the cost

      
        "It's been three long, brutal winters since I changed. every day is a reminder of the days I didn't look like this, the days I wasn't a four legged, fury, beast of the woods. Like I am now, now everything's different, strange, new, but not. Today especially, but let's not skip ahead here, how about we start at the begriming, I hear it's a very good place to start."
         Thirteen-year-old Mavis Bradley was a normal enough kid, with normal enough parent's, and a very, not normal secret. They were a shape shifter, every school day was a struggle to not to turn themselves into a frog or something small and unnoticeable in class, just so they could get away from having to socialize. And when they came home, they had to deal with their brothers, the brothers who jumped and leaped off of things, the brothers who could make a sock a dangerous weapon of mass destruction, their 'work from home' mother, who was always on the phone, and almost always on her computer, they didn't have to deal with dad till later (thank god!) he was always asking annoying questions like "how was your day?" or "how did math go?" how did math go? it's math, it didn't go anywhere. little did they know they'd never see their dad again. 

        When they walked in the door their brothers were crying and punching each other over some stupid toy, their mom was yelling a them, hand clenched tight over the receiver so whoever she had been talking to didn't have to hear the screaming too, and Mavis just stepped calmly over the painful scattering of egos and the heap of dirty laundry at their feet, waded through the piles of pillows that were supposed to be secret hideouts, out of view of her mother and turned themselves into a lion, the only reason this works is because little children are notorious for spining tall tales, such as their older sibling turning into animals. Their lion form was shaggy and adolescent looking, with a patchy mane and the loin equivalent of acne, their brothers stopped fighting to look, hesitantly the first one scooched forwards on his bum and said, "kitty!" Mavis the lion mewed in agreement, soon they had both of their siblings siting on their back stroking their fur. And that was before the pulling. Soon enough the two devil children got bored of just stoking their hair, and decide to pull it as hard as they could, 

"oow!" said Mavis, suddenly finding themselves stuck in what felt and looked like from the curves of hips and. . .other things, a sixteen - year - old girl, with flowing blond hair down to her waist, and a thick layer of makeup on her cheeks, "ugg." they said, mid-word, changing back into their regular form, short black hair, wild bright green eyes (the only feature they seemed to keep in all their forms) and shapeless baggy clothing, the two brothers looked at each other, disappointed, they had liked the curvy teenaged girl better adherently, Mavis reached up to touch their head and found their scalp was less tender from the vicious pulling earlier, but not entirely gone. They groaned, lugging themselves up the stairs, into their cramped little bedroom. The only reason they had made do with this one was the window seat, and not just because of the seat, but where the window was pointed, from Mavis's old window, they could see the forest and from the window you could crawl onto the roof, and on the roof, you could turn into a bird, and fly. Fly wherever you want.

       Mavis decided to go for a walk in the woods, they often did this after school, go take a walk to clear their head, get some fresh air and change without anyone seeing. Today Mavis had decided to change into a wolf, a white wolf. As soon as they stepped a few yards into the woods they dropped their pack and took of running, changing as they moved through the trees, until they had reached the cliff overlooking the valley, this was Mavis's favorite place, and still is, in full wolf form, they sat there, looking over the valley and river below them, suddenly there was a shot, and Mavis flet a searing pain in their left shoulder, shocked by the pain it cost them several, valuable seconds before they realized what had happened, and when they did, they tried to change,  to shift back into Mavis the kid, and not Mavis the wolf, but the wound was to deep, it had struck a bone, and all that happened when they tried was their form flickering and turing invisible until the hunter left, puzzled by his lack of wolf hide. As soon as he had vanished from view, Mavis reappeared, still in wolf form, and three years later, here I am, still in wolf form, still trying to shift back into the old me, even though I know it's not worth it, my parents searched for me for so long (that's how my sickly wolf form was found and nursed back to health) but eventually they had to give up, they have jobs, and my siblings to look after. It's been pailful watching them search, fail, cry, and move. Yep, they moved away, to Montana of all places, I mean why Montana? It's halfway across the country, and even if I did make it all the way there, and somehow managed to shift back to myself, what would I say, how could I tell them that? "Oh yeah, I've been a wolf the past three years, that's why you couldn't find me." They'd think I'm insane, they'd probably put me on meds and might even revoke the very idea that I'm their child. but I guess this was the cost, for a few years of my life I could change my form at will, now. . . I stuck as a wolf.