Get Dressed
You take the clothes. You disappear behind a tree and get dressed, though you keep the sealskin on. When you step out, the swordfish nods in approval.
“It must be weird being a woman,” she says. “But at least you’re mostly human. You’re a selkie, are ya?”
“Selkie?” you repeat.
“Yeah,” the toucan said. “It’s a person who is a man…or woman in your case on land and seal in the water.”
“Oh,” You say. It had never occurred to you that you might turn into a seal again. “That actually makes sense. So what are you three doing out here?”
“We don’t know,” the swordfish admitted. She turned to the toucan. “How long have you been here, Victor?”
“Four days,” the toucan replied. “And you got here two days after I have.” He shrugged. “I’ve just been surviving mostly and helping out the other arrivals. You’re the fourth.”
“Surviving?” you say, not believing what you’re hearing. “Don’t you want to get out of here? Don’t you want to be human again?”
“Of course,” Victor said, holding out his wing arms. “But what do you expect? I’ve just got here and I have no idea where I am.”
“Four days,” you say, panic rising in your chest. You look down at yourself. “I don’t exactly hate this but I don’t want to be here. I want to be back.”
“I don’t think there’s a way back, honey,” the swordfish said, placing a hand on your shoulder. “We’re stuck like this whether we like it or not.”
Written by skiesofsilver on 07 March 2016
