Jesse stood in the field under the shade of a tree munching on grass as well as the occasional apples that had fallen from the tree. By now, all were just objects to him. Jesse had learned to identify them by how they smelled, sounded, tasted or felt.
He saw the grass and apples not as he'd seen it as a human but as something he could consume. As a donkey, eating was a simple case of satisfying an urge. When hungry, he would eat and that was that.
As he ate however, he felt a twinge of familiarity about the apples. The sensation was not unlike meeting someone you haven't seen in years. At first, Jesse knew there was something familiar about them. His primitive mind searched through the limited knowledge it had access to for an explanation. He stopped eating as his tail twitched.
Were they something that could cause pain? No, it was something else. As with meeting someone he haden't seen in years where one knew they associated said person's voice and/or face with something significant, Jesse searched his mind.
Apples! The word flew into his mind. Where it had come from, Jesse didn't know. Other things he associated with that word came back to him. Apple juice, apple pie, apple sauce. He remembered those consumables and what they were. No longer were they just something he'd encounter and want to eat ... they were something!
Not understanding what was happening, Jesse brayed in panic, which brought Melinda to his side. Those days at the island, memories that seemed a lifetime ago that remembering were like remembering a dream were flowing into his conscious mind.
In his dreams, he'd been his human self but as he'd awoken, he'd never understood what they meant. He'd known that was him, but just coulden't get himself to understand it. With donkey level understanding, anything beyond the field, farm or basic biological functions in life was near impossible to comprehend.
Melinda that donkey is Melinda! What he was starting to realize wasen't a dream was now rushing into his mind. Donkeys, that's what they were. Melinda that was his mate's name before this happened to them. A name, Jesse started to remember what that meant to a human. It wasen't just a way to call someone. It was a part of one's identity.
Jesse again brayed. He heard Melinda bray but her bray sounded off somehow. It was as though it were a human making that sound rather then a natural bray. Jesse's entire body began to itch and the world started spinning. Jesse lay down and watched Melinda do the same.
Closing his eyes, Jesse felt his fur falling out. His hooves, once hard, somehow seemed to become malleable. His tail swished back and forth as his ears twitched.
"He hawwwwwwww," Jessie yelled. It was the only word he knew at least until now. He now realized how much more he was capable of saying! His jaw felt strange and then his entire head grew warm, feeling as though someone were molding it like clay. Without realizing it, Jesse was wiggling his toes ... he had toes just like in his dreams!
A sensation not unlike falling lasted for several seconds before Jesse felt his organs and bones shift as they changed in size and shape. He heard Melinda bray out as her voice became softer and higher pitched.
"I can spppppeak," Melinda said. Her voice was familiar and it beckoned a series of new memories. Melinda wasen't just Jesse's mate. She was a person. Jesse realized that he wasen't just a donkey jack, an animal with only the most basic of desires and thoughts, he too was a person that had left a life behind.
Jesse's head stop spinning and he opened his eyes. Before him was a young woman laying naked in the grass. Her hair was long and twisted and she stank. Yes, that smell was no longer normal to Jesse. Smells were no longer just something that existed, they were good, bad, weak or strong. Jesse looked at his own body, he was human again and naked as the day he was born and had been for the past several months.
"Melinda?" Jesse asked, testing out his human voice.
The young woman before him stood up. Her skin was perhaps more tanned then Jesse remembered. She appeared more hardened and confident. No longer the scared young woman he met on the island with Josh but now a confident young woman. Josh, I have to find out what happened to him. Jesse himself felt a bit older but at the same time more peaceful. He felt his tail swish back and forth. I still have a tail!
Melinda rushed at Jesse and hugged him. He felt a closeness to her now. He wasen't at all bothered by her seeing him naked or by smelling bad around her. Her body was warm. The sensation of skin against skin was pleasent. Jesse found touch far more pleasurable when he understood it on a human level. A gaze down made Jesse realize that Melinda too had retained her tail.
"I remember everything now," Melinda said.
"Me too. It was like, as donkeys we could only understand donkey things. I remembered my life but it was like remembering a dream and I coulden't understand any of it," Jesse said.
"Melinda, we still have our tails!" Jesse said.
Melinda released Jesse and he turned around. He felt her grab his tail and run her hands down it. It felt nice and Jesse allowed himself to enjoy the sensation. One thing he noticed was his inhibitions were far less then they'd been when he was human before this experience. A part of him wanted to embrace Melinda. In fact, he felt his manhood react in the way that had become natural for him over the past several months. He looked down at himself, seeing that he was indeed not as large as he had been as a donkey but definitely larger then he'd been as a human.
"Jesse, are you all right?" Melinda asked as she released his tail and Jesse heard her take two steps back.
Jesse turned. He found himself not at all embarrassed over his display for it was something Melinda had seen many times before and had long since ceased to be a private thing. For a fleeting few seconds, Jesse wished to be a donkey again. Then, he'd have been able to take care of his desire without regret. As a donkey, he'd been ignorant and had no concept of decency or privacy.
"OK Jesse calm down. We're not donkeys anymore. We have to get help. We can worry about ... playing later OK?" Melinda asked.
Jesse sighed and nodded his head. He knew that he had to learn to control himself again.
"So, what do we do now?" Jesse asked.