Andrew notices a funny pressure in his tail bone. An odd sensation as his pants filled with prickly, soft matter. “Something’s in my pants now!?” He tugged at his belt to pull his pants down. It was funny because his bone was replaced with an actual tail. A horse’s tail. “What is this thing?” Andrew held the dark brown tail, recognized it as a horse tail in his pants, but the fact that it was his didn’t occur to him. In shock he shoved it back down, and redid his belt. He had to get out of here.
Quickly, he left the room and ran down back to the familiar hallway. “Sandra! Daniel! We have to leave – NOW!” Andrew glanced in the side room – no one. He ran to the big camp room. No one. Now he was panicking. Remembering to swipe his hiking backpack, he followed the light beacons he placed earlier. He sprinted towards daylight. Just outside the entrance he glanced around, “Guys! Anyone! Where is everybody!?” There was nothing but the jungle to answer him, so that’s what he replied to.
Andrew ran towards the trees, just to get away. He wasn’t sure what he was getting away from, just that he had to run. But he was running from reality. Some amount of time later, out of breath he stopped. Where was he going? All directions looked the same – endless jungle. He sat on a log to get his bearings, but it was very uncomfortable. Then he realized it was because of his pants. Well ... because of what was *in* them.
“Am I dreaming?” Andrew loosened his pants, and looked at the dark brown tail attached to his spine. “I have a horse tail… Damn, this is trippy.” He found he could move it on command. Flipping it up and down, then swished it side to side, just like a horse. “Well I guess it’s kinda cool, and there is always surgery.” Calming down, he wiped the sweat from his face but as he did he brushed his ears. Immediately he understood there was a problem. They were pointed and furry. “My ears!” He felt them in disbelief. He unzipped his pack and pulled out his field mirror. They were longer and covered in brown fur.
Taking stock of the situation, “OK, so I have horse ears and a horse tail, any other changes? More fur? Hooves?” He could wiggle his toes, but they felt tight. Taking off his left boot, and sock he still had human feet, but that was slowly changing. His feet were a size bigger, and his toenails were thick and black. “Damn, I really am turning into a fucking horse…” He remembered his grandfathers farm, and how he always liked the horses. He sometimes wondered what it was like to be one. Well he was going to find out unless he found a way to stop the transformation. Stop the changes caused by that strange sphere.
“I’ve got to get back. Maybe that silver sphere can stop this.” He squeezed his boot back on. Then Andrew took out his knife and cut a hole behind his jeans to pull his tail through. As he did, he noticed his finger nails were also somewhat darker and thicker. Accepting as he was now, he didn’t want to think about losing his hands. He noticed his body hair was all around slightly darker, and spreading slightly in places. His GPS device had no signal (very strange as it was by satellite), so he had to resort to his compass to figure out his way back. And what about his friends? “Where are Daniel and Sandra?” He put on his backpack and started hiking - his horse tail swishing to his rhythm as he walked.