Procyon Impact

The asteroid hurtled towards the Earth on a collision course. Only a few meters in diameter, it’s small size and odd composition prevented its detection.

As Earth’s gravity seized it, it made contact with the upper layers of the atmosphere. Very quickly heating up, it turned a bright red color.

As it traversed the atmosphere, pieces of it began to break off, crumbling into vapor. It seemed as if it was going to break up, but something held much of it together. As it finally broke through the atmosphere, it screamed towards the surface.

Seconds away from impact, it entered a large forest before slamming into the ground with incredible force, causing an impact that was felt from several kilometers away.

***

The van steadily drove along the dirt path that let through the forest. At the wheel was 35-year-old Samuel Thompson with his 10-year-old son Jacob. It was late Friday evening and as soon as Jacob had gotten home from school, Samuel had decided to take him to the cabin for the weekend to relax and unwind.

A single father, he was determined to give Jacob a good life and often worked very hard to that end. He needed this break badly and was looking forward to spending time with Jacob.

When they were about ten minutes away from the Cabin, Jacob noticed something in the forest that appeared to be glowing. He appealed for his dad to stop the van and Samuel complied, curious as to what Jacob had seen.

As soon as the van came to a halt, Jacob immediately undid his seatbelt and ran out of the van towards what he had seen with Samuel trudging behind him. When Jacob arrived at it, he saw a small crater in the ground. In the crater was a glowing rock about a meter in diameter. A young raccoon stood by the rock as Jacob was looking at it with fascination.

Jacob slowly walked into the crater and stood close to the rock. The raccoon was too busy looking at the rock to notice the boy and stood it’s ground. The rock made Jacob’s skin feel tingly and warm but he was too fascinated with it to care.

Samuel caught up to him a minute later and picked him up. Startled by this, the raccoon looked at the two humans before scampering off. Slowly carrying Jacob away from the rock, Samuel asked if he was okay.

"Of course I’m okay Dad, why wouldn’t I be?" Jacob inquired.

"Son, we don’t know where that thing came from. It could me emitting radiation or something. You should never go anywhere near things that are glowing like that." Samuel answered.

"I’m sorry dad, I didn’t mean to scare you" Jacob said.

"Well, don’t worry about it. Come on, lets get to the cabin" Samuel answered as he put the boy down and they started walking back towards the van.

***

An hour later they were in the cabin, had unpacked and were sitting around the fireplace eating popcorn while talking.

"So where do you think that asteroid came from Dad?" Jacob asked.

"It could have come from almost anywhere." Samuel replied.

"How come you thought it was dangerous? It was warm but I didn’t get sick from being near it" Jacob inquired.

"It could have been radioactive or had almost anything in it that would be toxic." Samuel answered.

"What’s radioactive mean and why is it toxic?" Jacob asked.

Samuel went on explain as best as he could to make Jacob understand about radiation. He explained how radioactive things emit invisible particles that cause damage to a person at the cellular level. Even though a person may not get sick right away from exposure to radiation, the damage to their cells could lead to all sorts of health problems in some cases years later. Jacob didn’t fully understand the explanation at first. However, when Samuel drew a diagram of it, he started ‘getting it’.

He was feeling fine though, in fact he felt great. Samuel told him that if he felt sick at all to tell him as it could be serious. Nodding, Jacob continued to eat his popcorn and they switched the conversation to sports, talking about it until it was almost time for bed.

As Jacob was taking a bath, he felt odd. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was wrong but his chest felt warm and a little itchy. The feeling continued and he was concerned that it had something to do with the asteroid. He didn’t want to tell Samuel, thinking that it was simply his imagination.

When he later got out of the bath and was getting dressed, he noticed something odd on the center of his chest. Just above his belly was a patch of what appeared to be brown fur. At first, he thought he was imagining things but when he touched it and found it real, he shuddered. It was soft and warm, much softer then hair.

His first thought was denial. He thought that it could be chest hair, but at only ten years old, he was a bit young to be starting puberty. There was also the fact that his hair color was black and as far as he knew, body hair was supposed to be the same color as head hair.

As he put his shirt on and buttoned it up, he wondered if he should tell his dad. The site of this fur terrified him but at the same time, he didn’t want to alarm his father. After looking at it for a minute, he decided to see if it was still there in the morning. If it were, he would tell him. If it weren’t, he wouldn’t have to worry about it. When he got his shirt fully buttoned the area around the fur felt itchy. Unfortunately, his shirt prevented him from seeing that small follicles of fur were already beginning to sprout around the existing fur!

Walking out of the bathroom, he kissed his dad goodnight before walking into his bedroom and climbing into the bed, turning the lights off and closing his eyes.

Watching his son close his eyes, Samuel walked into the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth before calling it a night. When he finished showering, he was about to brush his teeth when he noticed something odd about his face. A few hours ago, he was clean-shaven. Now, he had the beginnings of a thick beard. Feeling the hair on his face, he gasped when he felt how soft it was. The color also seemed off. Instead of coming in red, it was coming in an odd rust color. This made him a bit suspicious that something in that asteroid had affected him. Samuel knew that his son was exposed to the asteroid for far longer. With his smaller size, Jacob likely would have absorbed far more of anything the asteroid was emitting. He hadn’t of complained about any adverse affects and looked fine, so Samuel decided that there was probably another explanation for the unexpected hair growth and shaved it off before going to bed.

*

Jacob awoke later that night to what sounded like something tapping on his bedroom window. Opening his eyes, he sat up. He felt very strange and warm. He was in a cold sweat, enough that his clothes were soaked. He felt dizzy and his stomach was doing summersaults.

Holding his head with his right hand and cradling his stomach with his left, he moaned quietly. What was wrong with him? Why did he feel so ill? And most of all, was that fur he felt on his head and under his shirt?

Slowly standing up, he walked over to the mirror that was on his dresser and looked at his reflection. What was looking back at him was impossible. He was fully conversed in a pelt of brown fur and it had a muzzle as well as a mask around his eyes. His human ears were gone, replaced with furry raccoon ears at the top of its head. In place of shoulder length black hair was slightly longer then average fur. His mind reeled as he looked at the reflection. This was impossible; it had to be a dream! However, something about it felt too real to be a dream. The sounds, the smells, the dizziness and nausea, it was all too coherent to be a dream.

Nevertheless, if this wasn’t a dream, then it had to be real. How was he going to explain this to his Dad and later to his friends and schoolmates? People don’t exactly sprout fur for no reason. Speaking of which, he wondered what his fur looked like under his shirt.

Quickly stripping his shirt off, he looked at his chest. It looked chubbier and his nipples were gone (although with the fur it was hard to tell). Touching the fur with what he quickly realized were sensitive paws (complete with claws) he shook his head in disbelief. Now he knew he had to tell his Dad. Hopefully something could be done!

As he turned around to walk away, he noticed something else about his reflection. At first he though his eyes were deceiving him. However, he had remembered feeling something brushing up against his legs when he walked. There was no doubt about it; he had a tail!

Now feeling panicked, he quickly ran towards the door and was about to open it when he heard more tapping against the window. Turning around, he saw what about to be a large raccoon tapping on his window with its right paw. Looking at the animal with curiosity in his eyes, Jacob ran over to the window and opened the door.

The breeze felt strangely comfortable against his exposed fur but that wasn’t what his attention was focused on. His attention was on the huge raccoon crawling through the window and onto his bed!

The raccoon looked panicked, especially after it saw Jacob. Something about it’s body other then its size seemed wrong. The shape of its body was almost humanoid! But that wasn’t the end of the surprises. The next big shock came when it talked to him!

"What’s happening to me? I got close to that shiny rock and this happened to me! I could suddenly understand speech and thick clearer. Who are you, why did you do this to me?" it asked.

"I didn’t do this, that thing did this to me and to you too! We have to get help! My dad can help!" Jacob said.

"Okay, lets get help!" the raccoon said.

*

Samuel was experiencing an intense dream. In his dreams, he was being pursued. He didn’t know what was pursing him. It was something on the ground, something big. He was ruining throughout the woods trying to get away from it. Unfortunately, the woods seemed to go on forever. He was running but his pace seemed to be slowing with each step.

He was naked but didn’t remember stripping. Oddly, he wasn’t cold nor did he feel exposed.

Whatever was after him was getting closer and closer and a bright emitted from it. The light soon lit the forest as bright as day. The leaves resulted as if a storm were raging yet the sky was calm and the ground started shaking. Just as the light reached him, he heard the sound of Jacob calling for him. He couldn’t hear where Jacob’s voice was coming from.

Then, as quickly as it started, he was suddenly snapped from the dream. Quickly waking up, he sat up breathing heavy and in a cold sweat.

He felt strange; the room was warm, warmer then normal. He had a pounding headache and his stomach hurt. Looking towards the door, he saw something that befuddled him.

Standing before the door was the source of Jacob’s voice and someone else. It took Samuel’s eyes a few moments to focus on the site. When they did, he thought he was still dreaming. Standing before him was a humanoid raccoon and appeared to be a 65% raccoon, 35% human creature!

Making matters worse, when Samuel reached for his glasses, his hands were all wrong. They looked more like hand/paw hybrids, complete with claws. When he tried to put the glasses on, he felt a muzzle on his face and his ears were at the top of his head! It was too dark for him to see the fur on his arms and chest, but even without seeing it, he knew they were in deep trouble.

"Dad, what’s going on! Why do I have fur and a tail? And what’s happening to him?" Jacob asked.

Getting up, Samuel felt a wave of dizziness that quickly faded. It was then that he realized he had been lying on something. Feeling around towards his back, he gasped when he felt a furry tail. The new appendage felt strange, it was almost like having a third leg. It took him several seconds to locate the proper muscles to move the tail back and forth. It’s motion felt very strange yet disturbingly good. It was if the tail had always been a part of him.

When he walked over to the light switch and turned on the light, he saw that he too had fur. Unlike Jacob’s fur (which was brown with black mixed in) his was a rust color. Their fur coloration was somehow linked to their human hair color. Looking down at Jacob, Samuel sighed.

"You’re not the only one with fur and a tail." He said.

"But why and how? Could it be that asteroid?" Jacob asked.

When Samuel had told Jacob about possible radiation from the asteroid, he knew that radiation could make both of them very sick or even kill them. However, he never would have thought that it could do this. By all definitions, this was impossible!

Not only had this effected them, but it also an innocent animal. Was it the raccoon he had seen looking at the asteroid or was it another?

"So who is it that you have with you? Is it that raccoon we saw sitting by the asteroid?" Samuel asked of Jacob. Samuel received the surprise of this life when the raccoon answered.

"Yes, I was. And ever since you two were there with me, I’ve been feeling strange. I started growing and then I could speak your language and understand human things. Why is this happening to me?" he asked.

"I don’t know but we all have to get to a hospital before this goes any further!" Samuel answered.

"No, I want stay here! And they’ll think we’re freaks and want to dissect us!" Jacob cried.

Although Samuel knew the doctors wouldn’t try to dissect them, he was worried about what would happen to them. He didn’t know how far this was going to go. He also wasn’t sure if he should bring the raccoon with him. It did appear to be young and he wasn’t sure if it could take care of itself. If it was going to become human or even humanoid if would probably be around the same age as Jacob, possibly younger.

He also realized a potentially serious problem. If this were to completely affect him and Jacob, they’d both be animals. How would a former animal turned into a Ten-year-old take care of them? And what if the change affected their minds? As he was thinking about this, he noticed that Jacob was looking at his pants and asked him what was wrong.

"I think I’m getting" suddenly stopping, he made a strange chitter sound before finishing "smaller! What if I’m going to be a complete animal?" he asked, apparently unaware that he had made a very animal like sound.

"That’s why we need to get to a hospital, so they can help us!" Samuel answered.

Jacob almost seemed to be shrinking before Samuel’s eyes, evidenced by his pants suddenly falling around his ankles. Oddly, the raccoon seemed to get a little bigger. His posture straightened out and he gained some height. It was almost as if he was gaining mass from Jacob, yet that seemed even more unlikely then the idea of this transformation.

"Daddy!" Samuel said, his eyes welling from tears that were starting to form. "I think I’m gonna be a complete animal. I don’t want to be an animal!" he said as he started to cry.

Walking over to him, Samuel bent down and hugged him, holding him to comfort him.

"It’s okay. No matter what happens to you, Daddy is here. We’ll get help for this, you’re going to be just fine." He said, rubbing the fur on his son’s back. "Now, come on we have to get to the hospital" he said.

"No" Jacob said. "I don’t know why but I feel more comfortable here. I want to stay here, if I become an animal, I don’t want to be in a hospital when it happens, I want to be here in the forest. Can we at least stay until morning?" He tearfully asked. Staying went against Samuel’s better judgment but he didn’t want to alarm Jacob any further and decided to stay until the morning.

"Alright son, but if this is any worse by then, we have to go." Samuel said.

"Okay" Jacob asked.

Samuel agreed to let Jacob and the raccoon stay with him for the night. As the night progressed, Samuel noticed that his changes didn’t proceed much further. He gained a bit more fur and belly mass but stayed humanoid. The raccoon continued to gain height and mass, eventually becoming fully humanoid. From his height and appearance, he appeared to be the equivalent of an eight-year-old human.

Jacob had unfortunately become increasingly raccoon like as the night progressed. His stature had gradually decreased as his posture and torso shape become more animal like. It wasn’t long before he lost the ability to speak. While Samuel seemed to have gained some instincts, Jacob appeared to be struggling with him.

As he could only watch, his son’s demeanor grew progressively animal like. Eventually, they all fell asleep from the stress of the change.

When they awoke the following morning, Samuel and the raccoon were still humanoid and their changes seemed complete. Unfortunately, Jacob was a complete raccoon that lay curled up on top of Samuel’s chest. It took Jacob a few minutes to register that the animal lying on his chest was indeed Jacob. As strange as it seemed, although Jacob’s appearance was unrecognizable, he recognized Jacob’s scent. As they slowly woke up, Jacob uncurled and stood on his hind legs and looked himself over.

It hadn’t of been a dream. He wanted to speak but his new vocal cords betrayed him. Wide arrays of thoughts were flowing through his head. He seemed to remember who he was and his human life but he felt different. This body felt strangely natural to him. The forest seemed like his home now. Looking at his father, he saw a humanoid raccoon before him. His scent was strange, like a combination of human and raccoon. The other humanoid raccoon had a slightly different, wilder scent. Right now Jacob wanted to go outside, he wanted to play in the trees, and to go find something to eat. He was lost in thought looking at the window when his father’s voice interrupted him and broke him out of his trance.

"Jacob, are you okay? Can you understand me?" he asked. Looking at his father, Jacob nodded.

"Then we need to get to the hospital, hopefully they can reverse this" he said.

Jacob’s instincts started going nuts; they were telling him that the forest was his home. They were telling him to accept his new form and embrace it. However, he knew that he had to fight it. He couldn’t allow himself to lose himself to his new body. He had a life back at his human home and he couldn’t just give it up. Nodding towards his father, he climbed off his chest and approached the other humanoid raccoon.

In many ways, the raccoon was experiencing as many difficulties as Jacob was. For the first time if his life, he was experiencing human level intelligence, language and being humanoid. Only a day earlier, he had been a simple wild animal. He had no concept of time or anything remotely human such as education, work or even wearing clothing. He existed as a part of nature; he was a part of the ecosystem. Now, he was a completely different creature. He didn’t understand how but he knew their language and even seemed to understand how to do human things. He didn’t understand where this knowledge came from and it confused and scared him.

Looking at Jacob was almost like looking at a reflection of his former self. Jacob’s fur coloring was very much like his own. He seemed a bit older though but not by much. As odd as it seemed, he felt a strange connection with Jacob, as if Jacob were like a brother to him. Maybe his knowledge came from Jacob; he had seemed to almost absorb mass from him. A part of him wanted to return to his former form and return to the woods. His mother was probably worried by now. He had wandered off from the nest when he saw the rock crash. He was curious and wanted to investigate.

Looking at up at the humanoid raccoon standing before him, Jacob was in awe. This was just an animal the day before and now it was almost human. He felt a connection to the raccoon, as if it were a slightly younger littermate. The use of the term littermate was odd to him but seemed natural. Somehow, he had gained knowledge from the raccoon, knowledge of how to survive in the wild. With that, using animal terms didn’t seem to out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, it also made staying in control harder. He so wanted to test out this body and experience what it was like to live as his body intended. But no, he had to stay in control; he had to stay focused!

Samuel got out of bed and looked at the two before him. When he saw the raccoon, the first thought on his mind was giving him something to wear and a name. It would be inappropriate for it to walk around naked and he couldn’t very well referrer it to by its species name.

"So, what do you want us to call you? And what would you like to wear? Jacob’s clothes should probably fit well enough" Samuel asked.

"A name, you want to give me a name? I don't know if I want to wear clothes, I’ve never worn clothes before, it seems strange to suddenly have to wear em!" the raccoon answered.

"Well, you can’t exactly go around like that. And if your stuck like this then you’ll need to get used to wearing clothes." Samuel said. "As for a name, how about Jake? I always liked that name."

The raccoon thought for a minute and nodded.

"Jake sounds good and okay I’ll put on some clothes. But then I want to find my mother, she’s probably worried about me" Jake answered.

Jacob chittered at the name Jake. He found it amusing that what was for all purposes now his brother had a name that was similar to his. He did wonder if they could find Jake’s mother. Perhaps if they did, she could be made like Jake. His thoughts were interrupted when Samuel picked him up and started petting him.

"Come on, let’s get Jake some clothes and maybe get something to eat. Then we have to get to a hospital to see what we’re going to do about this." He said. Jake and Jacob nodded and they made their way towards Jacob’s room.

*

Since they were only intending to stay for the weekend, Jacob only had a few pairs of clothing. Jake however, was able to find a blue tee shirt and pair of shorts that fit okay. With his tail, it made the shorts difficult to wear, so he cut a piece of the top of the back of them to allow his tail to hang free.

Jacob didn’t appreciate his clothing being cut up like that or someone else wearing it. In his present shape however, he didn’t exactly need clothing, and realized that if he was stuck like this that he never would again, so he decided not to protest.

Samuel did admit that Jake looked cute and it temporarily distracted him from the gravity of their situation. He may have been acting calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was freaking out. Not only did he have the fur, facial features and tail of an animal but also his son was an animal. He feared that Jacob was going to spend the rest of his life like this. The last thing he wanted for Jacob was for him to be an animal! To compound things, he now had another to take care of. He couldn’t just leave Jake alone in the woods, as he felt responsible for Jake's condition. He had no idea how he was going to explain Jake’s presence. There was also the matter of explaining his appearance. How would his friends and co-workers react to him? If the community rejected the three of them, what would they do? Even when they did seek out medical attention, how would he explain to the doctors that the raccoon before him truly was Jacob and not a wild animal?

His stomach rumbled and he felt a bit weak. Given what had happened to the three of them, it wasn’t a surprise that his body needed nourishment. Deciding to stay calm, not only for his sake but also especially for Jacob’s, he decided to get breakfast for the three of them.

In the kitchen, he opened the fridge door. They had brought food with them and stocked the fridge the night before. As he looked though the fridge, he realized that his appetite was unchanged. He wasn’t sure what Jacob or Jake was going to want to eat. He doubted that Jake had ever eaten human food and wasn’t sure Jacob could eat human food.

"What do you feel like? I’m not sure if you can eat human food or not." Samuel asked of Jake.

"It’s okay, I can eat almost anything. We raccoons are," he said, thinking of the word for a few seconds, "I think you use the term omnivores. Jacob should be fine as well." he answered.

"Okay then, I’ll fry up some eggs and bacon. I have a craving for protein for some reason." Samuel answered.

*

After everything was cooked, he told Jake to sit down at the table. Jake looked at him oddly; he had never sat in a chair before so this (along with every other human action) was all new to him. Although he seemed to have gained knowledge of how to do human stuff, actually doing it was a different matter.

As Jacob looked on, Samuel demonstrated by pulling out his chair and sitting down while Jake watched. The former animal watched with fascination in his eyes at the action. Pulling out his chair, he tried it himself. With a couple of tries, he was able to position himself such that his tail went through the holes in the back on the chair.

There were only two chairs, so Jacob couldn’t sit, although he didn’t really need to. He really didn’t want to eat on the floor, so Samuel lifted him up onto the table, allowing him to eat that way. Eating was a fair bit different for him. He had always been taught to eat with utensils but table manors seemed useless to him now. Picking up a piece of bacon with his right paw, he started eating it.

Jake on the other hand had never learned any concept of table manors or how to use utensils. When the plate was put down in front of him, he immediately grabbed for the bacon with his paws. Something held him back though, he knew he was doing something wrong and looked up at Samuel.

"Wait, I’m doing something wrong. I’m supposed to use these shiny things eat aren’t I?" he asked.

"Yes, you eat the eggs with the fork and knife. You can eat bacon with your hands though." Samuel answered.

As Jake watched, Samuel demonstrated how to use the knife and fork. Jacob didn’t pay much attention; he was too busy enjoying the sensations his newly endowed sense of taste offered him. Everything tasted so good to him that eating with his paws didn’t bother him at all. He quickly gobbled the entire meal up and grinned from how disturbingly liberating it was to eat not only as an animal but also like an animal.

When Jacob and Samuel were done, Samuel washed the dishes while Jake and Jacob sat in the den. Jake sat on the couch, admiring how soft it was, especially compared to sleeping in a tree. The idea of sleeping in a tree was odd to Jacob, yet strangely appealing, it was something he wanted to try! His desire to be outside grew even stronger with that. He wanted to walk in the forest, he wanted to play in the river, and he wanted to experience everything his new form would allow!

Gently petting Jacob between the ears, Jake cautioned him.

"You’d better not go out there. Instincts are very powerful. If you go out there, you might lose yourself to them. You don’t want that to happen do you?" he asked.

Jacob shook his head, he knew that he couldn’t risk losing himself to his new body. However, keeping his cool like this was difficult to say the least. He knew that if he didn’t get help soon, he’d probably go insane.

As he finished that thought, Samuel walked into the den, having finished with the dishes.

"Alright guys, everything’s cleaned up. I think we’d better get going so we can get help for this!" he said.

Jake nodded and stood up, holding Jacob. As if out of nowhere, the trio heard something pulling into the driveway leading up to the cabin.

"I wonder who that could be?" Samuel asked.

From the window, Jake saw several men wearing biohazard suits climb out of a pair of white trucks that had pulled into the driveway. Samuel looked out the window and saw them as well.

"Who are they?" Jacob asked.

"I don’t know but I doubt they’re friendly. Come on, out the back!" Samuel yelled.

With Samuel leading the way, they ran towards the backdoor just as the men broke the front door open. Jake put Jacob on the floor, hoping he would be able to slip out undetected. Something told him they weren’t looking for a normal animal and he hoped they’d see Jacob as such.

As the three ran through the cabin and toward the back door, several more of the men broke the back door down and ran in! Jacob’s instincts were going nuts at this point! He knew he had to get out of there, he knew he had to flee but he didn’t know how. Then he remembered that the window in his bedroom was still open!

Two of the men rushed at Samuel and Jake. They tried to resist, but there were too many of them. Samuel managed to knock one of them down but two others pulled out tranquilizer guns and fired, striking both Samuel and Jake.

In the confusion, they barley noticed Jacob as he ran for his bedroom. As he ran past one of the men and through his legs, he noticed a name on this suit. The name was unfamiliar to him. He would have time to figure it out later, for now he had to get out of there!

Just before Samuel lost consciousness, he saw Jacob climbing out the window, fortunately without anyone pursing him.

Several minuets later, Jacob had climbed a tree and could only watch as Samuel and Jake’s unconscious bodies were taken out of the cabin and loaded into one of the white trucks. The only clue as to where they were being taken was the name on the men’s suits. He wanted to stop them but in his current form, he was helpless to do so. He could only watch in horror as the trucks pulled away from the cabin. He was left not only alone, but trapped in the body of an animal with no way of letting anyone know the truth.