oval. In the crowd, both men and women (and a few in between) cheered as she took various poses during the change. As the final changes happened, she picked up a fur lying near her and wrapped it around herself, fully covering herself in the dark, thick coat.

She dropped to all fours and made the most threatening sounds she could. The males pounded the hillside, jumping up and down in their rapt approval. She turned her backside to the throng and looked at them over her shoulder, letting out a soft growl. The males were almost in a frenzy, and fighting broke out among them. Now was the chance to get close to her, but she had the final say. If the few males who made it up to her side of the draw were not what she wanted, the ritual would continue the next day until she found one she did. The group had quickly dwindled to ten or so as the rest of the males fell back: not powerful enough for the task. She slapped her buttocks once and turned to face them, baring her teeth and letting loose a roar that gave even the largest of the males pause. Choosing a mate was hard work, but she needed to be as selective. She noticed a dense fog rolling down the hillside. She would need to decide before the fog became too thick. She wouldn't rush, however. The future depended too much on Yeknom being patient.