A typical average family, had so far avoided the sun. It was all a coincidence. Their son Alex happened to be in doors at the time, as were his parents. Most of their extended family were not quite so lucky though. An uncle had become some kind of ''glass creature'' from what they had heard. Their grandmother on the other hand struck it quite lucky, and gained a body that was in its twenties. She was still the same person with all her years of experience. Her skin had changed colour to red though.
They rarely saw their extended family so all this was not really on their minds.
"I''m tired mom" said Alex. "I want to go to sleep"
"Sorry honey, but it is sunset. We have to get you ready for school. Your little sister is already up and ready."
Alex groaned. Sally was always such a show off. He didn''t know how it started but the two siblings always seemed to have a competition on who did what first. She was four years younger then him. Alex though loved her as any brother would, though considered her a pain sometimes. Especially now that she seemed to be doing ''better''at coping with the different schedule.
The teenage boy got up groggily and began their morning routine while his mother made breakfast.
Breakfast used to be quite talkative as each discussed their plans. Their mother Susan worked at a pet shop. The father however was unemployed. Andy used to do a wide variety of odd jobs but could never really focus on any one task to take it further. Susan had tried to gently encourage him, but lately it was like he had completely shut down. The crisis became his strongest excuse not to seek out avenues of employment. sadly he didn''t do much now but watch television. As patient as his wife was she was starting to lose it with him.
Alex always swore to never end up like his father. It was probably why he competed so heavily with his little sister, and why he took losing a little sourly at times. He felt his mother tended to be closer to his sister then him. But he will make her proud one day.
It was fortunate Susan earned enough to support the family. There wasn''t much for luxury but they coped.
"I''ve made you packed lunches" Susan smiled to her children.
"Mummy?" Sally asked. "Is this going to be forever? They will fix the sun wont they?"
Susan looked at her daughter, with a well placed optimistic smile. "I am sure they are doing their best honey. But in the mean time, we will make do with what we can. We still have each other."
The father, Andy, glanced over quietly. He wasn''t optimistic.
Alex however was a bit more vocal. "If it was going to be fixed it would have happened by now," he said.
"Alex," his mother began.
"You know its true!"
"We don''t know. We didn''t even know this could actually happen, dear. Who knows, maybe tomorrow it will be fine. But until then just avoid the sun."
Alex sighed but nodded. It was easier said then done. Like every other unchanged human, there was this fear that some way, some day, somehow... the sun will get them. How do you avoid it for the rest of your life?
After breakfast, they opened the front door to go to school.
The night darkness, and the golden glow of street lamps awaited them.
The two children glanced by a house. There seemed to be someone on the balcony...
"Is someone sleeping up there?" Sally asked.
"Of course not," Alex said. "That would be stupid. They would change if they did that." It might be someone just taking a break or something. Nobody could be that silly.
Alex and Sally lived close to the school. At the entrance they separated to their different age groups.
"Good luck big brother!" she hugged him.
Alex hugged her back. These little moments were nice when they were not fighting. He kind of wished it was more like this all the time.
Sally smiled and skipped to her classroom.
Alex, now alone, had to face other unchanged students.
Ben and Steven were once harmless pranksters in the school. But slowly it escalated until, now they were just mean to their fellow students. They used the fear of the sun to their advantage. The best trick they ever did in the class, was to change the clocks so it was a bit later. They also closed the curtains. Most thought it was just to make everyone feel at ease, it was what a lot of them did at home. For some reason knowing there was no sun was different to seeing there was just a night sky.
When the bell didn''t ring, Ben loudly proclaimed: Hey look the sun is up! and drew up the curtains.
The sound of the curtains going was enough to send the entire classroom, and teacher into a mild panic.
Ben got detention for a week.
"Totally worth it," Ben grinned.
"Yeah man... that was awesome! I cracked up. I think you made one girl piss herself"
They laughed so hard.
"Well, i got a much better idea now" Steven said taking out some dishwasher liquid.
"Oh yeah? Just what do you think you can do with that? No way you can top an entire class room shitting themselves."
Steven grinned. "Don''t need an entire class. Ten bucks say I get this guy to start puking using nothing but this dishwasher stuff."
Ben thought about it. "Yeah okay. Ten bucks."
Alex got his books from the locker. Todays schedule was maths, and he just couldn''t concentrate. There was not even a real break time for them. The lighting system was inadequate for any extended break outside without it being dangerous. Instead the gym was converted into a makeshift play or break area, but it wasn''t exactly like being outside. It was starting to smell of sweat despite attempts to keep it tidy.
They were caged... caged animals.
It was amazing how little anyone spoke or made contact with people. Nobody really understood why. On the first night day, it was like a party... a reason to stay up late.... but now...
Alex was fortunate to still have his sister. A lot of people talked about their relatives transformations, and always had the innate fear of what their''s might be.
Freaks...
Devils...
Monsters...
Rarely,anything recognisably human.
Though Alex had heard some were lucky. Like his grandmother who changed into a body in her thirties. Despite the red skin, he thought she was lucky and was secretly happy for her. But for some reason he just couldn''t express that. How exactly could you say to someone your happy for their transformation? It didn''t help that his grandmother, being a devoutly religious was convinced this could only be the work of Satan. Alex didn''t buy that religious stuff. There was some other explanations besides God and the Devil.
"The sun got Jane today," Alex heard three girls talking.
"Wow... what did she turn into?" the second girl asked.
"She''s some kind of dragon thing. She''s got the weirdest stubby tail."
the three laughed nervously. It was probably just to cover their own fears of the change. Despite the subject Alex liked the sound of laughter. It was strangely comforting, almost normal. That was when Ben and Steven came in... He didn''t know what to make of these two.
"Sorry to hear about your friend." said Steven.
"Thanks," one girl said. She seemed genuinely glad.
" We''ve been doing some research," Ben said. "On the monsters in the day side"
"They arn''t monsters you idiot," one of the girls, a black one said. "One of them happen to be my brother."
"Oh hey, pardon me if you don''t want to know what goes on among them. I actually stayed here overday"
There was a gasp.
"Really?" Alex asked. He was actually quite curious what went on in the dayside. How could students with different bodies even get around, let alone study with each other?
"Yep. I''ve seen em all. There''s even a Harpy that goes naked around the place. I believe she sat just over there. Probably just after laying her eggs." he laughed quietly. The last part was said jokingly.
Despite herself one of the girls stood up and walked away from the area creeped out. Everyone had heard of the naked Harpy even on the nightside. "We''re not that gullible," she said quickly. "We all know about her."
Steven was the one knew the going on of the day side. But for some reason he wouldn''t say how he knew. He grinned a little nastily. "Would you like to know who you share your desk with?" He spoke with a little air of innocence about the whole thing. "Actually in your case," He looked to Alex "I''''m going to tell you afterwards" He grinned.
"Huh? Why?" Alex asked.
"You''ll see."
"Okay I''ll bite, one of the girls asked. "Who shares my desk? Third row, second seat."
"Hang on er... "Steven had to have a think. "Yeah Okay, that one belongs to a devil. She sat there butt naked."
"You liar!" the girl blushed.
"Nope. Its true. Cross my heart."
"Okay I sit next to her, what about me?" The other girl asked.
"Oh yeah, that''s one of the angel chicks. I don''t think you have much to worry about besides maybe the odd feather."
The girl flushed. "I' did find a feather under my desk..." The feather was unusual, but she didn''t think much of it at the time.
"Don''t listen to him. He must have planted it." Her friend quickly said.
"Nope. I''m speaking the truth."
Alex had had enough of this and just walked into the class room. He shook his head dismissive of the whole thing.
The classroom seemed to be getting smaller. Less and less human students, Alex guessed. He sat down on his desk...
when he felt something wet and sticky.
He then felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Steven.
"Hey mate, Okay now I''ll tell you." He said. "Your desk belongs to a slug girl. Guess what, you just got her mucus all on you."
Alex blanched, turning white as a sheet. He got up quickly, seeing the weird slimey stuff. it was all over his trousers and his arm.
"You know what that means right? If you get into the sun now, if even a little bit of that is on you, you will turn into a slug girl!"
Alex could feel the bile enter his mouth, in sheer fright. He tripped over the chair, running to the bathroom.
"Dude!" Ben looked to Alex. "That''s just the dishwasher stuff right?"
"Heh... yeah. But I ain''t lying. That desk really does belong to a slug girl." Steven winked. "Ten bucks"
Ben gave the money over. "Yeah okay you won that one."
Alex tore off his trousers in the toilets as if they were on fire.
He had never been so scared in his life. He didn''t care if anyone saw him. He started washing the stuff off his legs, his arms, but it just made the mucus spread more around him. It seemed to turn a bit soapy, which he thought was odd. But what did slug mucus look like anyway?
Actually... this looked like... and smelt like... soap?
He had been had.
After a good half an hour of scrubbing he put his trousers in a bag. He looked at the mirror and put a very hard punch into the wall. He was so tired of this fear, and angry at the cruel joke.
With nightside over, and daylight a few hours away, Alex was greeted by his sister again.
"Race you home!" She giggled. "Hey whats wrong?" Her elder brother looked so... down.
"Nothing" Alex sighed as they walked. A timer went off in Alex''s watch. It was only one hour left until sunrise. They once again passed the balcony, where they could see the sleeping woman. She had leaned over slightly so that her face was visible.
"She''s asleep bro! We got to help her!" Susan quickly said tugging Alex''s arm.
Alex looked... then glanced at the gentle glow of the iridescent sun. One hour away...
One hour away... to no longer fear anything anymore.
"Sis... leave her. She knows... what shes doing" He sniffled a bit.
Susan looked at her brother startled to see him cry. "Bro? W-what''s wrong?"
How could he explain it? He now understood... he knew what was happening, what that woman was doing. She was so peaceful, as she waited the sun. If he could only go close enough, he would see her serene expression, as she waited for her freedom. This was not something he felt he could impart to his younger sibling. She would think he had completely lost it.
Despite not being religious, Alex felt he had to offer a prayer.
"God... whatever... Whoever... if there is someone out there, making these changes..." He looked focusing on the pretty woman. "Be kind, to her... Please..."
The two continued to walk home, Alex occasionally glancing back.
Lisa was aware of the light approaching, the redness under her eyelids telling her.
It felt good to be waking to the sun, after weeks of living in total darkness... She had woken a few times due to the occasional sound of a car, but simply went back to sleep. It was quite possibly the best rest she ever had.
She opened her eyes, seeing a blue sky, with a very small cloud, its silvery streak ran across like a comet. Such a wonderful small thing, easily dismissed by many in normal circumstances... but to her, this scene was the best view. She glanced to the side, seeing the sun...
Its marvelous colours of rainbow, red, yellow, orange, the occasional wisps of purple, every single shade.
She raised her hand to shield her gaze... and was surprised to see... no change. Her hand was the same.
She carefully ran her hands down her body. She was always a very shapely woman, but still found nothing different...
She placed both her hands over her head...
No change there... she still had the same hair, the same face... everything checked out...
She decided to get up and get off the cot now...
and tripped.
She winced in pain. "Argh!" She cringed looking to her legs... her legs... her....
She stared wide eyed.
She had two sets of human legs...
