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Please, sir. May I have some more?
'Rewarded' by Terrie Smith (used with permission)
'Strange Reflection'
'Posti Transformed' by Terrie Smith (used with permission)
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My interest in transformation started with a drawing of Actaeon being turned into a stag by Artemis in a children's version of Bullfinch's Mythology. As I got older, Andre Norton and Ray Bradbury introduced me to stories where a space explorer trapped got in the body of an alien dog, or a grownup shrank down to kindergarten age. Television offered Bewitched and I Dream of Genie, where somebody got magically zapped nearly every week. "Or would you rather be a..." As the old song details, there are drawbacks to being pretty much any kind of critter. Wild beasts have to fight to survive, domesticated animals usually end up on a dinner plate, and even pets have their lives pretty much controlled by human owners. Becoming a child again has its high points - but then you might have to deal with school, bullies, and potty training all over again. Still, if the opportunity for a real transformation came up, I'd probably go for it. Why? People risk death to climb Everest, a mountain that's been bested before. Extreme sports kill and maim hundreds every year. So isn't it worth the risk of losing speech, hands, and/or intelligence for the opportunity to experience life as another creature? Horsing Around or Seeing Red .OK - the local mad scientist has just come to the door with his Instant Transmogrification Gun. What do I tell him to set it for? Something equine would be my first choice. Preferably some sort of draft horse, like a Shire or Clydesdale. Young and healthy, of course, with rolling fields to run in and lots of lovely mares. However, anything from a Shetland Pony to a Unicorn would be fine. Why a horse? Despite extremely limited exposure to equines of any kind, I have always felt comfortable around them. And something about a horse just seems right. I can't explain it. Of course, I can always use logic to support my selection as well. (A logical fantasy?) Horses are rarely used for food in this country. They have relatively long lives, and a much better chance for decent treatment than the average cat or dog. Better yet, they don't have to kill anything but grass to survive. On the negative side, they get worms, battle flies, and suffer from their own catalog of diseases. Even worse, a horse can't read, or work on old cars. The other choice is even more obscure - a kid. Not a younger version of myself, however, or even an improved model. Try a homely, scrawny, bucktoothed, red-haired ten or twelve year-old boy with a low forehead, freckles, and a pug nose (Don't worry - it makes no sense to me, either). Yet I know that dull-eyed boy like a memory of my own face. Maybe I was that kid in a past life. Or perhaps I pulled a plow for him as a draft horse. Not that I am limiting myself to equine hooves or childhood. Those are just the forms that seem familiar. If the Transmogrifier only created Lions, or Great Danes, or Mountain Goats, I'd still be a willing subject. Like I said - the experience is worth mostly any risk. |
Some Transformation Source material
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from
'Path Chosen' by Terrie Smith (used with permission)
