by WL Flinn
I took my coffee, sat at the dining room table and broke out my laptop. I typed my first Google search. What are the after-effects of the Sickness? Of course, I got thousands of responses. Most common of course were lingering headaches, fevers that came and went and the occasional sore throat. “Hmmm,” I muttered. “Where is the sleep walking? Where are the hallucinations? Where is waking up naked in your back yard?”
I read further about some survivors having strange incidents. Some being able to grow flowers better or turn water hot or cold or sew buttons without their hands. These were all laughed at and generally looked at as fiction. But one girl’s story reached out to me.
She said she had gotten very sick. She was one of the ones that had nearly died. In fact, she had died and they managed to bring her back. After she was released from the hospital, all seemed to be fine and dandy. Except when she decided to go to her karate class, she was much stronger than she had before the Sickness. She now could beat any man in the dojo without breaking a sweat. She had been in the hospital for several weeks. Her muscles should have atrophied, but they didn’t. When her sensei tried to take it easy on her, she told him to bring it on. She actually punched through a heavy bag.
I took a sip of my coffee. I knew in my heart her story was true. I needed to talk to this woman. Maybe she could help me get to the bottom of what was happening to me.
I looked up her name, but of course it was just a screen name #youdontseeme. I would need to do some sleuthing on figuring out who she was.
The second search was what do you call a unicorn with wings. I knew Pegasus and I knew unicorn but not both. “Gotta love Google,” I sighed as the picture of an alicorn promptly displayed on my monitor. Of course, this one was well muscled and dominating and beautiful white. Mine was kind of shorter, a little more chubby and gray, but close enough for government work. So, I dreamed of an alicorn, and I sleepwalked until I woke up outside in the yard. “What a night,” I scrubbed my face. “I definitely need more coffee.”
About eleven a.m. I heard my kids start to rise. Nothing like a teen to know how to waste a morning. I had finished my pot of coffee and was feeling the need to move.
“Do you guys want to go for a run?” I asked. Two pairs of eyes stared back blankly.
“Who are you, and what have you don’t with our mother?” Rusty asked.
“Very funny,” I said. “Y’all slept half the day away. I am ready to go do something.”
The two kids turned to look at each other. “Are you sure you’re okay, Mom?” SallyAnn asked. “You seem awfully chipper this morning. Did you sleep all right?” She came over to me and looked me over inspecting me for any injuries.
“I need to work off all that pizza,” I said patting my full belly.
Penny came lumbering down the stairs and stopped dead when she saw me. She bared her teeth. The hair on her back stood up and then my own dog growled at me. In shock I looked at her. SallyAnn tapped her on the butt. “Penny, that’s Mom. Just ‘cause she smells like a hospital doesn’t mean she isn’t Mom.” Penny turned her big, brown eyes on me, and I knew she knew I was different after the Sickness. There was just no denying those brown eyes staring me down.
“Penny, come here,” I practically begged. I held out my hand for her to come to. She looked at me like I wasn’t fooling anyone. She sat down and didn’t move an inch.
“Huh,” Rusty said rubbing her ears. “That isn’t like her. Maybe she isn’t feeling well. Maybe the Sickness has mutated and is affecting dogs now?” He squatted down and looked in her eyes. She stared at me.
“Yeah, that must be it. We will have to watch her. I want to make sure she doesn’t get sick. Now who wants me to fix breakfast?” I ran around the kitchen island and started to look for breakfast foods. Having been in the hospital for two weeks, the cupboards were definitely bare. “Gotta put that on the list of things to do,” I thought. “Okay, how about whatever we have?” I grabbed a box of granola and a box of Poptarts. “The breakfast of champions,” I muttered. I really have to up my mothering game.
SallyAnn came over and gave me a hug. “It’s cool, Mom. We’re good with whatever.”
“Yeah, it is too bad you can’t just magic something into existence,” Rusty laughed.
All the color drained from my face. “Yeah, wouldn’t that be cool?” I tried to laugh, but it came out strangled. “Magic, yeah, that would be cool.” I grabbed a dog treat and tossed it at Penny. Clearly she knew I was bribing her, but I think she was willing to work with me buying her love. I tossed her another. She came over and sat next to me, and I gave her one more. I could work with this.
SallyAnn grabbed my hand. “Are you okay, Mom?” She dragged me back to the dining room chair I had been in earlier. “I think you might have overdone it.” She closed my laptop and put a Poptart in front of me. “Maybe you need to eat.”
I looked up at her and nibbled on the Poptart. I thought of how sweet the blades of grass were yesterday when I ate them. “What is wrong with me?” I asked.
SallyAnn gave me a big hug. “Nothing is wrong with you, Mom. You just need more rest.”
Glad she didn’t understand why I was asking, I tried to get my head back into being a mom. I took a quick look around and decided to go to the grocery store. I had to get back to normal and forget these crazy thoughts.
“It’s good to have you back.” Pam fist bumped me. “I would hug you and all, but you know, not allowed.” I could tell she was grinning under her facemask. “I was worried about you. I thought,” she paused, “I thought, you know…” Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I am all good now, Pam.” I smiled grateful for her friendship. “All completely fine.” I didn’t tell her about my crazy-butt dream about turning into a winged unicorn. I was still hopeful it was just a fever-induced nightmare.
Pam looked me over. “I know the masks hide some ills, girl. But what happened to the blonde hair? It’s all gray now. Not that there is anything wrong with that.” She snorted to herself about the Seinfeld reference.
“I have no flipping idea. I dyed it last night and it came out blonde, like normal. Then when I woke up, it was this drab gray color.” Yeah, I was totally not doing this color. The Sickness had definitely aged me. “I woke up too late to try and color it again this morning.”
I didn’t tell her I had dyed it four times. Last night I finally bought the super strong hair color designed to cover grays. My hair came out a shiny, yellow blonde. SallyAnn looked up from the dining room table. “That color is much better for you, Mom. You don’t look so washed out.”
I fluffed my pixie haircut happily. “Take that, you stupid Sickness.”
Penny’s sneezing woke me in the night. I looked down and my fingers were glowing purple. But there was no pain, no urge to run outside. So, I wiggled them and smiled at the purple light.
When I woke up, I dressed for work and looked in the mirror. My hair was gray. “Really?” I muttered. “My super magical power is my hair keeps turning ugly gray? That isn’t fair.”
I walked downstairs and SallyAnn’s eyes bugged out of her head when she saw my hair. I raised my hand. “Don’t even say it. I don’t want to hear it. “
Over her coffee this morning, Pam eyed my hair. “Girl, maybe we can try a new brand of color?”
“I did. Twice.” I pointed my finger at her mockingly. “You and your magical powers from the Sickness. This is what I got, gray hair.”
Pam put her arm around me. Then she took it off before anyone could see her. “My grandmother had the same effect from surgery. It happens to some people. I am so sorry. You are still beautiful.”
“I am pretty sure about the only side effect of this is that I won’t be getting carded any time soon. Not that I have been carded in years anyway.” I snorted.
The days went back to normal. The kids and I returned to our routines. As the mom of a teenage boy, I went back to putting down toilet seats and cleaning up boy pee from around toilet.
&nbs
p; The radio continually talked about the infection rate and how many people were getting sick. We were rapidly approaching 600,000 deaths. No one seemed to be able to stop the virus. The scientists were lost. Every time they thought they were on the right track with a vaccine it was either totally ineffective or caused even more harm than good.
Then, there were the rumors of magic. Other than my hair and my glowing fingers, I hadn’t seen the alicorn again. After ten boxes of hair color, I finally gave up and decided gray-blonde, dishwater hair was the new me.
I also started walking Penny more often. I was just more restless. I couldn’t take the status quo, or my quarantine weight any longer. So, every night, she would grab her leash and tell me it was time to go for a walk with those big, brown eyes and wagging tail.
“Mom, are you sure that it’s a good idea for you to go out at night?” Rusty asked as I was walking out the door.
“I have my trusty watchdog with me.” I ruffled Penny’s head.
“Mom, she’s a golden retriever. They are not known for their guard dog abilities.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I just have to get out.” I made sure the door was locked behind me and Penny as we made our escape. Living in Florida I was “lucky” I could get out of the house and go to work because I was an essential employee. But there were so many things still closed. Nothing felt right. Getting out for a walk was the highlight of my day.
As we walked down the street, Penny’s ears picked up and she started growling. I heard a muffled gasp and looked to the left where she turned. There in the shadows a man in dark clothing had a smaller woman pinned to the ground. There was a glint of light from a metal blade at her throat. He growled something about not moving and he wouldn’t hurt her too badly.
I started shaking in anger that a man would dare to try to hurt a woman. Without thinking I walked into the alley. “Get. Off. Her,” I whispered.
He looked over at me and Penny and laughed. “What, you want to be next? I got something you’ll like.”
“Get off her now!” I said more forcefully. I started shaking all over. My vision went red as I got so angry this guy was trying to hurt a woman. Pain lanced through my body. Every bone felt like it was breaking and reforming. My arms lengthened and I was thrown onto all fours. The bones in my face cracked and stretched. I couldn’t breathe. As quickly as it started, it was over. And I knew I had turned into the alicorn. I could almost hear the beast inside me screaming “kill him!” I lowered my head and ran directly at the man. The sound of my hooves clattering on the pavement made the man look up.
His eyes rounded in disbelief as he saw my alicorn pounding down on him. He froze. Bad move. My lowered horn knocked the scumbag off the girl. “Run,” I said to the girl. Unfortunately, horse lips weren’t made for English. It came across more as “Uuuuun!” But it made the girl get up and flee the scene. I looked around and saw the guy laying on the ground. He stared as I slowly walked toward him trying to look as tough as I could. I lowered the point of my horn to his nose. His eyes crossed looking at the tip of it and he gulped. I tossed my head and smacked him under the jaw and knocked him out. I knew I had to escape before anyone saw me, but I might have stepped on him a few times as I trotted out of the alley. “I knew hooves worked great on grass, but who knew they could walk on bodies? Cool beans!” I stepped hard on his crotch just for good measure, and then took off. Penny was hot on my hooves.
I stopped when I rounded the corner and Penny sniffed me. She licked my muzzle, and wagged her tail. I grabbed her leash with my lips and we trotted down the street together. She looked over at me and said, “It was pretty wicked the way you took that guy out.”
“Yeah, it was.” I smiled. I looked over at Penny and winked at her. “Wait.” I skidded to a stop. I turned to her. She turned her head up that cute way dogs do. “What the heck, Penny? When did you start talking?”
“When did you start turning into an alicorn, Sienna?” She sat and cocked her head at me.
“Can anyone else hear you?” I asked. Wait, how was I even talking to her?
“Your mind, Sienna. You are talking to me in your mind. I am talking to you in your mind. I don’t think anyone else can hear us. But hey, I am just a dog. What do I know?” Her tongue lolled out and she started walking, leading me on her leash.
I could feel my muscles start shaking. I knew a shift was coming. “Wait, I am not home yet.” I thought panicking. I couldn’t shift back yet. “Run, Penny!” We took off down the street and barreled into the park where I left the car. As I turned onto the road the pain struck and I hit my knees. I tried breathing through my mouth. Suddenly it was over. I looked down, dreading to see it. But I was right. Yep, I was lying in the road naked other than a slight coating of gray hair on my arms.
Penny looked at me with those big, brown eyes. “You might want to get inside the car. Without your hair you are going to get cold out here.”
I sighed. “How am I supposed to get inside? It’s not like I have pockets for my car keys. Where the heck are my keys?” Fortunately, I always left a spare in the wheel well. I got inside the car and rifled around until I found a spare sweatshirt.
“Well, that is better than nothing, but how am I going to get inside?” I drove home and put the car in the garage. “Did other superheroes have problems like this? Did Wonder Woman ever end up without clothes? Not that I ever heard of. I want a redo here.”
I got out of the car and poked my head around the corner and looked into the sliding glass doors in the back. The kids were both sitting on the couch watching TV. They were sideways to the door. I calculated the chances of their half-naked mother getting inside unnoticed. Couldn’t these kids go to bed early? Didn’t they have homework to do up in their rooms? I am pretty sure I was going to have to invest in video games for their rooms if this was going to happen again.
I grabbed my arms and shivered in the early fall. Penny looked over at me, “It’s a little chilly out here for you, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I gritted my teeth. “But I don’t know how to get in the house.”
Penny nudged the door. “You just open the door,” she said. “It’s easy. You do it all the time.”
“Stop,” I hissed. “I can’t just walk in there.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because I am naked!” I whisper screeched.
“Well so am I,” she said, sitting in front of me.
The kids were going to notice she was on the back porch any time now. Okay, I can do this, I thought. I gathered my courage. I figured if I could sneak in quietly and just walk confidently and quickly, I had this. I pulled down the sweatshirt as far as I could to cover my nether regions.
I opened the slider quietly. Penny went in in front of me her nails clacking on the tile. She immediately went to SallyAnn and put her head in my girl’s lap. SallyAnn bent down and rubbed her face in Penny’s. Seizing the moment, I slipped in behind the couch and ran to the steps. I breathed a sigh of relief as my foot hit the riser. “I made it!” I smiled victoriously.
“Mom, is that you?” Rusty called. He looked up the stairs. “Mom?” his voice cracked.
I heard him turn around and tell SallyAnn to keep looking forward. “I think Mom is naked.” There was a yelp as SallyAnn hit him.
“Have you been into the weed again, Rusty?”
I stopped with my foot in the air, weed?
Nothing to see here, Sienna, Penny reminded me. I ran up the stairs, my white skin practically glowing in the dark.
I threw on my sweats and sat on my bed reflecting on what happened. Clearly the other night wasn’t a dream. Tonight certainly wasn’t either. I got so angry when I thought of the man attacking the woman on the ground. As I thought about her cries for help, I started to get angry all over again. I could feel my blood pressure go up as I sat there. It felt like my skin was humming. I looked down and saw my arms were covered in a fine layer of hair.
“Well, anger causes me to go all horsey,�
� I mused. “That is interesting.” So, I just need to keep control of my temper. “Who am I kidding?” I laughed miserably. “I have the temper of a toddler.”
There was a knock at the door. “Mom, are you decent?” Rusty asked.
“Of course I am.”
He opened the door cautiously and slowly pushed his head in glancing quickly to make sure I was dressed. Penny came in and jumped up on the bed. “Hey, no dogs on the furniture,” I said.
She stared back. Do I have to tell everyone, Sienna?
We looked at each other without blinking. Finally, I gave in and she put her head on my pillow. “Hey, at least leave some room for me!” I said, grabbing my pillow away.
Rusty shook his head. “I just wanted to make sure you were, uh feeling okay, Mom.”
“Yep, good as gold,” I said rubbing Penny. I always used her as my stress relief since it was soothing to stroke her soft fur.
I’m gorgeous too, she added picking up on my thoughts. A little more with the nails, please. Her rear leg started scratching the air.
I giggled and scratched as she requested.
Rusty shook his head. “I guess I will just leave you two alone.” He looked at the two of us closed the door.
The next night I was prepared. I put a spare pair of sweats and a sweatshirt in the tool shed in the back yard and I threw an extra pair in the car. There was no way I was going to get caught without clothes again. At precisely nine p.m. Penny came over to the recliner with her leash in her mouth. When did she get so smart? I wondered.
I have always been smart, she said. You were just never smart enough to listen.
I noticed whenever she came around, my arms were automatically getting a fine layer of gray hair. It was like my body knew that I would want to communicate with her. I went to put on a pair of sneakers when I realized they were gone. I wasn’t sure what happened to the clothes I wore when I shifted, but they were definitely gone and not to be found.