If this was as good as Rose had heard then this would be her new coffee shop. Her personal recharging station. At a coffee shop it wasn’t just the coffee but the vibe and the people. But sometimes the vibe was off or she got tired of the same surroundings. She needed place that she could constantly count on, and this, this, could be the solution. The Experience. It was a little costly but if she could do whatever she wanted to, it might be worth it.
She shivered a little as she stood unclothed in front of the human sized cylindrical tank. Her porcelain white skin threatened to cover itself in goose bumps but it wasn’t quite that cold. It was more her nerves that gave her the chill. There was no one around and no way to see into the room but she still felt uncomfortable. The process was advertised as being completely automatic and distraction free so that your mind could be at ease and slip into the experience easier. However, the anticipation of the intrusiveness of the process was present. She gathered her red hair off her shoulders and put it up in a loose bun as she looked around the room again. She almost expected a voice to come on instructing her what to do but the room remained quiet. Rose put a hand on the edge of the glossy white tank for balance. She laughed to herself as she noticed that her own pale hand seemed to disappear against the color of the tank. She cautiously put a foot on the small wooden step stool and took a deep breath. She stepped up and swung her leg over the edge of the tank. Inside she found a soft rubber white mat that felt a little like the cushion of a shoe insole. She pulled her body into the tank and lowered her butt onto the mat. She felt it sink in a little with her weight and wrapped her arms around her knees. She had been afraid that the tank would be unsteady but it felt as solid as the earth. She took a last look around the room and then laid back on the mat.
All of this was very unnerving but she really wanted to experience it. She took a moment to relax her breathing into slow deep breaths. They had told her it was important to remain calm. She was safe here. She made herself aware of her body and realized that she was very tense. Her toes were scrunched up and her hands were balled up in fists. She forced herself to let go and relaxed her digits. She took another purposeful deep breath. Her eyes hesitantly fluttered closed and then felt around for the start button on the inside of the tank. She found the smooth glass panel and traced over it with her fingertips until she found the raised button. Her finger cautiously pressed it and she immediately felt a low vibration embrace her body and find it’s way into her ears. She recognized it as a kind of white noise to cancel out any sound the tank was making as the experience began.
The mat she was laying on slightly warmed which helped her to relax as the light in the room dimmed. She opened her eyes, curious as to what was going on around her, and she realized that the light had dimmed because the lid of the tank had shut. She never heard it and would have felt a little scared if it wasn’t for the beautiful star field she saw above her. It was like the nights when she was a kid lying in the bed of her grandfather’s old Ford staring up at an infinity of stars. Except in this sky there was no clouds or trees to remind her of earthly limitations and the blackness between each point of light looked deeper. She marvelled at the sparkling stars for a moment and then realized she was feeling something. She couldn’t tell if it was coming from without or within but it felt very personal. It was not intrusive but welcomed. It was warm and comforting and it made whatever stress was left in her body release. It was funny but it felt like when she finally able to pee after having to hold it too long. If she had closed her eyes at that moment she would have fallen asleep and she really wanted to so badly. But the experience, it was unlike anything and she wanted to go through it.
She felt like the stars were beginning to move closer to her but she realized it was her that had moved upward. At some point the tank had filled and surrounded her body with a warm viscous liquid that had lifted her up towards the stars. It enveloped almost all of her. Only parts of her poked through just above the surface. Had she been in a swimming pool and felt the water crawling up over her body she would have immediately began flailing around. This was different. She wanted it to envelop her, to wrap itself around her. She didn’t feel the stifling pressure on her lungs or anxiety to breathe any faster than she already was. She just felt like she was becoming a part of the experience and she welcomed it. She didn’t feel like she was floating in the tank anymore. Rose just was, she existed. In fact all that she was were her thoughts. Her body seemed to have disconnected itself from her mind and she realized that at some point she had closed her eyes.
Rose opened her eyes again but she didn’t see the star field anymore just black. It was a very light black though; just like brown could be a lighter shade or blue could be pale. She was seeing a light black and then gradually there was an area of golden yellowish orange that began to gain prominence. She focused on the colors and watched as they sharpened into a rising sun just over a ridge of mountains becoming visible in the distance. She could feel the warmth from the sun now and a cool breeze teased her body from the north. She looked in the direction of the cool air and saw more mountains becoming visible along with a grassy plain that she was now standing in. She took a step back to turn and look at the rest of her surroundings but she realized she wasn’t herself anymore. There was more of her. She looked down and saw what looked like a pair of horse legs underneath her. She took a sharp breath and looked up not sure of what was happening. She craned her neck backwards and saw a large torso stretching back and at the end of it was attached a long hairy tail. She stumbled back a few steps feeling light-headed and realized that she couldn’t lose her balance. She had four legs. Four horse legs. She looked back and forth over where her shoulders used to be and could see a velvety black horse body. But it wasn’t a horse’s body, it belonged to her. She could feel every inch of it. She turned her head back and forth trying to get a look at herself and she could see the sunlight rippling across her short-haired coat. She stumbled backwards again wanting to collapse to the ground in astonishment but she just ended up backing her hindquarters into the trunk of an old rough tree. She spun around and saw an expansive forest behind her. She squeezed her eyes tight and felt herself beginning to panic. She caught herself and tried to think hard for a moment. Was this a dream, a nightmare, or reality? She forced herself to take a deep breath and thought for a moment. Backwards. She had to think backwards. The field, the mountains, and then the sun. The blackness. The stars...the tank! She remembered. This was her experience.
Rose loved horses. Since she was a child she had been fascinated with the powerfully majestic animals. She drew them, read about them and watched them. The only thing that she had never done but would have given anything to do was to become one. She wanted to understand their freedom and their power. She wanted to gallop headlong into the wind and run away from everything. When she heard about the experiences she knew this was her chance and now she hoped she hadn’t ruined it. She had been advised to stay calm and just let it happen. She had to accept it and believe it.
She had been squeezing her eyes closed tight and she felt the stress in her face but she quickly released it. She slowly opened her eyes, half afraid to find herself back in that tank, but she was met with that golden sun again. It had risen just over the ridge now and hit her horse body with a welcome heat. Rose tried to smile but wasn’t sure what it might look like coming from a horse's mouth. She breathed out a sigh of happiness and watched as two puffs of heat arose from her nostrils like puffs of a cigar. She looked over her body again, flicked her tail and took a couple of steps forward feeling the grass and dirt give slightly under the weight of her immense body. Sure of her footing she took a few more steps forward, faster now, and then pranced about like she had seen the mighty animals do so many times before. She laughed and it came out as a whinny which it made her snort in surprise. She pranced again in place and then got a wild look in her eye as she felt another soft brush of wind across her face. Rose looked out across the fields and then burst into a full gallop. Her speed was incredible and she opened her eyes wide as she watched the mountain range shoot towards her. The cool rushing wind made her eyes burn. She couldn’t believe how real this all felt.
The dry morning air split apart in front of her and caressed her body as she sped forward. She could feel the power surge through her body and the strength of her muscles pushing through her hoofs against the ground. It almost felt like the earth was pushing back against her like two magnets repelling against each other. However it worked she was moving forward with remarkable speed and she felt like she wasn’t putting forth much effort at all. She closed her eyes lightly and took in the moment. Her powerful lungs pushed air in and out of her body and each time she could feel energy shoot through her body. She swiveled her ears backward and then forward and found she could hear in different directions but mostly it was the wind rushing past her. She could feel her mane bounce in an energetic dance against the back of her neck and her tail sticking out like a flag from the end of her back. This was amazing and she never wanted the experience to end. Inside she felt like screaming in joy she was so happy. She continued running with her eyes closed and didn’t open them until she felt the ground under her hooves change to a more rocky terrain. She popped open her eyes and realized the base of the mountain was only a few hundred feet in front of her. She put down her legs to stop and slid a little before coming to a complete stop. She breathed hard and fast as she spun around and looked over her surroundings. It was colder where she was at now because she had entered into the domain of the shadow of the mountain but she could see the sun was rising faster now, warming the area. She wasn’t chilly at all though because the heat from her body coursed through her veins with every pound of her heart. She had to feel the power again and took off with a start back across the field. Rose quickly crossed from the shadow of the ridge into the sunlit field and smiled as the sun poured over her body. She felt like she could spend the rest of her life just running across this field. She put effort into her run to see just how fast she could go and took off even faster.
The forest that she had backed into earlier leaped toward her and she looked over it’s boundaries to see if there was a way through it. To her right she caught sight of what looked like a pathway and steered herself toward it. As she approached the entrance she reduced her speed to a trot. She stopped at the entrance and peered down a well-worn path that went a few hundred feet before making a turn deeper into the trees. The forest was thick with trunks, wild shrubs and branches. Her ears leaned to one side as she tried to listen to what may lie ahead and she could hear the sound of birds conversing. She started to make her way down the path and looked wide-eyed from side to side. The forest was alive with activity. She realized that she was seeing and hearing things that if she was in her human body she would have never gotten to enjoy. She caught glimpses of critters scurrying to and fro and birds hopping from branch to branch. Most times she didn’t even have to turn her head as her new field of view was much wider and even the shadows seem give up more details than she was used to. She continued to listen to a symphony of life among the trees and the wind caressing leaves. She was enjoying her newly expanded senses as she continued down the path trying to take everything in.
Rose suddenly realized that she was extremely thirsty and began to wonder where she was going to find something to drink. She sniffed the air and could detect a faint moistness in the air; she must be close to a body of water of some sort. She reached a corner and turned to find the path angle downwards for a half mile or so where she caught sight of the edge of what looked like a lake. Inwardly she smiled and trotted down the pathway. As the trees around the edge of the water thinned out she saw that it was indeed a small lake. The morning fog still hang over it and tickled the surface as the sun seemed to gradually pull it away like tufts of cotton candy. The water looked dark but fresh, however, she was unsure if it would be safe for her to drink from. A startled deer answered her question though. It was drinking from the lake before it darted back to the safety of the woods. Rose walked up to the edge of the water and leaned her neck down to sniff the water. It smelled so good. She lowered her muzzle a little into the water and the air from her nostril created two rings that echoed out with each breath. She lapped up some water and swallowed. It was the cleanest, freshest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. It rapidly quenched her thirst and she was soon back to exploring. She spent the next few hours exploring the area around the small lake sometimes walking up and in the water. When she did the moist ground would sink beneath her heavy hooves and make squishy sounds. Had she been human she probably would have slipped and fell on her ass but the combination of her heavy weight and four legs kept her steady and surefooted. She pranced around the water and then back to shore. She wandered around looking here and there trying to take as much in as she could. Often she would hear the movement of other creatures in the woods around her but had yet to see anything else living approach.
Time seemed to stretch on longer than normal while she was here and she realized the sun still wasn’t very high in the sky yet. Rose began to wonder how long she would be able to stay here. It seemed like it had already been hours and she felt like there was something else she had to do today. Out in the real world. She didn’t want to leave but she did have other responsibilities. She just couldn’t quite remember what they were. She took a last look around at the beautiful surroundings and then sighed. Back to the real world.
Comments (0)
See all