Zoe's mini-lecture on the slime-mold life-cycle was interrupted when her parents burst into the room. Her mother ran to her, embracing her almost violently. "Oh, I'm so glad you're all right!" she said. "I..." She stopped as she realized that her daughter felt different than normal, and looked her up and down, gasping as she noticed the mostly-formless pillar of slime that Zoe's legs trailed into. "So you did do it, after all," she sighed. "Well, I'm glad you're all right, at any rate."
"You're...you're not mad?" Zoe said, sounding a little incredulous.
Mrs. Madison shook her head. "What's done is done. I don't understand why you did that, and I don't think it was a wise decision, but getting upset about it isn't going to help anything. But how do you feel about becoming a...um...?"
"Slime mold," Zoe said. "I...don't know. This wasn't what I wanted, not by a long shot, but...I can live with it, I think. Why I did it...I don't know if I could explain so that you'd understand. I saw the potential for something really cool and I thought it was worth the risk, I guess."
Her father sighed a sigh of relief and put an arm around her shoulder. "Well, we're just glad you're safe and sound." He looked around the room, raised an eyebrow, and gestured towards the unclothed harpy-girl. "So, uh, what's the deal with Sarah here, again?"
"Right," Jon said. "Like I said, she's a classmate of Karyn's and mine. Her parents have, uh...they've kind of been going crazy with this whole sun thing. She says they've really lost it now, and she doesn't have a place to stay because of it."
Jon's mother sighed, shaking her head. "I'm very sorry to hear that, Sarah. I guess we could take her in, don't you think, dear?"
Her father looked thoughtful for a moment. "I certainly don't have a problem with it," he said, "but where can we put her? Jon and Mikey's rooms are both too small for two people, and Zoe's is only just large enough. Zoe, would you be all right with that?"
Zoe nodded. "I guess so," she said. "Actually, I, uh, might not be needing my room for a while, so she can probably just have it to herself."
"What?" her mom asked. "Why?"
Zoe gave a brief summation of the life-cycle thing, leaving her parents more than a little confused and unsettled. "So...let me see if I've got this straight," Mr. Madison said. "You're going to release spores and then die, and we just have to hope the spores grow back into you? How do you even know that's going to happen?"
The slime-girl shrugged. "I don't know that that's going to happen, exactly," she said. "It's just a guess based off what I read about slime molds in study hall. As for how I know...I dunno, I just do. I don't really know how or when, but I have this feeling that it's about to happen, kind of like when you feel a sneeze building up. You don't know the exact processes, but you get the message."
Her mom nodded. "But if you're going to be separate and incommunicative, we should have someone out there...you know, to keep an eye on you, just in case."
Zoe nodded back. "I was thinking the same thing. But it can't be you or Dad, because of the sun, so I guess it has to be Jon or Mikey."
"I'll go," Jon said. "We don't know if it's safe for Mikey to be out in the elements for long periods of time, and Zoe was saying that she probably needs to find a rotting log or something. I was thinking that little grove behind the Lutheran church would be a good place. I can take a tent and some instant noodles or something, and I'll camp out there while Zoe does her thing."
Mr. Madison frowned. "I don't know," he said. "Back when I was a young man, a lot of the rougher kids used to hang out back there. I'm not sure what it's like now, but I don't really like the idea."
"Still, dear," his wife replied, "with the sun the way it is, why would anybody be back there? If they got drunk and passed out, they'd wake up in a new body. I'm sure by now they've found a more indoors meeting place. And Zoe's not going to find too many rotting logs in our back yard, you know."
"Besides," Zoe interrupted, "I don't think we have time to look for an alternative. I don't know exactly when, but I get a feeling that it's going to start soon."
