"Can we talk for a bit?" Kyle asked.
"Sure," Felicia said.
The two bobbed up and down. Sunlight glistened of the water on their bodies.
"What did you mean by all that stuff about us playing too many games?" Kyle asked.
Despite being a walrus, Felicia's beauty mesmerized Kyle. Seeing such a form as mesmerizing was crazy but it was how he felt. Raw urges danced with human intelligence and knowledge, threatening to unleash a force in Kyle's mind the likes of which he'd never experienced. They tempered his horror and sorrow over losing his humanity for a form he never wanted.
"Kyle, I understand how you feel," Felicia said. "But you need to control it. If you give into the beast, you let the curse win."
"I guess so but it's just so hard," Kyle said. "I never thought it would feel like this. Do real walruses feel this way?"
Felicia shook her head. "Probably not. They don't think of being naked or swimming naked as special. When I was a sea lion, I was nervous about being naked in front of all those people. But, I saw it as not my real body. They weren't seeing me naked for real. It was more like wearing a perfect costume."
"Even after you were one for a long time?" Kyle asked.
"I didn't think of it as being naked by then," Felicia said.
"And now?" Kyle asked.
"I guess I've put another costume on," Felicia said.
Kyle grinned in a way that only a walrus could. "An awfully sexy costume."
"Kyle, look, if that's the life you want then all right, I can help you find some females that need a male," Felicia said.
Kyle hung his head. "I'm sorry, it's hard to resist. Maybe if we talked."
"You asked about games," Felicia said. "What I mean is -- and this is something I'm sure the adults have told you before -- we're spending far too much time worrying about the virtual and too little time worrying about what's going on in our own backyards. We spend hours lining up for a game when we should probably be studying or doing something constructive."
"But people do that for concerts and have since way before video games," Kyle said.
"Yes, you're right," Felicia said. "But a concert is sometimes a once in a lifetime thing. Video games come and go. The world won't end if you don't get an expansion pack on the first day."
"It won't end if you miss out on the concert either," Kyle said. "It's not going to end if we're stuck like this is it?"
"No Kyle, it won't," Felicia said. "My point is that you might be great at games but in the end, what good will it do you? People are more worried about video games achievements then they are about achieving things in the real world! Let's not forget the effects of sitting down playing games all day."
"At least I won't have to worry about being fat anymore! Though a lot of good these damed flippers will do me for games now," Kyle said.
Kyle looked at his flippers, hating the sight of them. He could never play video games with those things!
"Listen to yourself Kyle," Felicia said. "Right now, all you seem to care about is that you can't play video games any more! This is what I'm getting at! We're more concerned over say, losing Internet access then we are over far more serious things. Are you saying that if we could find a way to play video games as walruses that you'd be all right with it?"
"No, I'm not! I don't..."
Kyle splashed the water several times while making bellowing sounds. Instinct threated to ban human thought, restraint and intelligence from his mind.
"Kyle please, I'm sorry. Just try to calm down," Felicia said.
"No, I don't deserve to calm down," Kyle yelled. "This is what I am, this is my life. I'm just a fat, stupid animal. I don't deserve you. All I deserve is to be this forever!"
Kyle splashed under the water and swam away from Felicia as fast as he could. He wanted to be away from her; not because she was saying things that actually made sense that Kyle didn't want to hear but because she seemed to have a way to beat this. Kyle didn't want a way out of this; in his mind he deserved it for his stupidity!
He didn't get far before he ran into something that forced him to surface.
It was Felicia.
"You're forgetting Kyle, I have a lot more experience with being this sort of animal then you do," Felicia said. "Now, it's time to stop feeling sorry for yourself..."
"It's my fault I'm a walrus. I was stupid enough to..."
Felicia grabbed Kyle with her flippers. The emotions and thought that poured into Kyle were incredible. Felicia indeed had had enough. Kyle had made a mistake and that was that. Spending the rest of his life as a walrus as a penance wouldn't solve anything.
Through Felicia, Kyle remembered that a friend had fooled Felicia into playing the game. She had felt stupid and deserving of it as well. However, when she had the chance to change back, she realized that in punishing herself, she was punishing her friends and family as well. Kyle started to realize that he would accomplish nothing if he resigned himself to this fate.
Kyle blinked when Felicia released him.
"All right, you made your point but a part of me wants to go with you and to just be a walrus. It's appealing in a weird way," Kyle said.
"I know," Felicia said.
"So, I guess we should try to change back because it would mean to just vanish," Kyle said.
Felicia nodded.
"But where do we go?" Kyle asked.
"First, we need to get back to land," Felicia said. "Then we can try to find help."