Cassandra’s mind drifted as she bathed in the oasis. An odd sensation welled up inside her body, but she was too content to pay it any mind. Soon, her thoughts went back to the fairy she saw earlier. Somehow, picturing her in her mind made Cassandra more eager than ever to meet her.
Cassandra stepped out of the water and started to walk over to her clothes when, as she wrung out her hair, she doubled over in pain. It felt as some unseen sculptor was remolding the muscles in her back. At the same time, her ears were stretched out to over three times their normal length as they pointed outward and sharpened.
“What’s happening to me?” Cassandra groaned as four welts started forming on her back. They grew bigger as something underneath was putting great pressure on her skin. She gave out a loud shout when the welts broke open, allowing four coiled sheets of a gossamer-like material to push forward.
Tears were streaming down Cassandra’s face as the gossamer coils continued to push out of her back. Finally, they reached their final length. Slowly, the sheets unfurled, and Cassandra regained enough composure to see her shadow the moment they snapped open. The silhouette was unmistakable; “I’m a fairy!” Cassandra shouted.
“Indeed, you are,” said a voice in front of her. Cassandra looked up to see the same fairy that she had spied on before, holding her clothes, “and quite a beautiful one at that.”
Cassandra stood up; stared at her wings, now folded behind her back; touched the back of her hand to one of them and posed them. She was dumbstruck. “How did this happen?”