Zero to Infinity

​Jenny got teased a lot when she was in school. Not like there weren’t enough things to be worried about. But not her shoes, hair, or even clothes. Jenny got teased for her name. Jenny. They would tease her using the Forrest Gump voice. “But I love you, Jenny”, while laughing and limping after her. From trailer trash and drug jokes to “Run, Forrest, Run!” as she strolled the hall, Jenny endured a life much like that box of chocolate.

But Jenny had a secret. Jenny was a lot more than she put on. She let them tease her and say thing that would get under most people’s skin. Teasing was the lease of her worries. She had other concerns. She had power.

In Jenny’s other life, her real life, the life she kept from everyone, Jenny was a shifter. She could shift into any animal that she liked. Most occasions, she would just shift into a bird. This didn’t help though because when she did, it would remind her of the stupid things that they would tease her about. She did accept one thing; that she wished she was a bird, so she could fly, “far, far away from here. She believed in that. As annoying as they were teasing her with comments from such an old cliche movies from the ’90s, it didn’t change the fact that she enjoyed being a bird.

Jenny shifted to other animals too. When she wanted to be sneaky and see what other people were doing behind closed door, she shifted to a cat. She had seen the secrets of many of the people in her town. They weren’t always the best of secrets. In fact they were so embarrassing it would make her back raise and her hair stand on end. It was truly embarrassing. And never once did she use those instances to get back at anyone who ever teased her.

Jenny would sometimes shift into a caterpillar. Wanting to get away from it all, she would go through her metamorphosis within a day. If she had a particularly rough week, she’d shift into a caterpillar on Friday night and emerge fresh and renewed by Sunday afternoon as a butterfly. A rather sped along process for the metamorphosis but she needed it sometimes; life could be a bit much.

Here and there, and only has needed, Jenny would shift into a wolf. Living close to the woods it was nice to get away and hide within the trees. Not too many people will come there so she has some solitude in the forest. Being a wolf, she knew no one would dare bother her If she chose to fall asleep near a bush or under a tree. This was complete for her. Wild and free, under the stars with a smile on her face.

Like most shifters, Jenny could basically turn into anything she put her mind to but those were her favorites. She would either fly away, hide away, or run away for peace. Lately, she had been going through some things. It was finals and almost time for school to end. Almost impossible to determine where she would be next because no one knows what the path is for people like her. The goal is to blend in and learn as much as you can early on. She did that. Then she’d gone off to college and she dated a while. She had experience in relationships and sex. She did that. But soon enough, it would be time for her to be called home. She didn’t know what she was going to do when she got home. In fact for the most part, she didn’t even know her home was.

Jenny was good at blending in. Not because she would be tease and keep to herself. She was good at blending in because she looked like your typical blonde hair and blue-eyed girl. She couldn’t stand how she felt and looked in the mirror on days. So she would often die her hair different colors. Dawn her face with makeup. And dress how she felt that day.

On some occasion she felt real hippy like so she would garnish flowers in her hair and a headband, halter tops with fringes, and bell bottom pants with platform heels. On other occasions she would feel like sitting in a chair and reading all day. That’s when she throw on a pair of sweatpants and maybe an oversized sweater or some biker shorts and an oversized sweater. Something to let the world know she really didn’t care. When she was feeling particularly jazzy, she would put on a nice tight fitted short skirt, a small blazer or jean jacket and of course platform heels.

She loves being sassy and cute and relaxed all the while, she also felt the urge to feel a little dominant. She would imagine what it would be like if she was shapeshifted into a man and have his way with women for the day. The way she would see other men do so on TV and in the different locations she would be in. When she will go out to a bar or a club, the way they will grope and grown or women. She wondered what was there to be so enticed about. It would be amazing if she could have that opportunity she would think.

Nevertheless, shape shifters cannot shift into other humans. I was almost like a rule. Not unspoken because it wasn’t possible. But more so it was an understanding. You should get into animals. And that’s it.

It was storming out. One of the days of the year she would not go out. Her birthday. Sort of a superstition, Jenny never left the house on her birthday. She would often see her birthday flash, 10:21. whether a.m. or p.m., she was reminded that she needs to be careful. She took it as a sign that something significant would occur. Well of course, because that significance could have just been her age change. I mean after all, it was her birthday. But something about seeing it on the clock right on time and during no other time sort of freaked her out. She didn’t want to think anything of it but she always did.

Had it not been her birthday and it was storming as it was, she still would not have gone outside. It’s really difficult to fly in the rain and she hates the smell of wet dog. So there were no other options. And because her metamorphosis is processed quite some time, she didn’t typically like to do that on the weekday. It was a Tuesday. She was turning 28. It was the 4th cycle of a Tuesday of her birthday. This meant something. Something huge.