A battle rages within Marie as she feels the crate she's in moving toward an unknown destination. Marie had always been mildly claustrophobic. That, however was one of many battles she was fighting.
Indeed, her human mind is under attack. This attacker was not something physical one could defend against with missiles, bombs or bullets. This attacker was inside of her. It had invaded her the moment she'd begun to change.
With the donkey form came instinct and mentality. Her human mind was intact for the time being. Unfortunately, it was under attack by a force she had little if any defense against.
Trapped in this donkey form, Marie was in their territory now. Human mentality could survive well in a human body. In a donkey body however, she was out of her league.
Marie tries her best to think of human things as the crate she's in comes to a halt. She tries to think of her family and lessons she's learned at school. Unfortunately, she discovers that her knowledge and intelligence are fading.
A donkey doesn't need to know Algebra, Chemistry, English or World History in order to fiction. Indeed, such knowledge is useless to a donkey.
Donkey instinct is trying to bury that knowledge within Marie. The walls around her mind are breached, troops are pouring in. Marie's troops are fighting a valiant struggle but their numbers dwindle by the second.
Marie brays and bucks. She feels trapped within this create, she wants out. She wants to say something but braying seems all this body will allow her to do.
Her last few years of education are the first to go. Numbers and facts that seemed obvious to her at first become difficult to understand. Marie knows that she knew these things but now cannot seem to remember how to work them out. Brays of protest escape Marie's lips. She feels violated. If she can just keep her mind intact, she knows that she could find and escape and salvation.
Instinct on the other hand, has other ideas. A breeze blows through her crate. It reminds her of her nudity. Any male donkey could have his way with her and if she became pregnant, she'd have to care for the baby, not him. It disgusted her.
The rest of high school is next to go. Marie begins to panic and kicks at the end of the crate. She needs to escape, she must get away. But, a sense of inevitability hits her. This is not something she can run from. Even if she escapes the island and her captors, in a sense, her form is a captor she cannot escape.
Marie closes her eyes just wanting it to be over. A part of her hopes this is a nightmare that she can awake from. Another part hopes for death if it's the only escape.
Minutes later, Marie is hard pressed to remember anything she's learned beyond kinder garden. Her ability to express herself even in thought is dwindling. She knows that she's forgotten, but she cannot remember exactly what. What was once a young woman that could write beautiful poetry is now a donkey whose ability to write is equal to that of a young child. The spirit perhaps is still there but its ability to express itself is limited.
Marie bucks at the end of the crate, she knows that she needs to get it open. Unfortunately, what minutes ago was a simple concept now seems difficult to understand. Tears fall from Marie's eyes as she knows that she brought this on herself. They didn't kidnap her or force her to do the things that led her to this. She feels her life flash by in her mind. Unfortunately, she cannot understand most of what she sees.
Even as she breaks the crate and manages to turn just enough to walk out, Marie isn't sure what to do. She's surrounded by other crates. Another donkey occupies each one. Most of the donkeys bray and buck. Marie wants to find a way out but the instincts inside of her want her to feel comfortable with the other donkeys. Marie is finding it hard to discern between what she wants and what the instincts are telling her to want.
"Please help me," a voice cries.
Marie stops and looks to her left. A donkey that can talk stands in a create. Marie has to concentrate on what it is saying. She knows it's saying something and isn't just making sounds that mean nothing.
"I pretended I couldn't speak," the voice says.
Marie blinks. It's a male donkey from its scent. How she knows this escapes her, it's something she just knows. Marie wants to respond but she finds that even if she could speak, her pool of words she knows is now limited enough that she'd sound like someone less then a third her age.
"Do you know what I'm saying?"
Marie feels the tears flowing. The donkey might as well be speaking another language. In a sense, he is. Marie knows a word or two, but she can only stand staring at the donkey.
"Focus!" the donkey says.
Marie tries her best. She doesn't want the donkey to win. In a sense, she's in a fight for her life. Marie goes around to front of the crate the donkey is in and kicks it as hard as she can with her back legs. She enjoys how powerful this makes her feel. After several kicks, the crate breaks open and the donkey manages to get out.
"Let's go," the donkey says.
Marie feels a pang of fear that the donkey will try to mate with her. A part of her wonders how it would feel. She knows she shouldn't experiment but has trouble remembering why. With the donkey leading, Marie walks among the crates. She can only hope that he knows how to escape and to restore her mind. Marie realizes that she's leaving the boy that she was with behind. She struggles to remember his name and what he looked and smelled like as a donkey. The gift if human speech is not lost on Marie. If only she could speak, she knows that this would be a lot easier.
"What's wrong?" the donkey asks. "We can't stay here, I'm having concentrating. I don't want to let this win. Come on before I end up doing something stupid!"
Marie is faced with a decision, to leave Josh behind and hope that he can escape or to try to escape with this donkey even as she realizes that it might already be too late for her.