Nimmo No More

      Mom is standing at the kitchen sink with her back to me, and as she hears me walk in she turns. Soap bubbles cover her arms up to her elbows, and she wipes them off with a red checkered hand towel as she smiles at me.

      "Did I hear you say that you are thirsty, young man?" she asks with a laugh in her voice.

      A flush of embarrassment settles into my cheeks as I recall the way I barged in and demanded a drink, and I sheepishly reply yes. She reaches into the cupboard and grabs a tumbler.

      My name is Primus_Darius_Agar (I have no clue what it means) and I am a proud blue Nimmo. Mommy and Daddy created me a couple of weeks ago, and I have many brothers and sisters. I am the odd one of the bunch; they are all Darigan. But I'm proud of being different, proud to be me. Mom and Dad treat me the same as the others, but lately there has been something in the air around here. Something is about to happen, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I spent all of this morning combing the woods for buried treasure. Wait until Daddy gets home from work and sees the great treasures I found today! But all of that hunting has made me awful thirsty, and I watch as Mommy fills the tumbler with green juice. Green juice? That's odd, it's normally red. I wonder if it tastes good?

      "Here you go little guy," she says as she hands me the tumbler with the green juice in it. As it passes from her hand to mine, I get a fleeting odor of something awful. I hope it's not the juice. I raise it to my nose and take a small sniff, and all I can smell is something tropical. Must have been my imagination.

      The first sip is wonderful, a delicate fruity punch that immediately makes you want more. As Mommy watches with a strange smile on her face, I greedily drink it down and hand the tumbler back to her, wiping my arm across my mouth as I do so.

      "What was that, Mommy? It was great!"

      "Oh, just a little something special for a special young man. Now run along and play; dinner will be done in a bit." She leans in and kisses me on the forehead, that strange smile never leaving her.

      I head for the screen door that I had come in a few minutes before, but as I reach for the knob my stomach starts to rumble. That's strange. I felt fine before. I shrug it off and head out into the dazzling sunshine.

      My brothers and sisters are in the back yard playing a rather fierce game of Yooyuball. My brother Fiery hollers over to me to join them, but I prefer to watch. I'm not as big and athletic as they are, so I sit on the side and admire them for their grace and speed. The game is tied, and each side wants me to cheer for them. I just smile as I lean back and think about what a wonderful life I have. Sleep starts to roll in, and I can feel my eyes getting heavy. I try to fight it, I'm not one for naps and I love to watch them play. But try as I might, they close on their own. My last clear thought is, "How strange. I didn't know I was tired."

      When I open my eyes, I am greeted with darkness. A small glow is coming from a candle on the desk at the far end of the room (room? How did I get in my room?). I sit up instantly, and as my eyes adjust I can see Mommy standing at the head of my bed. She strokes my cheek, and there is a strange glint in her eyes.

      "Wha... what's happened?" I struggle to get out of bed, but for some strange reason my body feels cumbersome. It feels like.. like.. like it's not my own. I glance around the room, and see my brothers and sisters sitting around my room, all eyes watching my every move. They all have looks of utter delight on their face, and suddenly I'm terrified.

      "Lay down, Primus, there is no need to get up. Everything is fine, dear." Mommy tries to smooth my hair down and I can feel the anger welling up inside of me. Anger? Where did anger come from? I've never been angry, especially not at Momma! I breathe deeply and count to ten as I survey my room. At the other side of my bed is Daddy. He is standing there with the proudest look on his face that I have ever seen. I have the strange urge to pinch myself, so I can wake up from this uncanny dream where nothing is making sense.

      "Welcome home, son!" Daddy says as he leans in to hug me. Welcome home?!? I haven't gone anywhere!

      I can't take it anymore, I have to see what the fuss is about. Maybe if I search the house I will find a clue as to what is going on. I make it to my feet and wind my way around the bed, stepping over my many brothers and sisters as I do so. I step into the dimly lit hallway and look back. My whole family is standing now, watching me with admiration. The sensation that I have awoken to a mad house steals over me for a moment, and I shake it off.

      I feel my way along the hall and down the short flight of stairs that takes me to the living room. Here I can see; the reading lamp over Momma's chair is glowing brightly. I walk slowly into the room, scanning every square inch with my keen eyes, sniffing here and there for some clue. Startled, I stop moving. Why is it that my vision is sharper? And was I just SNIFFING for clues? I don't sniff! Something strange is definitely going on here, so strange that I instantly want to run back up to my room and go back to sleep, waking up when things have returned to their own universe. I walk over to stand in front of the couch, still scanning for something, anything that will clue me in. As I'm standing there, my eyes go to the fireplace at the other side of the living room. And there, in the mirror, is the angriest Darigan Krawk I have ever seen!

      "AAAAHHHHH!!!!" I scream in terror as I run to hide behind Momma's chair. My heart is beating a mile a minute, and I can taste fear in the back of my throat. Thoughts were rampaging through my mind, one in particular being "Please don't let it eat me!" I take a deep breath, and peek around the back of Momma's chair to take inventory of where that nasty Krawk is so I can plan my escape. I look out slowly, and... there is no one there! Peeking out further, I check everywhere (firstly, though, was the seat of Momma's chair to make sure the Krawk wasn't there waiting for a Nimmo kebab). After a few seconds of slow perusing, I decide that there isn't anyone in sight and I had better remove myself before the family finds me hiding back here. I laugh at myself. Imagine! A Krawk in our house! I shake my head slowly at my silliness, and return to my spot in front of the couch to continue my search.

      With my hands on my hips (and boy they feel mightily "hippy" tonight!) I start scanning the room. I don't see anything as I'm looking around near the ceiling, so I bring my head down a notch to scan at eye level. Nope, nothing there either. Maybe the coffee table? I look down at the cluttered coffee table, covered in the Neopian Times and back issues of The Neopets Magazine. And as I'm surveying the wreckage, I can see my legs. Fear sets in and I step back, putting my hands out in front of me as I do so. And fear takes the reigns to every molecule of my body as I realize what I'm seeing. Those aren't my hands! Those are claws! Sharp claws, with nasty looking meat hooks on the end of them! And purple... oh my, they are purple! My mouth opens and nothing comes out but a strangled little mew of terror. I bump into the couch and fall into it, landing in a haphazard sitting position. My eyes are flicking over every inch of my body now, and I don't like what I see. A sea of purple stretches in every spot that used to be my lovely Nimmo body. My nubby fingers were replaced with those unmentionable talons, along with my feet. My belly is no longer flat and lean; it bulges in unsightly places and has horizontal lines dissecting it at intervals.

      I struggle with the realization that things are never going to be the same again if I don't wake from this horrible nightmare. I must pinch myself at once! I reach down and grab an inch of purple thigh, and pinch with all of my might. And... I howl in pain. No! This isn't happening. I have to get a better look, I need to know what has happened to my precious self!

      I manage to pull the dead weight of a body that isn't mine off the couch and into a standing position. With my eyes to the floor, I walk over to the fireplace, not quite daring to look up and confirm what I already know.

      I force my head up slowly, and stare right into that angry Darigan Krawk's red eyes. Terror clenches at my stomach, and I swallow back the tears that threaten to burst forth. How could they do this to me? Why?

      An image of Momma handing me a tumbler of green stuff flashes in my mind, and suddenly I am angrier than ever. (Than ever? I am really angry for the first time!) I've been duped. I've been had. I've been made a fool of. As I study my face in the mirror, disliking every bit of it, I can see my family gathering behind me. Family? This isn't my family. My family wouldn't have betrayed me. My family wouldn't have changed who I am. We stand there across the room from each other, and I can feel a strange sensation in my back. Peeking to the side, I can see a pair of gi-normous purple wings spread in all their glory. And they are all mine, all against my will.

      Mother opens her mouth to speak as my brothers and sisters gape in awe. Father has a knowing look on his face, a look that says that this might have been a mistake. I silence her before she can start by holding up one of my newly acquired "hands."

      "This is not over," I say as I walk slowly to the door, swallowing back hatred and anger. "This is merely the beginning. This is me... vowing revenge." I open the same screen door that I had happily entered and exited many times before as a little blue Nimmo boy without a care in the world, and I exit for the last time.

The End