She awoke, feeling groggy and a pain in her ear. Looking up, she could see that it was still night and sniffing the air, figured that the time was somewhere between twelve and one o'clock.
With her nose still in the air, she breathed deeply in the scent of others foxes; just not her parents. Worried because she was only three years old, her ear hurt and she could not find mom and dad, she began to whine.
After a bit, she moved deeper into the woods before exhaustion over took her and she collapsed unconscious under a bush.
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She awoke to the feeling of an empty stomach and the noises of the forest. Cold, scared, not sure what to do, Dru crawled out from under the bush, noted that she was once again human, rubbed her ear and found the tracer clipped in place. Deciding that she needed something to drink, she began to look for a stream.
Finding a spring, Dru tried to cup her hands so that she could take a drink. When that failed, she placed her head down near the water and drank long and deep; licking it up like she would if she was still a kit. After her thirst had been sated, she looked about. Hugging her naked body, something inside of her wanted to whine for mother, but Dru knew that it would get her nowhere.
Instead she chose to wander about. As she did so, her thoughts drifted about until they settled on what her mom and dad had said about she having no control over the changes. Wondering if she could induce the change, she stopped and closed her eyes.
But Dru soon discovered a problem. It was that her mind was to chaotic and lacked the discipline necessary for her to tap into the right area. Sighing in frustration, she looked about. She had no knowledge of how to survive in the wilderness, she was was hungry and feared that she might starve.
Unsure of what to do, Dru began to wander in a direction that she hoped was the right one. After a bit, she found herself back at the stream. Sure that it was the same one, she turned and picked another direction, only to wind up back where she had started. Frustrated that she was wandering in circles, she laid down along the bank, stuck her thumb in her mouth and cried herself to sleep.
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When she awoke, it was dark and the moon had already risen. The change had occurred while she had slept and breathing in the night air, she guessed that it was about nine o'clock.
Stretching, hungry more then ever, her ear still throbbing, Dru took another drink and tried to smell her parents.
Where ever they were, it certainly wasn't anywhere near by. Whining and yipping, Dru began to once again move through the forest. Hopping that she wouldn't travel in circles this time, praying silently that she would not run into any other animals, Dru continuously sniffed the air, hoping for a scent that would reminded her of home.
Suddenly, the ground was missing and Dru found herself tumbling downward. With a splash, Dru found herself this time in the river. Struggling against the current, what little strength she did posses soon failed her and she found herself swept away with the river.
Inhaling large amounts of water, Dru found herself slowly slipping away. Thinking to herself, "What a miserable way to end a life brought upon by a wish," she fought against the rising darkness of her consciousness. After awhile, the current slowed and Dru found herself washed up onto shore. Choking and puking up buckets of water, she tried to stand. This proved to much for her body and she collapsed onto the ground, asleep.
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She awoke to the feeling of the sun warming her back. Groggy, she sat up and looked around. Her ear was in a lot more pain and when she looked at her reflection, she saw a bloody mess where the tracer used to be.
Figuring it must have gotten ripped off when she had been sent down stream, she started to drink, but spat the water out in disgust.
To her, the water tasted like the exhaust from the back end of a car. Looking about, she saw that she was near a town of some sort. Above her and to the left was a bridge that crossed over the river. Naked, partially covered in mud, Dru began to climb the embankment to try and make sense of were she had possible landed.
"Hopefully I run into someone nice who can help me find mommy," she though to herself as she climbed.