"Chosen one?" you ask in a groggy awe.
Sofi stopped and turned to you. "Yup. Well, it's not like it was destined or something special like that, so don't let it go to yer head. It's just ya either gotta be the one who breaks all the curses, or yer stuck here sharing a trailer with Pops. He's only got one cot, y'know. I'd go with the 'chosen one' thing, personally."
You can't believe everything this girl has been saying, can you? Even if you DID just have an encounter with a freaky cursed merry-go-round, her warnings of the hex still seemed farfetched to you... It's probably just some weird form of carnie swearing. After some thought, you decide you'll take your chances leaving here. "I don't believe in this hex stuff.. I'm just going to leave this carnivale now, and you just watch, nothing bad's going to happen."
Sofi shrugged, and replied matter-of-factly, "Meh, don't say I didn't warn ya."
You dismiss her comment, and head to the exit.
Sofi shook her head. "He's as thick-headed as a mule..."
No sooner than you step out of the carnival gates, you see a bright flash of light and lose all senses. Except one. A sense that you didn't feel before, at least not knowingly. A sense of existence, maybe. Somewhere nearby this carnival, a doe rabbit timidly poked her head of a burrow. That's what this sense was telling you. Somehow this rabbit was you.. but at the same time, it wasn't. You could see and feel everything this rabbit felt, you lived in this body now, but you had no control over it. It was as if you were but a puppet, and someone else had control of all the strings. Time blended together in your new form. You found yourself living a very full life as a rabbit, always on the look-out for predators, being in a state of perpetual caution and fear every time you went out for food. At least you were never lonely though, a male rabbit took a liking to you, and you often found yourself with a swollen, pregnant tummy. You were a very good mother, raising and nurturing many kits. One day while venturing out from your burrow, you stopped by a pond to get a quick drink. A strange scent is in the air.. it smells like... what is it...? You feel a slight vibration in the air, and your ear twitches. What... what did Sofi say came after being a rabbit? A... coyote. You turn your head nervously to look behind you...
But it was too late. The coyote's fangs had dug into the rabbit's neck, and he ripped into her delicious flesh for his meal. Your meal. You had become the coyote now, as he fed on your former life... This sucks, what kind of fate is this...? You carried the rabbit's carcass in your teeth into the woods... Upon returning to your home, you discovered you had a younger sister and younger brother, both just slightly older than pups, but no parents to be seen... You place the rabbit's body in front of the pups, and can't help but smile a little, watching them frantically digging with their tiny paws and teeth and fighting over parts even when there was enough for bother of them to share. Food was much scarcer than you thought it'd be, you found yourself going many a night scrounging through trash cans for scraps of food, and even more nights going hungry. To make matters worse, you found yourself getting shot at more often each night you went looking for trash scraps. You don't hate this coyote for killing your old rabbit self so much anymore... you understand that he... that you were doing what you had to to survive and stick around to protect your siblings...
As your siblings matured, you taught them what you knew of hunting. At first, they weren't very good, often being given the slip by even squirrels and cats. But they got better with time, and you felt so proud when you had seen them take down a deer. You were sure to teach them to be respectful of the animals they kill however, and that they had wanted to lives and families too. One day while hunting outside the woods, you feel nature calling. You head over to a tree in the nearby apple orchard, and lift your leg to do your business. Suddenly, it was as if your entire life was flooding away...
When you next regained consciousness, you tried to move, but couldn't.. You tried to see, but you had no eyes. At first, you panicked, not knowing what to expect. But after calming yourself, you realized you were still alive, and rooted into the ground. You must have became the tree! It was a much different experience than before, none of your senses were remotely conventional to anything you'd formerly known... But you eventually learned how to become aware of your surroundings through vibrations in the earth and chemical communication. It turns out that you're the runt of the orchard trees, freshly planted. Eager to show your potential to all the larger trees nearby, you reached and grew towards the sky. You had a new ally to help with this - sunlight never felt so amazing, every sunny day you felt so unexplainably happy. With that sun's help, you grew and twisted and branched out until you were the largest tree in the orchard. Your fruit fed many and your branches become homes to even more. One spring a family of birds formed a nest in you. It was lonely when they flew away for the winter, but they were sure to return to you each year after that, and you witnessed many generations of birds amongst your leaves. You also remember two children who shared their first kiss together underneath your shade. As teenagers, they returned, this time for a picnic and to carve their initials into you. Several years later they returned once again, to propose to one-another under the branches where they had fallen in love... You never would have imagined before that a tree had so many stories to tell...
Eventually, you became aware of a certain blossom you had sprouted. It was one of the most beautiful blossoms anyone's ever seen, shaped delicately, and attracted the fancy of many a bee. You're not exactly sure when, but at some point you realized you had become this blossom, or at least a part of it. The makings of an apple swell inside of you, protecting and carrying your delicate seeds. Hoping ever so much that you will be picked and eaten so your seeds can create new trees, you grow into the plumpest, juiciest, and most desirable apple in the whole orchard. All your effort was for naught, however.. you realized this as soon as a codling moth landed on you to lay her egg. You'd yell, "Shoo! Go away!" if you could, but being a simple apple, you cannot. After some time, the egg hatched into an apple worm. It promptly began feasting on your skin and dug deep inside of you over the course of several weeks. It's true target then became apparent - your nutritious seeds, which you had worked so hard to protect...
Once again, you changed places. You were now the worm, contently full and ready to take on the world! Well, maybe not yet, maybe after a quick nap... Yeah, a nap sounds good....You crawl outside the apple, and look for a nice opening in the branch's bark. Ah, there's a nice one.. you crawl up inside, and spin yourself a nice silken blanket. You're feeling so sleepy by this point..... you'll just rest for a little while........
When you wake up, you notice that you feel different all over, and are trapped in a dark, warm place. At first, it's pretty scary.. at least you feel safe in here, wherever that is, so you decide to stay in there for awhile. Feeling safe is good, right? But, eventually.. you realized it wasn't good enough. There was a whole world out there waiting for you! You picked and pried at the walls of your cocoon, tearing a hole in the side and emerging as a moth. You spread your wings and take to the air, admiring the applefield from the sky. But you still weren't satisfied.. you're a little ashamed to admit it, but you felt needs.... You needed to mate. Right now. You weren't sure what your sex you were, having never known insect anatomy.. but you did know what your what your body was attracted to. A most wonderful scent filled the air, and you knew you needed whatever was making it... Sure enough, you found another moth. It apparently had been searching for you too, so you must have a scent as well.
Your gender was cemented afterwards - for the next few days, you found yourself laying nearly fifty eggs on various apples and leaves, dooming new apples to your former fate. Afterwards, feeling your job was done, you find yourself drawn to back where to carnival once stood (it had long since packed up and moved on). Of course, you still had no control over your body, so you had little say in the matter. After flying where it use to be, you land on a blade of grass as that same light and sense-depravation that you felt so long ago again overtakes you...
...
...
...
"Wake up." *kick-thud.* "Wake up." *kick-thud.* "Wake up." *kick-thud.* Sofi kept repeating that as she stood over you, resting her hands in her pockets and casually kicking you in the sides.
You finally work up the strength to get up, though you lose your balance and stagger woozily at first. You were back to your male human self and the carnival was back, everything was just like that day so long ago... Though time did blend together, it still felt like you lived entire lifetimes as those things you became.. but here you are, it doesn't look like even 10 minutes could have even passed judging by the looks of Sofi and everywhere else. And you have all your human memories as fresh as the day you left the carnival... Could it have all been some sort of dream or hallucination...? (Or was that just some -really- good beer Pops gave you?)
After adjusting to your old self and surroundings, you manage to ask, "What.... happened...?"
Sofi rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. "I TOLD ya what was gonna happen if ya tried to leave. What're ya, stupid or somethin'?" She shrugged. "Anyhow, are ya ready to start breaking those curses -now-?"