A Shifting Occasion

Me playing around with second person for an essay…

A Shifting Occasion

The moon rises full and golden just over the mountains on the eastern horizon as the chill night air plays softly with your flesh. The hair on the back of your neck stands on end, calling attention to the vibrations running through your skin—electric rhythmic beats known only to you.

A shudder chases up your spine, not so much a chill of something cold or fearful, but of the excitement for the dawning of your other self. Your breath exaggerates to sharp gasps, taking in short eager pants as your body trembles, the first light of Change on the horizon. You draw in a final deep breath, taking in the crisp breeze.

Your sense of smell heightens to the point where you can smell the perfume of the doe in the far-off trees, her musk flooding your nostrils like the aroma of a fine wine. Your palate yearns for her flesh, her blood, and you swallow dry anticipation, imagining that sweet nectar of life lolling over the back of your tongue. Your ears prick at the sound of her drinking from the small pool of cool water, its gentle ripples tingling in your eardrums as a wave of energy flows through your body in reaction to the desires of the hunt.

Muscles and skeleton realign for more power, shifting throughout your body, bones rearranging and tissue reforming. It causes you dire pain, but you are accustomed to the pain now. It is only a fleeting moment to you because your mind has wrapped around that scent: the doe, the forest, the wind. They summon you like a cry in the night. Your back arches, dropping you to your knees, and soon, your shape begins its change. Teeth elongate for the ability to tear through fur and flesh. Your face slowly reshapes; your nose and jaw lengthening as ears come to a point and move to the top of your head. Your ears don’t hear the bones crunching within your body. They only hear the doe and the wind that brings her scent to you. Soon, you are on hands and knees, but your hands are changing, and your knees buckle backwards for a more appropriate stance. Fingertips become short and sharp, paws form, a howl struggles to escape your throat, but is caught somewhere between human and animal.

Next, your flesh tears while fur pours from within, covering your entire body. It is a soft, silky black coat; one that will hide you well in the darkness. Your eyes will contrast it in their golden state, and you see this as you look into a small pool of water on the forest floor, left from the recent rainfall that chills the night air. Lucky for you, you have this wonderful new coat to keep you warm. You shake your new body, ruffling the fur, and an exhilarating feeling sweeps through you, grasping at your innermost desires. Now, you can hunt the doe and feel the rush of power as your teeth glide through her flesh. You begin your hunt, and as the pace quickens while you chase her down, only one other thought remains in your mind.

I am truly free.