A Lesson Learned

Dan Riley tossed and turned in bed, further twisting his already disordered covers. Sweat covered much of his body, sheets and pillows. With the power off, his air conditioner was inoperable. Even having taken two cold showers and wearing nothing more then black boxer shorts did little to alleviate the heat. Making matters worse, what had started as a single animal warbling had progressed into a group of animals doing the same. Dan rolled onto his stomach and put a pillow over his head to drown out the noise; unfortunately, it had little effect.

A refreshing breeze started blowing in through his window, bringing some relief. Dan was finally nodding off when a loud crash of aluminium onto concrete woke him. As he bolted up, he could hear the sound of a garbage can rolling around. Frowning, he sighed loudly; this wasn’t something he wanted to deal with. Unfortunately, the sound of the can rolling back and forth continued to irritate him. When the warbling intensified, he sighed in annoyance.

"Why do they have to do this on tonight of all nights? It’s bad enough they get everything else in life for free and don’t have to worry about getting a job. Now they have to steal from me as well?" Dan said as he climbed out of bed.

Retrieving his black bathrobe from behind the bedroom door, he put it on before walking over to his dresser and checking his watch to discover it was two am. Shaking his head, he put the watch down before heading downstairs. He wasn’t keen on confronting whatever was raiding the garbage but couldn’t stand having to listen to the noise they were making and felt he had no choice.

After retrieving a flashlight from the coat closet, he cautiously unlocked his front door, opened it and walked outside. With the power outage, the neighbourhood was near pitch black. Dan had to turn on the flashlight to see more then a few feet.

Walking across his deck, he rounded the corner into the alleyway leading towards the backyard. It didn’t take him long to see one of the three garbage cans on its side rocking back and forth. Two shadowy figures stood beside the fallen can. Dan shined the light towards them as both looked at him, their eyes glowing from the light; it was a pair of raccoons. Dan would normally handle this situation by waiting for the animals to leave and then cleaning up after them. His fatigue combined with the heat however, soured his mood.

"Get the hell away from my trash you damn animals; it’s not there for you to eat!" Startled, the two raccoons fled with a third inside the fallen can soon following. When Dan felt they were gone, he walked over to the fallen can, picked it and the lid up and put the lid back on. "Stupid raccoons; don’t they have anything better to do then keep me up at night?"

Turning around, he only walked a few steps before running into something large and warm. The impact knocked him onto his rear, causing him to drop his flashlight.

"What the hell?" he cursed, when heard the flashlight break.

Wondering who was trespassing on his property, he feared it was a burglar taking advantage of the power outage and feared for his safety. He chanced a gaze at the person. While the darkness made it difficult to identify the culprit, Dan could have sworn it was someone in a raccoon costume.

"Sorry friend, Halloween isn’t for another two months," Dan said as he stood up, brushing himself off. The raccoon remained silent, choosing to glare at Dan in anger and disapproval with its arms folded across its chest. "Look, I’m not in the mood for games. Now, please get off my property before I call the police."

The raccoon didn’t react; instead, it held its position as another cool breeze blew, rustling its fur. Dan was amazed at how detailed this costume was. Whoever designed it had obviously put considerable effort into it. Out of curiosity, Dan touched its chest with his right hand. A chill ran down his spine when he found it warm and discovered this wasn’t a costume!

"Holy shit! What … what the hell … are you?" Dan asked.

The raccoon growled before slashing Dan across the chest with its right hand. The impact knocked Dan onto his rear. Feeling stinging pain on his chest, Dan looked down to see blood seeping from the wound. The pain from his chest wound was an odd contrast with the warm blood trickling down his chest. Clutching his chest, Dan looked up at the creature in fear, half expecting the creature to disembowel him. Scampering to his feet, Dan eyed the raccoon as he took several steps backwards and sought either an escape route or weapon to combat this beast.

"Son of a!" Dan asked, grimacing in pain and fear. The raccoon scowled back at him, its emerald green eyes feeling as though they were reading Dan’s mind. "All right, if you can’t … or won’t talk … I will. You should have stopped those damn raccoons from eating my trash! I mean, you’re practically one of them!"

"They don’t know any better Dan," the raccoon said, its voice low-pitched and angry. As it talked, Dan saw its sharp teeth.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don’t keep the trash here as buffet for them! The lid on it should be enough to keep them away!"

"They don’t know what a lid is. They can smell food in there and naturally want it. You should adapt to wildlife and keep your trash where they cannot access it," the raccoon asked.

This creature was obviously upset with Dan. He wondered exactly where it came from and what it really wanted. One thing was certain; he didn’t have the time to debate this. After taking care of the cut on his chest, he needed to get back to bed.

"Look, it’s late, I have to get up in the morning and need to get back to bed. We can discuss this more tomorrow if you’d like.

The raccoon frowned and shook his head.

"I’m afraid that’s unacceptable."

"What do you want from me! All I did was yell at a few stupid animals!" Dan yelled. When the raccoon huffed at his use the word stupid, he immediately regretted saying it.

"You need to learn respect Dan. I’m afraid you’re going to have to learn it the hard way. I wish there was another way," the raccoon answered.

Expecting an attack, Dan darted his head back and forth in search of anything he could use as a weapon. With a flick of his right hand, he yanked the lid off the can the raccoons had knocked over, hoping to use it as a shield or blunt weapon.

"Stay away from me you freak!" Dan yelled.

The raccoon frowned before grinning in an almost insane matter and laughing.

"You think that will protect you?" he mocked.

Preparing for the worst, Dan watched as the raccoon pointed its right hand at him. Something felt as though it were levitating Dan off the ground. He lost his grip on the lid, which fell to the ground with a crash. Dan gasped and shook in fear as he struggled to escape. He was nearly two meters off the ground when the raccoon pointed its other hand at him. Without warning, Dan’s robe and boxer shorts flew off his body, landing on the ground below him.

"What … why?" Dan asked, humiliated over the raccoon stripping his clothing.

"You won’t be needing them anymore Dan," the raccoon calmly answered.

"Look, maybe we talk this over. I didn’t mean to insult those raccoons. You’re obviously intelligent and powerful, certainly you understand showing mercy!" Dan pleaded.

"I don’t think so," the raccoon answered.

Expecting that this creature was about to kill him, Dan closed his eyes. Feeling strange warmth hit him in the chest; he opened his eyes to see a beam of white light emanating from the raccoon’s left hand. The painful wound on his chest completely healed as light washed over his body. The raccoon lowered Dan to the ground on top of his discarded clothes as it faded and vanished.

While the raccoon’s grip seemed to have vanished, something else was happening. Dan’s entire body itched and felt warm.

"What did you do to me?" Dan asked.

The raccoon stood silently, smiling as he folded his arms, as if to observe the results of what he’d done. The world around Dan seemed to grow as he began to shrink. To his extreme annoyance, he was also getting chubbier. His entire chest itched like crazy and he’d clawed at it, quickly discovering with horror that he could feel fur sprouting all over it! Trembling, he squinted to see his normally light coating of brown chest had thickened considerably! When Dan noticed his proportions changing, he had a terrible suspicion of what was happening.

His first instinct was to run; perhaps if he could get away from the raccoon then perhaps what was happening to his body would stop. He picked himself up and ran towards his back gate as fast as his smaller legs would carry him, constantly looking back to see if the raccoon was pursuing. All the while, the itching had spread to his arms and the hair on his chest was now a pelt of what was undeniably brown fur. Dan nervously touched the fur with his left hand as he reached the back gate and unlocked it with his right. His eyes went wide when he felt something sharp touching the fur. He knew his fingernails were becoming claws.

He ran into his backyard, hoping someone would see what was happening and get help. As he looked back to check for pursuit, he slammed into something warm and furry, the impact unfortunately again knocking him onto the ground. Looking up at what he’d ran into, with fear he saw the raccoon man standing there. The impossible was happening right before his eyes; he desperately hoped this was a dream or hallucination brought on by the heat and that he’d wake up at any second.

"Why … are you d … doing this to me?" he begged, trying to ignore the high pitched sound of his voice.

The raccoon didn’t answer and choose silent observation of this terrible process.

Dan continued shrinking and getting chubbier. Holding his left hand in front of his face, he noted the black claw like appearance of his fingernails. Warm pain coursed through his legs and hips as his legs moved to the sides of his torso, changing shape as they shrank.

"Please stop this; I don’t want to be an animal! I was overreacting and I’m sorry!" Dan pleaded.

The raccoon observed sternly as though it didn’t enjoy this but felt it necessary.

Dan’s entire face felt warm and itchy as fur began sprouting all over it. Dan looked down at his body, holding back the tears when he saw his legs shape and size looking more raccoon then human and his hands as raccoon paws. The proportions of his torso and fur made it look anything but human.

Pain in his jaw and nose had him feeling his face. He felt something pushing on his paws; it was his mouth and nose merging into a muzzle as they pushed out. He barley held back the panic when he felt the cold touch of what would soon be a black nose at the end of his muzzle. As if that wern’t bizzare enough, everything seemed to get brighter, as though the lights were coming back on; yet, there was no familiar hum or power. Dan quickly realised it was his eyes; he could see much better in the dark … with his raccoon eyes.

Dan again picked himself up and ran to the pond at the rear of his backyard to get a glimpse of his reflection. His eyes were dark and fur on his face was quickly developing into a mask. A sharp pain tore through the top of his skull as a pair of furry ears poked through his dark brown human hair. His human ears slowly shrunk into his head until there was no sign they’d ever existed there. Touching his mask, he watched the reflection mimicing his actions; confirming the strange creature was indeed him. He wiskers started twitching as the gravity of his situation started to overwhelm him.

"No … no, this is impossible! This can’t be happening! Please tell me this isn’t real!"

Hearing something approaching from behind, Dan turned his head to see the raccoon standing before him. He had turned his head just in time to see a tail emerge from his tailbone, growing until it was a decent length with five black rings and a black tip. The raccoon grabbed his tail with his right paw and caressed it.

"You’re almost done Dan; I must say you’ll be gorgeous once this is complete."

Dan could feel the raccoon touching his new appendage. His mind reeled in the new sensations previously non-existent to him. Dan kicked his legs out in a desperate attempt to get away. The raccoon released its grip and Dan bolted as fast as he could. When he was halfway through his yard, he found his balance changing. He tried to resist what was happening but it was too difficult. He found himself falling onto all fours, the position now natural with his new proportions.

Not wanting to waste time, he dashed towards his front gate, unaware of his panting. He ran all of the way down the alley and towards his front door as the raccoon pursued. He took little notice of the fact he could see much better in the dark. With extreme effort, Dan managed to stand on his hind legs and open the front door before dashing into his house and towards the living room telephone.

He could hear the raccoon hounding as he neared the telephone. When he jumped on the couch to grab at it, the raccoon unexpectedly appeared beside him in a sitting position.

"Now Dan, who do you expect to call?"

Dan angrily tried to respond, only to discover this process had transformed his vocal chords and tongue as well. They were those of a raccoon and made the same noises he’d heard them make. Dan clamped his muzzle in shock as he looked at the creature before him. Extreme terror ran through him as he sought out other avenues of escape.

"Where are you going to go Dan? Look at yourself, you’re not a man … not any more."

Dan didn’t want to believe what the raccoon had said and jumped off the couch before running into the bathroom. He jumped onto the toilet and from there onto the sink and looked at himself in the mirror as the raccoon walked in. His reflection was that of a raccoon; there were no signs of humanity. Staring at his reflection, he wanted this to be a dream and struggled to wake up. Terrifyingly, this felt far too lucid for a dream. He had full motor control and could feel the ceramic under his feet, could hear the raccoon man breathing and could smell his scent. If this was a dream, it was by far the most detailed one he’d ever had. If this wasn’t a dream, and then that meant the horrific impossibility was now possible and real, he really was an animal.

The raccoon man smiled and petted Dan between the ears.

"Now Dan, I know you’re scared but this is necessary. You need to know how others of your species think so you’ll understand why they do what they do." The creatures breath smelled like chicken for some reason. That however was far from Dan greatest worry. He let out a panicked warble as the creature spoke, not wanting to submit. It could change his body but Dan felt it could never change who he was. "Now, for this experience to be authentic as possible so you’ll need animal level intelligence and knowledge. I’ll imprint on you a desire to get back home, you’ll be able to recognise this area so you’ll know when you’re getting close."

Dan defiantly didn’t want that. It was horrifying enough losing his humanity over something so trivial. He didn’t want to even think about the possibly of losing his mind! He feared he’d be losing who he was and would be no different then any wild animal. He squirmed and tried to escape but the raccoon man grabbed him and held tight. Dan even tried biting but was unable to penetrate the raccoons fur or skin.

"I know you’re upset Dan but I need to do this. If you learn your lesson then I’ll restore your knowledge and intelligence and change you back. Please don’t make this any harder on either of us then it already is," the raccoon man gently said as he touched Dan’s forehead. Dan found himself feeling faint and the world seemed to spin just before he passed out.

* * *

Awaking with a start, Dan found everything seemed wrong, or did it. He felt tiny, had a strange soft coating of hair covering his entire body and had an odd musky odour. Birds, the wind and even rustling of the trees were far louder then anything he’d ever heard before; Smells of a forest and soil permeated his nostrils and he was laying on a tree branch. His memories of the previous night’s experience and his human life were fading, as though they were a dream. If it weren’t for a strange desire to get somewhere, he’d have sworn nothing was wrong.

Taking it one branch at a time, he started climbing down the tree. The entire way, he clung to each branch, only stepping down to the next one after finally calming himself down enough to move. Every time he looked towards the ground to see how high he was, he found himself dizzy and clinging onto his current branch. He finally forced himself to avoid looking down and managed to climb all of the way to the soft ground, feeling immense relief at being there.

That relief ended when he realised he was naked. He had a vague impression that this was abnormal but didn’t understand it. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this as far as he knew. If anything should make him feel uneasy, it was being on the ground and vulnerable to predators. Something could leap out and attack him at any moment. His claws and teeth could defend him but the last thing he wanted was to end up in a situation where he’d have to use them. He knew he shouldn’t have been out at this time of day and wanted to wait until the evening when predators would be scarcer.

Sniffing the air, he caught wind of a vast array of scents that nearly overwhelmed his. Although this should have been normal for him, it was as though he were experiencing it for the first time. Sorting through the scents took several minutes. The air told many stories and he found himself growing excited at the sheer volume of information his sense of smell provided him. While he didn’t understand this, his natural sense of curiosity had him wanting to know what was going on.

He had a general idea of which to go to get to wherever it was he needed to get to and started walking in that direction. The soil squished between his toes and fingers as he walked. It was a funny and warm sensation that made him aware of his acute sense of touch. It allowed him to ascertain details of the soil such as texture and variations in the temperature that he never knew existed. Again, this should have been normal but the same vague uncertainly had him certain something was wrong.

After some twenty minutes of walking, he arrived at a place without trees. The total absence of trees and other places to shelter himself had him feeling vulnerable and constantly on edge out of fear of attack. His goal seemed closer and he would have continued towards if it weren’t for an appealing scent that aroused his interest. The scent was definitely food and it made his stomach grumble with hunger that soon took priority over his destination. Closing in on the food, Dan felt immense relief when he saw he had it all to himself! He followed the scent of food to a garbage can sitting between a pair of park benches. Bees and flies surrounded the mouth of the can. Dan ignored them as he climbed onto the bench, and into the garbage can. He quickly discovered a half-eaten hotdog. Quickly grabbing it in his mouth, he climbed out of the can and onto the bench to consume it. Standing on his hind legs, he ate the hotdog while holding it with his hand like forepaws. The idea that food from a garbage can could potentially harm him never occurred to him. All he cared about was satisfying his hunger. It mattered not that the hotdog was stale and cold; human food was a luxury to him. He quickly finished it off and, feeling satisfied, climbed under the bench.

The urge to get to wherever it was resurfaced. He didn’t know why he wanted to get there but the urge was to powerful to resist. As he walked out from under the bench, he heard and smelt humans close by. He felt a strange connection to them and for some reason wanted to see them. Walking towards them, he was unable to get close before one of them started screaming at him. The scream hurt his ears and he didn’t understand why this person was afraid of him. She was a lot bigger then he and he’d never even consider using his claws or teeth to attack her in any way.

Most of the others seemed content with observing him while a couple seemed interested in approaching him. Dan wondered if they had any food. Unfortunately, a group of taller humans quickly stopped them. They were saying something but Dan couldn’t understand them. Seeing and hearing these humans reacting this way was confusing. He intended them no harm and was simply curious. When one of the humans threw a rock that landed a meter to Dan’s right, he knew it was time to go. Now terrified that these people intended him harm, Dan quickly ran in the direction of the woods as fast as he could.

Soon arriving in the cool shade of the woods while panting and tired, his alertness piqued when he heard and smelled something approaching him. He darted his head back and forth until he finally caught sight of a fox running towards his position. He knew this creature intended to harm him and the instinct to flee took over.

Chittering in fear, he ran towards and up a tree as fast as he could. Climbing high enough for its branches and leafs to obscure him, he decided to wait out the creature.

After what felt like an eternity, his pursuer left. Relief unlike anything he’d ever experienced consumed him. He shook with fear over what had happened. That creature had intended to kill and eat him! Unfortunately, as something so small, he was the target of any number of predators; he had to be aggressive in order to survive in the kill or be killed nature of the wild.

He slowly climbed down the tree, sniffing the ground once securely on it. The fox was gone but he could still smell its residual scent. He still had an urge to get to the mysterious destination. Vigilantly looking, listening and sniffing for predators, he resumed walking.

Eventually reaching the same park, he climbed onto the bench and stood on his hind legs. The sun felt hot against his fur and he started panting. If the predators weren’t enough to keep him inside during the day, the sun certainly was. He could hear humans playing in the distance; this time however, he was afraid of them.

Jumping off the bench, he walked across the field vigilantly watching and listening for signs of pursuit. The trip took several minutes and he was nearly across it when he heard one of the kids’ yells. Fearing they were going to attack him, he started running, making it to a nearby street. The pavement was warm under his paws, so he stuck to people’s lawns to avoid burning his feet.

He smelt traces of cats, dogs, squirrels and even others raccoons on every tree he passed. His sensitive raccoon ears picked up the sound of a squirrel running through the grass to his left. He saw a few humans milling about, some near cars, other watering their lawns. He resumed walking but didn’t get far before a van pulled up on the road beside him. Its driver and passenger doors opened and a human departed from each. He stopped to look at them, hoping to ascertain if they were a threat. One of the humans was carrying something that shined slightly in the sunlight. They were both saying something, he didn’t recognise the words and wasn’t sure he wanted to stay around to figure out what they wanted.

The one carrying the shiny thing pointed it at him. He found himself standing on his hind legs, fascinated with this thing and wanting to know what it was. Standing on his hind legs, he chittered at the humans while holding his paws out, hoping they’d give it to him. The other human said something and Dan heard a strange muffled sound come from the shiny thing. A painful stinging on his chest quickly followed the sound. Dan looked down to see something sticking out of his chest. He tried to grab at it but his mind was getting fuzzy and the world was starting to spin.

In a panic, he tried to run but quickly fell down. The last thing he saw before everything went black was the human standing over him.

* * *

Dan groggily awoke, having no idea where he was. Wherever he was, it was dark, warm and stank with the scent of possibly dozens of animals. The scents disturbed him and he wanted out of there. Unfortunately, a contraption of sorts that blocked all points of exit confined him. He called out; hoping someone would hear him. His head was still spinning but was gradually recovering.

The feel of movement eventually ceased; a few minutes later, there was a squeaking sound followed by a rush of light permeating his location. Standing up, he could hear birds chirping and other animals scampering about as well as the scents of pine, oak and cedar; the humans had definitely moved him to a different location. Wherever it was, the air was fresh and the sounds and smells of where he’d been were distant.

The same two humans walked in and took the thing he was in outside. A shiny wall before him opened with a squeak. Desperate to get out of the thing, he quickly ran out of it and stood on the cool ground. Turning around, he looked back at the humans and quickly scampered away, not wanting to risk them harming him. When he later heard the sound of an engine, he looked back to see the humans and their vehicle gone. He felt immense relief at knowing he was safe from them. Unfortunately, he also realised this environment was rich with predators and other unseen dangers.

Not sure what to do, he started walking. When he heard a twig crack under his back, he jumped out of fear of an attack. His ears perked with what he thought was a growling sound. A sense of panic started to form; the entire area seemed rife with danger and he started.

He eventually arrived at a small lake and stood at its banks, looking and listening for any sign of threats. Finding none, he reached down and drank some of the water, finding it cool and refreshing. Feeling hungry, he dipped his paws into the cold water. He didn’t need to think about what he was doing, he simply knew what the strange sensations his sensitive whiskers had felt were. When he felt a crayfish, he instantly grabbed it out of the water to eat it. Its smell only intensified his hunger and he immediately began twirling it around in his paws to find the best parts to consume, eating them when he found them. He never thought about what he was doing; what mattered was it tasted good and satisfied his hunger. He ended up eating three crayfish before he’d had enough and walked away from the lake.

The desire to go to that place still existed. Despite it now being far away, he knew he needed to get there. For some reason, he had an idea as to which way it was and slowly started in that direction. This would not be a short journey, but he was determined to complete it.

* * *

After some three days of near continuos walking, hunger had compelled him to go forging for berries. He’d picked up the scent of a bush covered in berries and had it in sight when he heard something behind him. He quickly turned to find himself nose to nose with another raccoon. The other raccoons fur was grizzled and messy looking. Dan regarded the animal; a terrible feeling warning him he was in its territory.

In an attempt to leave, Dan tried stepping around it to continue on his way. The raccoon growled at him, sending Dan’s desire to leave into overdrive. He quickened his pace, constantly looking back to see if the raccoon was following. When Dan saw the other raccoon growling as it pursued him, he turned and growled back in hopes of scaring it off. It didn’t take kindly to this and ran at him. Dan knew he was in trouble and started running, hoping to outrun it. The chase lasted for several minutes until the raccoon gave up.

The sound of something large pursuing him soon quelled any sense of victory. Dan thought it was the same raccoon or perhaps another. That feeling turned to panic when he saw a coyote running towards him! He ran as fast as he could, the ground speeding by under his feet. It wasn’t long before he was panting and getting tired. Unfortunately, the coyote was not; he could still hear it pursuing him.

This was easily the most terrifying experience of his life. It was even worse then when the fox chased him. He was mere prey for this animal. He definitely didn’t want to die, especially not this way. As the coyote closed in, Dan saw a tall tree close enough for him to climb. He did his best to get to it and was only a couple of meters away from it when the coyote pounced on him, sending him flying just to the right of the tree. The sudden impact and stop left him dazed and hurting. He was lying on his back and it took him several seconds to regain his bearings. Unfortunately, in that time, the coyote was on top of him. Dan saw its sharp teeth and felt its breath as it exhaled. Knowing he needed to react quickly to survive, he growled and lashed out at the coyote, striking it on the right side of its muzzle. The animal yelled from the impact as a small trickle of blood ran down its muzzle. Somehow, the scent of blood fuelled Dan. Taking advantage of the Coyote’s distraction, he rolled and sunk his teeth into its front left leg. The coyote yelled out in pain as it shook Dan off. Knowing this was his chance to get away, Dan rolled around and ran up the tree as the coyote licked its wound.

Clinging to a low branch and looking down, Dan growled at the coyote until it finally turned around and left. Dan had never before experienced anger like this. His only desire had been survival and he was willing to achieve that at any cost. After several minutes, he listened intently and sniffed the air, hearing the coyote was well out of range. Slowly and cautiously, he climbed back down the tree and headed back in the direction of his destination.

* * *

After two weeks of travel, Dan had adapted to sleeping in trees and staying asleep during the day. In the forest, he was constantly on edge, always having to be vigilant in case something attacked him. A few patches of fur were missing from his back from insect bites, scratching, dust covered a fair portion of his back, and the scents of the forest felt baked into him. He’d lost weight from not being able to eat full or balanced meals. By now, little things like the sounds of crickets and other bugs were driving him insane.

On top of all that, he could feel something burrowing into his fur and crawling on his skin. It itched like mad, the worst of it behind his left ear. He’d been scratching the back of his left ear with his back foot for several minutes. Yet, even with his claws he just couldn’t seem to get the itch to go away. It was incredibly annoying and he chittered in protest.

Hearing running water nearby, he ran as fast as he could towards it. When he arrived at it, he saw a sparking river just wide and deep enough for him to swim. He wasen’t crazy about swimming as the water would weigh heavily on his fur. Hoped what water would help get rid of the itch and cleaning him off however had him running into it.

He started swimming finding the water cold. It did however relieve the itching, although he found himself sore from the bites. He swam under the moonlight for several minutes before hearing something swimming close by. He looked to his left and finally his right before seeing the creature; it was a river otter. At first, it seemed to ignore him, but when Dan’s curiosity made him swim towards it for a closer look, it growled and practically lunged at him. In a panic, Dan realised he’d likely invaded its territory and it was definitely not amused.

He swam as fast as he could to the other side of the river as the otter closely followed. When he reached land, his fur was dripping wet, the water increasing its weight considerably. Knowing the otter was still after him, he ran as fast as he could as water dripped and flew off of him. Unfortunatly, his heavy, soaked fur slowed him down and the otters ground speed was impressive. Dan didn’t get far before he felt the sting of fur tearing away. Yelling out in pain, Dan ran towards and up a tree. When he was sufficiently high, he looked at his tail. The fur on the tip was gone, leaving a sore patch of skin. He growled at the otter in annoyance, hoping to scare it off. He waited nearly twenty minutes before the otter turned around and left. Slowly and cautiously climbing down the tree, Dan quickly scampered in the direction of the city, realising he was lucky that a chunk of tail fur was all he’d lost.

* * *

By now, any secure place Dan could sleep that was away from another animal's territory was good enough for him. He knew he was getting closer to his goal, he could smell the scents and sounds of the city, and as well, the forest was thinning out. His fur was worn and messy with several patches missing from encounters with other animals. While he’d learned to defend himself, he still hated fighting.

Walking through a clearing in the woods, he entered a field. The sweet scent of the grass filled his nostrils and the sounds of crickets and other insets chirping filled his ears. In the distance, he could see lights. He recognised the area, although he didn’t know exactly why. Human scent covered the grass and Dan knew humans he been around here recently. He still remembered the unpleasant encounters in the park and wanted to avoid a repeat.

He quickly walked across the field, making sure to keep an ear out for anything that might attack him. The grass tickled as it brushed against his sides and little swarms of flies occasionally bothered him. He eventually arrived in a group of backyards, recognising the street as being close to his goal.

Unfortunately, his momentary distraction was enough for a human sitting close to a house to begin yelling at him. Dan could only assume she meant him harm from the tone of her voice. In a panic, he ran towards the gate leading into the front yard. Managing to climb the chain link fence and into the person’s front yard, he bolted down the driveway and onto the sidewalk. Other humans milling about terrified Dan.

Seeing a pair of humans walking an animal similar to the coyote and fox, he definitely didn’t want to deal with it. Laying low on the ground in an attempt to hide, he found the grass felt strange against his belly yet at the same time, familiar.

The humans with the animal eventually passed by so Dan slowly rose, hoping his presence wouldn’t alarm anyone. He slowly started onto the road, the pavement warm against his paws. He never thought to look for cars. Unfortunately, when he was nearly across the street, he heard something approaching him from his right. He quickly looked to see the headlights of a car bearing down on him. He chittered out loudly and ran towards the curb as fast as his legs would carry him. The car kept coming, completely oblivious to his presence. With his eyes closed, he sat near the curb cowering in terror. He felt the breeze of the car as it sped past him honking its horn. He heard it slam on its breaks, coming to a stop a few meters away from him. Opening his eyes, he saw the car stopped. The driver got out as Dan walked onto the curb shaking from his near fatal experience. Dan heard the driver say something but was too afraid to stay around and started running towards his destination.

He somehow knew he was getting close and felt extreme trepidation. Arriving at his driveway, he quickly ran up to his front porch. He could smell an appealing scent coming from the alleyway between the two houses. He quickly ran over there and saw the smell was coming from the trashcans. His curiosity running wild, he had to find out what the smell was, and he had to get access to it!

Quickly, he ran at a can and knocked it over, ignoring the loud crash of aluminium onto pavement. The lid fell off almost instantly with a clanging sound that irritated his ears. He immediately ripped open the black garbage bag with his sharp claws, finding a full slice of pizza. Famished, this seemed an incredible find to him and he quickly grabbed it and began eating.

Unfortunately, before he could finish, he heard someone approach from the front. He was ready to run when he saw a human approach. A feeling of terror over the possibly this human was going to hurt him nearly overwhelmed him. He was just about to run when he saw the human smile as if in relief. The human said something that Dan couldn’t understand before waving his right arm towards Dan for a few seconds.

Dan felt faint for a few seconds. When it faded, he felt different mentally; his knowledge, intelligence and memories were returning. He knew the names for the garbage can, house and everything else. He could think clearly for the first time in he didn’t know how long. He also knew that this human standing before him was somehow his human self and wondered how that was possible. Was he really a changed human or had this human somehow given him human memories and knowledge?

"You’re alive!" the human said, the relief in his voice obvious. Before Dan could react, the human picked him up and held him tight. "I was so worried about you. I expected you’d return in a day, maybe two but certainly not after four weeks!"

Dan was shocked, he couldn’t believe he’d been an animal for that long. He looked at his human self, realising that the raccoon man never intended his experiences to be this intense. He still felt nervous of humans; something he knew would take time to get over. He actually felt a little strange having human knowledge and intelligence while still within this body. He now knew the vague impressions he’d had over the past weeks weren’t from a dream. They were from his life.

The irony that this human that looked just like he had before becoming an animal had caught him doing the same thing that started all of this was not lost on him.

"As you can probably tell, I’ve restored your knowledge, memories and intelligence so you’ll understand me. I’m sure you find the sight of your human self before you shocking. Let’s get you inside so I can explain everything," the human said.

Dan nodded his furry little head, wanting to know what was going on. The human carried him inside of his house. As soon they entered, the familiar scent of the furniture, rugs and everything else filled Dan’s nostrils. He felt immense relief at being home and found himself growing excited and squirming to break free of the human’s hold so he could go exploring.

"Hold on Dan, I know you’re excited to be home, I can’t blame you," the human said.

Walking over to the couch in front of the TV, he gently placed Dan on it before sitting down on the leather chair beside it, turning it to face the couch. The softness of the couch had Dan relaxing almost immediately and he nearly fell asleep before the human’s voice grabbed his attention. The human looked at Dan, and for a few seconds, Dan felt as though he were accessing his thoughts and memories. In fact, he was doing just that to see what had happened to Dan over the weeks.

"First things first, you can relax, you are Dan Riley, this body of mine is simply an illusion. Perhaps if I took on a more familiar form," the human said. Dan watched in shock as the human version of himself morphed into the raccoon person. It took off the clothes, putting them in a pile beside the couch. Dan immediately felt fear over this creature as well as anger. This creature was to blame for his being a raccoon; not to mention the hell he’d been through over the past weeks. He had changed Dan’s form mercilessly and forced him into a life he neither asked for nor wanted. Now, Dan found himself traumatised and a nervous wreck.

"I understand your hostility towards me Dan. Please believe when I say I’m sorry about what you’ve been though over the past weeks. I never intended this to last that long. I only intended you to stay this way a day or two. I never thought someone would capture you and ship you so far away. When you didn’t return after a week, I feared the worst. I had assumed your form to cover for you until you returned. When you didn’t, I felt so guilty that I assumed your life. I always hoped you would come back; I’m delighted that you did."

Dan looked at the raccoon, unsure if he should believe him or thrash him for what he’d put him though.

"Please, don’t hate me for this. Maybe I should remove your memories of this incident so you’ll wake up thinking none of it actually happened," the raccoon suggested.

Dan shook his head, despite the harrowing nature of his time as an animal; he’d learned many important lessons. He’d definitely never yell at another animal like that again and he know knew the reality of animal life. He’d never think they had it easy without having to worry about jobs or paying bills again. That existence wasn’t freedom at all and he understood why anything living under those conditions would act as both he and the other wild animals acted.

"I understand your desire to retain those memories. If anything, you’ve learned a lot about. You can use that knowledge to better yourself and educate others. Now, you’re probably eager to get back to your life so I’ll leave you now," the raccoon said as it stood up, walking towards the door. Dan chittered at him to alert him to the fact he was still an animal. "Oh yes, I almost forgot."

Pointing both of his hands at Dan, the raccoon grinned. His hands both glowed brightly and Dan felt himself growing dizzy. A second later, he passed out.

* * *

Dan slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his ceiling and the first thing he felt was his carpet under his skin. Realising he felt carpet under skin and not fur; he smiled and slowly sat up. Looking down, he saw that his body was human again. For a few moments, he wondered if he’d dreamed the entire experience.

The first thing he noticed was his senses had returned to human norms. He could see clearly but his hearing and sense of smell were back to human norms instead of the acute versions he'd had as a raccoon. While he’d need time to re-adjust to thinking more in terms of sight then hearing and smelling, he knew having human knowledge and intelligence, not to mention longevity were more then worth it.

Grinning in joy, he looked around the room. He could remember the names humans used for ... everything. The sights, sounds and scents finally had names to them. He understood things about how the world worked rather then simply operating on instincts and doing things out of necessity rather then understanding why he did them.

He looked around and saw his clothes lying where the raccoon man had dropped them. He quickly realised his nudity. He couldn’t get away with that as a human; not outside of his house at least.

Wanting to put the discarded clothes in the hamper, he stood up on his hands and knees, at first not used to walking on two feet. Just as he was about to pick up the clothes in his teeth, he realised what he was doing. Standing up on two feet, he shook his head. Walking this way was going to take some time to re-adjust. He carefully bent down, picked up his clothes and walked them into his basement to put in the laundry hamper before going up to his bedroom to get dressed. The entire time, he had a sense of uneasiness. While he wasn’t sure his experience was real, he knew it had deeply affected him.

A part of him still worried a predator or other animal would attack him and he found himself on edge. It would take a long time for him to re-adjust to a human way of thinking.

One way or another, he knew he’d never be the same person he was before this, he’d never be able to think of wild animals or their existences the same way again.

Walking into his bathroom, he looked in the mirror and saw that he needed a shave and haircut. Turning on the water, he slowly splashed some cold water into his face. He found himself nervous over using so much water and wanting to ration it in case its supply was limited. He knew this was a direct result of his experiences, something that needed time to alleviate.

It was then that he noticed a piece of folded white paper tapped to the top right-hand corner of the mirror. Reaching over, he picked it up and opened it.

Inside was a picture of him as a raccoon laying on his living room floor from both right after he change and when he found his way home. The second one was accurate right down to the worn fur and piece of fur missing from his tail. The raccoon man had written a note on the paper.

Yes, it was real. Here’s a couple pictures you can keep as reminders. Just remember the lessons you learned. I took care of your life so you could continue it without problems.

Putting the paper and pictures on the desk, a chill ran down his spine when he realised the enormity of what he’d experienced. Everything was real; he’d really experienced those weeks as an animal. He now knew what it was to be an animal.

He took a few seconds to speak, making sure he still could.

"My name is Dan Riley and I’m a human being," he said, feeling incredibly satisfied at being able to speak.

He realised how lucky he was to be human and how he’d taken human luxuries for granted, having little idea how other species live. He’d never react the same way to wild raccoons going after his trash. From now on, he’d adapt to them as to avoid another incident.

The fact his life had nearly ended when the fox or coyote had attacked him, not to mention the car nearly running him down had him realising how fragile his life truly was. In some instances, he’d taken life for granted; put things off in feeling he’d always have another opportunity to do them. Now, he knew that he couldn’t afford to do that anymore.

As he shaved, he planned to get a hair cut. First thing was first; he had to make sure his life was still in order. After that, he planned on finding out what happened to Karen, a girl he had a crush on in high school. Last, he heard she was single. Now, the time for putting things off was past, he planned to correct mistakes he’d made.

For Dan, the end of his tenure as an animal was the beginning of a new era in his life.