A "Winds of Change" Story

By Jon Sleeper

In retrospect, I suppose that it was a bad idea to do what Maxine did to Tim. The result the next morning wasn't as entertaining as I'd hoped it'd be. Tim had stormed out of the house at about dawn. I was prepared to be beaten up, since all birds have talons no matter how short. I'd nudged Maxine next to me and she'd gotten up, I beside her. She and I had just stared at him for a while. While Tim had stared back.

Brian had appeared a few moments later, and stared a bit too. "What's going on, Jon?" He'd said tiredly. "Who's the blue jay?"

I'd shifted for morph. "It's Tim."

"Tim?!" Brian had said, alarmed. "Now what happened? And why's Maxine in norm? I thought she'd said that she couldn't do that."

"She and I were experimenting with her Power. We discovered that she can shift if she can see her reflection. But that's obviously not important right now." Tim and Maxine were still staring at each other. Abruptly, Maxine walked forward and nudged her brother towards the door, where Brian had moved out of the way. Her scent was determined, and Tim's was indignant. "I think she needed to get his attention somehow. Funny, I thought we were just pulling a prank."

"Prank?! Jon, after all the trouble we've had with her and her Power? For God's sake!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. But he'd made me feel really small. A way I've not felt since High School. I couldn't let it pass. I'm sorry."

"I think I understand. But this is almost over the top, if you know what I mean."

"I quite agree," Bryan said, looking and smelling tired, having appeared out of the sliding glass door. "But I really think Maxine did have an ulterior motive she didn't tell you about, Jon. I heard some talking in the bathroom as I walked by. I didn't stop to listen, it sounded private. I think she has several unresolved issues to deal with about her brother."

I scratched what little chin I had. "How long do you think they'll be?"

"Well, from what I could determine they were just getting started. Why don't we get breakfast while we wait? I have a feeling they're be a while. A long while." Bryan finished.

That was three hours ago. They were still talking. Kim decided to use some of the time to get some candid interviews of us on what was going on. That didn't last long, though. Otherwise, we spent about an hour just talking about stuff. Like we always did Before the Change. "You know I wonder if I'll ever finish 'Titanic' now. I've just had no time to work on it."

"I know what you mean. Nothing seems quite so far-fetched anymore," Bryan said. "Though what we wrote could possibly qualify as fiction now."

Brian scent-grinned, "No kidding. But here's a bit of weirdness for you. A lot of what's happened is turning out the way I'd want to write it, if it were a story."

That almost scared me. "I know what you mean. God... it's weird sometimes." I decided to change the subject slightly. "Have any of you been contacted by some TV lawyers to see if they can use your Blind Pig characters? I have. I've agreed, too."

"Well, not mine since he's insectoid. Thought I'm sure a few computer effects would be all it would take," Bryan said.

I grinned. "Well, I wish I'd chosen a deer instead of a elk as my character. If the series succeeds we'll all get at least a small amount as royalties. I still wonder how they'll do the humans, though..." I broke off as Tim, in his bull-morph form, and Maxine came out of the house.

I stood up and Maxine came to my side, and motioned for me to sit down. "So, what's the verdict?" I asked her reluctantly. Though I already knew the answer. Tim smelled... defeated. I was sure that he finally realized that his little sister was all grown up. Maybe.

"I'm coming to Boston with you, of course," Maxine said. "But so is Tim."

My jaw dropped; so did everyone else's. "What?!"

Tim looked pensively at his sister, "I think the travel bug just bit me," he said in a reluctant tone. Then he fixed me with a mysterious look and said, "after all, my sister must see something in you if she wants to spend time with you."

I really didn't know how to respond to that. But my instincts did. I fixed him with a look that put bluntly meant, "just watch it, bub. These antlers aren't just for show." Tim turned around so he couldn't see it, and I smiled in victory.

"Don't overdo it, Jon," Maxine whispered. "He's going to be with us for a while and your Power is useless around him."

"I can hold my own," I whispered back.

She smiled, and lick-kissed me on my muzzle near my left eye, "I know you can. I'm just worried about what you could do to him. I still love him, you know."

I was blushing a bit from the kiss, "don't worry. I'll keep things civil."

"Do that."

The next couple hours were spent getting ready to leave Edmonton. I was a bit disappointed that we weren't going to stay longer. But we had a long way to go and a short time to get there. Bryan's father was a nice man, and his brother seemed to get along fine. Like the rest of us, they'd mostly adjusted to what had happened to them all those months ago. As for Tim I had doubts. Every once in a while I caught him tugging at a horn, or looking in any reflective surface. That made me feel a bit uneasy.

Personally, there were still times that I'd look in a mirror and saw a face I didn't expect looking back. Usually after pulling a double shift on police duty. I hadn't had that problem for some time, though.

Since there was no way we were all going to fit in my car, and Maxine had hers (a convertible), I elected to ride with her and let Bryan drive my Toyota. Unfortunately we found that even then Tim was too big. So he rode with Maxine and I in the back seat, which was hardly comfortable even though Maxine had the biggest car I'd ever seen (it was even gasoline powered!). I considered myself lucky that the wind whistling through our antlers kept him from talking, but it also kept Maxine and I from talking; something I really wanted to do.

We stopped in Calgary for a while to visit a friend. Bud Bennett, snake morph. Boy did he make my instincts balk! He looked like he could swallow whole sides of beef! A detail I was sure wasn't lost on Tim. "Hi guysss! Good to sssee you!" he said/hissed.

I just stared at him for a moment, "Boy, you weren't kidding were you? How do you go through doors when you're that long?" I asked.

"I manage. But watch thissss." He immediately became as human as I'd rarely seen, then right into a normal python, then to a middle form. "I prefer the Middie form." He said.

We didn't stay too long. Just long enough to eat dinner and move on. Too much ground to cover. We drove into the night, onward and eastward.

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