With a sudden start, I opened my eyes.

I looked around, my vision still a bit blurry as I blinked a few times. I looked up to see the corner of my bed above my head. I didn’t remember the bed being so large. Wait… the bed wasn’t big. I pushed myself up so I was only sitting up by my front legs, and looked around. I was on the ground. The smell of breakfast wafted into my room. The smells of sausages and toast. I started to push myself up the rest of the way by straightening my legs, but suddenly, my hips were higher up than my shoulders. Something was definitely off, but as soon as I noticed it, my feet slipped on the floor below me, and I fell down with a thump.

“Momma!” I yelled as I tried to stand again, this time I kept trying to find purchase with my feet as they slipped around below me, before my foot finally caught on the corner of my rug. I pushed my self up fully and attempted to walk on four legs to the kitchen. Unfortunately for me there was only so much rug and I slipped and slid down the hallway, “Momma, somethings wrong.” I said as I slipped again and crashed into the wall.

“What is it sweetie?” My mom asked, turned from the stove to look toward the hallway just and I pushed myself toward the kitchen with too much force and slid onto the kitchen floor.

“Momma, somethings wrong with my legs.” I said, trying to catch my breath. The look on my moms face and my dad immediately spewing water across the table and choking made me look down. My legs did not look like my legs anymore. My legs looked… Different. Like mom and Dad’s when they are in human form. Wait. My legs had changed. My cheeks went beat red as I heard my dad recover from coughing to begin laughing, and my mom holding back a laugh for a few seconds before laughing with him.

“Hey! It’s not funny!” I tried to stand again, planting my hands and finding a way to keep my feet flat.

My mother immediately moved toward me and started to lift my upper half up so I was standing. “I’m sorry sweetie. I know this may seem strange. But I promise you will get used to it.” She offered me a loving yet amused smile as she helped me steady myself.

“It’s completely normal kid.” My dad says through small coughs as he recovers from choking on water. “We all go through it.”

“You went through it too dad?” I asked him.

He looked at mom and she laughed softly, “Go on, tell her what happened.”

He sighed and looked back at me. “I woke up with a human head.”

“That’s not even that bad!” I cried looking down at my legs.

“Well, when the rest of you is wolf pup, a human head can be pretty heavy. I rolled down a hill on my first hunt.” My dad replied, followed by my mom folded over, laughing. It takes her a minute to recover from laughing. “I’m sorry dear. It’s just so funny to picture.”

“Ya, hah hah.” My dad rolled his eyes at her. “Well your mom had human ears.”

“Hey!” She smacked his arm gently with a towel.

“What?” He laughed at grinned at my mom.

I rolled my eyes. “Mooom, how do I get it to go back?” I whined.

Mom moved in front of me and smiled. “Ok, Shifting requires concentration and focus to do it on command. You need to start by closing your eyes.” As she spoke, I followed along, and I closed my eyes. “Next, you take five slow, deep breaths while picturing what your leg should look like.”

I followed her instructions and then slowly opened my eyes to look at them. “It doesn’t feel different.”

“Well, no one gets it right the first time. Just keep trying.” She ruffled the hair on my head with her hand before turning back to finish putting breakfast on the table. “Eat up, it’s almost time for you to get your chores done before the big hunt.”

After hearing her mention the hunt, I excitedly took a seat at the table but was immediately confused about how to bend my legs in order to sit down. “Mom, I want them back to normal.”

“Well, you will need to learn to walk on legs eventually, sweetie.” My mom said, shrugging as she placed a plate of sausage, eggs, and toast in front of me. My mouth began to water as my nose filled up with the smell of breakfast food. Without thinking about it, I bent my legs and sat normally with my legs dangling before devouring the food. I cleared my plate off faster than the rest of my family before wobbling out of the chair and finding my footing. I looked down at my legs with frustration and then tried again.

I closed my eyes tightly, took five deep breaths, and thought of my furry black wolf legs. But when I opened my eyes, my legs hadn’t changed. I groaned softly before beginning to wobble down the hallway, holding the walls for support.

I moved to the supply closet and grabbed the bucket and animal feed before heading out the front door, getting more confident with every step. As I headed out the front door and down the path, my neighbors said hello as they passed saying things.

“Legs? That’s lucky I lost my tail for a week” One man said.

“Why do your legs look funny” from some kids walking by.

I just kept moving. Today was the hunt and it was all I could think about.

I followed the path until I got to the chicken coop and I opened the gate before stepping in and closing it behind me. I walked to dump the water bucket into the water bowl the chickens had and I began to scatter the animal feed across the ground. The chickens swarmed the feed immediately after it touched the earth and I laughed softly at them. Then I turned and left the pen and headed home. As I walked inside it was as if I had forgotten about the issue with my legs, as I moved quickly to where the cleaning cupboard was to put the rest of the chicken feed and the bucket away. I could hear people outside had begun to stir. People were walking by having various discussions about plans for the hunt or things they needed to get done. I heard someone cheer about something outside and slimed before heading to my room. My favorite bandana was in there. It was dark forest green with brown leaves on it.

I wrapped it around my neck and did my best to tie it with my paws. After having many times of practice I managed to get it tied around my neck, and I walked out of my bedroom and into the living room. I was so excited I was practically running to the door when I noticed how quiet it had gotten. It was too quiet for a morning here in the pack.

The fur on the back of my neck started to stand on end as I slowly turned the knob of the door and poked my head outside. I didn’t see anyone. Then I heard it. BANG. It was so loud it seemed to make my ears ring. I sniffed the air with my snout and smelt something strange. A smoky scent drifted to my nose and I looked around. Where was my mama and dad?

I moved slowly toward the road and kept looking around. My stomach was clenched and kept me from calling out to my parents. I continued toward the area the sound came from. I noticed the sounds of chaos as I got closer; there was growling and snarling and shuffling. I heard a man scream and I immediately started running. “Momma!” I shouted.

As I got closer, another BANG rang out into the morning, followed by silence and then howling. It was the whole pack. The sound was not a good sound. This was the howl of sorrow. My legs moved before I could process as I entered the courtyard. My legs froze as the scene before me unfolded. A man was yelling at another man as they waved their weapons around. Wolves were surrounding them and snarling. And on the ground, just a bit away from the men and the wolves, was a wolf.

The wolf was not moving and something dark was starting to puddle on the ground beneath it. The fur color looked familiar. No. Tears poured down my face and I moved toward her. “Momma!” I cried out.

One of the men slammed the back of a gun into the head of one of the wolved and the other man grabbed another wolf, somehow managing to slam it into the ground and tied them up. I could barely see them or my mom as I fell to my knees next to her. My eyes were filling with tears. “Momma?” I asked as I shook her. “Momma, wake up.” Then I heard one of the men behind me say, “That one! With the legs. Grab her!”

The scene following this was so awful, I couldn’t even move. I could only watch as I looked up to see my father in his grey wolf form launch himself at the men, before the man in front of him used his weapon. BANG. It pushed my dad back, and he fell to the ground and didn’t move. “DAD!” I screamed and stood up, but I didn’t move toward him.

“I said, grab her!” The man said, pointing at me. The other man began to stalk toward me, and I didn’t hesitate that time. I dropped to the ground, my legs finally finding their form, and I bolted in the opposite direction of the men.