I laugh.“Roddy, this is serious. Stop joking.”Roddy nodded. He then reached out above my head, grabbed a furry part of my anatomy (!) and yanked.
“Heeeee-HAWWWW!!!!!”I blurt out in pain. Roddy smiled.
“Still doubt me?”
I jump up and run to a mirror.My human ears are gone. In their place...is a pair of foot long, gray furred donkey ears. I touch the messy fur inside them and they twitch away of their own accord.
“What the!!!!” I was on the verge of tears.
“What do you think?” Roddy asked.
“I just grew donkey ears and you are asking me what I think!? You aren’t panicking?” Roddy shrugged.
“They fit you?”
“I...I feel the same way!?”I say in shock. I plop down on the couch, confused. Roddy nodded.
“What did you feel when your ears changed?”
“I felt like a part of me was being corrected.” I say earnestly. Roddy nodded.
“These are your true ears then?”
“This is beyond surreal...but yes!” I say, rubbing them. “My true ears are big, floppy donkey ears!”
“Then that means the rest of you is wrong isn’t it?” Roddy asked.
“So those feelings, when I was with those donkeys…”I look up. “Can we just...talk?” Roddy nodded.
“Bray away.”
“I just love everything about donkeys! So much. Bordering on obsession. No...it is an obsession.”Roddy nodded.
“And...what? You want me to fix this?”
“I just want you to talk to me about them. To know I’m not going crazy.” I say as I run my hands up my ears in awe.
“You just grew donkey ears! I think you aren’t going crazy.”
“Thanks. They just feel so right. The weight on the sides of my head feels like it should have always been there.” I say happily, starting to get over the shock. “I’m a little scatterbrained right now though...so can you lead this conversation? I don’t even know where to start I just love everything about them!”
“Well, what do you like about their ears?” Roddy asked.
“I guess its our ears now.” I say with a laugh. I run my hands up and down, and the ears twitch at their touch. I put a finger in one, and feel the messy fur… “Just...how long they are. Flexible...the messy fur on the inside, how they can swivel…”
“Swivel them.” Roddy said.
I try to focus on them, but nothing happens. “Hmmm...I think they turn to catch sounds!”Roddy smiled.
“Yes they do. They let you cool off, they look good on your head.”
Something clicks in my mind and I smile widely. I look in the mirror in adoration at my long gray ears. Giggling, I sit back down. “So Roddy, you seem to want to help me...become a donkey.”
“I want you to be happy.” Roddy said, “Would being a donkey make you happy?”
I think back to how i felt in the pasture. “More than anything.” I suddenly blurt. Roddy raised an eyebrow.
“Think about donkeys. What else draws your eyes to them?”