Animal Emergency - Part Three

With the grinding of wheels against the dirt and stones beneath me I feel the vehicle slide to a halt, my heart hammering so loudly in my ears that I can hardly hear the sound of the car door open or the driver jumping out to the dirt below.

Staggering awkwardly on all fours, my eyes darting around in the dim light I try to call for help. "Mooooooooo" I groan loudly, my vocal chords refusing to make any sound remotely human. The rumbling from my throat practically rattles my skull, my teeth getting set on edge as the low animalistic moans reverberate loudly inside a skull not fit for this bloated form.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'..." huffs a husky feminine voice, the crunching of boots against the dirt below soon passing around me. With a loud series of clunks I listen as a metal bar is twisted and shifted away, a set of rusty hinged doors swinging open as I squint through the blinding midday sun.

As my eyes adjust I feel a set of hands reach out, a firm grip grabbing my head as I'm yanked forward. Groaning in pain I stagger forward, the sound of my hooves crunching against the metal floor as I'm blindly guided out into the sun.

I swear I can feel the stitches holding my head to this foul bovine body strain fro a moment, a shiver running up my spine as I move to try and ease the constant tugging pressure on my neck.

Staggering down a short ramp I feel my feet sink a little into the dirt, a whimper moo slipping from my lips as the stones and dirt shift beneath the hard hooves that replace my fingers and toes. Looking ahead I find myself staring at a strange woman, her tan face pulled into an almost deranged grin as she looks at me with wide hazel eyes.

Animal Emergency - Part Two

"Now... normally we would find you another human body to use for the next... well however long it takes to get your body back into a usable state..." she explains, tilting her head to the side as she reads her paperwork. "The world of anti-rejection drugs have greatly improved over the past few years... However..." she states, pausing as she begins to write on the clip board.

"We have been looking to trial something... more radical. Between pig hearts and livers, we've had some great success with human animal transplants, and with a new prospective transplant treatment we think we could go even further than that..." she continues, biting her lip as she jots down something before peeling off a sticker from the bottom of the page.

"Nuevo-Gen has graciously offered to let us trial their latest drug. It's really quite remarkable, not only does it prevent rejection is one hundred percent of cases, but it even seems to help make the new organ more akin to the surrounding tissue over time. It's really..." she explains, slapping a sticker across the glass in front of me.

As the woman continues to ramble I'm forced to stare ahead to read the label on my tank, my dulled mind struggling to read the inverted letters. My eyes water, my mouth moving wordlessly as I stare at the sticker, my mind finally managing to pull out the words.

Cow - Farm

My eye darts about, trying to see past the sticker and to get the woman's attention. I could just stay in the tank, I could wait for my body to recover here in the hospital, just not... whatever they had planned for me with that label.

However, try as I might I can't seem to meet her gaze. I can only watch as she paces around my little tank before leaving my sight, the sound of her footsteps echoing from behind me as I listen to her fiddle with something as the sharp clicking of plastic reverberates through the tank.

A cool sensation suddenly surges up from beneath my head, something mixing in with my blood as I begin to mouth wordlessly and wildly in an attempt to scream for help. The pathetic thrashing doesn't last long however, my eyes growing heavy and my world rapidly growing dim as I feel the cold reach the back of my skull.

Animal Emergency - Part One

My head swims as I slowly stir to consciousness, the pounding in my skull maintaining a steady rhythm as I listen to the blood rushing in my ears. The world around me feels almost disturbingly still, every inch of my face being held tightly by a warmth that seems to fill every nook and cranny around me.

Even as I feel worry begin to set in my heart rate remains concerningly steady, each pump coming in at a perfectly even rate despite the mounting fear. A dull beeping rings out from beside me, the electronic buzzing reaching my ears in a muffled and distorted state.

I struggle to open my eyes, the thick substance around me keeping my eyelids shut even as I attempt to ease them open.

"Goo... your awa..." calls out a heavily muffled voice, the sound of my blood rushing through my ears making in impossible to make out half of what they are saying. The world around me rumbles as they approach, the heavy footfalls jostling me as my eyes finally snap open.

I appear to be at around waist height, my view of the world warping through a combination of a faint green ooze and a thick pane of glass that appears to wrap around me. My mouth falls open, the foul smelling goo seeping inside as I stare at the sight of my body hanging limply on the other side of the room.

Re:The Body Shop - Part Seven

 

Suddenly, I'm snapped from my thoughts as a set of footsteps begin to approach. Bunny too lurches at the sound, whipping around and deleting the last message before coming to sit more like a normal human being at the sound of clinking bowls.

"You okay sweetie?" Cassandra asks softly, two bowls of very simple fettuccine in a deep red sauce resting in her hands. Clutched to her chest by her arms sit the box of wine and the cup from earlier, the young woman obviously not one to let the drinks stay in the kitchen. "You look a little flushed..." she states, pausing fro a moment as Bunny reaches out to take the bowls from her. "Thanks, but if you're warm you can take your shirt off" she states, placing the cup and the box of wine on the coffee table before wriggling it over towards the sofa.

She smirks as she sits down, her lips forming into a devilish grin as she places her hands around my waist. Her fingers wrap around the bottom of my shirt, her warm hands slinking under the sweaty cotton as she begins to stroke my tight taut abs.

"I wouldn't complain... I promise" She coos, her hazel eyes looking into my own lovingly. Suddenly she inches closer as her hands slide further up my torso, pushing me back into the sofa as she pins me down.

Re:The Body Shop - Part Six

Bunny slowly begins to creep us nervously around the edge of the house, the engine suddenly dying down as the loud clunk of a car door opening soon follows. Boots hit the dirt, a series of steps soon following as a voice calls out.

"Babe!" shouts the voice I had heard on the radio. "Good work on the pile, but can you give me a hand with the shopping, I'm soooooo not making it in one trip" she calls out, her use of the word 'babe' causing Bunny to jump a little.

I'm slowly brought around the edge of the cabin as I hear the back of the car ease open, the rustling of plastic bags soon following along with a series of quiet muttering. Looking around the corner I'm met with the sight of a fairly fit redhead with her hair tied back into a ponytail, her uniform fitting perfectly over her athletic frame.

 

Her rough and relatively messy ginger hair is tugged into a loose ponytail by the flax colored cap atop her head, the brim facing outward to give her some sun protection with a small little stitching of trees and the words 'Pine Gorge National Park' embossed on the front. Her hair appears to have been untrimmed in some time, the long red strands reaching down to just beneath her shoulders in an uneven mess of split ends.

A set of greenish hazel eyes shift back and forth over the open truck of the large jeep, her soft pink lips moving as he counts and mutters to herself. Her complexion of colored with a warm and healthy tan, her prominent high cheek bones along with her delicate yet slightly bent and scarred nose quickly catching my attention. I quickly notice another little silvery mark in her skin, a slight barely horizontal line tracing across the tan flesh above and below her upper and bottom lip in line with the bend in the bridge of her nose.

While not quite as tall as me she stands at just shy of five foot seven, the thick and rather hardy leather boots on her feet doing some work to bolster her size. Her top clings to her fit and athletic frame, not muscular like mine yet still extremely healthy made most likely due to simply being physically active rather than active effort. The top itself is flax colored much like her hat, the heavy button up short featuring the same logo as her hat along with a little stitched name beneath it.

'Cassandra'

Re:The Body Shop - Part Five

It takes a bit of coordination for Bunny to let me sip at the bland and unpleasant instant coffee, the lack of milk really just leaving it bitter caffeine water more than anything else. Sitting on the sofa by the fire I slowly begin to get comfortable, Bunny seemingly knowing exactly when I want another sip as the mug is quickly brought up to my lips.

"So... park ranger... apparently..." I mutter, unsure about how any of this made sense. "Did you ever do like Girl Scouts or..." I ask, watching as Bunny gives me a thumbs down and a shrug. "Guess we can work that out as we..." I muse, my eyes darting to the whiteboard as I sigh.

"We have a job don't we..." I groan, my body sagging as Bunny seems equally dismayed. With a heave of our mighty frame Bunny begins to drag us over to the whiteboard, the helpful body letting me drink the last of the coffee before I begin to inspect the whiteboard.

"Huh..." I mutter, reading the listing under Jordan on the whiteboard. As I ponder just what 'Clearing Kindling and Debris' could actually entail I feel Bunny begin to tap our foot impatiently. After a moment of pondering the text, and lingering on the little love heart scrawled on the board, I feel Bunny reach up to poke and prod at my face.

Re:The Body Shop - Part Four

As I slowly begin to come to my mind struggles to take stock of myself, the constant movement and shifting of my body beneath me making the idea that I was simply laying down on the steps where I fell completely out of the question. A shudder runs down my spine as I yawn, my eyes fluttering open only to be blinded by the painfully bright light around me.

"Wha... Where..." I groan, blinking rapidly as I try to clear my vision. The night before quickly hits me like a sack of bricks, my heart quickly racing as the memories of Bunny and her running off with me in tow quickly surges to the forefront of my mind.

I feel my body jump a little at my breathy voice, the alien force animating it being taken by surprise as I slowly wake up.

"Where are... are you..." I mumble, shifting the sleep from my eyes with another flurry of blinks. As my vision returns and my eyes adjust to the harsh lights around me I find myself shaking nervously as I stumble out onto a wooden deck, my body whipping around beneath me as I stare at the dirt road and dense forest surrounding me.

My eyes shot open immediately, my heart racing and my blood pumping as panic begins to set in. Gone was the stairwell, gone was the night sky, gone was the damned city as a whole. Rather than towering buildings and constant traffic I find my view blocked by rows upon rows of dense greenery in the form of beautiful trees and dense wild grasses filling the underbrush.

The dirt road loops around in front of me, a winding path coming out of the forest before expanding to fill the man-made clearing and narrowing once more as it curves off into the forest once more. Freshly made tire tracks run from the front of the deck out down the road to the right, a smaller and more maneuverable motor bike sits next to where the car had once been parked.

The deck itself is relatively plain, well maintained and freshly varnished hardwood planks stretch out either side of me as a small railing provides some sense of privacy. As my body lurches around, a cry of surprise erupting from me as my powerful body rushes back to the door behind us, I spot a small sign by the door frame.

Station 12

'Wild Carrot'

The Body Shop - Part Three

With a loud gasp I come to, my eyes snapping open as the dim light of the store and the relative darkness of the stairwell I had fallen in is replaced with harsh shafts of morning light streaming in through somewhere nearby.

My head sits partway up, a soft downy pillow or three beneath me providing more than enough support. Despite being able to feel the cushioned pillows behind my head I find myself struggling to make out much more below the neck. Despite the hazy and numbed state of my body I can still feel it shift and, the low slumbering breathes being forced through my lips and my head shifting with each deep inhale and exhale.

Blinking rapidly I try to clear my vision, my sleep filled eyes begging to be rubbed clean of the gunk from what was apparently a long nights sleep. As the bleary and blurred sight of the room slowly comes into focus I find myself shivering beneath the sheets in some strange apartment as rain pelts down heavily outside.

The sound of the heavy rain hammering the thin panes of glass rumbles throughout the room, the near all-encompassing noise leaving me with a building panic. My apartment was never this loud, the thick walls and the numerous floors above me shielding me from much of the noise from outside. As my eyes adapt to the light of the room I quickly find myself staring at an unfamiliar wall covered in white plaster and a small bedside table, the phone buzzing on the tabletop emanating a blinding light I had mistaken for sunshine.

Re:The Body Shop - Part Three

"I'm certain I have some more you may be interested in around here somewhere" the owner mutters, glancing around at the many shuffling bodies and busy assistants racing around the long and narrow storefront. With a shrug of her shoulders she glances back down to me.

"So valued customer, do you have any thoughts?" the witch coos softly, wincing slightly as her dim valley girl voice appears to irk her more so than the constant twitching and fidgeting of the stolen young body beneath her mature-aged head.

Glancing around I try to gather my thoughts, my limited range of motion making it extremely difficult to really assess any of my options. I'm mostly left looking over 'Gym Bunny', the nervous looking fit young woman pushing her chest out slightly as her bright white running shoes shift with her feet as they practically begin to wear through the floorboards beneath her.

The sound of the 'Exotic E-Girl' scrambling to escape the clutches of a set of assistants echos through the store, the cracking noise of open hands capping against bare skin and the low thuds of leather boot against shin sends shivers down my non-existent spine.

Glancing up at the witch she narrows her gaze at me, her lips pursing and wriggling a little as she seemingly tries to read my thoughts.

"My apologies" she huffs, shrugging her stolen shoulders "I don't have any other male bodies, at least not in your price range. I may have a few in the three or four out of ten shelves, how do you feel about forty-year olds with... what do they call it these days?... Dad... Bod?"

My eyes go wide as I look back at Bunny, the young woman 's hands wringing against each other as the sound of her squeaking gloves slip out from behind her.

"Or..." the old woman muses, looking up to the tall shelves lining the walls of the shop. "I could put you in storage for now, I'm sure a body more to your taste will be by in... oh... maybe a few months. You'll be fine up there, trust me, I haven't heard any of them complain yet."

Re:The Body Shop - Part Two

With a snap of her fingers her face brightens up, her eyes going wide as if struck by an epiphany.

"That's it!" she calls out, her fingers clicking over and over as she points towards a distant rack with her other hand. "That one! Yes yes to the left, you can hoist him up... Oh..." she states, pausing for a moment before looking back to me.

"Sorry, just realized where to stock that old body of yours" sh explains, waltzing towards me as I feel myself slowly get placed back down atop one of the many wooden boxes stacked around the storefront. She looks away from a second, giving a nod to one of her many helpers before musing to herself once more.

Musing for a moment, poking and prodding at the inside of her mouth with her tongue in thought, the witch finally pipes up to announce "I'd say your trade-in is...a... Eight out of Ten." With a loud thud I listen as a series of foot falls suddenly turn face, the bodies that had been dragging my old frame away suddenly stopping before shuffling closer towards the front of the shop.

"Oh don't be such drama queens" the witch sighs, rolling her eyes as her helpers move towards us. "Tall and hung, those are definitely worth something. He's also not that old, and... well we simply don't get much male stock coming through."

I stare up at the witch for a moment, my mouth falling open as my lips move without a single word. Catching the movement the older woman glances over to me, shrugging her shoulders a little as I hear a curtain begin to be drawn back.

"I would be pleased to be considered a rarity" she cackles, glancing up towards one of the more seemingly intelligent bodies before pointing towards me. "I mean otherwise I'd be giving you something closer to a four or five, instead you're getting something..."

The Body Shop - Part Two

With a snap of her fingers her face brightens up, her eyes going wide as if struck by an epiphany.

"That's it!" she calls out, her fingers clicking over and over as she points towards a distant rack with her other hand. "That one! Yes yes to the left, you can hoist him up... Oh..." she states, pausing for a moment before looking back to me.

"Sorry, just realized where to stock that old body of yours" sh explains, waltzing towards me as I feel myself slowly get placed back down atop one of the many wooden boxes stacked around the storefront. She looks away from a second, giving a nod to one of her many helpers before musing to herself once more.

Musing for a moment, poking and prodding at the inside of her mouth with her tongue in thought, the witch finally pipes up to announce "I'd say your trade-in is...a... Hey! Put him down! He's a valued customer!" she cries as my world spins around me. A set of soft hands wrap around my cheeks and squeeze firmly as I'm pulled from the crate, my mouth opening to scream in shock as nothing comes out much to my terror.

The Body Shop - Part One

My hand traces across the exposed red bricks as I descend down the narrow stairwell, the rain slicked concrete steps feel all too dangerous to walk down without some means of support. The tiny passageway is made even more precarious thanks to the limited light, the old iron lamp hanging above the plain wooden door at the bottom of the steps being all that illuminates the space at this time of the night.

However it was precisely due to it being this close to midnight that I had come out to this otherwise deserted part of the city, the old run down buildings which once housed all manner of ship fronts now sitting empty and mostly vandalized.

With a stumbling step, sliding slightly as my foot plants awkwardly on the ground before the door, I reach out to juggle the door handle. The rusted and rough metal grips at my palm, the heavily worn knob creaking slightly as I try to turn it to avail. Biting at my lip slightly I look down at my watch, my heart skipping a beat as I note that I had made it to my destination just a little bit early. I watch with baited breath as the numbers on the digital display snap to the beginning of a new day, my building anticipation ebbing away as I find myself still simply standing in the gloom and cold at the bottom of the stairs.

As if sensing my mounting disappointment a loud thud comes from the door, the aging swollen wood suddenly pushing out towards me as something presses at it from the other side. Warm air rushes out from any gap that it can find within the door and its frame, a faint warm light quickly seeping through the same gaps. As the racing wind from behind the door begins to ease a slight click emanates from the handle, the door inching open as I'm forced to step to the side.

"Please come..." grunts a croaking feminine voice from within, her words cutting short as she seems to struggle with something. "Come in dear customer, and welcome to The Body Shop!"

Good Head on Your Shoulders - Part One

Rain spits at the window of my car as I slowly wind my way through the precarious mountain road. Dark clouds hang overhead, the daunting darkness peaking through the trees above and from over the cliff to the right. I practically creep around each of the blind corners, inching my car along the cliffs edge as my sweaty hands grip at the wheel.

"It'll be worth it" I wheeze, flinching as a small set of rocks tumble past from one of the outcropping above me. "It'll be worth it."

The road is old and heavily worn, a mixture of once frequent use turned to disregard and disrepair. Trucks had once rolled along the dangerously slanted and winding asphalt, carting coal up through the mountains from the small town nestled within a rare relatively flat section of land inside the range. Since the mines ran empty decades ago the town had slowly atrophied and rotted away, and yet here I was on my way to move in.

Looking to the passenger seat I glance at the open letter once again, reconfirming just why I had packed up to move out here.