David knows that he and the girls are fighting a losing battle. The reality of his situation hits him. He knows that no matter how long he holds out, no matter how strong his will, the donkey is going to win.
He feels it. The donkey feelings and mentality are like an army charging the wall surrounding the city that is David's human mind. Bits of the wall are crumbling. All he can do is enjoy the last few moments of being as he is before he in a sense, becomes a different person.
David knows that he can't stay with the girls.
David kicks his pants off and takes off at a running pace. He only gets a few meters before he feels his balance changing. His feet are becoming hooves!
He tries to run but loses his balance and falls onto all fours with a clomp.
As the end seems closer, David ponders what led him to this fate. He wonders how he ended up as one of so many boys who would endure something no one born human ever should. Images of David's life begin to flash in his mind.
David remembers when he and Ben first met back in elementary school. Everything seemed simple back then. For a blissful moment, David remembers the moment as though he's there. Ben was in the schoolyard when David saw Ben slip and fall into a patch of mud. David had loaned his pull over to Ben and they'd been friends since.
The return to the present was a brutal one. One of the guards approaches David. Already David feels his mind beginning to deteriorate. His language skills are fading. He needs to think of the words to say from what is becoming a shrinking pool of words.
"Please, mister -- I don't -- no lose control around girls. Make me a girl donkey! Please!" David says.
His voice is deeper and his speech slurring.
“You stupid fool. I should force you to stay here. It would be amusing to watch you lose control and hump every single one of those soon to be jennys,” the guard says.
A tear runs down David’s cheek as he feels his face elongating. The end is near.
Another guard approaches the one in front of David. “He wants to be a jenny? Fine, let the fool have what he wants. He’ll make a fine companion for his friend.”
Ben! David knows Ben must be a donkey by now. Closing his eyes, David feels another memory emerge.
David remembers helping Ben with a school history project. For another blissful second, David is there. He’s sitting beside Ben and explaining the details of the project that Ben cannot understand in terms Ben can understand. Ben tells David how Ben never understood the era he was studying until David explained it in relevant terms.
Another return to the present as David blinks and realizes he’s a complete donkey. He feels the guards rub something on his donkeyhood. It’s cold and makes the part that would have doomed him to degrade all those unfortunate girls go numb.
David tries to speak but it sounds off. Rather then the sound of a human speaking, it’s more like a jackass trying to imitate human sounds.
“He’s almost – I’m sorry, she’s almost done,” the guard rubbing the lotion on David says.
David feels different back there as the guard stops rubbing. Soon, he feels a lot different. David feels the same way he feels when waking from a dream. He forgets the way of thinking in that dream that was relevant only moments ago. David knows he used to think differently and has changed but his ability to comprehend it is fading.
The two guards say something but David cannot understand (beyond what appear to be pleased tones) what they’re saying anymore.
After leading David back into the corral (where David now feels much safer), he watches the girls continue to change. David remembers his life, but it’s now impossible for him to understand how he did much beyond the basics his donkey body now limits him to. The images and sounds are there but David no longer understands them. The desire to fight this existence fades from David’s mind. He knows that these humans can provide him food, water, shelter and other of his kind to keep him company. To David’s new state of mind, that is all that matters.
Is this the end of David as we knew him and indeed as he knows himself? Perhaps, some other form of salvation is waiting around the corner to free David and the others.