A chilly breeze swept by the lonely and dark sea of trees. Centuries went by without the boorish disturbance of humans in this forest. The trees grew long and healthy. The youngest tree was at least a century years old. The flourishing of the branches and leaves obscured the sky from the ground. Underneath the ancient trees’ visage, the difference between day and night was incredibly faint. As such, creatures of the night lurked perpetually in their own leisure without caring for night or day. Amidst the crawlers of darkness that were scuttling about, an egg the size of a human’s head lay lonely in the cradle roots, sprouted from the various ancient trees.

Nearby the egg, a creature emerged from a log long fallen to the ground. It had the appearance of a rat but it could also be said to be a lizard. Regardless, the most striking feature of the creature was its pair of blood-red-eyes that seemed to be focused on the egg. The red-eye creature was confused as the egg had not been where it was when the creature had gone to sleep some time ago. The creature knew not of how long its slumber spanned. It only woke up when its belly cried for sustenance or when its sense of perseverance dictated it to find a mate.

The red-eyed creature approached the egg slowly. It was baffled and cautious but its curiosity was the dominant trait. It minded every step it took as it crossed over the roots. It cast its gaze around, making sure it wasn’t some trap laid by its predators. Satisfying with its own inspection, the creature moved closer and closer to the egg. Gradually, it reached the egg. Its first instinct was to smell the egg. Its face soured as it found it to be unappetizing. The creature then gently tapped the egg with its claws. The sound revealed the egg within was truly not empty. The creature’s stomach growled upon learning this knowledge. A grin appeared on its mouth. The egg was as large as itself, which meant the being within the egg could serve as its sustenance for a long time. 

Filled with anticipation, the red-eye creature laid by the egg and waited for the day the egg began to hatch.

****

Where the hell am I?

In a complete patch of darkness, Henry asked himself as he tried to move but to no avail. It felt like his limbs were bound but at the same time, it felt like his limbs were not fully attuned to his mind. They moved but it didn’t move the way he expected. After some more struggle, he soon surmised that he was confined in a tight space, leaving him little to no room to move around. He touched the walls of his confines and it didn’t feel like wood or metal. If anything, it felt like the surface of a rough rock but somehow, it also felt fragile.

What the fuck is this!? How the hell did I even get here?

Henry kept asking himself those sensible questions. He repeated those questions in his mind until he realized something. He discovered something— or rather, he discovered the absence of something. He didn’t feel claustrophobic. He didn’t have such fear but it was strange for him to feel completely unperturbed by the tight space he was in. As time went on, he came to discover even stranger things. He began to harbour doubts about his body. He had touched himself all over to get a sense of the queer feeling of his limbs’ movements. What he felt was not the body of a human. Strange enough, he wasn’t panicking. He didn’t know whether he was simply in too much shock to panic or he was simply in a state of disbelief and he did not trust his own senses.

Regardless of the reasons, he deemed his priority to be getting out of this tight space first and foremost. He began using more strength in his struggle. As he sent a strong kick into what was under his feet, he heard a brief shriek from the other side of his confines. He paid the strange noise no more mind than he needed and continued pouring more and more strength into his efforts. Soon enough, a crack was formed, pouring a feeble ray of light into his confines.

The light was faint but enough for his eyes to gauge his surroundings. He muttered a gasp as he saw the walls of his confines. It resembled the scales of reptiles but it felt rough like a rock. From the gap of the cracks he created, he saw a sharp red glint. It took him a while to realize it was an eye, a red eye. Instead of screaming, he drew in a deep breath as a panic response. Something told him the red-eye didn’t belong to a human but a creature. He heard and felt the red-eye creature climbing atop of his confines. He heard it begin to gnaw on his confines from the outside.

His breathing accelerated into panting as he realized his situation. He started to punch at the walls beside him in order to break free before the creature could gnaw its way in. His efforts bore fruits as more and more cracks appeared all over. With the increasing number of cracks, more light-filled the darkness in his confines. The more light there was, the clearer he could see himself from under his neck.

What. The. Fuck.

“Grrr.”

He uttered out loud but all he could hear was a growl. It no longer surprised him as what he saw was the body of some quadrupedal reptile creature— under his neck. His mind blanked at the discovery and the sound of the red-eye creature trying to force itself into the confines was drowned out of his mind. It wasn’t until the creature managed to plunge its head through the confines and revealed itself to Henry as some sort of hideous monster that he could never imagine. Only then did he regain his senses and punched his way out of the confines. His last-ditch of efforts crumbled the entirety of the confines and he went tumbling out of it. 

He rolled across the dozens or so roots that cradled his cage. His tumbling came to a stop when the path began to slant upwards. He recollected his posture and faced the red-eye creature that had fallen into the cage that was his confines.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

An e-egg…?

Henry gasped in his heart at the realization. He had been inside of an egg and that could only mean one thing. He looked at himself once again to confirm his horror. His environment was dim but enough for him to clearly see what he wasn’t. He was no longer a human. At that moment, pain assaulted his brain and memories flooded back in. He screamed but a sharp shrill came out instead.

What have I become?

Henry asked no one in particular as his thoughts and memories fell into place. He had been a bona fide human but at the prime of his life, a strange illness overtook him. It was terminal and he spent a year of suffering before finally giving in to the illness. He had reminisced about his regrets in his last moments, he remembered that much. After his death, something approached him as his soul wandered towards the afterlife. It was some kind of entity. He remembered being tempted by the proposal of the entity. He had accepted it with glee. And now, this was where he found himself.

What’s the meaning of this? Why am I a— whatever I am now?

His deep cerebration came to a stop as the red-eye creature fumbled and tumbled its way out of the egg it burrowed itself into. Caught in a confusion, the creature was struggling to regain its bearings. It got to its feet in a scurry and shook off the little piece of eggshells on its body. It spun its gaze until it caught Henry in its sights. It snarled before taking off into a sprint straight at him.

Henry let out a shriek but something inhumane came out from his throat instead. He was way past minding the abnormality that was himself and focused on running away from the red-eye creature. He turned his body but his instincts were all the place with this new body of his. He slipped— tripped— he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that he failed to even turn his body around and his body failed to even stand upright. After a few more attempts at trying to get a sense of his body, he came to realize this body was quadrupedal.

What the fuck am I now? A lizard?

As soon as that thought struck him, he imagined how a lizard would move and— as much as he could— move his body the way a lizard would. By smarts or fortune, he fared well in moving his body, not perfectly, but enough to get himself running. He began climbing the slope. He had thought it would be difficult but his hands were now claws with long talons and the roots that comprise the slope made the endeavour all the more easier. In no time at all, he climbed to the cliff of the cradle but just before he could leave the cradle, the red-eye creature caught up to him.

Fuck! Fuck! The fuck is this monster?!

Henry screamed in his mind as he tried to shake the creature off of him. The red-eye creature had claws for limbs too. As a result, it latched tightly onto him but its claws weren’t dug into his skin. His skin was tough, even against something as sharp as the red-eye creature’s claws. The creature was also baffled that its claws couldn’t penetrate its victim’s skin. It scratched and scratched but to no avail. That said, it wasn’t as if Henry couldn’t feel any pain from the creature’s futile attempts. It couldn’t draw his blood but the pain was there all the same.

As the relief that the creature’s claws were of no immediate threat to him, Henry focused on climbing out of the pit but the weight of the creature was dragging him, in addition to the creature’s feral movements.

The red-eye creature eventually gave up with its claws and used its fangs. They were longer and sharper than its claws but it wanted to keep its prey alive. It knew the meat would taste nice if it was fresh and a dead prey would only make it stale. However, if it wanted this prey to not get away from it, the creature understood it would have to kill its prey. Therefore, it sunk its fangs into its prey’s neck.

Henry screamed in agony in his mind. His body let out a deafening shrill that hurt his own ears. It hurt more than anything he had ever felt. He used his forelimb to batter the creature off him but the creature stayed. His skin wasn’t torn but the pain reflected as if it had. The pain surged through his body. His blood, now cold, turned warm. Strength poured into him. He roared— squealed as he summoned every ounce of his strength to pull himself out of the pit along with the creature holding on to him. Now on even ground— and the creature’s bite relaxed, he flipped forward and threw the creature off of him.

The red-eye creature was quick to gather its composure and charged at Henry again. Henry let out a battle cry, coiled his claw-hand into a fist and landed an uppercut as the creature neared him. Granted, it wasn’t a solid punch but it did the trick of fending the creature off for a while. The creature swayed and stumbled away. It did not expect such an attack. After all, it was the kind of attack that only a human would think of. Without giving the creature an opportunity to recover, Henry launched a few more punches at the red-eye creature. It was hard to throw punches as a quadruped but he managed.

Fuck. You! Fuck. You!

Henry repeated those words like a mantra as he landed punches after punches on the red-eye creature. The creature eventually collapsed to the ground after the dozenth punch. It lay unconscious with its limbs twitching. The rise and fall of the creature’s chest was evidence that the creature was still alive. Henry contemplated killing the creature but the sounds of the dark forest spooked him. He looked around. The flowers and trees were gigantic, intimidating. He could barely see the end of the trees as he looked up. He saw eyes glowing in the darkness. He saw the shadows moving. He knew at that moment that the red-eye creature wasn’t the only threat he would be facing from here on. When he heard the leaves rustling and twigs snapping near him, he immediately took off into a sprint and ran in the opposite direction of the noises.

Henry found it surprising it wasn’t as difficult as he imagined. He ran without tripping on his own limb. The more he ran, the more it felt like he was attuning himself to his new instincts at a rapid pace. The world rushed past him faster and faster. He was fast, even faster than riding a bicycle. Just as calm returned to his heart, his eyes failed to perceive the sudden incline in front of him. As a result, he rolled down the steep slope.

Thankfully, he didn’t roll far as the ground was rough. He groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He shook the dirt off of him and blinked to get rid of the dust caught around his eyes. He didn’t dare to use his claws for limbs to wipe his eyes.

The sight spread before him was a vast lake. Glowing plants scattered around the shores of the lake. Some lotus-looking plants were also floating on the surface. The water was clear and calm. Henry approached the lake and prepared his heart for the moment of truth. He stretched his neck out and turned his gaze to the surface of the lake. The water revealed his reflection.

Fucking hell… I really am a fucking lizard now...