Before my mind’s eye, the ant’s image blurred and reshaped. Straightening upward, it began to solidify, taking on far different features than previously. Arms and legs, hands and feet, narrow torso, oval head, all the trappings of a standard homo sapien. Then, more specific details came in: thin waist, wide hips, perky breasts, a clearly female sex. As the face formed, a long mane of black hair fell to mid-back, striking me as suspiciously recognizable. Finally, an angelic face looked back at me through pale blue eyes, and my suspicions were confirmed. I would know that face anywhere. My fantasy girl. Mostly a product of my teenage years, I must admit she still held a special place in my daydreams.
“Is this better?” She asked, her voice now the dulcet soprano I had always imagined.
“Wha- How did you do that!?” I goggled.
Misreading my expression, she suddenly looked uncertain. “I’m just taking characteristics you find most pleasing and applying them to myself in our mind link. I hoped it would make me less alien to you, but I’m not really a good judge of human appearance. Am I repulsive?”
I gulped and shook my head. Reflexively, my eyes dipped low, glimpsing pale, smooth skin before snapping back to her face. “Um, maybe you’d better put on some clothes.”
To my surprise, a light blue dress materialized over her body. She gasped, reaching down to grab the skirt and lift it for close inspection, incidentally giving me affirmation that she had on some lacy white underwear, too. “Oh, what’s this?”
Coughing in embarrassment, I reached over and tugged her skirt back down. “It’s clothing. A dress, really. How did you put it on without knowing what it was?”
“I didn’t. You put them on me just now. These are images from your own mind, after all.” Twisting around to get a better view of herself, she asked, “So, what is clothing for?”
I tried to find the simplest answer. “In human culture, we cover our bodies for, um, protection and warmth and…other things.”
Practically bouncing in excitement, she beamed. “So this is human culture? Fascinating! I have to see more!”
Before I could react, she whirled around and sped off through the house. Flitting here and there, she opened cabinets, riffled through drawers, and even tipped over furniture in her mad exploration. By the time I caught up with her, she was in the kitchen emptying out the fridge all over the floor. Spilled beverages and scattered produce piled up at her feet. “What are these? They smell like food!”
“It is food,” I said as I pulled her away and closed the fridge. It felt so strange watching my dream girl act this way, strange yet refreshing, too. For the first time, she had a mind separate from my own, and it made her complete somehow, albeit in a weird, frenetic kind of way.
“Human food?” She squealed. Eagerly, she bit into the vegetable she had managed to snatch before I could stop her. It was a chili pepper. For a few seconds, she happily chewed away while I stared in horror. Then, she froze, her eyes going wide. “GAH! AH! AAAH!”
Bending over, she scraped at her tongue with frantic fingers as her eyes watered like faucets. Faucets! Quickly, I grabbed her around the waist and almost lifted her off her feet rushing her to the sink. Once I got the water running, she gulped down as much as she could until the burning let up. Patting her on the back, I sighed. “I think that’s about enough educational experiences for you today. We should really get back before we run out of time.”
She nodded gratefully. “I agree.”
As I prepared to break the connection, I paused. Impulsively, I said, “Um, would you mind if I gave you a name? I know we’re both scouts, but humans like to identify individuals more, well, individually.” I gave her my name as an example.
The scout looked intrigued. “It sounds a bit unnecessary, but I’m willing to try it. What would you call me?”
Eyeing the bitten pepper lying on the floor where she had dropped it, I grinned. “How about Pepper?”
She smiled back. “Okay. Pepper it is!”
Pepper the scout repeated her name to herself as the house blurred into darkness and we emerged back into the real world.