Instead of the typical 16 year old human you’ve always seen, an anthro tiger stares back, his yellow eyes wide open in shock.
“Mom! Mom! What’s going on?” you shout as you leave your bedroom and dash inside the laundry room, interrupting your mother from loading the washing machine with clothes.
“Oh, good! Did you bring me your whites?” she asks you, completely unfazed by your new appearance.
“Mom! I’m a tiger!”
“I know that sweetie,” she says with a small laugh. “Now hurry up and bring me your whites. I’m about to start washing.”
“But, Mom! I’m supposed to be human!”
“Only when you want to be,” she says nonchalantly, continuing to load the washing machine with clothes, acting as if she just hadn’t dropped the biggest bombshell on you.
“What do you mean by that?!” you exclaim in surprise, unable to believe what you were hearing. You begin to feel as if the room is spinning, grasping your chest with your paws. What was going on?
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s gotten into you but if you don’t bring me your clothes soon, I’m going to start washing.” Your mom finishes loading the washing machine and closes the lid, turning to face you with a bewildered look on her face and a hand on her hip.
“I-I-I’ll bring them… just… can you explain what you mean?” you respond, barely managing to speak the words as fear and shock have overtaken most of your body.
“Sweetie, everyone in the family knows about you’re ability to shift.”
“S-s-shift?”
“Yes, remember? You can transform between being a human or an anthro tiger whenever you want,” you mom says as if she’s explaining the alphabet to a grad student. “Although you do turn into a feral tiger on a full moon.”
“Does anyone else know about this… ability?”
“Of course not! We only keep it in the family after all,” your mom says with a wink.
“But why?”