I snort in bittered acceptance at the fact that I was a donkey. At least, the farm was nice. There was nicely trimmed, green grass everywhere, as I as I could see. The smell of the grass was amazing, almost tempting to take a bite out of. The farmhouse was freshly painted, making it stand out of the grass. The weather was lovely, even if it was a bit hot under all this... *sigh* ...fur that I have now. The realisation of the fact that I'm now a donkey kicked back in. I try and walk over to the farmhouse but it's far more difficult than I thought. How do I walk like this? It's like all I have is left feet. I continue to try and try again and eventually I get somewhere. While it's still difficult, I manage to walk over near the farmhouse.
"Psst"
I look around. Nothing. No one is there. I continue walking towards the farmhouse.
"Psst"
I look around. Nothing again. This is now starting to irritate me. I continue looking around for a bit. Still nothing. I turn back and continue walking.
"Psst"
"ALRIGHT, Who is that?!" I yell. There's no one around me. I keep looking and looking for anyone. Eventually, I find a couple other donkeys. "Hey" one of the donkeys spoke out. Wait, he talked? Oh, now I remember. The genie said that I could talk to animals. Not just donkeys too. But I imagine the conversation would be pretty boring and annoying, like instead of barking, dogs continually say "Hey!" over and over. With that idea in my head, I ignored the other donkey.
"Over here".
Wait, he spoke again. With more than one word this time too. I have to walk over there now. So I did, I walked over to the other donkey, who seemed to look happy and concerned at the same time. "Yeah?" I ask.
"Come with me. Don't worry..."
Worry? I was now a donkey. How could I not worry?
"...it will only take a sec".
I was honestly shocked by the response I got from this donkey. I didn't expect him to be so well versed in the English language. So I followed him, as we both walked towards some other donkeys far outside of a barn. The other donkeys almost jumped up in attention as soon as they saw me with the other donkey.
"Guess what, guys? We have another one" the donkey I followed said.
Another one?
"What do you mean "another one"?"
"Well, I'm guessing that you came here the exact way we did. Pleased to meet you, kid. I'm Kyle..."
He gestured to the other donkey at the far left.
"He, over there, is Samson..."
He moved his gesture to the next member of this donkey group.
"Him, over there, is Jamie..."
and the next...
"That's Tyler, over there...
and the next...
"The big guy over there-"
"I'm not big!" the donkey that Kyle "pointed" at responded.
"-is Mason".
...and the final member.
"...and that guy is Brian".
I was confused. I didn't know what to say. My mouth tried to form sentences but nothing really came out.
"Look, I know you're shocked at the moment, but don't worry about it, you'll ease into it" Kyle responded to my shock.
"E...ease into it?" I ask.
"Yeah, I mean we've been here for a long while now".
"Wait, what do you mean?"
One of the other donkeys stood up. "You don't know?" asked Jamie.
"Know about what?"
All of the donkeys sighed, like they were sorry for me.
"Kid" Kyle said "How did you come here in the first place? Did you meet the genie?"
The genie?
"Yeah"
"Well, you're not the only one" Mason replied.
"I don't understand, what do you mean?"
"Your "desire" brought you here, right?" Kyle asked.
Oh no.
"You can't mean...surely, you can't mean..."
"Yep" Brian replied.
"Yes" Samson added.
"Uh huh" Mason said.
Tyler nodded.
I looked back to Kyle, surely this couldn't mean-. Kyle looked at me and nodded.
"You mean, I'm STUCK HERE?!"
They all nodded.
"Like THIS?!?"
They all responded with "yep".
"Wh- Ho- Can w- WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!?!"
"You really have no choice, really" Tyler responded.
" I don't believe this, I-" I noticed a farmer was walking near us, I had to try something. I shouted "HELP, PLEASE! HELP ME!" but all that came out were brays. The farmer didn't even respond. The group of these donkeys were hiding their laughter.
I tried to sit down. "I'm stuck like this forever now, aren't I?" I whimpered "I'm stuck like this. I never got a chance to say goodbye to my mom. I never got the chance to say goodbye to my dad. I never got the chance to finish school. I'll never have a job, I'll never have a girlfriend. Now, I'm stuck here on this farm, in this stupid donkey body, with no way out of here". I start to cry. I'll be here until the day I die. Kyle tried to comfort me.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's not so bad. I mean, we don't have to work. We don't have to worry about clothes or shoes or anything like that. You don't have to worry about dying".
I stop crying for a bit. "Dying?"
"We've been here a long, long time, haven't we, boys?"
All the other donkeys agreed.
"What do you mean?"
Samson stood up. "I was once a gladiator, I was ready to fight for my emperor, until the "desire genie" showed up and stopped my life as a human. I wasn't the first one here either. When I first arrived, there were others. Michael, Gerald and Bailey. Two males and one female. All changed. They lost their humanity and became full donkeys in mind and body. That's what he wants us to be. The genie will only grant us our freedom if we change in mind. But we don't get brought back as ourselves, we join a herd somewhere near where we first met the genie and live our lives as donkeys. That is why we are still here. We haven't succumbed to the change. We refuse to".
"I was once a carpenter, living with my wife and two sons. I don't know why "my desires" wanted this. My desires were fulfilled. I just wanted to have a wife and two kids and live happily until I would eventually go" Jamie said "I didn't want this. I miss her dearly".
"I was an early computer scientist. It was 1981 when I was picked up by the genie" Brian said.
"Bodybuilder. Now, I can't stop eating the grass" Mason replied.
"I was going to come home. The wars were over" Tyler replied.
Kyle looked at me. "I was like you, but much older. At least in "Donkey years". I was on the train, riding away from school. That's when he got me. 1959. Years are now non-existent for me".
"I'm going to be stuck here unless I give in?!"
"That's the price we all have to pay. It's either that or stay here and keep your humanity" Tyler responded.