I came too, with the sun streaming into the room. From the sun's position, it is late morning. I reach for the bedside table to check. Shit. No phone.

I look at my arm. Oh, good, not jelly. What I am is starving. I sit up on the bed. My swimming trunks are on the floor in the corner. I am bare assed naked. I look at my leg. The swelling has gone down. There is just a mark where I got stung. I got up to use the ensuite before I raided the fridge.

I wandered out to the kitchen/sitting area and looked in the fridge. I grab some fruit and a cereal bowl and wander onto the small deck to eat. I am still naked. I am sure Maple would ogle me if she could, but she is now too inflexible to look around the privacy barrier between our decks. Maybe I should drill her a peephole. I wouldn’t want her to have an accident on my account.

I go inside for another bowl and grab my laptop while I am there. It is my only form of communication until I get my phone back. The world doesn't seem to have ended overnight.

I opened the messaging app to message Susie about my stuff and saw she had already been in contact. She apologised for the late contact as she was hungover from the winery tour. She would be available later in the afternoon.

Good. I checked the time on the laptop. 11 am.

The second message from her said she hadn’t heard from me and she was going out with her wife on Saturday evening. She would be available most of tomorrow. I didn’t know she was married. Probably because I didn’t care. I checked the time on the message. 5 pm.

Wait. What?

I rechecked the laptop. Shit. Today was Sunday, not Saturday. I slept a whole day. Fuck.

I fired off a quick message to Susie suggesting a time and place to meet this afternoon. At least I left my motorbike keys here in the apartment.

Then I got another piece of fruit and sat in the sun to think. Something happened. I looked closely at the mark on my leg. It doesn’t look strange or different. I am glad I am not jelly. I do feel a bit different, though.

I feel like I have an extra sense or maybe an extra limb. I checked my reflection in the ranch slider windows. No extra limbs. I looked down. Not even an extra penis. Oh well.

What happens when I try to use this limb/sense thing? I tried to mentally poke, prod, push, pull, rotate, explode… nothing. It's probably a good thing with the exploding bit. So maybe it is not mentally activated? But my limbs are. I reach out onto the table, pick up the apple and take a bite. All activated mentally.

I sit there for a while, chewing and thinking. The laptop pings. Susie has agreed to my time and place. I confirm.

I take another bite.

I put the half-eaten apple on the table. When I did that, I didn’t tell every muscle how to move. Well, I did, but not consciously. I don't tell my heart to take each beat. Otherwise, I would be dead. I had a purpose and a goal, and the muscles in my arm responded appropriately.

What is the purpose of this sense/limb/feeling?

Please don’t let it be, turning into jelly.

Shit. I mean, I have got to try it, but, Shit. Maybe I should leave a note for whoever comes to mop me up.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I think I will have a cup of tea first. Green tea. I might need the extra liquid. I go back inside and make my cuppa.

Should I get dressed? They might not recognise it as a body if I don’t. Nah, stay naked and experiment on the deck, not that the penalty fees for messing up the carpet will be my problem. I take my cup of tea outside.

If I turn into jelly, can I turn back?

Who the hell knows?

I put the mostly drunken cuppa on the table next to the half-eaten apple.

I guess it has been an OK life. Time to do this.

Turn to Jelly.

…

???

Nope. Nothing.

Turn into a jellyfish.

…

Maybe I should have done this in the ocean. I might survive as a jellyfish there.

Nope. Nothing.

Am I doing it wrong, or is that not its purpose?

Hopefully, that is not its purpose.

Maybe I am just delusional, and I should see someone about this delusion. There is an email from my doctor somewhere with some recommended counsellors. This might be out of their league.

I reach for the cuppa again, and my eye catches sight of the welt on my leg. I stop, and my eyes narrow. What if the purpose is to give people welts? I search Jellyfish on my laptop. Their tentacles contain some unpronounceable chemical to subdue and kill their prey.

That apple is my prey.

I reach out with my hand and grab the apple.

Something happened - with this feeling sense thing. I pick up the apple to look at it. There is discolouring on the skin where I had my fingers. I moved my finger and tried again.

Holy shit, I can give people welts.

I need more fruit. I go to stand up and pause. I sit down again. Feeling a little dizzy. Maybe I don’t have much of that energy thing.

I can give people welts! This is big.

Wait a minute. The Jellyfish use it to subdue and kill prey. Am I going to poison everyone I shake hands with?

I need to go and greet some politicians. Maybe also the Mayor.

I can’t do it much. Two touches, and I am done. Maybe it will grow with use … or if I get more energy? I know where to get more energy. Shit, that is dangerous. I might pick up some undesirable mutation. Let’s shelve that idea.

I can poison people. What the fuck use is that? I live in a safe city, despite what Maple thinks. When have I ever had the need to poison anything? Maybe the weeds in the drive. Would this poison do that? I need to find out, but I am not going to become a gardener or pest exterminator suddenly. Especially not if I have to touch the pests.

What am I going to do? Cover myself in honey so the flies land on me, and then I poison them? I don’t think so. I guess I could never be bothered by Mosquitoes again. That would be a bonus. I need to do some research and then experiment.

It is almost time to leave to meet Susie. I need a plan.

First, pick up more fruit to experiment on. Different types. Maybe visit a pet shop. The pet shop can wait for now. Second, research this chemical, so I know what it does. Third, research these anomalies from proper scientific sources. I can’t be the first to be affected. People who found these things, soldiers sent to guard them, and scientists experimenting on them must all have been affected somehow.

What about warning people about this anomaly? I postponed that so I could get more information. I still need more information. And I need a phone.

I have a few minutes. Let's see what is happening in the world and what general info is out there. I pull up my usual news site and see:

BREAKING NEWS

The First Anomaly Point is found in New Zealand!

My first thought was that I no longer had to worry about keeping my secret; they had found it.

My second thought was Caitlin was going to be a nervous wreck.