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by grapehyacinth

I was having second thoughts about taking a cruise with my family.
At forty-five years old, I had planned to be happily married with kids. Instead, I was divorced, childless, and stuck on a very turbulent boat with my parents, younger sister, and my sister's complete jerk of a husband.
“One day, we'll have kids and take them on a cruise too!” my sister Marla was saying as we sat at dinner. We were at one of the ship's many specialty restaurants, and the wait for the main course was nearing an hour.
“Cruises are freaking expensive,” burst out Chris, Marla's husband.
Everyone blinked at him for a moment. He could always be counted on to contribute inappropriate comments to any conversation.
“Well, yes, they are,” my mother murmured.
“And that's why we're so thankful you brought us along, Mom,” I said, trying to sound upbeat. But with me at this point, happiness was all a big show. I'd fallen into depression years ago when I was still married. My then-husband Sam and I had been trying for a child for many years. After five miscarriages, we gave up, and the marriage crumbled. So when Marla talked about having a child at the snap of her fingers, it always hurt.
“Boat's rocking a lot,” Dad remarked. He usually didn't acknowledge Chris's idiocy. He hated him. Honestly, Mom didn't care for him much, either.
But Marla liked him. I don't know why.
“You look hot in that shirt, Audra,” Chris noted.
I cringed. Marla laughed. She found Chris' wandering eye very funny. It sickened me, but I whenever I mentioned it to her, she just laughed it off. She trusted him implicitly, and I always wished I'd catch him cheating on her. He worked for an advertising agency, and he kept crazy hours, making all of us wonder about him. But I never found the slightest proof of any dalliances. Probably because no sane woman would want him anyway.
And Chris kept on. “Where'd you get that blouse, anyway? I've never seen you wear something with such a low neck, Audra. You looking to catch husband number two with that cleavage?”
His raucous laughter cut through me like shattered glass.
“That's not necessary, Chris,” my mother said through clenched teeth.
Marla, giggling, slapped him on the back. “But he's right! She should stop dressing like a sixty-year-old and dress her age!”
“Maybe you should stop dressing like you're a sophomore in high school!” I snapped.
At Marla's hurt expression, I rose. “Listen, I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going back to my room.”
“Oh, don't go, Audra. He doesn't mean anything by it,” Mom said, standing up too.
“They're coming out with our food now,” Dad pointed out.
“That's fine. I'll see you later,” I walked away.
“Did I piss her off?” I heard Chris say.
“You always do,” my father replied stiffly.

As I made my way down the long, winding hallway to my room, the boat was lurching so alarmingly that I was thrown against the wall. Bracing my feet on the worn blue carpeting, I tried to move forward, but was then tossed to the opposite wall.
Someone in a cabin several doors down opened his door and yelled, “What the hell is going on?”
“Hurricane!” a passerby yelled back.
Hurricane? I thought they'd plotted a course around the hurricane! We had all been worried about taking the trip in this weather, but the cruise company had assured us that measures were being taken to avoid the storm.
“Please return to your cabins. We're experiencing severe weather,” the loudspeaker crackled.
“Yeah, I'd call it severe!” the person in the cabin yelled and slammed his door.
I stumbled into my room, only to see the most frightening sight ever.
A wall of water was bearing down on the ship. It was so high, I couldn't see the top.
Something was being announced over the loudspeaker, but my brain wasn't registering anything. I could only stare at the incredible wave, horrified.
I was powerless to do anything.
The water hit with such force that the windowed doors to the balcony imploded into the room. The surf flooded the cabin, surrounding me and carrying me out into the depths of the ocean.

I was floundering, gasping for breath. There was water everywhere, and I wasn't sure which way the surface was. I aimed for the light, pushing my body up through the turbulent waters. My lungs were ready to burst, I needed air... My vision was darkening...
I can't die like this... I can't die yet...
I exploded through the surface, the angry sky a welcome sight. I was so weak from struggling that I simply floated until the next large wave pulled me under. Weakly, I resurfaced, attempting to ride the waves as best as possible. Then another wall of water struck, and I blacked out.

When I awoke, all I could see was white, and I thought I was dead. But I was vaguely aware of sand beneath my body, and I opened my eyes. They stung from the caked-on salt on my lashes.
I sat up, and every part of my body ached. My skin was burned, my clothes were half-torn, and I could see bruises on several areas.
But I was alive.
I rose, gazing around at my surroundings. I stood on a thin stretch of sparkling white beach, and behind it was thick, tropical greenery as far as I could see.
“Great. Freaking Gilligan's Island or something,” I mumbled. “Here's hoping it's inhabited.”
The skies were clear and blue, like there had never been a storm. Odd-sounding birds sang from inside the lush forest.
And then the enormity of the situation finally hit me.
“My God!” I whispered. “The ship! My family! Did anyone survive?” Feverishly, I began to scour the waterline, sifting through the wreckage and personal items that had washed up. A pair of shoes, a suitcase, a pierced life jacket...
“Oh, God, Mom, Dad, Marla...” I sobbed. The idea that they might be dead was completely unimaginable. I felt absolutely terrrible that the last time I'd seen them I had walked off.
The only positive thing was that I didn't see anything of the actual boat. A ship that big, had it actually sunk, might be sticking out from the surface. There was no sign of it on the horizon.
Keeping this small hope in my heart, I continued to explore the beach. Exhausted as I was, I began to pile up odds and ends that I could use to build a shelter, if need be.
“I won't have to, though, because they'll be coming for me really soon,” I said aloud.
Then, just as I came to where the end of the beach ended in some rocks, I saw what deep down I'd been dreading.
A dismembered arm stuck out from under them.
Gagging, I turned away and began to vomit uncontrollably. Most of what was coming up was salt water, which irritated my throat and insides.
Then I crumpled to the sand and wept.
I don't know how long I remained there, but eventually I noticed the skies growing darker. There was no help approaching, so I knew I had to find some kind of shelter for the night.
But then my gaze fell to the severed arm, and I knew I couldn't leave it there.
I walked up to the edge of the woods and, with a thick stick I fished from the underbrush, began to dig. I continued on for a while, burrowing far deeper than necessary, but the mindless action soothed my raging mind.
Finally, I picked up a very large leaf and, holding my other hand over my mouth, I picked up the arm. Sobbing, I went back to the hole and carefully, as if not to hurt the limb, I placed it at the bottom.
“Need a 'hand' with that?” someone suddenly chuckled.
I screamed and fell backwards. And who was looking down at me...
...but Chris.
“Audra, you are so damn clumsy,” he commented, snacking on some kind of citrus fruit. He no longer had a shirt. He simply wore a pair of plaid boxer shorts, and I really didn't care. There was another human being here. A sad excuse for one at that, but, well, any port in a monstrous hurricane, as they say...
“Chris!” I cried, and ran into his arms.
He pushed me away, looking very confused. “Dude, you've never hugged me before. I mean, not that I haven't fantasized about it... You, me, Marla...”
“Ugh, Chris! You ass!” I stepped back several yards, disgusted. “Of all the people to get stuck with, it had to be you? Have you found anyone else here?”
He took another bite of the fruit, and the juice ran down his chin. He wiped it with his hand, then rubbed the liquid on his boxers. He also reeked of body odor.
“There isn't a damned soul on this whole island. Just us. But, if we're here long enough, we can fix that.” He raised his eyebrows.
I coughed. “Never,” I muttered. But my mind was going a mile a minute. There were no people living on this island, and no survivors from the ship?
“Found some wild pigs here. Lots of them.”
“I'm a vegetarian,” I growled.
“There's tons of amazing fruit. Try this. I can't get enough of them.”
I stared at his outstretched hand, not accepting the citrus he offered. His skin was so burned, it had taken on a strangely pink tinge. “Chris, what happened to everyone else?”
He shrugged. “Marla and your parents were still mid-ship when it went over. I'd gone back to the room to go to the bathroom,” he smirked. “Ripped me right off the toilet, the damned water. Never got to finish.”
“Ugh,” I replied. “Thanks for the disgusting imagery.” Their room had been right next to mine, so Chris had been pulled out too. Lucky me.
“I can't believe no one else ended up here,” I commented.
“Who knows what happened,” Chris said, scratching at his backside.
“Oh, come on, Chris. Can't you be a bit civilized still?”
“It itches. Actually my back itches. Not my ass.”
My stomach suddenly made its extreme emptiness known. I swear, its growls echoed through the whole island.
“Dude, grab one of these bananas,” Chris ordered.
I took one and began to feast. I went through three of them, then felt sick. But they were at the peak of ripeness, and, after the nausea subsided, I had two more.
We sat there on the sand, staring up at the stars that were now showing in the sky. A sense of unreality came over me, like this wasn't really happening. I almost felt as if I were far off somewhere, watching a movie of people that looked like us. Then Chris burped, bringing me back to the here-and-now.
“Damn, Chris!” I yelled. “You're disgusting!”
“Oh, the hell with manners. We're screwed.”
“Screwed?” I looked at him in shock. “Are you serious? In this day and age, they'll find us before you know it.”
“Yeah, right.” No one could ever accuse Chris of being positive.
“Come on, they'll know something happened to the ship, and then they'll send out rescue people! We just have to wait for help. It could take days.”
“It could take months. Years! It might never happen!”
“No, no!” I couldn't let him speak like this. It was wrong, and it was ridiculous. Of course we would be found! There was no question!
Yet nonetheless, I found my eyes watering, and I held back a sob. “Chris, why are you such an ass? I mean, it's like the aim of your life! Can't you ever act nice to people? You just...I mean you make everyone hate you.”
“I'm just being reasonable,” he said, without any remorse that he'd pushed me to tears. Instead he rose and walked up the beach. “We need a place to sleep. Want to join me over here in these plants? I pulled a out few bits out wreckage to make it comfy...”
“Hell, no!”
Instead, I searched through my own wreckage pile and set up a makeshift bed only few yards further down the beach from Chris. As sad as it was, I still didn't want to be alone. Who knew what else was on this island besides wild pigs?

I was so tired that even the bizarre night sounds of the island only awakened me once. But Chris roused me in the morning with a string of curses.
“What? What's wrong?” I jumped up, accidentally tearing away more of my shirt.
“You should really just take the clothes off,” Chris tossed my way. Again, he was rubbing at his backside, but I didn't bother to chide him. Chris would be Chris.
“What are you yelling about?” I asked, studying him. That sunburn had seriously grown worse, and he almost looked swollen. I wondered if he were reacting to the fruit.
“Nothing, nothing...skin feels funny...” He gazed at my legs showing through what was left of my pants. “You should go through some of the crap on the beach and see if you can find a razor. You really need to shave!”
I couldn't believe what he had just said. He could run around naked and burp, and I had to shave my legs? “Go to hell, Chris! I'll shave my legs when you become a real man!”
Chris made the smarmiest smile I'd ever seen. “No one can ever say I'm not a real man, bitch.”
My mouth fell open. Not so much at the nasty comment, but what it implied. “What does that mean?” I asked quietly.
“Come on,” he murmured, grunting as a shudder ran though him. This made him pause for only seconds before he started grinning again. “Do you know how many women I've been with?”
I swallowed deeply. I really didn't want to hear the answer to his question. “Do you love Marla?” I snarled. “Do you ever want to see her again?”
“We won't. We'll probably die here... oh...my stomach...”
My fingers were stiff for some reason, but I grabbed Chris nonetheless. I didn't give a damn about his stomach pains. “You cheated on my sister?”
He didn't look fazed. “She loved it, being married to such a 'rogue'.”
I wondered where he'd even heard the word. “She didn't know! She trusted you!”
“Hell, every night I was with another woman. Life is good.”
“You slimy bastard! I knew it all along...”
And then I actually looked down at my legs, which was what had started the whole despicable conversation. And Chris was right for once. Somehow I'd grown a thick coating of stubble in the last day.
“You have damned hairy arms too. I never noticed that,” he added.
“And you're a goddamned pig, Chris.” I was sickened by his disgusting, bloated-looking body. I hoped he was getting skin poisoning or something. I walked off, looking for the bananas. That taste was all I craved at this point. My stomach did too.
I located a banana plant and started to eat. Ignoring the odd tingling in my fingers, I started to peel my second banana, but my whole body lurched. I dropped the fruit to the floor and tried to steady myself, but my feet were now as stiff as my fingers, and I nearly toppled over.
Had the banana plant just grown a foot? I wasn't sure what had happened, but my eyes wandered down to my legs once more. Why was my hair was growing so fast? Who knew it was so thick? I always was perfectly shaved, so I really didn't know what my leg hair looked like.
Well, now I knew.
My stomach growled, and I stared at the banana lying on the leaves. How could I let that delicious fruit go to waste? How long we would be here? We had to be careful and not deplete the food supply! I had to discuss this with Chris!
I fished up the banana and munched hungrily away.
As I finished up, I felt another lurch, and an itchiness in my lower back. “I hope I'm not becoming allergic to bananas,” I said to myself with unease.
Suddenly a shriek cut through the woods.
“Chris?” I cried. I hated him, but I also didn't want to lose my only lifeline to society, polite or not.
“Chris? Are you okay?” I started to sprint towards where the sound had come from, and then I heard a squeal of pain. I froze.
But something was clambering towards me, and I stood rooted to the spot. As the dense undergrowth parted, I saw Chris.
And I almost vomited.
I could only figure that Chris was...mutating. His horrified eyes had shrunk to beady black ones, swallowed up into a pink face...that was growing a snout.
“What is this!” he exclaimed, grabbing at the snout with a misshapen hand. “What's happening to me? Help me, Audra!” He tripped over a root and fell to the earth. Then he began to roll back and forth, twitching and struggling.
“Chris! What's wrong?” I exclaimed, falling to my knees beside him. When he rolled away from me, I gasped in horror. A twisty, fully-porcine tail protruded from where he had been scratching his back.
“No,” I whispered, standing up. “No, that's...That's impossible!”
“Help me...” Chris begged. “I'm...turning...into...a pig...”
And God help me, he was. He was shrinking before my eyes, yet fattening up as well. His hands and legs were now four limbs flanked with hooves, and pig ears replaced his own. “Oh...help...” His jaw cracked, and then all he could do was squeal piteously.
And all I could only watch helplessly as he shuddered through the rest of the changes.
“What...what is this?” I whimpered, as he finally stopped thrashing. “Why did this happen to you? How do we get you back? Can we get you back?”
Suddenly he jumped onto all fours. He gave me a nasty glance, and then a shrug. “Squee,” he said, then shook his head in frustration, and went off.
“Wait! Chris! Come back! We have to try to help you!” I yelped, tripping after him. I was completely numb. I just could not accept what had happened before my very eyes. As fitting as it was, my pig brother-in-law had truly become...a pig.
Completely ignoring me, Chris trotted through the woods until he came to a tree laden with the fruit he had been eating. And he set to consuming more.
“Wait, Chris. Maybe that's what made you a pig!” I said, as stupid as it sounded. But I was desperate for answers.
He merely looked at me reproachfully and continued on.
At a loss for anything better to do, I allowed my shaky legs to give way under me, and I fell to the ground. Since a large bunch of banana plants flanked the area, I started eating.
Then came that lurch. I'd eaten at least three bananas, and suddenly my whole body felt wrong. The tingling in my extremities was spreading through me. Nauseous, I grabbed at my stomach. “Chris! Chris! Something's happening to me now!”
This time Chris didn't even glance my way.
“Chris! Help me! My–”
A tension was building up at the base of my spine. And as I watched my brother-in-law graze, his curly tail suddenly made me realize...
“Oh, no!” I jumped up, tossing down the new banana I held in my hand. “No. It's not happening to me!” Another jolt left me half the size I had just been, and I started to cry. My whole body was suddenly covered in brown fur.
“But pigs don't have brown fur...”
That's when the back of my spine literally popped, and I was now the proud owner of a long, thin tail. Tears poured from my eyes, and I ran, as if that would help me escape the transformation. But only feet from Chris, I stumbled, and I my whole body seemed to implode.
I lay on the ground, rolling and struggling against the sensations running through me. There was no pain – only pulling and shifting – but I was so petrified with fear that it didn't matter.
And then I was a monkey.

I sat there, frozen in terror. I didn't want to move, because then I would experience how different my body was. If I just kept myself still, I could pretend that everything was fine and I was still a person.
But my furry leg twitched.
That was enough to make me hysterical. I couldn't do much more that let out a chorus of squeaks, but my mind ran rampant. What did I ever do to deserve this? Maybe Chris was a despicable human being, but what did I do to end up like this? I lose my family, get stranded on an island, and then I get turned into a monkey?
Did I have to eat all those bananas?
Then I lost it. Since the moment I'd awakened on this island, despite the crying, I'd still held myself together. But now, I just gave up.
If anyone ever tries to rescue me, they'll never find me, because I'm a monkey!
I cried for hours. The pain and anguish just kept coming until I had no tears left. Then I just sat there, hugging my long, furry arms to my chest and rocking back and forth.
“Look at you,” someone suddenly said. “You make such a cute monkey! Why would you cry over that? Why aren't you off swinging from the trees and enjoying the form? Not everyone gets a chance like this!”
Somehow, a woman on a horse stood before me. I guess I was so out of it that I hadn't heard her gallop up. She kind of looked like Venus in the “Birth of Venus” picture. Her long crown of flowing hair was dotted with flowers, but she was wearing a simple white gown. And she was laughing at me.
Annoyed, I shrieked at her.
She only laughed more. “Ah, Audra, welcome. It isn't often we get visitors here.”
How did she know my name? I wanted to yell at the woman, but that wasn't happening with my monkey lips.
“I can hear your thoughts. Talk to me there. Tell me why you're crying and not rejoicing in your gift.”
Rejoicing? I exploded. Why would I be rejoicing? I just turned into a monkey, my brother-in-law is now a pig...
Her perfect lips puckered into a mocking smile. “That is the form most appropriate to him, don't you agree?”
I looked over at Chris, who, having just discovered a mud puddle, was now rolling in it. I squealed at him in frustration, rushing at him to get him to stop. When I swatted at his fatty side, he looked up at me with such empty eyes that I gasped.
“He's just a pig now, my dear,” said the lady. Her horse whinnied softly.
But he understood me before! I swear!
“Yes, but the mind of a man is lost pretty quickly in that fitting form.”
Now I almost vomited. No... I can't lose my mind...Can you help me? How long do I have?
“Oh, my dear Audra, you're quite safe. As a female, the effects of my fruits wear off and you'll resume your human shape. No harm done. Just a bit of fun for you. Now a male,” she smiled down at her horse, who, strangely, seemed to grin back at her. “Unless they are truly good, honest souls, their mind is erased. We are left with swine in the end, I'm sorry to say.”
Chris isn't... But I couldn't go on. Chris was somewhere at the bottom of humanity. He'd probably done all the wrong things possible – short of murder.
“Don't bother to defend him. You know this is correct for him.”
I sighed. I couldn't argue it with her. Chris was having the time of his life, and for the first time, he wasn't drunk in order to do it. But this meant Chris was essentially dead...
“No, he lives on, a much better soul than he started out.”
I don't know if I agreed with that, but apparently I had no choice in the matter. So who are you? I finally asked.
“I thought for sure you'd know by now. An island where men become pigs? Okay, this is one of my other islands, not the one in the myths, but, well, don't you know your mythology?”
I gazed at her. Was it possible?
“I'm Circe!”
No...that's just a myth. That's not real...
“Either is people turning into animals. Come on, didn't you enjoy it just a little?”
No! I was terrified! I...still am, I said, staring at my furry hands.
“Well, now that you know it's not permanent, try it out! Discover which foods change you into different animals! Nothing on this island is poisonous, either!”
Now I grew angry. Please, if you're really Circe, can't you just help me get off this island?
“Ah, my dear, you know no man escapes from my islands...except for that one time,” she lowered her voice in irritation. “Now women have left, and occasionally some chose to remain. But no man leaves, and no man remains human. Now look at James here,” she rubbed the splendid horse's mane, and he made a purring sound. “He was a good, honest man. He was shipwrecked having hitched a ride with some of the worst sailors you can find. Although he could not leave, I allowed him his choice of forms. He picked a horse, as he knew I needed a good steed. And I allowed him to keep his mind completely.”
James the horse bowed to me.
“James is happier than he's ever been. He's always loved horses, and the chance to be one was beyond his wildest dreams. He never wants to be human again!”
I nodded nervously. What about the other sailors?
“Oh,” she tossed up her hands, “all pigs.”
That's kind of horrible, I commented, flicking my tail.
“No, this is what I do. Certain people do not belong in society.”
I didn't want to say that James sounded like he'd be alright in society, but getting some mythical woman mad probably wasn't a good idea, considering what she could do. Plus, there were plenty of bad women out there too. Was there a goddess somewhere that punished them?
So you can't help me? I asked.
“My dear, here you can help yourself. You're a woman, not a man.” She winked. “Be off, James!”
They galloped away, and I stared after them. A goddess. A real, live, goddess! Circe was real, and, honestly what floored me about the whole thing was how old she obviously was. The ancient Greeks and Romans spoke of her. Immortality was no myth either!
Please come back, I whimpered after a few minutes. But I knew she wouldn't.

Since I had nothing better to do, I figured it was time to see what my new body was capable of. Chris was grazing at the base of a very sturdy looking tree, so I ambled towards him. Being on four legs was disarming, and I tripped several times. The last time, I ended up at Chris' feet – well, hooves – and he barely glanced my way. The old Chris would have been making fun of me relentlessly.
But that Chris was gone. And he would never return.
I shuddered, then carefully pulled myself up the branches. With each stretch, I grew more comfortable with my limber body, and was greatly impressed how acrobatic it was. Before long, I was swinging from branch to branch with abandon, and the height wasn't daunting in the least.
This was actually fun, I realized with a start.
I spent the rest of the day being a monkey. I wasn't worried about my family, or being rescued. Although I was fully aware, my mind had slipped into a more animal mode and it was actually quite freeing.
As night fell, I curled up where I'd slept the night before. I wondered where Chris was sleeping...not that it mattered anymore.

I woke up back in my own body.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting, considering Circe said it wasn't permanent, but I kind of wanted to experience transforming back.
Then Circe's words came back to me: “Now that you know it's not permanent, try it out! Discover which foods change you into different animals!”
I could become something else!
The idea both intrigued and horrified me. I was curious, yet at the same time, what if I became stuck as a different animal? What if I ended up losing my mind anyway?
No, the best thing to do was to keep an eye out for help, and perhaps look for more things washed up on the beach that I might use. Who knew how long I'd be here?
Yet I also wanted to explore the island. The Circe stories told of her living in a marble palace. Was it here? She mentioned that this was one of many of her islands. Perhaps she didn't live on this particular one?
Then how did she get here with a horse?
“She's a goddess, idiot,” I chided myself aloud. “She probably pops all over the world.”
I scanned the water, but the horizon was devoid of any ships. I wondered if anyone could even find their way to this island. Was it cloaked to the outside world?
A feeling of doom fell over me. Maybe I couldn't be rescued!
But Circe said I could help myself. I'd have to try.
I'd start out by making an actual shelter.

Days grew into weeks and maybe months. I lost track of time, honestly. I'd worn myself out making a decent shelter, but now I'd grown strong and muscular. My shoes had disintegrated long ago, so, on tough, callused feet, I explored the island backwards and forwards.
Yet there was no sign of civilization. There also was no palace of Circe's.
There were, however, many wild pigs on the island, as Chris had mentioned. And I guess he had joined them. Originally, he had stayed in the same area where he had changed, and I one point, I was so hungry for meat that I found myself eyeing his plump body...
But I was a staunch vegetarian, and there was no way, no matter what form Chris was in, that I would cannibalize my brother-in-law. Well, I wasn't sure if that was really considered cannibalism as he was merely a pig now...
Seeing the pigs all grouped together, eating who knew what, chilled me to the bone. Were all these animals once men? How long did they live when they were in animal form? A normal pig lifespan? Or, since they were transformed by Circe, did they live the lifespan of a human? What happened to them if they ate one of the bananas? Did they change into a monkey like me?
But there were few animals I'd seen on the island other than small rodents and lizards, so my guess was that further ingestion of Circe's fruit had no effect.
Meanwhile, Circe had not returned even once, and I found myself thinking about the fruit once more. Something had kept me from trying it, perhaps because I was frightened as to what I might become, but as my hope ran low, I found myself nibbling on a stringy-looking plant that grew beside a stream. As I'd been living solely on vegetation, I wasn't expecting it to change me, but it had little nuts growing from it, and I pulled one off.
“I wonder what this nut would make me? Or is it just the fruit that does it?”
My question echoed about emptily, and only birdsong answered me back. But as I crunched into the nut, I gazed into the water, shocked at my reflection. My hair had grown long and wild, my skin was quite dark. The ship towel that I had re-purposed into a halter and shorts made me look like some kind of warrior.
I continued to snack on the sweet-tasting nuts. “The more I eat, the quicker I change,” I mused aloud. “So, let's go all the way.”
I stuffed nut after nut down my throat until my body gave a lurch and I was shrinking to the ground.
Faster and faster I changed, my skin growing alarmingly black, my arms and legs thinning out...
...And two more legs growing out on each side...
I'm turning into a spider! I realized in fright.
I've never been a person who was afraid of spiders; quite the contrary – I rescued them whenever I could. They were nature's way of controlling bad things like mosquitoes. Spiders were welcome by me!
But becoming one was a different matter. Being that small, having all those legs?
Before I could panic, I already was one. And actually, when I allowed myself to calm down, it wasn't so bad. Circe said to have fun with different forms? Well, it was time for a spider party.
First I stood uncertainly on my eight feet, my mind growing frazzled with my attempts to balance. When I finally caught on, I scuttled up a tree, marveling at how easy it was. Then I just sat there, trying to get used to my eight eyes.
So what do I do like this? I thought to myself. I did like this odd body, and just sitting here being a spider was really mind-blowing. I relaxed, letting my instincts take over. Before I knew it, I was spinning a web.
And I simply knew how to do it. My mind was on autopilot as I spun my silk into more and more complex designs. Soon I was perched in my new home, awaiting an unlucky insect.
What am I doing? asked the human small part of me. But spider-me knew what I was doing. I was hungry.
When a small gnat got snagged in my silken trap, I didn't feel an ounce of remorse – as I would have had I been human. For I was a spider, and this is what spiders did.
I launched myself at the gnat, sinking my spider “jaws” into it, then wrapped the struggling creature in silk. As soon as it was dead, I exuded digestive juices on it to soften it up, and then I set to my meal.
And I wasn't disgusted in the least.
Just as I finished, I had another welcome visitor. As I set on it, still ravenous, even more gnats met their doom in my web. There must have been a swarm nearby, and I was grateful. I stuffed myself on digested bugs, and then, satiated, I fell deeply asleep.

I had the weirdest sensation that I was expanding. The next thing I knew, I was plummeting through the air, picking up mass and losing several extra appendages along the way. Bruised and bloodied, I hit the ground, fully human.
“Oh, God,” I groaned. My leg throbbed. My arm throbbed.
“I think I broke something.”

I hobbled around for several days on a leg that seemed to become more painful and swollen with every step. Here and there I ate a berry or two, but in general, I was still satiated. One morning, perhaps a week later, I saw my whole leg was discolored, and I simply could not get up. But there was something else weird about my leg.
It was growing tiny feathers.
My stomach flip-flopped. The berries! Maybe they'd make me a bird! Maybe changing into something else would get me out of pain!
I could even fly out of here!
Propelling myself into a berry patch, I set to stuffing myself with them. I never ate so many berries in my life. My hands were stained with the juice, and very quickly, my body began to lurch violently.
If I was going to fly out of here, I had to get to the beach!
I stumbled through the underbrush, my height decreasing with every step, my innards contorting. As the beach came into view, I shoved another handful of berries into my mouth. Right there, I shot to the ground, my arms smashing to my sides as wings, a beak sprouting from my face, and my skin sprouting a thick mat of feathers.
I chirped in glee. I felt wonderful like this! This was my way out!
Without looking back, I flapped my wings and rose from the cursed place I'd called home all this time. Immediately I took off across the water, hoping the winds would carry me where I needed to go.
I glided on the sea breeze, light as the air... I wanted to sing, but I knew I had to conserve my energy. There was no land in sight, so I had no idea how long I'd be in flight.
When I grew tired, I simply picked up a draft and allowed myself to soar. Despite a growing hunger, I pressed on. As it grew dark, I allowed my bird mind to take over, trying to quell my fear of falling into the waters below me.
Another day of flying left me tired and thirsty, and no nearer to my goal.
And then I lost a feather.
No! No! I can't turn back now! I'll die! I have to turn back!
But I'd gotten so far, there had to be something! Land, a ship...
There wasn't, and I knew I had two options: go back, or die.
Crying and hysterical in my mind, I blindly traced my trail, hoping instinct would guide me to the island before I reverted to human form.
The feathers slowly continued to shed, and I flew through the night in constant fear. I could just feel my body beginning to shift as morning came on, and I pushed forward, not allowing any rest.
Perhaps far off, I saw a shadow of land...
My body gave a lurch, and I must have been a sight to behold. Shrinking wings becoming arms while I fought to stay aloft... my figure enlarging absurdly...
I could no longer remain airborne with the half-human form I now possessed. I plunged into the depths, writhing and struggling with my changing shape.
I can't breathe...
My fight to stay alive during the shipwreck came back to me. I had survived that; I wasn't about to let a stupid transformation kill me!
I burst to the surface, gasping for air with my fully-human lungs. And then slowly, laboriously, I began to swim to the bump on the horizon. I just hoped there weren't any hungry sharks in this water. It was awfully warm.

Unscathed, I returned to the shores of my island. I secretly hoped I'd end up on some other land mass, but the debris from the ship and the familiar forest quashed that hope.
At least my leg was no longer injured.

My growling stomach plus some unearthly squealing awoke me from a long night's sleep. I opened my eyes to see a group of pigs nosing the grass nearby. Was one of them Chris? I had no way of knowing. If I ever saw my sister again, how could I tell her that her husband was now a pig?
God, I wished I could get home. But what would await me there? Had any of my family survived? The only good thing would be the absence of Chris, I was embarrassed to admit.
Another huge craving for meat struck me, and I wondered where it had come from. I'd been vegetarian from an early age, and I'd never had pork. So why did these pigs seem so tempting?
“No,” I said aloud, walking down the beach. At water's edge, I stared off, a strange urge hitting me to keep going, to end my torture because there was no hope for rescue...
I stepped in...
Something was tickling my feet, and I realized there was a small group of silvery fish swarming around me. My meat urge had to be sated! I easily caught one fish, built a fire, and cooked it up. Eating a fish wasn't as bad as eating mammals, I kept telling myself. My body was wasting away on this island. I needed some proteins, fats, and omega-3s!
Then I waded back into the water and, perhaps due to some remaining bird instincts, I ate several ish. Raw.
My body started to tingle, and I noticed the skin on my arms growing gray and shiny.
“Oh, my God!” I exclaimed in delight. “The fish are making me change too!” Curious, I ate two more, and I found my arms growing stiff. My legs felt funny, and I tried to walk. But my feet were flattening...
Another fish, and my legs melded together.
I flopped to the water with a groan, and as my body began to shift, it occurred to me what was happening.
“I'm turning into...a dolphin... Yes! I can swim to safety! I just have to eat so much that I don't change back too early, like when I was a bird...”
As I gorged myself, I knew deep down that this could end in the same result as the bird disaster, but I didn't care. It was this or nothing.
My legs were gone; I now had a streamlined tail with a magnificent fin on the end, which I flapped in delight. My truncated arms quickly became flippers, and my very skull was flattening and elongating. I no longer had any neck to speak of – and my skin! It was now glorious dolphin gray, and it glistened in the sunlight.
For a moment, I simply marveled how amazing being a dolphin felt, and how lucky I was to be able to experience it! I couldn't wait to swim, but I had one more thing to do before I made my last attempt to escape...
Circe, I called in my mind, I'd like to thank you for what you've given me. The changes were wonderful, and they kept up my hopes. Now, even if you can't get me home, maybe you can give me a little boost in that direction... I didn't mention anything about Chris, of course.
Suddenly, the water was full of the silvery fish. Perhaps this was Circe's response? Thanking her silently, I began to engulf every single fish I came upon. How odd it was to eat with my large mouth! But the fish were delicious, and my belly grew distended as I consumed them. And it felt wonderful.
When I could no longer eat, I swam to the surface, expelling air through the blowhole on top of my head, and taking in a new breath. Then I began to swim.
How incredible to be a marine animal! It was almost as freeing as flying as a bird! I flipped around, darting to the bottom and back up... I wanted to play, but I knew that my time was limited, so I pressed on, moving towards the sun.
Days, nights... I'm not sure how long I swam, for most of the time I was underwater, admiring the colorful sea life, being amazed at the elaborate coral reefs... But when I came up for air, I always checked the horizon for signs of life.
So far, there was nothing.
I pressed on, my hopes plummeting. Would I end up dying in the middle of the ocean after all?
The eventual twinges in my body told me what I dreaded all along. Desperate, I began to dart around, engulfing any fish I could find. But the tingles only intensified, and I was starting to feel tight around my blowhole. Alarmed, I rose to the surface, gasping for breath through the blowhole and then through my changing mouth. I floated helplessly as my body began its inevitable reversion.
But this time the changes were only gradual, and as the sun set, I still lay on the surface, mostly dolphin, but I could feel my innards shifting around.
Yet there was nothing as far as the eye could see, and I realized... This was it.

I was drifting aimlessly, more dead than alive, when I heard, “A mermaid!”
In my feverish state, I assumed I was hallucinating. I was so weak, I could hardly move. And when I tried, my legs wouldn't.
But there was a large shadow shading me from the moonlight. A ship.
I was about to yell back, but I refrained. I was still half-dolphin.
Oh God, I thought to myself, I can't be seen like this, but then again, I have to be saved...
“Help me,” I pushed from my lungs, but it was so faint, I wasn't sure if I anyone heard. And I was still changing back. I almost felt a hint of two legs...
A fishing net was thrown down, and it scooped me up. I was dumped on the deck rather unceremoniously.
Two sailors scrutinized me in the moonlight.
“Jed, you idiot, that's a woman!” said one, throwing a ratty towel across my mostly-naked body.
“She had a tail, I swear, Marl!”
“I thought you saw some kind of giant squid or something, but...where the hell did you come from, Miss?”
The two sailors blinked at me, waiting for an answer. I was just so grateful that my legs were beginning to separate. They were still partly attached, but they were twisted and hidden under me, and my feet were back to normal.
“Shipwreck...” I whispered. “Please, water...”
The man named Jed handed me some, and I sucked it down in one gulp. “You looked like you had a tail,” he said confusedly.
“Um,” I glanced at the smirking Marl and finally pulled my legs apart with relief. “Sorry.” What else could I say?
“Damned moonlight,” Jed said, turning away.
“How long?” I asked, drinking another cup of water.
“What?”
“What month is it? What happened to the cruise ship that crashed in September?”
The two looked at each other.
“Don't know about the boat, but it's April now.”

I was received home with a celebration fit for a returning warrior, and honestly, that's how I felt. The comforts of civilized society were wonderful to come back to, and I didn't miss island life one bit. It turned out that the ship had not wrecked; in fact it had uprighted and limped back to port. My whole family had made it safely home, as did roughly eighty percent of the passengers.
But no one ever mentioned getting stuck on a goddess's island, nor had anyone mentioned becoming transformed. So my grieving sister was left thinking her husband had simply perished.
And then one day, months later, Marla called. I'd just returned from getting my bangs trimmed – I'd kept the long hair that I'd grown out on the island, but it was getting a bit unruly. I snatched up the phone to hear Marla ask, “Did you get a package too?” She sounded like she was eating.
Phone in hand, I checked my porch. Indeed, a cardboard box sat in wait. First I thought it was from Justin, a man I'd met a month ago and at this point was ready to marry. But the return address read “Circe's Palace Market” and an address that was mostly illegible. “Oh my God!” I cried in delight, ripping it open right there. The intoxicating smell of fruit hit me even before I could see the box's contents.
“It has a note to me,” Marla continued on. “'In sympathy for the loss of your husband. Please speak to Audra before you indulge and enjoy – I sent her some too.' Who's this from, Audra?”
I started to choke. “Don't eat any until I come by!”
“Too late,” she replied.

When I got to Marla's house, she was already freaking out. She had a fine coat of brown fuzz sprouting from her skin. “What the hell is happening to me?” she exclaimed, shaking violently.
I explained everything to Marla. Absolutely everything. I had it bottled up too long, and I knew the fruit would prove everything to her.
“So the fruit is changing me,” she said quietly when I was finished. I was surprised how calm she had become.
“Yes,” I said.
“And Chris is a pig.”
I nodded.
“He really is. He's a bastard.”
I gazed at her, then, shocked. “Wait, you knew?”
She sighed, scratching at her growing fur. “I knew who Chris was all along. It's just, well, I finally got something, you know? I finally got married, I finally was going to have a life! You always had everything, and I had nothing.”
Everything? My life was a shambles! “You're jealous of me? Divorced, childless...”
“Before that, you were always the best in everything, always happy... I figured if I could just pretend, then one day I'd have my own kids, my own family, and maybe I could change Chris...”
“Oh, he was changed alright.”
She sniffled. “If I'm not dreaming this,” she gazed down at her transforming body, “and Circe exists, then I believe a goddess would know the best thing. He must make a perfect pig,” she murmured, and picked up another banana. “I really am getting hairy,” she marveled at her legs. “It doesn't hurt?”
“Not at all,” I said, feeling the tightness start up in my lower spine. “You're taking this really well. Aren't you even scared?”
“No. I think this will be amazing, just like you described. I can't wait to swing through the trees!”

“Just you wait,” I smiled, and two new monkeys soon clambered through the house.