I couldn't say how long I stayed that way. Days, at the least. Weeks maybe. I guess I was in shock. Almost comatose. I couldn't bring myself to move. Moving meant new sensations, and I already had more of those than I could handle. Even just laying there, I was forced to feel the way my new fins wrapped themselves around my body like a blanket. The way my completely hairless appendages rubbed against each other as I curled into the fetal position. My skin wasn't just smooth, it was...rubbery. Like I imagined a dolphin's skin might be. Or an amphibian's. And the side of my head couldn't seem to make contact with the cavern floor. Apparently there was some kind of growth protruding from the back of my head, keeping my face out of contact with the ground.
So I lay there, not daring to move an inch. Barely daring to breathe. There was no day and night. Just the dull pink glow of the lichen on the walls, pulsing lazily in the grotto, and the sound of cascading water.
After what seemed a century, but must have only been a few days, I couldn't help but notice certain things. For one, I wasn't cold anymore. At least, I didn't feel uncomfortable. My skin was cold, and damp, though it didn't seem to absorb any water like human skin would. That meant I was at room temperature. Apparently I was cold blooded now, and optimized for fairly cool environments, at least as far as cold blooded things went. And oddly, though it had been a long time, I had no thirst. Even after my exhausting run through the forest. Though, I didn't seem to sweat, so that might have had something to do with it. But it had been too long. Surely amphibians had to drink at least once every few days?
*What am I?*I couldn't get the question out of my head. Every new discovery made me feel less and less human, less and less me.
One day (or maybe night) I began to feel the pangs of hunger. I still had a stomach, at least. Although I didn't know what it was I was supposed to eat. I felt around inside my mouth with my tongue. I still had teeth, and they felt human enough...
I shifted onto my other side, and moved no more.
Sometimes I slept. My dreams were disturbing, but I could only remember strange shapes and the feeling of being submerged in murky water. Awakening made little difference. I would not rise.
My thoughts turned to Karyn. Was she here? If so, was she lost like me? Had a similar fate befallen her? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, being a freak, if she was one too. Neither of us had fit in that well in school, but we'd always had each other. Maybe she was male now. We could make babies...or eggs together. I laughed bitterly, the first noise I'd made in days. My stomach responded by growling piteously. I realized that if I didn't get up soon I'd die here. Maybe that was best.
Leonard. I wondered what that little weasel was up to. He was the one that had put us here. I hoped he was enjoying himself...although with my luck, he probably was.
A thought struck me, piercing through my malaise like a hot iron spike. What if Leonard was with Karyn? What if they'd found each other...and she...my Karyn, was alone with him?
I got up. I almost fell back down immediately. My legs were on fire, and I still wasn't used to my new proportions. I was all leg and hips and thighs, and my back wasn't accustomed to the new weights on my chest. But somehow I managed to gain my balance, and take a wobbly, awkward step forward. Then another, and another. My hips swayed violently from side to side from the motion of my comically proportioned legs. But my destination wasn't far.
First thing was first. I had to get out of this funk. And to do that, I had to find out what I really was. The strange pool in the back of the cave had shown me myself, but I needed to see my new reflection...my real reflection. And if my transformation had told me anything, it was that that pool wasn't normal water.
I came to the bank of the underground river, and in the glow of the lichen, saw the new me.
