“Care to take a walk?” Charlie repeated.
Autumn hesitated.
“I’m not going to hurt you or anything,” he joked, hand still extended to her.
Autumn slowly nodded in assent and he immediately jerked into a run, looking expectantly back at her as she began to follow. At first Autumn struggled to keep up, but then her instincts took over and her awkward stumbling turned into a graceful lope. Well, as graceful as a bear can be. Charlie effortlessly popped back into his squirrel form (a weird sight to say the least) and jumped back into the tree. Autumn’s mind was wiped of any human thought again and she galloped through the forest with freedom coursing through her. Through the forest trees, over mossy stones and tiny rivers, into thick tangles of underbrush and piles of dead leaves, they moved. Autumn's keen eyes followed the tiny furry squirrel leaping from tree to tree and she wondered if Charlie felt as much joy from this as she did. To where they were running, she had no idea, but she didn’t particularly care. The cold wind was tearing her eyes and ruffling her fur. She charged forward, desperate to go faster and faster, to feel even more freedom, when Charlie abruptly halted. Autumn skidded to a halt, sending a cloud of dust and leaves flying. She was in front of towering rock, covered in swathes of moss and surrounded by scraggly trees reaching out their thin arms as if trying to entangle it in an embrace. Charlie the squirrel jumped out of the tree and twisted back into his human form. He placed his hand on the rock and it began to glow a bright, radiant silver, then it split in half to reveal glistening, tiled steps leading into the ground. “Shall we?” Charlie asked. Autumn reluctantly stepped forward, cautiously moving down the steps and trying not to slip. The stairs soon ended in a room and indescribable wonder filled Autumn for the second time that week. They were standing in a simply enormous room, that was stark white and covered in desks, arranged in neat rows. Everything else was simply chaos. There were people and animals everywhere, running here and there, speaking into phones, conversing with one another. Papers were flying around, spilling off of desks, overflowing from trash cans. It was like an office on steroids. Charlie smiled and gestured for Autumn to follow him. They passed by a horse listening to a woman talk, a frog typing on a keyboard, a horse sitting in a desk chair. Inexplicable things that seemed too bizarre to even be real. The back of the room was circular and had a number of doors upon it, with frosted glass windows and gold numbers. Charlie led Autumn through one that had the number “312” upon it. As soon as the door was closed, the noise from the outside was shut away and the world became real once more. “Welcome to my office,” Charlie said, sitting down behind a desk. Charlie’s office was grey. There were no other words to describe it. Was everything here one color? Autumn wondered. “So I’m sure you have questions for me, and will be happy to explain in just a moment, but first we need to make you human again. I’m assuming you don’t know how?” Charlie began. Autumn shook her immense furry head. …show more content…
So as you know, my name is Charlie and I am head of new recruits at Shapeshifting International. We are an organization that regulates and protects shapeshifters all over the world. But what even is a shapeshifter, you might be wondering? Well, a shapeshifter is a human who can transform into an animal, like you and me. A shapeshifter’s true animal form will reveal itself around that person’s coming of age, or 18th birthday. No one knows where the ability to shapeshift comes from or how it manifests itself in people, but it is an incredible capability. When properly trained, a shapeshifter can transform at will, without any discomfort, and join the world that they were meant to be a part of. A multitude of people like to remain human at times, but they will eventually feel the need to return to their animal form and will shapeshift back, simply because it is easier to be an animal than a
Autumn hesitated.
“I’m not going to hurt you or anything,” he joked, hand still extended to her.
Autumn slowly nodded in assent and he immediately jerked into a run, looking expectantly back at her as she began to follow. At first Autumn struggled to keep up, but then her instincts took over and her awkward stumbling turned into a graceful lope. Well, as graceful as a bear can be. Charlie effortlessly popped back into his squirrel form (a weird sight to say the least) and jumped back into the tree. Autumn’s mind was wiped of any human thought again and she galloped through the forest with freedom coursing through her. Through the forest trees, over mossy stones and tiny rivers, into thick tangles of underbrush and piles of dead leaves, they moved. Autumn's keen eyes followed the tiny furry squirrel leaping from tree to tree and she wondered if Charlie felt as much joy from this as she did. To where they were running, she had no idea, but she didn’t particularly care. The cold wind was tearing her eyes and ruffling her fur. She charged forward, desperate to go faster and faster, to feel even more freedom, when Charlie abruptly halted. Autumn skidded to a halt, sending a cloud of dust and leaves flying. She was in front of towering rock, covered in swathes of moss and surrounded by scraggly trees reaching out their thin arms as if trying to entangle it in an embrace. Charlie the squirrel jumped out of the tree and twisted back into his human form. He placed his hand on the rock and it began to glow a bright, radiant silver, then it split in half to reveal glistening, tiled steps leading into the ground. “Shall we?” Charlie asked. Autumn reluctantly stepped forward, cautiously moving down the steps and trying not to slip. The stairs soon ended in a room and indescribable wonder filled Autumn for the second time that week. They were standing in a simply enormous room, that was stark white and covered in desks, arranged in neat rows. Everything else was simply chaos. There were people and animals everywhere, running here and there, speaking into phones, conversing with one another. Papers were flying around, spilling off of desks, overflowing from trash cans. It was like an office on steroids. Charlie smiled and gestured for Autumn to follow him. They passed by a horse listening to a woman talk, a frog typing on a keyboard, a horse sitting in a desk chair. Inexplicable things that seemed too bizarre to even be real. The back of the room was circular and had a number of doors upon it, with frosted glass windows and gold numbers. Charlie led Autumn through one that had the number “312” upon it. As soon as the door was closed, the noise from the outside was shut away and the world became real once more. “Welcome to my office,” Charlie said, sitting down behind a desk. Charlie’s office was grey. There were no other words to describe it. Was everything here one color? Autumn wondered. “So I’m sure you have questions for me, and will be happy to explain in just a moment, but first we need to make you human again. I’m assuming you don’t know how?” Charlie began. Autumn shook her immense furry head. …show more content…
So as you know, my name is Charlie and I am head of new recruits at Shapeshifting International. We are an organization that regulates and protects shapeshifters all over the world. But what even is a shapeshifter, you might be wondering? Well, a shapeshifter is a human who can transform into an animal, like you and me. A shapeshifter’s true animal form will reveal itself around that person’s coming of age, or 18th birthday. No one knows where the ability to shapeshift comes from or how it manifests itself in people, but it is an incredible capability. When properly trained, a shapeshifter can transform at will, without any discomfort, and join the world that they were meant to be a part of. A multitude of people like to remain human at times, but they will eventually feel the need to return to their animal form and will shapeshift back, simply because it is easier to be an animal than a