"This will be your room," A guard explained. "You will share this room with 7 others, including your spouse. Each couple will be assigned a bed and a set of clothes. Anyone caught mating with their spouse will be punished. Anyone caught harming a cellmate will be punished. And of course," He closed the door as he finished. "Try to be quiet."
I looked around my new room. Though I guess "Cell" would make more sense. It had all the warmth of the Arctic Circle. The beds didn't look comfortable, nor did they look safe. The walls were unclean as well, with cracks running through them and a small leak of what was hopefully just water. The window was translucent, and you could hardly see outside. On the bright side, it did have a light in the ceiling.
We had been grouped with Jack and Mary. Along with them were a mouse couple and two squirrels.
"Well now," Jack said, cheerfully. "Seems like we're going to be spending a long time with each other. Might as well make introductions. My name's Jack. Mary?"
Mary stepped forward, very timidly. "Hi, I'm Mary!" She was being strangely cheerful for having become a rabbit. Rick, Ruby, either of you?"
"Uh, sure!" I stepped forward, trying to seem confident. "My name is Rick Asler. I hope we can..."
"Yeah, yeah," Ruby interjected. "My name's Ruby, don't bother me. Please." She fell upon the bed, and buried her face in a pillow.
The female mouse stood up. My name is Emily." She sat back down with little fanfare, as her partner introduced himself as Tim.
The two squirrels were named Jerry and Sally. In case you were wondering, Tim and Sally used to be human. Not anymore.
"Hey." I tried to start a conversation with Ruby.
"Please, shut up and get some sleep. We both need it." I sighed. This was going to be tough. "Ruby can we talk?"
"Shut up. There, I talked." I laughed a bit, and said "No, I mean about what's happened to me."
"I know what happened to you. It also happened to Tim and Mary and Sally, remember?"
"Ruby, could you at least give me one question?"
A sigh. "Fine, what is it?"
"Do you think I'll ever be human again?"
Silence.
"Why does it matter what you are?"
"It doesn't but, I mean, When I woke up on the bus, I didn't have a tail or fur or long ears. But now, I have those things. And I'll have them tomorrow, and the day after, and if I don't turn back, I'll forget about having been human in the first place."
More silence.
"I guess I never thought of it that way."
"You know, maybe you could tell me what it was like when you transformed."
She responded quickly. "I don't remember. I answered your questions, now shut up."
I turned over on the bed and shut my eyes.
..........
I lied to Rick. I remember my transformation very clearly, every single detail. I remember the Australian sun, the pain, the fear, the utter desolation of it all.
I hated talking about it. In fact, i'd never told anyone about it. I'd never would. Not Rick, not Jack, nobody.
The memories rushed back all at once. I stifled my tears. I turned on my bed. My partner was right next to me on the bed. I could hear his breathing. He was asleep. Slowly, I wrapped my arms around him. I felt his fur rub against mine, as he shifted and squirmed. It felt right, in a way, to finally be with someone like myself. To finally know someone with the same problems I have, the same worries and fears.
He was my first friend.