First weekend of the month means Furious Fiction time!
The criteria for August:
- First sentence must contain only four words.
- Must include something being shared.
- Must include the words PAINT, SHIFT, WAVE and TOAST.
My dragon wants out. She squirms under my skin. This is bad.
‘Preppies,’ Mrs Williams shrills. ‘Time to line up to see the animals now. Isn’t this exciting!’
My teacher’s sing-song voice isn’t sweet and light like she thinks it is – it peels paint off walls.
‘Come on now,’ she sings as she waves us forward. ‘Two lines. Follow the nice man.’
The nice man is a vet who’s brought his menagerie of pets for us to pet. Rabbits. Why did he have to bring rabbits? They’re my favourite. My parents clearly didn’t read the newsletter. If they’d known about this, I wouldn’t be at school today.
‘Lavender,’ I whisper to my best friend, ‘I can’t do this.’
‘It’s the rabbits, isn’t it,’ she says matter-of-factly.
I nod. My parents told me not to tell anyone we are shapeshifters, but I had to share my secret. I need someone who knows the real me.
Lavender takes my hand. ‘It’ll be fine.’
I nod, even though I know it will not be fine.
The animal enclosures are on the oval. My only refuge is the toilet block – better than nothing – but it’s so far away.
‘Wow!’ Lavender says. ‘Look at all these animals! I want to be a vet when I grow up!’
The nice man smiles. ‘Come on then,’ he says. ‘How would you like to pet this lamb?’
Lavender nods and drags me to the nearest pen.
‘This is Betsy,’ the nice man says. ‘She’s really friendly. Feel how soft her wool is …’
Lavender giggles as Betsy nuzzles her hand.
‘Here,’ Lavender says to me, ‘you try.’
My hand trembles as I reach forward, but I’m not even close to making contact when the lamb shrieks.
BAAAAAAAAH! BAAAAAAAAH!
Betsy crouches then springs, launching herself at me like a missile – easily clearing the portable fence. I drop to the ground as the lamb sails over me and scampers away towards the school.
‘What the—’ the nice man says, eyes wide as four squealing pigs break loose from their pen.
Lavender takes my face in her hands. ‘They know. The animals know what you are.’
Yep. People can’t sense the reptile inside me. But these animals can. I’m toast.
The pony doesn’t bother jumping the fence; he just tramples it before galloping after the lamb. Children are screaming and crying, animals are bleating and braying, and an alpaca is chasing Mrs Williams.
And then I see it. A rabbit.
‘No!’ Lavender cries. ‘Rabbits are friends, not food.’
She clutches my wrist and hauls me through the chaos as I fight the urge to Shift. At least the animals clear out of our way. The toilet block is close now, but I won’t make it. My wings sprout and my tail slithers loose.
Lavender hurls me into a cubicle and slams the door.
My uniform is shredded. I stare at the dragon in the mirror. I’ll never be a vet.
I sigh. I don’t know how I’ll get through Prep.