Soul Shifter

The summer heat was burning hot as Andy sat on a bale of hay in the field. His father’s farm in Missouri was suffering greatly. In fact, he heard talks of his father selling to a real estate firm that wanted to build a neighborhood on their land. But Andy had other worries as well. Every single member of his family were shifters. They could copy animals by looking into their eyes and change into them. Sometimes to intimidate enemies, sometimes to hide from enemies. Other times just to have fun. The festival of shifting was nearing and even though Andy had reached the age of sixteen, where shifters gain their ability, he had not been able to change. There was a particular animal that would be a shifter’s main animal, the creature that activates his power and the one creature he can change into over and over. He tried coyotes, ravens, foxes, dogs, even a cat, but nothing happened. Sometimes once they connect, it would take an hour at the most for the first time, but never longer than that.

Andy chewed on a piece of hay and watched two of the horses running around in the pen close to the barn. He caught movement coming out of the corner of his eye and saw a fox coming across the field towards him. That would be Allison. His cousin who lived with his family after his Aunt Deborah, and Uncle Eric were killed in a car accident three years ago. Allison was only a year older than him and loved to attempt sneaking up on him. But she was not going to today and she realized that. When she got close, she quickly shifted from a cute little fox to a young, and beautiful, blonde teenager in a short sleeved, red and white checkered shirt with the top three buttons unbuttoned revealing a white t-shirt. She also wore a short, blue-jean blouse with tall white socks and white tennis shoes.

“Hey, Andy. Are you ready for the festival tomorrow?” She smiled as she sat next to him on the bale of hay and grabbed a straw of her own to chew on.

“Do I look ready?” Andy shook his head. “I still haven’t found my animal soul.”

“Maybe you’re a trout.” She joked. “We could go fishing and find out.”

“I’d rather not be a shifter at all.” He shook his head.

“Why don’t you join me and your brother. We are going to the zoo today. Lot of choices there.”

“I guess. Couldn’t hurt.” He stood up and so did she.

They both ran across the field over to where his brother’s brand new, blue truck was parked. Right beside the horse coral. Allison was faster than him and she reached the truck first. “Shotgun!”

He shrugged as she opened the front passenger door of the large, four-door truck. He opened the door to the back cab and climbed in as his brother ran out of the front door to the two-story house. Frank was twenty-years old. Unlike Andy’s curly, blonde hair, Frank had neatly groomed, short hair and a small goatee. He wore a blue and black checkered shirt and new blue jeans while Andy had a white t-shirt and old blue jeans with a hole around one of his knees.

Frank opened the driver’s door and hoped in. He placed the keys in the ignition and started the vehicle.

“You ready brother.”

“You really think this might work.”

His older brother looked back and grinned. “Yeah. I heard they have a flamingo exhibit.”

Andy shook his head. “That would be almost worse than trout.”

“Not worse. If you were trout, I’d have to be careful when fishing.”

Andy reached up and gave his brother a slight punch on the shoulder as his brother drove the truck down the long driveway.

Two hours later, they walked out of the zoo shaking their heads.

“Well, last animal was a lion. That was fifteen minutes ago.” Allison shrugged. “Forty-five minutes to go, thirty-eight for the tiger, seventeen for the Rhino. If it’s the Rhino we should get home soon. Don’t want to turn into a Rhino in the truck.”

“No.” Andy grinned at Frank. “Wouldn’t want to do that.”

Andy looked across the street at the museum and saw an announcement for a tyrannosaurus rex exhibit. “Woah.”

Andy raced across the street and ran inside with his shocked comrades following.

“We don’t have time, Andy, seriously.” Frank was in panic mode.

“Just one display.” Andy paid their fees with a twenty and they followed him past the entry point. He grabbed a map and looked closely at the directions. He began to walk fast to the other end of the hall and stopped to look up at large, full skeleton of a T-Rex.

“Woah.” Allison looked up at the display. “They are as big as the books say they are.”

The shape of the head, the small arm bones, even the teeth were exact.

Andy stared at the remnants of the huge beast in awe. He had been obsessed with dinosaurs ever since he was little. Tyrannosaurus had always been his favorite. He had toys, posters, and every dinosaur movie he could find in his room.

“Andy, right?”

Andy turned to see a short man, about five-eight, who stood nearby. “Yes. The Wilcox boys. I went to school with your father.”

“Oh.” Andy smiled.

“Howard Maynard.” He reached out his hand and Andy shook his hand, followed by Frank, and Allison.

“Yes. And this is our cousin, Allison.”

“If you think this skeleton is cool. We actually recovered an eye that was somehow preserved in tree sap.”

Howard pointed to the display board. Just above the board was a small glass case with an eye encased in a hard orangish square.

“Wow.” Andy looked at the eye closely. “Cool.”

“You’re a shift too if I remember.” Frank asked.

“Yes.” Howard nodded. “My main creature is a black stallion.”

“Then you’ll understand. My brother has not shifted yet and we need to get home before he does change into one of the zoo creatures.”

“Ah, of course. See you tomorrow.”

Frank and Allison grabbed Andy and dragged him away quickly. They pulled him out of the museum, across the street and put him in the back cab again. Frank hopped in and turned the ignition while Allison ran around and jumped into the front passenger seat. As she closed the door, Frank pulled the truck onto the street and sped towards the freeway exit.

“How much time we got.”

Allison glanced at her watch. “Seven minutes if it’s the Rhino.”

“Shit.” Andy’s older brother slammed his fist at the steering wheel. “What were you thinking, Andy? That display is here all week. If you ruin my truck, you will owe me.”

He sped the truck onto the freeway nearly cutting off a semi. The driver honked the loud horn. Frank sped up to a hundred for a couple of minutes until they reached their exit, and he took the off ramp. The young man turned the truck onto a country road and look around. He pulled the truck to the side, next to a pasture and then turned towards Andy.

“Get out.”

Andy got out of the car. He walked across to where a gate was and opened the gate as Allison and Frank hopped out of the truck and joined him. All three of them strolled into the field as they saw a tractor approaching.

From a distance, Andy saw that the driver was his father. “That’s pa.” He was relieved.

Their pa would use his tractor on other fields to earn extra cash and help keep their farm afloat. He pulled the tractor to a stop and hopped out to join them in his dusty overalls and black rubber boots.

“What’s going on kids.”

“Went to the zoo.” Frank replied.

Allison looked at her watch. “In about thirty seconds, Andy might turn into a Rhinoceros.

Hank Wilcox shook his head. “Well, I can see why you stopped, Frank. But why didn’t you come right back.”

“Andy just had to see that new Dino exhibit.” Frank shook his head. “Thankfully, I’m good at driving fast. Almost thought about leaving him at the Zoo. Then they might think one of the Rhinos got out.”

“They keep track of there animals pretty closely. Too risky.”

“Time’s up.” Allison announced and everyone looked at Andy to see nothing happen.

Andy shrugged. “Well, no Rhino. Not much longer till the Tiger or Lion.”

“We’d better get back home. Have enough time for those ones.” Frank turned to walk back to the truck.

“Okay kids. And get ready for the festival tomorrow. This is the first time we’ve hosted since you were little ones.”

“Yes, Pa.” Andy nodded as he an Allison also walked back to the truck.

They made their way around the passenger side and Allison gave him a hard punch on the shoulder. “Do you understand that we almost got killed getting you here. You know better now, right? You should have already known better.”

“Yeah.” Andy nodded. “We can’t risk being discovered. Non-shifters would never understand. At least not enough of them.”

“Okay.” Allison opened her passenger side door and hopped in while Andy got into the back cab once again.

Frank drove the truck for about four more minutes and then turned down the long driveway, which took another two minutes. Frank pulled the truck to a stop in front of the barn and all three of them got out and walked into the barn. Frank sat on a chair by the door, while Allison and Andy sat on a small stack of hay bales. Allison glanced at her watch.

“Thirteen and a half minutes for the Tiger. And then eight more for the lion.”

As Allison announced the time, two boys and three girls ran into the barn. Frank and Andy’s younger siblings. Jeremy, Kyle, Angie, Amelia, and Rosie. They all knew about shifting now so their presence was okay. But annoying at the same time. Jeremy and Kyle were twelve; Angie and Amelia were eight, and Rosie was seven.

“What are you trying to shift to now, Andy.” Jeremy asked.

“A tiger.” Andy told them. “So, you kids might want to run along. Don’t know how much control I will have at first.”

“Ah, I ain’t scared of no tiger.” Kyle shrugged.

“Speak for yourself.” Angie stepped back a bit.

“Come now children.” A woman came around the corner.

Andy stood up. “Ma.”

“Hey, Andy. I wish I could stay for your shifting. But someone has to make sure these kiddos are elsewhere.”

“Ah ma.” Jeremy shook his head. “I want to watch.”

“You’ll see plenty at the festival. Now run along before you get the switch.”

“Yes, ma.” Jeremy nodded and all the young siblings ran back out.

“Thanks, ma.” Andy walked over and hugged her. “I don’t know what I would do if I accidentally hurt them.”

“Just remember to think about things that tie you to this world. Just like your pa taught you.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Their ma turned and walked out of the barn. She closed the door behind them.

Allison glanced at the watch. “Six minutes.”

Frank stood up and grabbed his tranquilizer gun that had been leaning up against the wall.

“You think we’ll need that.” Andy was fearful.

“Doubtful. But you never know until the shift happens.”

“Of course.” Andy turned and walked to the far side of the barn and then back to the door. He paced back and forth slowly with anticipation. He thought about roaming the trees as a tiger running with coyotes, racoons, and other animals. Finally, a voice broke his train of thought.

Allison began to count. “Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one.”

Once again nothing happened, and Allison reset the clock.

Frank set the tranq rifle down across the chair and patted his brother on the shoulder. “Don’t worry bro. You’ll find one eventually. Uncle Ethan took a couple of years to find his.”

Hoot, hoot, hoot.

The three family members looked up to see a barn owl which sat up on the windowsill. The owl flew down and shifted into a tall man with ruffled gray hair and a wicked grin. He wore only his underwear so everyone could see his wrinkled skin and hairy chest.

“Uncle Ethan.”

“Good to see you lads.”

“Not so good to see you.” Allison looked away.

Ethan looked down and then looked up embarrassingly. “Whoops. I forgot what I was wearing when I shifted. I’ll get out of your hair. See you at the festival.”

He shifted back into an owl and flew up high and out the window in the upper loft of the barn.

“Well, that wasn’t pleasant.” Andy laughed and Frank joined him.

“One minute.” Allison looked at her watch.

Frank picked up the tranq rifle again.

“You’d enjoy that. Wouldn’t you?” Andy gave him a look.

Frank shrugged. “Maybe a little bit.”

Andy looked at Allison. “You’ll tell if he tranq’s me without cause, right?”

Allison and Frank looked at each other and back at him.

“Oh, great.”

The timer on Allison’s watch went off and again nothing happened.

“Well. No lion either.” Frank shrugged. “That would have been fun.”

“Indeed.” Allison shook her head. “Hey, we still haven’t tried a mosquito.”

“And we’re not going to.” Andy threw a playful punch her way.

Frank set the gun down and opened the large door. “Maybe a skunk.”

“Absolutely not.” Andy shook his head as they walked out of the barn.

The next evening, the farm was crowded with people from all over the place. Including the shifter council. Tables were set up across the yard and pasture with coverings over most of them. A lengthy line of tables near the house had tons of food. Meat, vegetables, soups, casseroles, desserts, and beverages.

Andy sat on the front porch and watched people dancing and eating. Having a wonderful time. He heard footsteps approaching and suddenly found himself a beer bottle. He took the bottle and then looked up to see Howard standing at the top of the steps. Howard sat down a step above him so that they were closer to the same height.

“I’m sure your father won’t mind you drinking one beer.”

“He gives me one every so often.” Andy pulled out his key chain and used a feature to take off the lid. He took a sip.

“So, no Rhinoceros, huh.”

“No.” Andy shook his head. “No jungle cat either. Plus, my dad might lose the farm.”

Howard shook his head. “That would be sad. But the council may be able to assist. After all, this area is great for hiding shifters. The real estate investors want to build a school here that will be a cover for shifters. A university in fact.”

“Really.” Howard nodded. “Right now, our main location in South America is the headquarters, but even there we have creepy neighbors. And the military is putting in a base near there to fight drug trafficking. Our hold is not as strong as it once was.”

“Are you in the council?” Andy asked.

“I’m the Chief of the Council.”

“Wow.” Andy was impressed. “So, you’ve got some pull than.”

Howard laughed. “You could say that. You should get out there and enjoy yourself while you can. I see a bright future for you.”

Andy felt motivated. He downed the rest of the beer, sat the bottle down and ran over towards Allison who was dancing with a few teenagers her own age. But suddenly he stopped as he felt an unseen force latching onto him. He has heard of feelings like these happen when a certain thing occurred. Shifting!

He locked eyes with Allison, and she knew what was going on. She turned to Frank and yelled. “Frank. He’s shifting.”

He saw Frank running out of the barn with the tranq rifle while everyone backed away from him. Andy knew there would be a little pain according to everyone he talked to but suddenly, he felt pain searing through his entire body, and he collapsed to the floor as he felt bones inside of him, changing, growing larger. Rhinoceros perhaps? His vision became blurry. The pain lasted for about five minutes until it stopped. He looked down to see everyone running away and screaming in terror. Why were they so small?

He turned and looked at his reflection in the window. He could not believe his eyes. He was a Tyrannosaurus Rex. A dinosaur! But how? They have been extinct for ages. Then the thought occurred to him. The eye at the museum.

He felt something jab into his neck and he turned and roared in anger. Then he saw Frank stepping back. Frank shot another tranq at him. This angered Andy so much. He lunged towards Frank but stopped when he heard shouting.

“Andrew Joseph Wilcox!”

He turned to see his ma running down the steps and seeing her lit something in his head. He turned and walked towards the barn. He barely managed to duck under the door frame and made his way into the barn. He laid down and then watched as Frank, Allison, Howard, Ma, and Pa walked into the barn.

“You could have been a Rhinoceros.” Frank shook his head.

“Wow.” Allison shook her head. “How could this happen?”

Howard snapped his fingers. “The eye back at the museum. The larger the animal the longer the transformation takes.”

“And the more pain.” Ma walked over and patted Andy on the muzzle.

“And the longer he’ll remain that way for his first shifting.” Pa replied. “How long do you think that will be? Howard, my old friend.”

“Well, it’s been around twenty, plus nine. Around twenty-nine hours for the shift to occur. So, I would say between one and two months.”

“We can’t keep him cooped up here for that long.” Allison shook her head. “He’ll go stir crazy.”

“Not to mention the cramping.” Frank chimed in.

“It’s not like we expected something this large.” Pa shook his head.

“We have a place.” Howard snapped his fingers again. “Our facility in Arizona is slightly over a day’s journey. We could borrow a semi-truck. That will be a tight fit, but once we get there, we have a wall surrounding the whole area. He could move around freely. He can stay there until we prepare this area for him. Will take a couple of years of construction but we already have all the land purchased except for one area. Hank, we would like to purchase your farm and make you the custodian of the University and facility we will place here.”

“Agreed.” Frank shook his hand. “And we can come to visit our boy any time we want.”

“Absolutely.” Howard nodded.

“I would like to go with him.” Allison nodded. “That way he’s not entirely alone.”

Andy was sad about leaving his family for a while. But he lit right up when he heard that Allison would come with him. He liked having her around. So he made a small bellowing sound.

“I think he likes that idea.” Frank pointed out.

Everyone laughed and began to walk out. Except Allison who stayed there. She walked over to Andy and petted his muzzle. “This is so cool. You are a freaking dinosaur. Don’t worry. I will be with you every step of the way. Just promise not to eat me.”

She ran away laughing as Andy shook his head and watched her disappear as she closed the door again.