Anthrats
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Lost in more ways than one...
🕑 Added 2024-10-07 02:45:41 +0000 UTCThe tour guide had said to meet back at the station in two hours, that they could explore to their heart's content until then. She'd taken that recommendation too literally, and eventually realized she'd gone too far when the cheery, enthusiastic atmosphere of the "tourist trap" part of town gave way to a quiet, seedier undercurrent. Vendors either scowled at her or grinned in a way that made her skin crawl. Every street she looked down was unfamiliar...she was lost.
When the skies opened and turned a light drizzle into a downpour, she ducked into a storefront and tried to communicate to the clerk that she needed an umbrella. Eventually he understood, and handed her a chintzy plastic one...better than nothing. When she went to pay for it, the clerk gently pushed her hand away, and instead held out a golden brown bread bun, motioning for her to take it. She WAS hungry...she took it gratefully and thanked the man, who only stared and smiled back at her with a chuckle.
As she darted down alleys, looking for any familiar landmarks, she quickly downed the bun. It tasted unlike anything she was used to, a little sweet, but with deeper flavors she couldn't place. "Yech," she muttered, rubbing her tongue on her teeth to scrub off the taste. It just wouldn't leave...her tongue darted in and out of her mouth, almost involuntarily at this point...in fact it was starting to feel natural for it to flop out past her lips.
She tripped over a curb and stumbled, dropping her umbrella. Her back hurt and didn't seem to want to stretch upright...she waddled over to where the umbrella fell and reached out for it...only to discover that her fingers were misshapen and stubby, unable to grip it. She grunted in surprise and confusion.
Her waist narrowed, and she felt her pants slip from her...she stared back in alarm as she stepped out of them with unfamiliar legs...legs shaped like a dog's. She whined in terror, powerless to stop her strange affliction, her tongue wagging from her mouth all the while...
Out from the shadows nearby stepped the store clerk, who grinned at her as he reclaimed his umbrella, then scooped up her handbag and purse. Her money, her ID, her passport...! She barked at him in anger and desperation, and he responded by kicking an empty trash can at her. She dodged with a yelp...and just like that, he was gone. She stood in the street, the final remnants of her humanity slipping away, at a complete loss for what to do next...
