The fisher looked up from his new body to see someone walking down a path.
He hadn't known this path was there for a reason before, but his increased
intelligence told him that humans liked to walk out in the woods, but that their
strange habits made them stick to an assigned path most of the time. He tried
to understand this concept, failed, and gave it up as a species difference.
But one thing his new brain didn't tell him was that humanoid animals weren't
natural and would probably frighten a normal human. So he happily walked
down the path to greet this other creature.
Upon seeing a six-foot-tall fisher headed his way on two legs and waving at
him, the teenage boy stopped in the middle of his summer hike. He didn't yell or
run, but he was very weirded out. At first, he thought it was someone in an
animal suit, but as it got closer he realized that no costume was that realistic.
"Hello, human boy!" it said to him as it walked up. "As you can see, I've had a
bit of a change recently. Could you tell me where I am?"
"Uh...in the forest?"
"Well, yes, I know that. Does this forest have a name?"
"No, just 'forest'. Are you really an animal?"
"I suppose you could say that. But I'm not quite your average fisher."
"Really?" the boy asked sarcastically. Obviously, the creature didn't understand
it.
"Yes, most of my species aren't nearly this tall or intelligent. And I don't know
any others that can talk."
"How did you get this way?"
"Well, I was hunting a porcupine when I fell off a branch and onto a rock. When
I hit the rock I started to change and soon I had become this. Now I don't really
know what to do. Could you help me?"
"What could I do to help you?"
"I don't really know. But since I seem to be more like a human than an animal
now, could you teach me how to act human?"
"You want to learn how to be a human?"
"Why not?"
"It would probably freak people out, one; and two: why would you want to be
human? We're so weird. Why do you think I spend all my time in nature, as far
away from humans as possible?"
The fisher just shrugged.
"Alright, fine. But the first thing essential to being human is to have a name. You
got one?"
"No."
"...Well? What do you want to be called then?"
"I don't know. What should I be called?"
"How about 'Mike'?"
"Mike. Sounds good to me. What is your name, then?"
"Ben. Now, uh, follow me. But you have to do exactly as I say. My parents
aren't quite as accepting as me."