The pathway led us through a cave. This was a good sign. John told us before that he got inside here by walking through some kind of cave. We walked until we noticed a source of daylight. There was the exit! We walked past a sign saying "Proteus Cave".
"Hey! I remember that one!" said John. "Now we should see a path... There it is!" he added, very excited that we're finally escaping this weird forest. We walked through the path, and then I felt something touching my entire body. I looked over myself to find out that I'm wearing clothes! I look at the others, and they also appeared clothed.
"Wow! What's happening?" Lucy asked.
"It seems like we just got clothed." I answered.
"Celia, look! Your tail is gone!" Roxy said suddenly. "Lucy's tail disappered too!" she added. "And mine!"
"It seems like I lost my tail too." John told us.
I looked over my shoulder and found no skunk tail there. Was I fully a human again? I was kind of disappointed. I really liked being a skunkgirl. My tail was beautiful, so were my little black ears. Teaching my attackers lessons was also a pleasure. But, on the other hand, will I be able to live a normal life now?
On the end of the path, there was an entrance to the... town. My whole life suddenly flashed in front of my eyes. I regained memories of my parents, my little cat, my house. That all happened when I was an eleven-year-old girl. Who knows how old am I now?
"Oh my God. Celia. I remember everything now." Lucy said.
"Yeah, me too, but, I don't really know what should we do. We got lost in this forest when we were eleven! Our parents have probably gone crazy about us missing, and a sector in the police department is probably looking for us!" I explained my worries.
"I think we just try to talk to our parents. Our return will probably be the biggest relief in their life."
Lucy convinced me.
"Okay. This actually seems like a good idea. Roxy, John, what about you?" I asked.
"I will do the same as you girls." Roxy said.
"I wasn’t gone missing for so long as you three, but seeing my face will definetly be a pleasant surprise for my family. You girls got any phones?" John asked.
I looked over my pockets, and to my surprise, there actually was a smartphone there. And it looked like it belonged to me for a long time. I guess it's the forest's weird magic which caused this.
"Yeah... apparently, I do". I said.
"I got one too!" Lucy added.
"So do I!" joined Roxy.
"Great. Let's then share numbers, and after we talk to our parents, we meet here again. I want us to try something out."
We then headed home. I walked along with Lucy, as we were friends since we were eleven, and also we were neighbours. Approaching our houses, we split up. I walked up to my gate, and used the same code as always to open the gate. I then walked up to the door, and rang the bell. The woman who I saw was none other than my lovely mom. She at first didn’t recognize me, saying "Hello, young lady. What brings you here, and also, how have you opened the-" she then paused, with a surprised expression on her face. "Wait. No way you're-"
"It's me, mom." I interrupted her with a little smile.
"CELIA!!" my mom was happier than ever. "We thought we lost you forever!" she then hugged me, and started crying. "Anthony!" she called my dad. "Anthony!" she repeated. My dad went down the stairs. "What's up, Jane?" he asked. And then he saw me. "No way it's... Celia?" He really couldn’t believe his eyes. "You see her as well, Anthony? I'm not just dreaming, right?" my mom asked my dad.
"Haha, of course you're not." I told them both.
"So... You really just got lost in the woods. And it took you eight years to come back." my mom said.
"Wait... eight years? So I'm nineteen now? Good to know. And yeah, about the woods. This whole place is some sort of magical. I have been growning up there with Lucy." I started explaining.
"Wait, Lucy is back too?" dad asked.
"Yeah, she is probably talking to her parents right now. Listen now, because I'm going to shorten what happened to me.". My parents nodded their heads.
I then started: "So, eight years ago, me and Lucy went on a trip to these woods, and then we found ourselves into that weird forest, without any idea where is the exit. It might seem surreal, but there is some kind of magic ruling this place that turned us into human-animal hybrids. We had animal-like ears on the top of our heads, and we had real animal tails. Lucy turned into an aligator, and I turned into a skunk. That's how we managed to survive. Over the years, I lost my memories from before entering the forest. I lived there with Lucy, the place seemed to be safe enough for us so that we didn’t die. And then, after all this years, we found that boy. John. He is actually my boyfriend now. He got lost in the forest as well, and fortunately, I found him. Then, with a little help from my side, he turned into a skunkboy too. We were about to live a long, peaceful life in the forest, when he said that he still remembers some things from before getting there, and that he may actually help us exit this place. So we followed. And we found the exit, so here I am." I finished.
"Wow, human-animal hybrids? That sounds cool!" my dad said.
"Believe me, it was really cool. Especially to be a skunk." I said, smirking.
"We were so worried about you, Celia. When you and Lucy did not come back that day, we informed everyone in the town that you are missing, and apparently, you were not only the one who got lost. There have been tons of reported people who got lost in these mystical woods. Now we know where they all are." my mom explained.
"Yeah, I even met one girl, she was about our age, maybe a year older. She turned into a squirrel. When we met her, we befriended her, and she left the forest with us. Her name is Roxy." I told her.
Then we spent the rest of the day, chatting and spending time together.
The next day, I woke up with in my comfy bed. I watched the news, and saw a flash saying "Four thought to be lost forever suddenly found". I smiled, and ate my breakfast. Human life was great, to be sure, but i was wondering if I could, for example, live in the forest together with John, occasionally visiting my parents.
John then called me, Lucy and Roxy. We were supposed to meet at the forest entrance, to do what John was willing to.
After a fifteen-minute walk, I got there with Lucy. John was waiting for us to gather, and soon Roxy joined us too.
"We need to check something, girls. Let's try to walk through that cave again." John then explained what he wanted to do.
"Do you really think it's a good idea? What if we get lost again?" Lucy asked, worried.
"Don't be scared. Even if we get lost again, we will make our way back.
We then walked inside the Proteus Cave again. The next thing I knew was that I was clotheless again, and that my beautiful skunk tail is just above my dangerous butt again!
"Wow! It seems like that when we enter the forest, the magic flows through us and changes us into human-animals. That's so cool!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, and this is exactly what I wanted to try out." John then explained.
"I wish we could somehow control this magic and change just whenever we want." I dreamed.
"Yeah, that would be amazing. I like my aligator-self." said Lucy.
"We will try to find out for sure. But now, let's head back home." told us John.
When I was at home, I really wondered how nice would it be to live the rest of my life as a skunkgirl in this forest, just me, my skunk boyfriend, my friends, and all the creatures there. After a long time of wandering, I decided to ask my parents.
"You see, through these eight years I missed a lot of education, and I was just wondering if it wouldn't be great to live in this forest forever. I'm an adult now, so living there with my friends and my boyfriend seems like a great idea, thinking of how much I enjoyed this place. Of course, I will be still visiting you, so you don't feel like you lost me again." I told my parents, with a pleading expression on my face.
"Celia, you're a grown up girl now, and we definetly won't be stopping your desires. You can do whatever you want in your life, just as long as you feel good with it." my dad said and smiled.
"Yeah Celia, dad is right, it's your life, and you can make your own decisions."
I smiled and told my parents "Thank you, I absolutely love you."
I thought about it for a long time after that talk.