Everything Old is New Again
A "Winds of Change" Story
"Okay, why not do impersonations?" I asked Jim with a grin. "With a little practice, maybe even a chorus!"
Jim chuckled. "I don't think I've got that much range," he said. "I'll work on it." He ran his fingers across his altering mouth.
"Changing a little more?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No, not right now. Still getting used to this," he said indicating his barely formed beak. "Weird."
"You'll get used to it," I said. "You just can't chew gum anymore."
"Or drink from a bottle," added Michael.
"Ah, but I can open one," grinned Jim. He shook his head a little then looked at me. "I'm going to grab something to eat. You want something?"
"Sure."
He looked at me a second. "Like…?"
I smiled. "I'm a raccoon, Jim. Surprise me."
He shook his head and walked away. After a few seconds, Michael excused himself, making a beeline for the cute flamingo morph he'd been dancing with earlier. I sighed and let the chair drift back along the slight slant in the gym floor and thump against the bleachers. I wasn't really even sure why I was here, really. I didn't have a date and even if I had, I was stuck in this wheelchair for the foreseeable future, my leg braced.
My Change had made it down to my waist, and my striped tail was sticking through a hole in the back of the chair. My human head was gone now, not even a vestige left of my face from before. My arms, hands and my torso were following suit closely. If not for my size, I was almost indistinguishable from a raccoon from the waist up.
Needless to say, that scared the hell out of me.
Jim came back and handed me a paper plate of cookies and nuts. "Sorry, there isn't any punch," he said handing me a glass, "Is water okay?"
I smiled and nodded. "Sure, thanks." I said, setting the cup down on my leg. "Why aren't you dancing?" I asked.
"Can't find anyone who wants to dance with someone who has two left feet," he said with a shrug and a smile.
"You haven't asked anyone," I pointed out.
He just shrugged again then looked at me a little strangely. "What are you doing?"
I swallowed the nut I was eating. "Huh?"
He looked down at my hands and I followed his gaze. I was holding another nut in my hand, washing it between my fingers in my water. "Oh, damn." I muttered. Little raccoonish behaviors had been slipping into my habits lately, enough that it was beginning to worry me.
"Are you okay?" asked Jim.
I sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine." I said unconvincingly.
The conversation fell into an uncomfortable silence for what seemed like hours until Jim finally changed the subject. "You know anything about the DJ?"
I looked oddly at him and then at the batmorph on stage. "I'm not sure…" I started to say, then stopped and looked at her more closely. It could be her. Last time I'd seen her she'd already started Changing into a bat, and that was months ago. "Gale." I said quietly. I glanced up at Jim. "Can you wheel me over there?"
With a shrug, he grabbed the handles of the chair and pushed me over toward the stage. The bat morph had seen us coming and was already at the top of the steps waiting for us. "Have a request?" she asked me, then looked up at Jim, "Or want to sing again?" Jim turned red.
"Actually, I just wanted to ask if you're Gale Howard." I said over the music.
She nodded, "That's me! What can I do…" she stopped and looked at me again. "Oh God, Todd?" I nodded. She jumped down the few steps and hugged me. "My dad told me what happened. I'm so sorry."
I smiled weakly. "I'm not gone yet, Gale." I heard a throat clearing above my head and glanced up. "This is Jim, by the way."
She smiled at him. "We've met, sorta. You've got a great voice."
Jim turned redder, but smiled. "Thanks, it's new." He tried to change the subject. "How do you two know each other?"
"Our dad's were business partners before the Change," she said. "We've known each other since then."
"Gale goes to Riverton High." I said.
She nodded, the glanced up. "Songs going to end in a minute. Be right back!" she darted up the steps and started working the equipment.
Jim leaned down to my ear, "You've had a girlfriend all this time and didn't tell anyone?" he asked.
I laughed. "Gale? She's not a girlfriend. We've known each other so long we're more like siblings." I paused. "Well, cousins really considering we don't see each other that often."
"That's good to know," mused Jim.
Before I had a chance to ask him what that meant, Gale was back, her arms on her hips in mock annoyance. "Cousins?"
I blinked. "You heard that over the music?"
She chuckled and pointed at her oversized ears. "These aren't just decorations!"
"But with all this racket…" started Jim.
She cut him off. "Call it Power assisted hearing." She said simply with a smile. She looked back and me and sighed. "I just put on a long mix. I was going to ask if you wanted to dance, but…" her voice trailed off.
I tapped the cast. "I'll have to remember to get a fake one of these later, then." I pointed a thumb at Jim. "He's not attached tonight, will he do?"
I could feel Jim's hands tighten up on the handles of the chair. "Todd…" he said.
She looked up at my friend, "He sings _and_ dances? I think I'm in love."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're way, way too direct, Gale?" I asked.
She smiled sweetly. "I think you have, several times." She looked back up at Jim. "What do you say? Want to hit the dance floor?"
Jim simply looked between the two of us for a few seconds, then smiled. "Did you two plan this out or something?" he asked. "I swear I feel ganged up on."
Gale just winked playfully and took him by the arms. "Do you tango, Jim?" she asked.
"Tango?" he blinked. "No. Why?"
"It's the next dance up, that's why," she grinned. "And it's my favorite."
"But…" he stammered, "I don't know how! I doubt anyone here knows how! Who tangos anymore?"
She smiled as the music faded and the tango started up. "We do."
When the dance ended a couple of hours later, Michael, Stripes, Amanda and I were waiting for Jim near the door. He had managed to dance a surprising amount with my old friend, considering she couldn't leave her equipment more than a few minutes at a time. What was more surprising was how _well_ they danced. I had suspected Gale was good, she'd talked occasionally about taking lessons, but Jim?
He smiled weakly when I asked him about it. "It's not me, Todd." He jutted his chin toward the stage where Gale was gathering her equipment. "It was all her."
Amanda shook her head. "You were good, too. Hardly took a misstep."
Jim shook his head. "No, it was her. She let me understand during that tango. As long as we were touching, I knew how to do anything she wanted me to do." He shrugged. "I couldn't do any of that again right now. Not without her. She was a great dancer."
"You say that like you'll never see her again," said Stripes. "She's right over there."
"We were going to head over to that diner on Washington," added Michael. "Ask her to come along."
When Jim hemmed and hawed a little, I put my hands on the wheels of my wheelchair. "If you won't, then I will. She's my friend anyway."
Jim threw up his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, I'll go invite her." He said in mock annoyance.
"You think she'll come?" asked Stripes.
I grinned and looked over at Gale, who was quickly boxing the last of her CD's up. "Probably. She started packing faster as soon as it came up."
"Huh?" asked Stripes, looking across the gym at her. "What does that mean?"
I smiled. "I have a feeling she heard every word." I said in a normal tone. "Right Gale?"
Gale glanced up at me slightly, and winked.
Copyright 1998, Brian Eirik Coe
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