I heard the gurgling sound of water rushing over stones. Horror filled me. The fear was so terrible I almost fainted. You see, I knew what was coming next.
People say raccoons wash their food. Actually, that's not true. Raccoons do sometimes run water over their food, but it is not about cleanliness.
Raccoons are careful eaters. With their sensitive paws they dig through the meat, feeling for anything they don't want. The water rushing over their paws helps them feel.
The raccoon was going to eat me. And it didn't really care if I was still alive.
"No! No! No!" I screamed to a deaf forest.
I felt ice-cold water flow through my feathers. And ! felt the busy fingers of the raccoon.
"No! N00000!"
YOU ASKED ME FOR PAYMENT IN EXCHANGE FOR USING YOU.
WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR REWARD NOW?
The Ellimist!
"Now! Now! Yes, now would be a really good time!" I screamed.
IT IS DONE.
"What's done? Nothing is done, you lunatic! I'm still a bird!"
OF COURSE.
"Help me!"
The raccoon was literally looking down at me
like you might look at a steak. He was deciding where to bite first.
THE ANDALITE GAVE YOU POWER. USE IT.
I was too insane with terror to figure out what he was saying at first.
Then it dawned on me. "What? What? That's my reward? That's all? You're giving me back my morphing power?"
IT'S WHAT YOU WANTED.
"l wanted to be human again!" I screamed. "You liar! You cheat! I want to be human!"
But the Ellimist said nothing more. And my problem right then was the raccoon. His tiny, razor-sharp teeth were descending toward me. So with my last ounce of self-control, ignoring the searing pain in my wing, I turned just enough to grab one of his hind legs in my weakened talon.
Focus, Tobias, I told myself. Focus or get eaten.
I focused. I concentrated with all my will. And to my utter amazement, I saw the raccoon's eyes cloud over. I felt his grip weaken.
And like a miracle, I felt myself begin to "acquire" the raccoon. I felt it become a part of me.
I had morphed only two animals. A cat. And a red-tailed hawk. I had never escaped the red-tailed morph. I didn't have much experience morphing. Not like the others.
And as I concentrated on the raccoon DNA inside me, I felt my beak begin to soften ... my
talons begin to fatten . . . and my wings ... my glorious wings began to shrink.
The raccoon - I mean the real raccoon - recoiled in surprise. He stepped back and stared as I morphed into him.
It wasn't much of a change of size. Raccoons aren't much larger than hawks. But everything else was different. My eyes were growing dim. And suddenly I could smell as well as I could hear.
Feathers were melting into gray and black fur. I was morphing.
I was morphing!
The real raccoon had had enough. He was a smart, wily old scrapper, and he knew better than to hang around in a place where birds turn into raccoons. He waddled away.
I was safe. For now. Safe and becoming something I had never been before. The sharp edge of terror started to recede and I could almost enjoy what was happening.
I was morphing! I had the power again. I wouldn't have to sit on the bench when the others went into danger.
I was back!
But not human.
It's what you wanted. That's what the Ellimist said. But he was a liar.
He was a cheat. He had tricked me. I wanted to be human. I wanted to be
human again, with my own hands and feet and eyes and mouth.
No time for that now, I told myself. Get to the others. Hurry!
I took off at a run. Amazing! It was amazing to be running. To be down at ground level with things rushing past.
The ground was so close below me. It was scary, in a way. I kept thinking, pull up, pull up! In my guts I felt this need for altitude.
It's dangerous, flying too close to the ground.
And no matter how I tried to hurry, the raccoon body was not built for speed. It lumbered along. It seemed to need to stop constantly to sniff at this or that.
It wasn't that I couldn't control the body. I could. That part had been fairly easy. I mean, the instincts of the raccoon, the urgent need for food, the fear of predators, all that was normal to me.
I just couldn't get the stubby legs to move fast enough. My friends were half a mile away! I'd never reach them in time to help.
I stopped. I was panting heavily. The raccoon heart was racing. What could I do? What could I do? I'd ended up in a useless morph!
I craned my raccoon head upward. I couldn't see very well, but I knew the sky was up there. I could see a faded sort of blue through the trees.
Wait . . . was it possible? Could I remorph back into my own body?
My red-tailed body? DNA isn't affected by injuries. If I morphed back to red-tail, I wouldn't have the broken wing.
Would I?
The others had done it. They had morphed out of injured bodies. Then when they re-morphed, the bodies were whole again.
I had to try. It was so stupid! I'd been left out of so many missions because I couldn't morph. Now I could morph and I was totally useless.
I focused. I closed my weak raccoon eyes and focused on a different body. A body with feathers and wings. And slowly I became myself again.
I flew.
I'd only been without my wings for a few minutes, but still I felt weirded out. I mean, I know the others are used to being in different bodies. But I'm not.