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Description

by grapehyacinth

I can't stand Roman. He leaves me here all alone, tired, sick, and hurting, while he runs around transforming with his stupid cousin...

Doesn't he care how much I want to be with him? Doesn't he want to make sure his pregnant wife is okay?

Silly thoughts battled themselves in my tired brain. I shifted from sadness, to jealousy, to anger within seconds of each other. “Roman, why did you have to leave me here by myself?” I shouted at the empty house. I felt awful, and I didn't care how childish I was acting. It wasn't like anyone was around to notice, anyway.

Bobby had been visiting us for a few days. It had been hard for me, watching him and my husband, reunited after many years. And now that his cousin was leaving, Roman wanted to send him off with a bang. They had gone out into the woods to become whatever came into their heads, and they had asked me to join them. But since I could only watch and not partake, I'd refused.

I'd already been transformed once when I was pregnant, and both Roman and I were concerned about what effects this might have had on our child. And perhaps we had reason to be, because, in addition to my feeling particularly lousy of late, a sharp pain suddenly ripped across my midsection.

I yelped, grasping my arm across my chest, and sat down abruptly on the bed. I had experienced cramps and twinges here and there, but nothing like this. And not moments later, a far more intense tearing sensation coursed through most of my innards. It left me momentarily breathless, and this time, the pain was taking far longer to dissipate.

I curled into a fetal position, tears coming to my eyes. “What is this?” I whispered. Another pain rocked through me, and I already knew that my worst fears were being realized.

“No, please...I can't lose the baby... Roman! Roman, please help me!” I reached for the phone at the side of the bed and dialed Roman's cell number, but even before I heard it ringing on the other side of the house, I knew he hadn't taken it with him. Because, after all, he was probably flying through the sky as a bird, or swimming in the lake as a fish, completely ignorant of what was happening to his wife.

“Please,” I whispered. “Please don't let me lose this.”

I was feeling remarkably faint, and I was about to call my mother. But I quickly remembered that there was no way of contacting her or my stepfather. Because Roman had turned them into horses.

There was no one to help me.

With a cry of despair, I slammed down the phone, wincing in agony.

“This is not right. It can't be the end...we tried so hard, and Roman's wanted to be a father for actual decades... Roman!” I yelled, hoping against hope that he was nearby.

But no one answered my call, and the next wave of pain hit my body like an electrical shock, and I blacked out.

The next thing I knew, I heard hushed voices, and something was being rolled around me. Not comprehending what was going on, I opened my eyes to see the blanched face of my husband right above me. His eyes looked bloodshot and red, like he'd been crying.

He was tucking a fluffy white bathrobe around me, while Bobby stood behind him, eyes round with concern.

“Bobby, you're still here?” I whispered. My lips were dry and cracked, and I couldn't fathom what was going on. My body felt all wrong.

“Careful, Corrie, I changed you a bit so you wouldn't be in pain.”

I tried to jump up in protest, but my body felt soft and floppy, and I fell back in the bed. “What am I made of? You can't change me! Roman!”

He placed his hands on me. “Corrie, calm. It's okay.”

“No!” I cried in terror. “It's going to hurt the baby! Change me back! Now!”

My body grew back to flesh and blood from whatever substance it had been.

“Corrie, Corrie, ssh.” Roman paused for a heartrendingly-long moment. Several times, he opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. Finally, he sighed, throwing his hands down.

“The baby is...gone.”

That's when everything came back – the pain, the fear... I stared into his eyes, but he quickly averted them.

“The baby's really... Roman, are you sure?” I uttered, at a loss. I sat up in bed and pulled the blanket away. The sight of bloodstained sheets brought tears to my eyes, and at the same time I felt woozy. “Oh...I don't feel right...”

Roman grasped my arm, and I felt my body tingling, the beginning sign of his transforming me. I reacted quite violently. “No!” I swatted him away. “Don't you dare change me!”

He drew back in alarm. “Why not? Changing you into something else will keep you from fainting, or feeling pain! That's why I changed you before!”

“It's enough changing for a while! It's probably why I miscarried in the first place!”

Roman looked stung, and the room grew silent. I started to weep.

“Roman, I should go,” Bobby muttered from the doorway.

My husband nodded without making any eye contact with his cousin.

“Unless you need me for anything. I could hang around a bit more. You can always use a good set of nailclippers or something.”

But Bobby's joke fell on deaf ears, and he gave a half-hearted wave. “Thanks for making me fifty pounds lighter, Roman.” He tapped at his newly-svelte figure.

“Let me know if your wife notices,” Roman muttered lifelessly.

Bobby studied me with pity. “I'm sorry. For both of you. I hope things get better soon.”

“Me, too,” said Roman.

When Bobby left, Roman took me lovingly in his arms. “It's okay,” he murmured. I could see that he was fighting to keep his voice from cracking, which made me only feel worse.

“Roman, I'm so sorry. I'm just so sorry. I know how much you wanted it.”

“It's not your fault, Corrie. It's mine.”

“I'm the one who asked you to change me into a sneaker.”

At any other time, we would both have broken into laughter at the outlandish statement. Right now, it only brought further sadness, because we both knew it was very likely true.

“We'll keep trying. And right now, you're not pregnant, so you can be a sneaker whenever you want. Remember I promised you another transform-a-thon after this was over.”

“It's not the way I was expecting it to be over,” I replied gloomily. “And enough transform-a-thons. We don't know what it does to me. Maybe it's why we can't have kids.”

“Just because you miscarried doesn't mean we can never have a child. Your mother has been transformed into a horse and she's about to give birth. She's doing fine.”

“We don't know if the baby will survive,” I countered.

“She's pretty far along and the vet says she's doing fine.”

Roman said this rather forcefully, and I lapsed into silence. I could have argued that I'd been transformed thousands of times more than Mom had been, but I didn't have it in me. Instead, I allowed my heavy eyes to close. My body craved sleep, and I succumbed.

Roman rose, murmuring, “Let's clean you up.” Carefully, he pulled the sheets from under me without disrupting my repose. I could feel the remaining bed linens changing all around me until I lay surrounded by clean pink silk.

I opened my eyes a crack to see my husband smiling down at me. “I gave you the bed of a queen. Are you comfortable?”

I nodded.

“Rest.”

When I woke up, the day was growing dark, and Roman was nowhere to be seen. I emerged from the bed feeling a bit stiff but otherwise completely fine. Apparently, Roman's changing me to something else and then back again had completely healed me. I didn't quite understand it – I recalled how, when my college professor had been stabbed, Roman had healed him without changing him. But then again, Dr. Mack had a wound or two.

I'd miscarried.

Just thinking the word made me cringe. I'd lost the baby we so wished for...

I needed my husband. I needed him to embrace me, to reassure me that everything would work out fine in the end. “Roman? Are you home?”

But the house remained dark and silent, and I slunk into the kitchen. My stomach growled angrily, yet I had no urge to eat. I opened the refrigerator and stared inside, but there was little of interest. Roman always transformed things into meals for us, so the old jar of peanut butter and the pack of American cheese sitting there were not very tantalizing. Those expiration dates probably dated from the last century.

I shut the door and sulked back into the bedroom, collapsing on the bed.

I lost our baby.

I stared at the ceiling, wishing I could be sucked into it, wishing I was something else...

But I can't. Maybe I should never let Roman change me again in case it's why I miscarried!

But transforming was my life! How could I not do what I loved? It sounded idiotic, but before I'd met Roman, my life had been missing something. Exploring new forms had opened a whole new world for me...

The minutes ticked by, each one longer than the last, each one increasing my sorrow. How I wanted to escape it! And where was Roman? I had a feeling he was doing his own escaping.

I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up to something tapping at the window.

It was dawn, and a large bird of prey pecked at the glass.

“Corrie, let me in. The door's locked.”

Grumbling, I walked over and let him in. “You could have just become an ant and crawled under it.”

He landed on the floor but remained as a bird. “I want you to come fly with me.”

“Why?” I groaned, making back towards the bed.

“I think it'll be good for you.”

“I don't want to be anything else.” I drew the blankets around me but did not lie down.

He hopped onto the bed. “I think you need to. I can tell you it helped me. Last night I had to let it all out – the sadness, the anger at myself...” He sighed. “Be an osprey with me.”

“I don't want to eat live fish.”

“So don't.” Being careful not to cut me with his talons, he stepped into my lap and looked at me with his dark, avian eyes. “But do this for your soul.”

I felt the tell-tale tingle of his changes, and I whimpered as I began to shrink. “Roman, I'm scared. Do you think I should never change until I've had a baby?”

He smirked at me. “I don't think we should assume it's a problem yet. No changing when you're pregnant. Agreed. But I'm not going to ask you to give up your favorite pastime in the world until we know for sure that it's harming our chances. And right now, I think changing is the absolute best medicine for your broken heart.”

I knew he wasn't wrong, but I frowned, subconsciously resisting his power.

“Let yourself change. Don't fight me. You're not pregnant, and what's one more change after the million I've already done to you?”

Well, he had a point there...

“Now be a bird.”

I gave in and let him transform me.

Roman was right, as usual. Sailing through the air and getting lost in the bird consciousness was therapeutic. Eventually we landed in a marsh, and I watched him suck down a fish with relish.

“Want some?” he asked in between messy bites.

“Yuck, Roman! Plus, what are you going to do, regurgitate it for me?”

He didn't even answer. He just finished eating.

I hated the fact that my stomach was gurgling again, because I still didn't want to eat. Instead, I just stood in the muck, watching the tall marsh grass sway lazily in the breeze. And then I knew what I had to do.

“Roman, make me that.” I demanded, gesturing at the plants with my wing.

“What? Marsh grass?”

Mesmerized, I stared at the blades towering all around me. They didn't have to eat, they didn't have to have babies... It was the perfect existence.

“Yes. Plant me here.”

He looked at the reeds dubiously, then shrugged and grew into human form. Sloshing through the mud, he carefully picked me up, and, while still holding me in his arms, made me human.

My sorrow, which had been neatly tucked away behind my bird consciousness, rushed back to the forefront of my mind. “Why did you make me a person again? The sadness is so much worse in my real form.”

He looked at me with pity. “Sorry – I didn't realize. It's just that I know you usually like to transform from human form. We'll fix that in a second. First, let's find a good place for you. Here!” He deposited me in a sunny spot among the grass. “Now get comfy,” he instructed, pushing my arms against my sides. For a moment, he gazed up at the sky, but even that small hesitation made me grow impatient.

“What are you looking at? Get me out of this form! I just want to grow!”

“Are you sure you don't want to be something else...maybe a cloud?”

“No. I want this. I don't want to move, eat, or breathe. I don't want to even think. Please, Roman.”

I felt myself running together and losing shape. “Good, good,” I encouraged him on until I no longer had lips. I was shrinking, thinning, but also elongating.

“Nice change,” Roman remarked as he completed my transformation. My roots formed, I greened up, and my new body went still.

Ah, the feeling of complete helplessness. It was perfect – just what I needed now. I was at the mercy of nature, and the wind and sun were my masters.

Roman ran his finger down me. “You feel better now, Corrie?”

I yielded to his touch, shaking back and forth.

It's very nice, I replied. Please leave me like this.

“For how long?”

As long as I need.

“Then I'm joining you.”

I watched my husband snap into the mire and thin into a lone reed. He shuddered a bit in that form, which seemed kind of odd.

What's wrong? I asked him. Why are you moving around?

I was very thirsty. I took a long drink. But now I'm all good to go.

I'm all good to go, too.

Enjoy.

Corrie, are you there?

I had no idea how long I'd sat in the marsh. I'd been drifting in a near-trance, losing all touch with time and reality. It took a moment to form thoughts, and a few more seconds to string together words.

I'm here, Roman.

How much longer do you need?

Why? How long has it been?

It's the next morning. I'm supposed to meet Dr. Mack today.

Dr. Mack? My professor? It took me a moment to even understand what he was talking about.

He's going to do more experiments on me. Remember? He's trying to learn more about my ability.

Why bother? In fact, why bother to be a person? Stay with me!

Roman didn't answer right away. Corrie, I know you need time to mourn, but we have to go on. He stretched into human form and looked down at me.

Go, Roman. I'm fine here.

“I know you are. I'll be back.”

He became a bird and flew off, looking back at me several times.

The next I knew, it was late afternoon, and Roman had returned. He remained in human form, gazing down on me. “How are you doing?”

I woke up from my daze. Good.

“Feeling invigorated?”

Invigorated? How could I feel invigorated after losing our child? I wouldn't call it invigorated, but being grass is helping me cope. How did it go with Dr. Mack?

“Changed into sand, then water for him. It blew his mind. And his instruments.”

I don't even get the point of him studying you after a while. Unless he discovers you have a special transformation gene, I don't know how it can help mankind.

“I'm not sure he's looking to help. I think he just wants to understand. He agrees that bringing me out into the world could be dangerous, although he hates keeping me secret. He hopes that we can make me public in the future...somehow. Tomorrow, I'm going to turn into fire for him. His wife wants to watch.”

Jordana Mack is obsessed with you.

He blushed. “Dr. Mack says she can't stop talking about how amazing it was when I turned her into a tree. She wants to be everything now.”

I'll bet, I replied with distaste.

“They have a whole bunch of logs and things for me to burn up tomorrow.”

That's nice. I didn't want to hear anymore. Now please come grow with me.

“Corrie, how about we go home and deal with this the way normal parents would?”

This made me angry. We're not normal parents!

“I might be able to transform things, but I'm still a human being with feelings just like anyone else. Come home.”

No. I'm staying here tonight whether you're here or not.

Without a reply, Roman knelt into the mud and changed back to a reed beside me. Good night, Corrie, he said.

I didn't answer.

When I felt the morning sun on me, I roused with the new day, feeling mildly better. The loss of our child still weighed on my soul, but my different form and the passing of time did serve to cushion the pain.

Roman must have sensed my being awake. He immediately snapped into human form.

“Corrie, we can't stay here forever. It's like I always say – you have a life. School will be starting up again soon.”

I know, I replied.

“And your mother is due in April. She'll want you there with her. It's a very tough birth, and no vet will be able to help her like you can. I could even make you a horse so you can communicate with her. You know, without the vet wondering about human-you having a one-sided conversation with a horse.”

I wasn't going to raise a whole “I'm never changing back” stink. I knew I had to go on. We'd try again, and the moment it was possible I could be pregnant, I wouldn't change. But to swear off transforming altogether was another matter. I know, Roman. You're right. But I just really wonder if the changes do affect us.

“I've been doing it for decades, and I'm living quite a long, healthy life. Again, maybe changing when you're already pregnant is bad. But I think the jury's still out on if you're not. Let's see. Because honestly, I don't think you could live if you can never transform again. Look how crazy you got when Bobby was here.”

Bobby is an insane transformaholic.

“And you're not?”

I'm not insane, at least!

Laughing, he swatted at me, making me crease slightly. “Fly home with me?”

Of course, he knew my answer, because I was already uprooting from the mud and growing feathers before I replied, “Show me the way.”

Description

by grapehyacinth

I can't stand Roman. He leaves me here all alone, tired, sick, and hurting, while he runs around transforming with his stupid cousin...

Doesn't he care how much I want to be with him? Doesn't he want to make sure his pregnant wife is okay?

Silly thoughts battled themselves in my tired brain. I shifted from sadness, to jealousy, to anger within seconds of each other. “Roman, why did you have to leave me here by myself?” I shouted at the empty house. I felt awful, and I didn't care how childish I was acting. It wasn't like anyone was around to notice, anyway.

Bobby had been visiting us for a few days. It had been hard for me, watching him and my husband, reunited after many years. And now that his cousin was leaving, Roman wanted to send him off with a bang. They had gone out into the woods to become whatever came into their heads, and they had asked me to join them. But since I could only watch and not partake, I'd refused.

I'd already been transformed once when I was pregnant, and both Roman and I were concerned about what effects this might have had on our child. And perhaps we had reason to be, because, in addition to my feeling particularly lousy of late, a sharp pain suddenly ripped across my midsection.

I yelped, grasping my arm across my chest, and sat down abruptly on the bed. I had experienced cramps and twinges here and there, but nothing like this. And not moments later, a far more intense tearing sensation coursed through most of my innards. It left me momentarily breathless, and this time, the pain was taking far longer to dissipate.

I curled into a fetal position, tears coming to my eyes. “What is this?” I whispered. Another pain rocked through me, and I already knew that my worst fears were being realized.

“No, please...I can't lose the baby... Roman! Roman, please help me!” I reached for the phone at the side of the bed and dialed Roman's cell number, but even before I heard it ringing on the other side of the house, I knew he hadn't taken it with him. Because, after all, he was probably flying through the sky as a bird, or swimming in the lake as a fish, completely ignorant of what was happening to his wife.

“Please,” I whispered. “Please don't let me lose this.”

I was feeling remarkably faint, and I was about to call my mother. But I quickly remembered that there was no way of contacting her or my stepfather. Because Roman had turned them into horses.

There was no one to help me.

With a cry of despair, I slammed down the phone, wincing in agony.

“This is not right. It can't be the end...we tried so hard, and Roman's wanted to be a father for actual decades... Roman!” I yelled, hoping against hope that he was nearby.

But no one answered my call, and the next wave of pain hit my body like an electrical shock, and I blacked out.

The next thing I knew, I heard hushed voices, and something was being rolled around me. Not comprehending what was going on, I opened my eyes to see the blanched face of my husband right above me. His eyes looked bloodshot and red, like he'd been crying.

He was tucking a fluffy white bathrobe around me, while Bobby stood behind him, eyes round with concern.

“Bobby, you're still here?” I whispered. My lips were dry and cracked, and I couldn't fathom what was going on. My body felt all wrong.

“Careful, Corrie, I changed you a bit so you wouldn't be in pain.”

I tried to jump up in protest, but my body felt soft and floppy, and I fell back in the bed. “What am I made of? You can't change me! Roman!”

He placed his hands on me. “Corrie, calm. It's okay.”

“No!” I cried in terror. “It's going to hurt the baby! Change me back! Now!”

My body grew back to flesh and blood from whatever substance it had been.

“Corrie, Corrie, ssh.” Roman paused for a heartrendingly-long moment. Several times, he opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. Finally, he sighed, throwing his hands down.

“The baby is...gone.”

That's when everything came back – the pain, the fear... I stared into his eyes, but he quickly averted them.

“The baby's really... Roman, are you sure?” I uttered, at a loss. I sat up in bed and pulled the blanket away. The sight of bloodstained sheets brought tears to my eyes, and at the same time I felt woozy. “Oh...I don't feel right...”

Roman grasped my arm, and I felt my body tingling, the beginning sign of his transforming me. I reacted quite violently. “No!” I swatted him away. “Don't you dare change me!”

He drew back in alarm. “Why not? Changing you into something else will keep you from fainting, or feeling pain! That's why I changed you before!”

“It's enough changing for a while! It's probably why I miscarried in the first place!”

Roman looked stung, and the room grew silent. I started to weep.

“Roman, I should go,” Bobby muttered from the doorway.

My husband nodded without making any eye contact with his cousin.

“Unless you need me for anything. I could hang around a bit more. You can always use a good set of nailclippers or something.”

But Bobby's joke fell on deaf ears, and he gave a half-hearted wave. “Thanks for making me fifty pounds lighter, Roman.” He tapped at his newly-svelte figure.

“Let me know if your wife notices,” Roman muttered lifelessly.

Bobby studied me with pity. “I'm sorry. For both of you. I hope things get better soon.”

“Me, too,” said Roman.

When Bobby left, Roman took me lovingly in his arms. “It's okay,” he murmured. I could see that he was fighting to keep his voice from cracking, which made me only feel worse.

“Roman, I'm so sorry. I'm just so sorry. I know how much you wanted it.”

“It's not your fault, Corrie. It's mine.”

“I'm the one who asked you to change me into a sneaker.”

At any other time, we would both have broken into laughter at the outlandish statement. Right now, it only brought further sadness, because we both knew it was very likely true.

“We'll keep trying. And right now, you're not pregnant, so you can be a sneaker whenever you want. Remember I promised you another transform-a-thon after this was over.”

“It's not the way I was expecting it to be over,” I replied gloomily. “And enough transform-a-thons. We don't know what it does to me. Maybe it's why we can't have kids.”

“Just because you miscarried doesn't mean we can never have a child. Your mother has been transformed into a horse and she's about to give birth. She's doing fine.”

“We don't know if the baby will survive,” I countered.

“She's pretty far along and the vet says she's doing fine.”

Roman said this rather forcefully, and I lapsed into silence. I could have argued that I'd been transformed thousands of times more than Mom had been, but I didn't have it in me. Instead, I allowed my heavy eyes to close. My body craved sleep, and I succumbed.

Roman rose, murmuring, “Let's clean you up.” Carefully, he pulled the sheets from under me without disrupting my repose. I could feel the remaining bed linens changing all around me until I lay surrounded by clean pink silk.

I opened my eyes a crack to see my husband smiling down at me. “I gave you the bed of a queen. Are you comfortable?”

I nodded.

“Rest.”

When I woke up, the day was growing dark, and Roman was nowhere to be seen. I emerged from the bed feeling a bit stiff but otherwise completely fine. Apparently, Roman's changing me to something else and then back again had completely healed me. I didn't quite understand it – I recalled how, when my college professor had been stabbed, Roman had healed him without changing him. But then again, Dr. Mack had a wound or two.

I'd miscarried.

Just thinking the word made me cringe. I'd lost the baby we so wished for...

I needed my husband. I needed him to embrace me, to reassure me that everything would work out fine in the end. “Roman? Are you home?”

But the house remained dark and silent, and I slunk into the kitchen. My stomach growled angrily, yet I had no urge to eat. I opened the refrigerator and stared inside, but there was little of interest. Roman always transformed things into meals for us, so the old jar of peanut butter and the pack of American cheese sitting there were not very tantalizing. Those expiration dates probably dated from the last century.

I shut the door and sulked back into the bedroom, collapsing on the bed.

I lost our baby.

I stared at the ceiling, wishing I could be sucked into it, wishing I was something else...

But I can't. Maybe I should never let Roman change me again in case it's why I miscarried!

But transforming was my life! How could I not do what I loved? It sounded idiotic, but before I'd met Roman, my life had been missing something. Exploring new forms had opened a whole new world for me...

The minutes ticked by, each one longer than the last, each one increasing my sorrow. How I wanted to escape it! And where was Roman? I had a feeling he was doing his own escaping.

I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up to something tapping at the window.

It was dawn, and a large bird of prey pecked at the glass.

“Corrie, let me in. The door's locked.”

Grumbling, I walked over and let him in. “You could have just become an ant and crawled under it.”

He landed on the floor but remained as a bird. “I want you to come fly with me.”

“Why?” I groaned, making back towards the bed.

“I think it'll be good for you.”

“I don't want to be anything else.” I drew the blankets around me but did not lie down.

He hopped onto the bed. “I think you need to. I can tell you it helped me. Last night I had to let it all out – the sadness, the anger at myself...” He sighed. “Be an osprey with me.”

“I don't want to eat live fish.”

“So don't.” Being careful not to cut me with his talons, he stepped into my lap and looked at me with his dark, avian eyes. “But do this for your soul.”

I felt the tell-tale tingle of his changes, and I whimpered as I began to shrink. “Roman, I'm scared. Do you think I should never change until I've had a baby?”

He smirked at me. “I don't think we should assume it's a problem yet. No changing when you're pregnant. Agreed. But I'm not going to ask you to give up your favorite pastime in the world until we know for sure that it's harming our chances. And right now, I think changing is the absolute best medicine for your broken heart.”

I knew he wasn't wrong, but I frowned, subconsciously resisting his power.

“Let yourself change. Don't fight me. You're not pregnant, and what's one more change after the million I've already done to you?”

Well, he had a point there...

“Now be a bird.”

I gave in and let him transform me.

Roman was right, as usual. Sailing through the air and getting lost in the bird consciousness was therapeutic. Eventually we landed in a marsh, and I watched him suck down a fish with relish.

“Want some?” he asked in between messy bites.

“Yuck, Roman! Plus, what are you going to do, regurgitate it for me?”

He didn't even answer. He just finished eating.

I hated the fact that my stomach was gurgling again, because I still didn't want to eat. Instead, I just stood in the muck, watching the tall marsh grass sway lazily in the breeze. And then I knew what I had to do.

“Roman, make me that.” I demanded, gesturing at the plants with my wing.

“What? Marsh grass?”

Mesmerized, I stared at the blades towering all around me. They didn't have to eat, they didn't have to have babies... It was the perfect existence.

“Yes. Plant me here.”

He looked at the reeds dubiously, then shrugged and grew into human form. Sloshing through the mud, he carefully picked me up, and, while still holding me in his arms, made me human.

My sorrow, which had been neatly tucked away behind my bird consciousness, rushed back to the forefront of my mind. “Why did you make me a person again? The sadness is so much worse in my real form.”

He looked at me with pity. “Sorry – I didn't realize. It's just that I know you usually like to transform from human form. We'll fix that in a second. First, let's find a good place for you. Here!” He deposited me in a sunny spot among the grass. “Now get comfy,” he instructed, pushing my arms against my sides. For a moment, he gazed up at the sky, but even that small hesitation made me grow impatient.

“What are you looking at? Get me out of this form! I just want to grow!”

“Are you sure you don't want to be something else...maybe a cloud?”

“No. I want this. I don't want to move, eat, or breathe. I don't want to even think. Please, Roman.”

I felt myself running together and losing shape. “Good, good,” I encouraged him on until I no longer had lips. I was shrinking, thinning, but also elongating.

“Nice change,” Roman remarked as he completed my transformation. My roots formed, I greened up, and my new body went still.

Ah, the feeling of complete helplessness. It was perfect – just what I needed now. I was at the mercy of nature, and the wind and sun were my masters.

Roman ran his finger down me. “You feel better now, Corrie?”

I yielded to his touch, shaking back and forth.

It's very nice, I replied. Please leave me like this.

“For how long?”

As long as I need.

“Then I'm joining you.”

I watched my husband snap into the mire and thin into a lone reed. He shuddered a bit in that form, which seemed kind of odd.

What's wrong? I asked him. Why are you moving around?

I was very thirsty. I took a long drink. But now I'm all good to go.

I'm all good to go, too.

Enjoy.

Corrie, are you there?

I had no idea how long I'd sat in the marsh. I'd been drifting in a near-trance, losing all touch with time and reality. It took a moment to form thoughts, and a few more seconds to string together words.

I'm here, Roman.

How much longer do you need?

Why? How long has it been?

It's the next morning. I'm supposed to meet Dr. Mack today.

Dr. Mack? My professor? It took me a moment to even understand what he was talking about.

He's going to do more experiments on me. Remember? He's trying to learn more about my ability.

Why bother? In fact, why bother to be a person? Stay with me!

Roman didn't answer right away. Corrie, I know you need time to mourn, but we have to go on. He stretched into human form and looked down at me.

Go, Roman. I'm fine here.

“I know you are. I'll be back.”

He became a bird and flew off, looking back at me several times.

The next I knew, it was late afternoon, and Roman had returned. He remained in human form, gazing down on me. “How are you doing?”

I woke up from my daze. Good.

“Feeling invigorated?”

Invigorated? How could I feel invigorated after losing our child? I wouldn't call it invigorated, but being grass is helping me cope. How did it go with Dr. Mack?

“Changed into sand, then water for him. It blew his mind. And his instruments.”

I don't even get the point of him studying you after a while. Unless he discovers you have a special transformation gene, I don't know how it can help mankind.

“I'm not sure he's looking to help. I think he just wants to understand. He agrees that bringing me out into the world could be dangerous, although he hates keeping me secret. He hopes that we can make me public in the future...somehow. Tomorrow, I'm going to turn into fire for him. His wife wants to watch.”

Jordana Mack is obsessed with you.

He blushed. “Dr. Mack says she can't stop talking about how amazing it was when I turned her into a tree. She wants to be everything now.”

I'll bet, I replied with distaste.

“They have a whole bunch of logs and things for me to burn up tomorrow.”

That's nice. I didn't want to hear anymore. Now please come grow with me.

“Corrie, how about we go home and deal with this the way normal parents would?”

This made me angry. We're not normal parents!

“I might be able to transform things, but I'm still a human being with feelings just like anyone else. Come home.”

No. I'm staying here tonight whether you're here or not.

Without a reply, Roman knelt into the mud and changed back to a reed beside me. Good night, Corrie, he said.

I didn't answer.

When I felt the morning sun on me, I roused with the new day, feeling mildly better. The loss of our child still weighed on my soul, but my different form and the passing of time did serve to cushion the pain.

Roman must have sensed my being awake. He immediately snapped into human form.

“Corrie, we can't stay here forever. It's like I always say – you have a life. School will be starting up again soon.”

I know, I replied.

“And your mother is due in April. She'll want you there with her. It's a very tough birth, and no vet will be able to help her like you can. I could even make you a horse so you can communicate with her. You know, without the vet wondering about human-you having a one-sided conversation with a horse.”

I wasn't going to raise a whole “I'm never changing back” stink. I knew I had to go on. We'd try again, and the moment it was possible I could be pregnant, I wouldn't change. But to swear off transforming altogether was another matter. I know, Roman. You're right. But I just really wonder if the changes do affect us.

“I've been doing it for decades, and I'm living quite a long, healthy life. Again, maybe changing when you're already pregnant is bad. But I think the jury's still out on if you're not. Let's see. Because honestly, I don't think you could live if you can never transform again. Look how crazy you got when Bobby was here.”

Bobby is an insane transformaholic.

“And you're not?”

I'm not insane, at least!

Laughing, he swatted at me, making me crease slightly. “Fly home with me?”

Of course, he knew my answer, because I was already uprooting from the mud and growing feathers before I replied, “Show me the way.”