Rico hadn’t felt the same since the bite. Before just an ordinary kid with green eyes and dark brown hair, will now get the experience of his life.
On his ninth birthday, his parents took him to the zoo. Rico thought he’d be too old to care for the zoo at the time, but he loved animals so much that he couldn’t resist. The whole day was fun until he got to the marsupials. Rico had stood up to the bar to attempt to reach one of the kangaroos. Little did his parents know before it was too late to stop him, one of the kangaroos approached him with a threatening look. Rico had no time to register as he focused as much as he could to reach him. Then… the sharp pain ringed from his hand to his entire body. The kangaroo bit hard into Rico’s palm as his parents pulled him away from the bars. The kangaroo hoped off with the same look in his face, leaving a sobbing Rico in his mother grasp. Luckily the zoo had an infirmary in case any of the work staff or guests got injured. There was no severe damage, but the doctors did mention that an infection might be imminent so they advised the doctors in their area in case he would need supplements. Little did they know that an infection has occurred, but not exactly what anybody was expecting.
A few years later, Rico stares at the same bite mark that had scarred him for a good year. He eventually got over it, but every year around his birthday he was reminded of the horrible experience. He had no malice towards the kangaroo that bit him. He just though he was about to be attacked. They were very timid creatures. “Rico? Everything okay?” His mother walked in to see him staring at the mark. “Uh Huh.” He replied in a mellow tone. She approached him with her arm around his shoulder. “Does it still hurt? We could go to the doctor to-“ Rico cut his mother off. “No, it doesn’t hurt. Just stop talking about it. I don’t want the memory to ruin another birthday.” Rico wrapped his hand in gauze to hide the mark. The pain went away a few months after, but he didn’t want people to see the imprint. “Speaking of that, I got a surprise. We’re going to Radical Rodneys!” Radical Rodneys consisted of everything a young kid could ever want, including go karts, laser tag, a full stocked arcade, and even a pizzeria. “I already taken the liberty of inviting Luna and Tanner, your two closest friends.” Rico sighed at his mother’s enthusiasm. “Thanks mom. That’ll be fun.” Rico said in the same mellow tone. “What’s the matter? Don’t tell me your too old for this. That’s what you said for the… *ahem*.” She stopped herself before she mentioned the zoo incident. “No, it’s not like that, but what if something happens there too? A game could short circuit and I’ll get electrocuted, or someone crashes into me with the go karts and my back breaks, or-“ Rico’s mother covered his mouth. “Stop that. Your just paranoid is all. I promise it’ll be fun.” His mother patted hm on the head. Rico sighed. ‘She’s right. I’m just paranoid. I can’t just not have fun anymore after one thing happened.’ Rico thought and smiled. “Okay, I guess I’m fine now. Thanks mom.” Rico’s mother opened her arms to embrace a hug to which Rico complied. “Big 14 tomorrow buckaroo.” His mother kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, Rico.” She said as she got up and left the room. Rico playfully wiped his cheek and lays down to sleep as he awakes his 14th birthday.
Around 3:00 p.m., everyone woh was invited showed up to a packed Radical Rodneys. Rico and his friends had a blast with all the attractions. The arcade had some of the latest cabinets not available in most arcades, the go karts were upgraded from the last visit, and the parents even had a blast with the laser tag arena. While it was fun and all, Rico for some reason didn’t feel like himself. Could this be puberty from his birthday? Was there actually an infection within the bite? He couldn’t really identify the problem, but it wasn’t going to stop his good time. A few hours later the whole party was moved to the pizzeria where everyone sang happy birthday and snacked on cake and pizza. While looking around, Rico saw Luna dining with her parents. He’d actually had a crush on the brunette as he approached her slowly. “H… hi Luna. You enjoying this?” Rico said in a higher pitch voice than usual. Luna smiled and laughed. “Yeah! Thanks for inviting me. Your parents always have the coolest ideas.” She said taking a bite of pizza. “Cool. So, I just wanted to invite you over after school tomorrow. You know, you and me, just hanging out and all that.” Rico said scratching the back of his neck. Something felt off though. As Rico scratched his neck, it was a lot hairier than he thought. Maybe puberty was hitting him too fast. “Really? Sounds fun… Uh… are you okay?” She asked concerned. “Oh, yeah… just a bit itchy is all. Anyway, I’ll let you know what we do after school.” Rico said and left the table scratching his hairy neck. ‘What’s with this hair? Maybe I’m an early bloomer.’ He thought to himself before seating himself again.
Rico and Tanner decided to get a few more games from the arcade and laser tag in before finally leaving. The two accumulated enough tickets for a Radical Rodney cap for each other. The two wore the caps holding shoulders just laughing about. “This is great! I can’t believe I was so scared to come here in the first place.” Rico said. “Why be scared of this place?” Tanner asked. Rico looked over and realized he talked his thoughts out loud. He never told his friends about the zoo incident. “Uh… well… look at this.” Rico showed Tanner the gauze wrapping the bite mark. “Oh, that? You always said that was a skating incident.” Tanner said remembering back. “Well, it’s a little embarrassing, but an animal bit me here and left a permanent mark.” Rico started to unwrap the gauze to show Tanner the bite mark, but Tanner didn’t see an imprint. “Uh, Rico… it looks fine to me.” Rico was at a loss for words. He looked down to see his hand was completely fine. “No way! That mark was there for like five years!” He said in a panicked tone. “Hey, relax. Maybe it just finally healed.” Tanner remarked. “Now come on,I wanna get more cake before we leave.” He said running off to the pizzeria. Rico just stood there confused about the situation. ‘A bite mark doesn’t just disappear after five years. Did something happen to me? Am I an alien or something? No… I’m just paranoid, just like mom said. I’m fine.’ Rico thought as he chased after Tanner failing to notice his nails turning black and growing sharper.
It was around 7 by the time everyone started to head home. Rico made one last stop to the bathroom before leaving to cool himself off. For some reason he was boiling. He turned on the cold water in the faucet, cupped his hands with cold water and splashed it in his face. “Keep it together… it was a great day… don’t ruin it at the last moment-“ Rico was suddenly cut off by staring at the mirror in his reflection. He looked to see his ears were not only slightly longer, but pointed. “Huh?” Rico got a closer look and even felt to confirm that his ears were not only longer and pointed, but hair was growing on them as well. “What is this? That’s not-“ He cut himself off again noticing his hands growing hair on them too as well as seeing his nails have sharpened to long black claws. Rico looked back at his reflection to see his nose was also turning black and his nostrils spread outward. Rico rushed himself to a stall before anyone came in to see him. ‘What the fuck man!? I’m turning into some sort of animal or something!’ Rico tried to think of a way to get out without people noticing his features.
Rico peaked his head out the bathroom door with his hat he got as a prize to cover his ears which seemed to be moving up his head. He pulled the cap downward with his hands in his pocket to hide his nose and claws. As the party left, Rico laid in the back seat of the car the entire drive home. “Hey kiddo, are you okay? You seem bummed. Didn’t you have fun?” Rico’s dad asked looking in the mirror at Rico face down in the back seat. “N… no! I had fun! Thank you guys so much… I… I’m just feeling hot is all.” Rico said putting his head down again. “It’s not the bite is it? I don’t want to bring it up, but it might be serious.” Rico’s mother intervened. “Don’t worry guys. I just need to sleep it off. I keep the fan running tonight.” Rico assured his parents. “Alright. I’m just glad you had fun. It’s been a long time since we did something special for your birthday.” His dad said as he pulled in to the house. Rico sprang up to quickly exit the car feeling some pain on his backside.
Rico entered his room and lied on his bed with the lights off to avoid his parents seeing his face. “You sure your alright? It’s only eight in the afternoon. You don’t go to bed this early.” His mother asked. “I’m fine. Really.” Rico said turning on the fan next to his bed and opening the window. “Anyway… thanks guys. It was an awesome day.” Rico smiled from under his ball cap. His mother and father smiled at their sons kind words. “Happy birthday Rico. Love you buckaroo.” His mother said before shutting the door. Straight after the door closed, Rico took off his ball cap and his shirt to see hair was growing all over his chest. Not only that, but he seemed to be growing muscles. Rico looked in shock at his slightly larger pecs and six pack abs. He felt his chest hair and felt it as it started thickening and spreading everywhere on his body sort of like fur. Rico felt cramps in his feet and took his shoes off to see they were getting longer and also grew sharp claws. “I really am turning into an animal… why-“ Rico was interrupted by the back pain. He held his backside in pain as it seemed to be extending out of his body. He looked back and saw protruding skin forming a bump at the small of his back. “No… that’s not a…” another wave of pain hit as the bump extended out longer sprouting the same color hair that was growing everywhere else on his body.
Rico nearly stumbled out of bed to look in the mirror to see if his face changed any more. The second he looked in the mirror to see no further changes, his face started to ache. “Ohh…, Ow… grrr…” Rico closed his eyes and started growling like an animal as his nose and mouth started extending outward and his ears grew longer and moved to the top of his head. He opened his eyes again to see his newly formed snout that looked very familiar. ‘The bite! The Kangaroo! I’m turning into a kangaroo!’ Panic was evident in his eyes as the red brown fur spread around his face, to his feet, and to his ever extending tail that had grown three feet in length. ‘Can’t… fight… urge… I… I need out!” With one last wave, Rico’s mind was within the mercy of his marsupial instincts. His muscles inflated once more giving him a strong, lightweight physique with the appearance of a mix between human and kangaroo. He jumped out the open window.
With a superhero like landing, Rico looks to the sky and springs into the night, hoping from roof to roof as a newfound wereroo.