2019 was already beginning to be a landmark year for Animalia, especially since this summer was the second biannual International Animalia Convention. Because of this, there were preorder packages for the IAC that were already topping six figures in sales.
---
"So these are some of Anne Cumbertin's 'sisters' who experienced the same kind of suffering?" asked one person as several women were being led into their "changing rooms" at Horizon Light.
"Yes they are." answered his co-worker, "Sort of like the movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants..". At seeing his co-worker's confused look, he continued, "I didn't read the book OR see the movie, but I did see the trailers for the movie while channel surfing."
"They were a little reluctant at first at getting converted," said a third, "But with their sister Petra's conversion into a rabbit, they're getting braver."
"What happened to her?" asked the first.
"After her conversion, she caught the attention of a shampoo and body wash company with interest in Animalia, due in no small part to her dark grey fur and her newly regained ruby red hair." said the second, checking her records, "Now she's spending time at ASM learning to be the new mascot AND spokesperson for their new product (which is designed to be both '2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner' for both fur and hair) called Snowbunny Beauty. But there is a small red flag here that says she has some lingering anger and frustration issues from her past."
"Reminder me not to get her riled up." said the third, having seen it once at the store before. She managed to "scare off" a visiting college jock who was after the same body wash she was, and she managed to scare him off by using the "scarily evil woman" that females are known to pull off and by threatening to shave him in his sleep.
---
There was now a sign up sheet for the IAC at WSA when everyone came back to school. After explaining what the IAC was to Elly, Elly signed up, much to everyone's surprise. Though she was building confidence, no one expected to be high enough, though Elly signing up for shotput, discus, hammer throw, and especially javelin might have been a sign for concern, but Elly was doing much better than she was before.
---
Tom and Brittany got a surprising thing from the PR-MD with something both surprising and confusing.
"Apparently you two are going to get a new adopted family member." said the PR-MD agent.
"How is that possible?" asked Brittany.
"Apparently some villagers in Kenya managed to capture a cheetah that was killing their goats." said the agent, showing the picture of when the cheetah was captured. "The scientists in Kenya determined that this particular cheetah was rather young, and probably newly independent of its mother. Because of the popularity of Maelewano with both tourists and civil war refugees, this cheetah is going to be 'deported to Animalia', as one person commented on it and she's going to be a foreign exchange student at WSA, so do you mind her staying with your family?"
"Don't worry," said Tom, both to the agent and Brittany, "We can take care of her. Who knows, maybe our cubs will enjoy playing with her."
"They're certainly getting around." said Brittany.
---
Ella, Simone, and Stuart R. were called to the PR-MD because of the newest member of the Homosexual Anonymous program. Though why Ella and Simone were called along with Stuart was a bit of a mystery, it was easily explained when they saw her picture from the records.
"This is Annie." said the agent to Ella and Simone, "She's roughly the same age as you two are, which means that she faced a lot of the same problems you did with being black and lesbian. What makes it a little more intense is that she's a professional trainer, like Courtney, and she's also HIV positive."
"I remember when the AIDS scare was going on." said Ella, knowing what Annie probably had to deal with.
"Since she became a zebra Animalian, and there wasn't any uplifted Zebras from the Zoo outbreak available for her, would you mind helping her adjust to her awakening heterosexuality, Stuart?" asked the agent.
"No problem." said Stuart, "I'm sure my sister would like her."
"I'm sure we can be her friends." said Simone, "Who knows, it might make some interesting play."
"Do be careful." said the agent, "The Homosexual Anonymous Program is already receiving a lot of 'outreach volunteers' from foreign countries who are less tolerant of their LGBT members than America is."
---
Apart from that, many things in January was about breaking old habits and starting newer, healthier habits, so they won't be put here. Happy New Year from Animalia.