Jeff looked subconsciously back at the mirror.
“I… kind of don’t want to.”
“Don’t want to do what?”
Jeff looked nervously at the ground, and then turned away from Riley.
“Oh, I get it... You’re afraid. No problem. I'll go find your sister.”
He looked up just as Riley sprinted out the door. “Wait, what -”
“And I’m going to ask her about your DONKEY-HEAD! HEYYY JEFF’S SISTER!”
“NOOO! Get the fuck back here! Shit...” Jeff got up and went running after.
Kristen’s Sunday afternoon soaps were over, and the television schedule was drifting into a mix of courtroom and cooking programs. Meanwhile, she was painting her fingernails - all sixteen of them - and debating checking her phone again for text messages. That’s when the annoying voice of Jeff’s friend blared through the house. She rolled her eyes; why did Jeff hang out with this older dude anyway? He was her age and smelled like Doritos. Or maybe that was Jeff… Whatever.
Riley literally jumped into the room. “Kristen!”
“What, I’m busy.” she replied, without looking at him. She swore that Jeff was creeping in the hallway behind him.
“Kristen! Your brother has a donkey head!”
She looked up at Riley, and... her jaw dropped.
“And… it’s HUGE!”
She was too distracted to respond. Since when was Jeff’s friend so… handsome?
“Uhhh… yeah? Are you making fun of my brother?”
“...Yes?”
Kristen sighed. “What was your name again?”
“Riley.”
“Yeah, okay, well Riley, you’re… “
She was about to call him a butt-hole, or some other insult, but she found herself unable. Her eyes widened and she smiled a bit with embarrassment. One look at him again, and it was like…
“... You’re kinda funny.”
Wait, that’s not what she wanted to say at all!
“Uh, thanks. But… but what about Jeff’s ears?”
“RILEY --”
“These are weird questions. And… is Jeff behind you? With these ears you speak of he’s bound to hear you anyway…”
Riley turned around to Jeff in the hall, and winked. Kind of the universal signal that… maybe it was alright to come out?
Jeff took a deep breath. The Game wasn’t going to work if he didn’t test it out, and perhaps if she did react to it, he could wipe her mind or something. Well, here goes nothing…
He stepped into the living room…
And she looked unamused.
“Knew it. Haaaaaayyy there, ass-face.”
Answers that question.
“Hi, octo-fingers.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Original. Look, can you leave me alone now? I played your preschool game, and Toby might come over later.”
“Yeah, Toby. The boyfriend that doesn’t exist…”
“Shut up! I…” she looked up at Riley again. “Uhh, well, I mean, it was nice meeting you.” With a confused expression on her face, Kristen stood up from the couch, ran past them, and dove into her bedroom.
Riley turned to Jeff. “Didn’t she tell us to get out?”
Jeff looked flabbergasted. “I… she…”
“She didn’t notice. She didn’t say anything!” Riley remarked. “Except… ass-face…”
He reached up to touch his head again. With one hand he could palm his nose and mouth.
“This is incredible,” he finally admitted.
“Is it? I mean, are we good now?”
“I suppose.”
“Well…” Riley added, “Since we got that out of the way, I wanted to capture some other people with the Chronivac. You know, so we can use it for the game. Otherwise, well… we're just changing ourselves or Kristen.”
“Where - you wanna go somewhere?” Jeff asked.
“My house,” Riley said. “My parents are home, and Mason is visiting for the weekend.”
The boys walked out the front door of Jeff’s house and got on their bikes. This was certainly an invigorating experience: here they were, somehow fitting right into society, doing things outside in the open air. No problem at all. If anyone took one look at Jeff, they wouldn’t think he was wearing some supremely elaborate mask; they would recognize it as “normal Jeff” and continue on their way. Right?
--
Having the head of a donkey and trying to bike down a road simultaneously wasn’t as easy as one would hope – but the art to biking was non-stop pedaling, so Jeff managed. With a tilt of the head, he could see the oncoming traffic well enough. And to be fair, Riley’s house wasn’t very far away. His long ears flung back against the wind, though, and it hurt; he did something mentally to ‘pin’ them backward, to avoid the feeling altogether.
When they got there, Riley stepped off his bike and shuffled it over the curb, perching it against a giant pine tree in his front yard. His older brother Mason’s car was in the driveway. Riley could drive, too, but his car was nowhere to be seen.
The Chronivac emitter was in Jeff’s backpack. Although there wasn’t much they would do other than scan some new people, he was getting nervous again about using the software on unsuspecting individuals. Was it morally okay? He had to rationalize that this was Riley’s family; if anything went wrong, they’d find out and could fix it. Then again, he had a freakin’ donkey’s head so what was the purpose in being rational right now?
Riley motioned at Jeff with his hand. “Give me the emitter. We’ll take it inside and… that’s all we need to do, right?”
“Yeah… within 10 yards… but I’m staying outside.”
“...where everyone can see you?”
Jeff silently nodded.
Riley rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
He casually opened the front door - without knocking or ringing the doorbell - and stepped inside. The front hall was empty, save for the aquarium of fish that his mother laboriously fawned over. They each had silly names, and you can most certainly bet they were treated almost as well as her real kids.
“Hello?” Riley called out.
There was a cluttering of dishes, followed by footsteps. His mother stepped into the doorway, and she looked … bewildered.
“Riley!?”
“Hi, Mom. Where’s Dad?”
She shook her head. “Riley… what are you doing home?”
The question caught him off guard. “Uhm…”
“Don’t you have classes tomorrow?”
“… Yes?”
“Then is something wrong? Why are you here?”
It took a moment, but it dawned on him: he was truly 22 years old. According to the Chronivac, he was going to college… somewhere. More to the point, it meant he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.
She put the dishes down on the counter. “Look, tell me what you need, and we’ll get it for you. But Mason’s home tonight, so we don’t have any space for you to stay; we weren’t expecting you home!”
“O-oh… uh, well, I just wanted to… umm, I’m having dinner with... Uncle Bob, so I just wanted to stop by and say hi.”
His mother looked even more incredulous. “Uncle Bob? Sheesh. Well, I’m glad to see you. But I hope you’re not driving back again tonight, you’ll need to find a place to stay. We converted your room into the den, remember?”
Of course, Riley didn’t remember this.
“You can sit with us for a few minutes after I finish up these dishes. Can I get you a drink?”
“No thanks, mom, I’m with a friend -”
Riley turned around to see Jeff attempting to stay out of sight behind the front yard hydrangea bushes. The invisibility trick wasn’t successful - his tall ears poked out above.
His mother walked to the front door archway and waved. “Oh! Yes. John, was it? Your neighborhood frie- ... is he hiding?”
“I’m… no, it's “Jeff”. And I’m not sure. Hey, JEFF!” Riley called out.
Jeff groaned. Riley, you fool… He took a deep breath and hesitantly emerged from behind the bush. He stood a few feet back from the porch, keeping his distance. He might as well be wearing a target on his chest that read “freak show” on it.
“Hello…”
“Hi, John!”
“Jeff, mom…”
“Jeff, Jeff… that’s right. My apologies. I haven’t seen you both together since Riley graduated!”
“... right.”
“I hope you’re doing alright for yourself, dear. High school must be a bit... challenging...”
The emitter, which was in Riley’s hands, suddenly beeped. He presumed it had finished scanning in his family members.
“Okay well, we’re going… I guess.”
“Really? Without saying hello to - oh, hold on a moment. Mason’s got something to give you. And did you message your Uncle about...”
They disappeared into the house while Jeff awkwardly waited. A few minutes later, through some squabbling and embarrassing kisses, Riley returned to the front yard.
His mother waved one last time. “Next time, call in advance! I’ll make arrangements and we’ll have a nice dinner out. Love you!” And with that, she shut the door.
Jeff had slipped back behind the pine tree, still very timid about being seen. From here, nobody could see him from the road.
“Well? I waited for five minutes...” Jeff asked.
“I know. Turns out that delay was needed, though. I never got within range to Mason or my Dad. But now we're good.” Riley shuffled his feet. “So… I don’t have a place to live… not here, at least.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m 22, dude! So I’m in college. My home is … some dormitory somewhere.”
“… Oh.”
“Yeah, and now I know that in the future, they turn my room into a computer den.”
Jeff rolled his eyes. “First-world problems. You still look like yourself. Just call a number on your phone.”
Riley dug out his wallet again from his back pocket. He must have a school ID or something to reference. Digging hastily somewhere in the back of his wallet pockets, Riley found an ID card for Raymond University. He looked just as dopey in the photo as in his “adjusted” driver’s license.
He showed it to Jeff. “Raymond U. That’s … 25 miles away.”
“You got into Raymond? That’s not bad.”
“Yeah. But… damn, I really am 22. No shit. Like… my mom just kicked me out of the house. This is crazy! This is SO. DAMN. LITERAL!”
“The Chronivac…”
“And you have a donkey head! How are you even alive right now?
“The CHRONIVAC.”
“Yes, I know that-”
“No; give me the emitter.”
“... Oh. Right.”
Riley handed the emitter back to Jeff, who promptly reviewed some of the settings before putting it back into his satchel.
“It looks like you got ‘em all. We can’t tell for sure without the program, but it’s showing that it collected a few subjects.”
“Cool. So that’s it for now, huh?”
Jeff nodded. “We have to wait until tomorrow.”
Riley looked a bit discouraged at this piece of news, but he had set the rules himself: four changes per day. After that, they just had to live with the condition of their bodies until the next morning, no matter how difficult or strange it may be. The Game began now, in a way - could they both handle it? And Riley knew he probably had it better than Jeff did, but - save for a few mental shifts - nothing had truly changed for the worse. He didn't feel like he was losing his humanity. In fact, many thoughts of exploration and wanderlust flooded his mind.
Riley clapped his hands to make a statement. “I… think I’m gonna go figure out what my college life is.”
Jeff’s ears perked up. “Huh?”
“Yeah, like… I’m in college, right? Might as well live this to the fullest while it lasts. I probably have roommates, and schoolwork, and maybe even a – DUDE! I can drink alcohol. I can go to bars.”
Jeff laughed, although he caught himself immediately because he sounded so inhuman.
“Do… do you think I could get a hot date?”
Jeff smiled. “You HAVE to, man.”
“Sweet.”
There were a few seconds of silence as Riley was still racking his brain.
“Well…. How am I gonna get there?”
Jeff smiled again. “Your car might be at my house; we could go check. I didn’t think about it, but you left your bike at my house a couple nights ago, so reality may’ve thought you drove over today.”
“Let’s hope so. I guess that’s the plan: find my car and head to the university. How ‘bout you? What are you gonna do? You wanna come with me?”
Jeff was puzzled. He hadn’t thought of doing anything.
“Probably just… watch a movie. Or play some games. Oh, WAIT, no. I’ve got cross country practice on Sundays. Fuck, how am I gonna get out of that...”
“What? Don’t get out of anything, dude - go!”
“But -”
“But nothing. Jeff…” Riley leaned toward Jeff with a sense of disgust. “Get it through your ba-donkey-donk skull. You were right: nobody sees us as different. Nobody thinks anything has changed. Literally… nobody… cares. And it's amazing! You could show up to cross country practice, hee-haw all over the place, eat some grass, and everyone will just accept it. We can lead whatever life we choose.”
“... within limits.”
Riley shook his head. “We choose the limits, bro.”
Jeff stared at Riley's face in amazement. He was partially right - Jeff kept remembering how brash he was earlier. Having the 10% donkey ears seemed so less threatening or risky. His love for the Dr. Moreau stuff led him down this road… That’s why he was too scared to do everything. When did transforming ever end well for anyone?
But now that he was out in public, the danger seemed to be waning. A few people walking by on the sidewalk were curious about what was going on, but otherwise didn’t seem to care.
Some of their normal life rules still applied, though. Because Jeff didn’t have a car of his own, his father drove him to practice. He would face a lot of guff from his parents if he skipped - even a potential grounding. The Chronivac probably didn’t change any of that stuff.
“I can’t skip practice… and anyways, school’s tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll have to drive back here tomorrow morning to play The Game.”
“No, dude, you’re right - I should go to practice and see what happens.”
“Fine.” Riley stormed off to his bike. “I’ll just take some pics if I meet up with a cute girl. Don’t get too jealous!!”
With that, Riley's 22-year-old bravado rode away, back toward Jeff’s house. He followed behind, perplexed but morbidly curious about how the rest of his day would be.
----
After Riley drove off in his car, which was indeed parked at Jeff's place, Jeff’s tour of his house fuzzied his memory of his life, doing the same things he had always done, being around his family… but with the circumstances of long ears, a snout, and grey fur.
For example, hats were too much work for their worth; Jeff owned none. If someone gave him a hat as a gift, it was usually to shame him. He had to vacuum his bed more often than the rest of the family. There was a perception of space between his front and back teeth that challenged human food consumption. And quite literally everyone wanted to pull his ears for fun at least once.
He spotted the family albums on a bookshelf toward the back of the living room wall. He grabbed one from his childhood, back when disposable cameras were all the rage. Setting it down on his bedspread, he paged through…
Wow. Every picture or photo of him in the album, of any moment in Jeff’s personal family history recorded: his head was a donkey’s head. His first tricycle ride, to some childhood birthday party, to attending the city’s festival parade with Kristen and her friends. Baby photos, too - and he looked like the ugliest baby in the world. Donkey, donkey, donkey. The ears were always pointing about in some odd way. Sometimes he looked cute, or natural... other times, it was awkward and animalistic.
He didn't know whether to breathe, or cry. Jeff turned his attention away from the album to look around his room. The clothing in his closet was mostly the same.
The reality alteration tool was insanely powerful. Bar world peace, it was the most powerful thing in the world! Being animal and human at the same time wasn’t supposed to be possible. To make it “real” changed a lot about his history and life… and somehow, the Chronivac had coordinated it sufficiently.
How could such a tool do this?!? ...and what would the long-term effects be?
On that thought, there was a knock at his bedroom door.
“It’s time to go! Are you dressed up and ready?”
It was Jeff’s father. Cross country practice time.
“... five minutes!”
“Hurry up, then.”
*-*
“Swing those arms! Swing those arms! Swing those arms!”
The coach shouted down the field, as Jeff and eleven other shrimpy teenagers pushed themselves to their physical limits in warm-ups.
“Ten more to go, boys!”
In a bizarre twist to the day’s events, Jeff found things slightly easier - he could take in more oxygen than usual, and that was helping him better manage the pace.
“Gonzalez! No high-stepping, swing your arms!”
His eyesight was forcing his head down into his chest, though. That’s the only way he could see what he was actually doing from his chest down.
“And Donkey! Good swing, more lift! More lift!”
Oh, yeah - that. His nickname was no longer ‘Smithy’. Instead, the simple-minded coach just named him what he was.
“Nine more to go!”
All things considered, it wasn’t that bad. In fact, he enjoyed it.
“I wanna see more hustle, guys… no stopping now!”
He felt invigorated to do better than ever before.
“Five more - swing those arms, Chain! I want to see those arms!”
Everything was different.
“Last lap! Don’t chill out!”
Everything was wonderful.
And he finished. The cross-country team came jogging in to the coach. Half of them were already wiped; the others could have gone for more. Jeff was barely out of breath.
“Good hustle, good hustle. Great warm-up. Lookin’ down the road, we should have what’s needed to take a demanding lead. ‘Specially good effort by the juniors and sophomores. Donkey, Gonzalez, Chain - keep it up. Great improvement from last spring.”
He smiled. The coach never praised him for anything. Murmurs and snide remarks from the other athletes aside…
*-*
After practice, Jeff felt a buzz and opened his phone.
“Hey - where are u”
It was Riley. Jeff was back home, recuperating from practice - but also sighing breaths of relief from the day’s events. Although the Chronivac was right there in his room, he pledged to leave it till the following morning.
“Found my apartment. I have a roommate. Trying to keep cool”
There was an underlying fear that something would go wrong and this wouldn’t be reversible. But Jeff had double - heck, triple-checked the machine and its cryptic directions. The ability to cancel was still there.
“will be over first thing for the dice roll. hope your nightmare will be over”
What Jeff didn’t indicate, and couldn’t even begin to articulate, was that he didn’t think it was a nightmare - far from it. He was kidded for his differences, yes. But everything largely remained the same, and Jeff even felt invigorated to do better at things. He was praised by the coach. In this mix, he felt more… alive.
That was the best thing about it all. He found virtually everything in his life interesting and new; the most mundane of tasks, like brushing his teeth, or reading a book, were new experiences. Errant noises, smelling through his big nostrils, looking around at things with his elongated skull cutting his line of sight… the six senses of a donkey-headed human impacted his circumstantial inhibitions. It was certainly not what he expected, but it was everything he wanted to experience. Jeff kept reminding himself of the dangers... but he was having so much fun.
Jeff texted back: “Its weirdly fun”
Riley scoffed. He was having fun; sure, it was weird, too. But at least he was 100 percent human!
“Whatever u say - cya in the morning”
There was so much more to know about the Chronivac; he couldn't wait until morning! But against his will, Jeff found himself falling asleep on his bed. The Game would continue tomorrow, Day 2, on a Monday.
A school day...