I shook myself once more and eyed up the table from the tray of sand. If I could get up there, then I would be halfway to the window. I walked to the edge of the tray and bobbed my head a bit as I examined the distance.

I gathered myself in a crouch as I arched my wings over my back in preparation for my next attempt at flight. This will either work out or fail miserably. This reminds me of those all or nothing scholarship tests I had to do during the application. At least I aced those tests.

With one more quick pep-talk to gather my courage, I jumped forward and up as I slashed my wings through the air. I quickly followed the first wingbeat with a second, somehow instinctively knowing how to tuck my wings in as I pulled them back up. I was picking up some serious speed and height even with just two wingbeats.

Several wingbeats later, I was above the table. I fanned my wings while holding out my arms and legs before back-winging. My tail twisted and dropped down to help stall out my flight. It was a good thing my long neck was flexible – it allowed me to lift my head and watch my feet while I attempted my landing.

My claws hit the metal and squealed slightly as I slid forward a bit from my landing speed. That had gone much better than I had expected, mostly because my body seemed to know what it was doing. I was just trying to catch up.

I took a deep breath and folded my wings gently. They were trembling slightly from the effort that the short flight had taken me. As short as it had been, I was breathing marginally hard. I quickly realized that it would take some time to build up muscle and endurance in order to attempt any kind of an escape. I couldn’t exactly escape if I could barely fly up to a table top.

I watched the man out of the corner of my eye as he furiously put his pen to work. My wings needed some time to recover, so I examined the table since I was up here. The other person had taken the glass cage away when he left, and I cautiously approached some other objects on the table. I walked as if I were on slippery ice to avoid falling down.

It was mostly common supplies that were found on the counters of most veterinarian examination rooms; stethoscope, popsicle sticks, and a few other odds and ends. The measuring devices had been taken away with the second man.

What would a cat do in this situation? If I ever made a wish to have a cat’s life in the past, it just came true… I guess I should have been more careful what I was wishing for. I stretched my head out to gently nip at a popsicle stick.

I grabbed it with my teeth and yanked it up so that it came out of the jar. I dropped it on the table to bat at it with my hands. It slid very nicely on the metal table. A playful hop and a few bats later, I craned my head down to examine the stick that now resided on the floor below. Going down was far too much like work.

I turned back, feeling oddly playful. What other kinds of mischief can I get up to?

Minutes later, another dozen popsicle sticks adorned the floor. It was a good thing that the holder was plastic; it had actually rolled off the table on its own accord. The fact that I knocked it on its side and gave it a gentle push had nothing to do with it, of course.

Some cotton balls were littered on the table, but they had a bad habit of getting stuck on my claws and teeth, so I used my tail to swat most of them off the table.

I tentatively tapped a soft foam block with my hand. It was about half my size, and I had no idea why it was up here. I tried to jump on top of it, but it was soft enough that it just collapsed beneath my feet and rolled me to the side.

I playfully reared up on my hind legs while flaring my wings behind me before hopping on it once more. This time, when it rolled to the side, I hung onto it. I held it with my front hands while I tried to rake the block with my hind claws.

Judging from the tearing noise and what I felt, the foam block was losing this battle badly. It was odd to be laying on my wings, but it didn’t hurt. It was just a bit uncomfortable. I let go and pushed the remains of the shredded foam block away with a thrust of my hind legs. It landed near the end of the table and slid off. I rolled to my feet and stood up before shaking myself off.

I was surprised at how easily I had adjusted to my new shape. I could walk and hop without actually thinking about how to do it. It was kind of like riding a bicycle. Once you got the hang of it, you never really forgot. My muscles were starting to get sore though; they weren’t used to this much exercise.

I looked around the room again. My obsessed stalker in the corner had almost ten pages of notes already. I turned once more to my destination and tilted my head as I examined the window. A blue butterfly was resting on the other side, occasionally moving its wings. It wasn’t one I had ever seen before. I must be much farther from home than I had originally thought.

There was netting in front of the window, probably to keep idiots like me from crashing into the glass head first, but there was room on the windowsill to land if I was careful. My wings had mostly recovered, so I decided to attempt another flight. I moved my head up and down to line up my trajectory.

I crouched and jumped. My claws skidded along the metal without grip as I belly-flopped on the metal table. Idiot. How could I have forgotten to account for the fact that I had no grip on this table? I was embarrassed, but at least no one had been videotaping that. I hope.

I shook myself off in an attempt to put my humiliation behind me. I walked to the edge of the table; if I could wrap my back claws over the table edge, I would have enough grip to launch myself into the air. If I failed, I would overbalance and fall down. If that happens, I hope I slow my fall in time to avoid another F on my flying exam.

I carefully lined myself up, ensuring that at least three claws from all four feet were overlapping the edge of the table. I took a deep breath and jumped – it worked! I was airborne once again as my wings took me towards the window.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I tried to slow my flight some as I approached the wide windowsill. Flying slower was harder than flying faster. I carefully back-winged and managed a fairly graceful landing as my wingtips brushed the net.

I moved my head to inspect the butterfly. Remembering to act like a cat, I lifted my paw to try and touch it. Of course, the netting kept me from even touching the window. I snorted at the netting as I watched the butterfly slowly move its wings as it collected the sunlight.

I glanced beyond the butterfly, hoping for clues that would tell me exactly where I was. I saw trees and plants that I had no names for, but they were definitely tropical. Wherever I was, this place never saw snow. Well, that removes about half of the world from my list… Doesn’t help me much though.

I craned my head up; this netting looked like I could climb it as if it was a jungle gym rope net. Well, kittens love curtains, so let’s see if there is a reason for their obsession. I grabbed onto the netting and started climbing. It was kind of fun once I got the hang of it. It also was an intense workout.

I got to the top and looked around; I couldn’t go any higher. I shifted sideways as I examined the room layout once more. I was pretty sure I could push away from the netting and spread my wings to glide down to the floor. I eyed up the floor and pushed off.

I squealed in alarm as my hind leg got caught in a gap in the netting. Trapped, I ended up falling down until my leg was pulled behind me. I frantically gripped the netting with my hands in terror as my wings fanned the air.

I heard a chair slide and looked over to see that the scientist was running towards me. I freaked out with his approach and struggled against the netting harder. I tried pulling my foot free, but the netting had twisted around my ankle.

He reached out for me, and I released my grip with one hand to slash at him with a terrified hiss. He withdrew his hands, but grabbed a can off his belt and pointed it at me as he pushed the spray button on top. It was some sort of aerosol spray with a sticky-sweet smell, and I sneezed at the odor while trying to pull my foot free, but the netting was firmly wound around my ankle.

My mind went foggy, and my muscles started to go limp. The scientist lifted me up as my head started weaving in disorientation. At this point, I couldn’t concentrate well enough to fight him. I could barely hang on, although I could still hear and see as if through a fog.

He gently cut the netting with scissors and freed my foot. After placing me on the sand under the heat lamp, he grabbed the radio from his belt. As much as I wanted to get away from the man standing over me, my head was swimming and I could barely move. Standing wasn’t even a remote possibility.

Moments later, three more people entered the room. One brought a cage and put it on the table. The other two knelt down on the floor to carefully inspect and feel my leg before checking the rest of my body. I tried to growl at them, but it was so faint I wasn’t even sure they heard it.

One lady carefully spread my wings and gently felt the bones. “I don’t think anything was damaged. She possibly pulled some muscles though. Watch her carefully for the next while. I will file a work order to have the netting on all of the windows replaced with something made of plastic with holes too small for the dragonets to get their feet or heads through.”

After a few more checks, I was carefully and gently placed in the cage before being wheeled back to the main room. They put my cage back in its slot and placed the heat lamp above me.

“Are you alright?”

I barely managed to turn my head to look at the blue dragon who was watching me with concern. I blinked as I tried to concentrate enough to mindlink him. “I pretended the window netting was a jungle gym, and my foot got caught. He sprayed me with something before untangling me.”

He tilted his head. “Ah, yes. Some sort of tranquilizing spray. Doesn’t quite knock us out, but it comes close. It will wear off shortly.”

“I hope so…” I closed my eyes to rest.

I woke up to the sound of the front of my cage being opened. I jerked my head back and hissed at the lady. She ignored me as she put several dishes inside the entrance and closed the door.

I shook my head to clear it before getting up and stretching. There was barely enough room for me to stretch my wings fully in this cage. My muscles were a bit sore from their workout, but it didn’t feel like I had strained anything.

I mulled over the earlier events, wondering about the scientists and how they had reacted. My blue neighbor was already enjoying his fruit, and I commented, “This place is so strange. These people have to know that we were kidnapped and then turned into lizards.”

He glanced at me as he chewed. “They know what horrors happen here. We overheard a few of them discussing it. If they tell anyone, both they and those they told will suffer the same fate to ensure that they remain silent. I suspect that they had quite a reaction when your foot got caught.”

I made a face as I wandered over to check out my food bowl. “The guy was practically beside himself trying to get me loose. He backed up quickly enough when I tried to take a swipe at him with my claws.” I flattened my ear tufts in annoyance. “Then he drugged me. The oddest part was how gingerly they handled me, like they were scared of hurting me. That strikes me as strange since they obviously don’t care that hundreds of people die in this place during their science experiments.”

He replied, “Any injury we get puts them in extremely hot water with whomever their superiors are. They may seem caring at times, but that is because they consider us valuable. The amount of time and labor they put in for a handful of survivors makes them extremely careful with us. They still can’t be trusted, regardless of how they sometimes act.”

“They kidnapped me and stole my life,” I said resentfully, chewing a piece of apple with more force than necessary. “I’m not about to trust them. I wouldn’t mind giving them a few scratches though.”

He made an odd chuckling sound. “They keep a close eye on our claws. Every once in a while, someone manages to slash them. Our claws are very sharp and can inflict a fair bit of damage. They have lots of protective gear though. No sense trying to chase and attack them since they will just sedate you or lock you up.”

“I’m beginning to wish that I had just called a cab that evening.”

With a sigh, he replied, “They take months to pick and track their targets. They would have gotten you eventually, no matter what you did. Two of the survivors were hard for them to catch alone; so, they made the fire alarm go off in a big store and then kidnapped them in the resulting confusion.”

I thought carefully; it was very unusual for my roommate to work late without knowing well in advance. “Could they have arranged for someone to work overtime in order to force me to walk and meet my ride?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time they did that. If they weren’t directly outside where you were located or waiting at your destination, then they had a hand in it.”

I winced. I had walked right into their trap and hadn’t thought twice about it.

“Don’t feel too bad about it. Almost everyone here has a similar story, and there was nothing really suspicious to tip them off. If they had failed in that attempt, they would have tried again later.”

I nodded as I worked my way through my bowl of mixed fruit. There seemed to be a bit of everything in here, although I wasn’t able to identify some of the types. I dropped the piece of lime on the floor but ate everything else.

I glanced back at the blue dragonet as he munched on a grape. “What’s your name?”

He looked over at me. “Drake. Yours?”

“Tasha.”