A fly buzzed by Emily's rear. Emily swatted at it with her tail. There was no hesitation.
If she wasn't aware of her tail before, she certainly was now.
Emily saw Alison do the same as the same fly buzzed by her.
"Dumb fly, take that," Alison said. A look of concern crossed her face. "Was it wrong for me to do that?"
Emily watched Stephanie grin as she waved her tail back and forth.
"Why would it be wrong? It's swell having a tail," Stephanie said.
She swished her tail and even bucked a couple of times.
"Stephanie stop! If you do that too much, you might start braying for real," Alison said.
"I know but try swishing your tail a bit more," Stephanie said.
"Smacking flies with our tails is a normal thing for a donkey to do but we shouldn't do it too much," Emily said.
Stephanie snorted. "Come on, just try it. It's just one little thing."
Emily didn't want to start an argument. She swished her tail back and forth. It was her tail, as much a part of her as everything else. It felt good to have one. She didn't want it to feel good. However, without one, how could she swat the flies?
Emily cringed at that thought. It felt like something a donkey would think. Yet, it felt natural, even good.
"Okay, it feels good," Emily said. "But those cigars, beer and candy were other little things that should have been okay."
Stephanie looked back at her tail and then at Emily and nodded.
"I guess but it just feels so good," Stephanie said.
"I know it does," Emily said. "But we gotta resist it in case doing more things that feel good changes us even more."
"How do we resist it?" Alison asked.
"Try thinking of school stuff that you gotta think about rather than doing easy stuff that feels good," Emily said.
"Like math and stuff?" Alison asked.
"That might work," Emily said with a grin.
"It's like something's telling me to bray rather than speak," Stephanie said. "I know I should speak but I–girls I'm sorry I can't help it…HEEEEE HAAAAAWW! HEEEEE HAAAAAWW! HEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAWWW!"
Stephanie let out several brays and even bucked a little. When she regained her senses, she looked at Alison and Emily.
"That felt kinda good too," Stephanie said. "I know you said it's dangerous staying this way but it's so tempting."
Emily bucked before flicking her tail at the fly, which to her annoyance had returned. What did this fly want? She didn't smell that bad.
"Stephanie, if we bray for real, we'll never be able to tell anyone the truth! It's not just us that would lose then, it's all of those other kids!"
"Please Stephanie, don't give in! Maybe we can find a way to make you like being a girl," Alison said.
Stephanie nodded. "I'll try but being a donkey is so tempting. I wish I could be stronger."
"That's okay Stephanie but you need to fight it for now if you want to go home," Emily said. "It's like resisting the urge to smash something when you're angry. It might be fun but getting into trouble isn't. Just like how someone might treat us if we can't speak isn't fun."
Stephanie nodded. "You're right Emily. I'll try."
Emily nodded. "I hope fake braying works."
She worried they were running out of time. Acting like a donkey did feel good. It was getting harder to find reasons to resist those feelings and desires.
Was this what it was like to be a donkey? Normal donkeys never went to school, lacked inhibitions and had no desire to retain humanity they never had. Emily was starting to understand that donkeys acted like donkeys for the same reason a girl acted like a girl. It seemed normal, felt right to act that way and for the most part, there was no reason not to.
Emily heard someone coming. She turned to face Alison and Stephanie. Emily watched Stephanie turn her ears to face the direction of the sound. It seemed another step towards giving into the donkey.
"Okay girls, we gotta fake bray now," Emily said.
Soon after, the man returned with one of his shadow creatures.
"Well my donkeys, it seems I heard a bray or two a minute ago," the Coachman said. "Yes, yes, yes, that's the sound we need to hear."
Emily looked at Alison and Stephanie and then at the Coachman. She seethed with anger unlike anything that she’d ever felt. For Emily and the others, this was the end of life as they knew it.
"Come on now donkeys, don't dally, time is money," the man said.
Emily looked at the Coachman and frowned. Her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her. She did her best to focus as she let out a few fake brays that she hoped sounded convincing.
Alison and Stephanie brayed. Emily's heart sank when she realized that Stephanie's bray had sounded authentic.
The Coachman looked at them and rubbed his chin.
"I don't know," he said. "Something about those brays sounded a bit off."
The shadow creature opened the door to the pen.
"You donkeys wouldn't by chance be faking now, would you?" The man asked.
He gasped when he turned and he saw what his slave had done.
"Girls, he knows we faked it, run for it," Emily said.
Emily, Alison and Stephanie ran out of the pen. The three donkeys ran off.
"There's the water, maybe we should swim for it," Alison said.
"Yeah Emily, I think donkeys can swim," Stephanie said.
Emily looked at the water and considered it. Yes, they'd still be donkeys if they made it back to land. However, they'd be talking donkeys and away from the people that did this to them. Staying on the island seemed didn't seem to be a viable option.
"It's crazy but you girls are right," Emily said. "If we stay here, we'll just get worse until we're just like the others."
"Stop them you, fool," the Coachman yelled to his slave. "If they escape, they'll tell the cops!
Emily looked back to see many shadow creatures running towards them.
Alison and Stephanie were the first ones into the water. Emily heard the splash after they jumped. She jumped soon after, landing in the cold water with a heavy splash.