[Northwind]

The recent and excellent output by my favorite TF authors on this board inspired me to write a new story. I left it open for a sequel which would be more philosophical in nature.

This story went a little long so I decided to post it here rather than the Super Short TF Stories thread.

I hope you enjoy it!

Northwind

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Forest Awakening

by Northwind


Lauren sat cross legged on the sofa of her dimly lit living room. The house was silent. She stared at the floor as if it were a thousand miles away. Blinking her eyes after an eternity, she nodded her head a little and spoke with a voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in days.

"I'm going to turn in to a wolf."

The ridiculousness of the statement hung in the air. She tested it again.

"I'm going to change. Into a wolf. A werewolf. Tomorrow night."

The slight elaboration did nothing to help her cope with the nightmarish reality that had begun three months before. She had been on the interstate returning home from a trip to see her parents in Chicago. As she drove through the night she was pleased to see that a gorgeous full moon had begun to eclipse the tree line. Without thinking, she cracked her window a couple of inches to let in some of the cold November air. She was warm and had broken out in a sweat. Turning the car heater down was not helping. She was becoming warmer by the minute. Her window was now completely down and the seventy five mile per hour winter air felt amazing on her face. The relief was fleeting as a strong cramp hit her stomach. She held her arm over it and bent forward. It felt like she had eaten glass for lunch. Food poisoning from her mom's casserole? It didn't matter. She needed to find a bathroom quickly and she knew there wasn't a rest stop or gas station for miles.

Lauren turned on her emergency lights and braked hard as she pulled to the side of the road. She threw the transmission into park and did a quick inventory. There were no items in her car that were going to prevent this from being anything but a hasty clean up job with some tree leaves, if she was lucky.

After opening her car door, she tried to turn and stand up and found the pain in her gut was bad enough to keep her doubled over. Fresh waves of sweat made her feel like it was a muggy summer day rather than a cold winter night. She held her arm over her stomach and walked slightly hunched over towards the edge of the forest. Cars were whizzing by and there was no way she was going to have diarrhea while dozens of people watched in their headlights. She made her way in to the dark underbrush, one arm over her stomach and the other extended to make her way through the leaves. When she got far enough away from the road to avoid embarrassment, she pulled down her sweatpants and thong panties and squatted. Expecting the worse, she was surprised when nothing came out. Her stomach was still cramping up a storm but after many minutes and no result she realized something else was wrong.

Lauren's brown hair was damp with sweat. She rubbed her neck and noted how slick it was from perspiration. She was still squatting and waiting to do her business when horrific cramps in her hands and feet assaulted her all at once. She pushed her thumbs into her palms to ease the muscles to no avail. Her feet were so bad that she rocked back and sat her nude behind on the layer of dead leaves beneath her. Stretching her legs in front of her, she kicked off her UGG slippers and worked her toes trying to fight the cramps. It didn't help. They seemed to be spreading.

Lauren's breath was rapid. Panic had overtaken her. Something was very wrong and she needed help. Using hands that had cramped into a claw shape, she raked her numb fingers at the hem of her sweatpants to pull them up. "Please!" Her fingers would not work correctly. She may as well have been using chop sticks.

A pain that felt like her spine was being wrenched from her body brought her now useless hands over her shoulders trying to find the source of the agony. Her eyes and mouth were wide from shock. Nothing could hurt this badly. A crunch she could feel and hear shook her bones. Her spine had pushed away from her body. Her entire back was changing. She screamed until she was out of breath and rolled over onto her side.

Crying hysterically, Lauren crawled a few feet towards the edge of the forest. The underbrush scratched uncomfortably at her her naked thighs. Her voice was gravely and low as she said "help" over and over, dissolving into hysterical sobs each time.

Her yellow tank top was becoming filthy with dirt and her sweatpants and thong had become a fabric prison for her lower legs. She squirmed and reached towards the road. The bones in her legs and arms ached like the growing pains she had felt as a teenager. The forest was dark and she could only feel the changes in her body rather than see them.

The darkness masked the fact that her hands and feet had twisted into canine paws. Her arms had cracked and shortened in length. Lauren knew something was horribly wrong when she tried to pull herself forward and realized the balance on her arms weren't right. It was like she had slept on her arm and awoken to find it numb, except it was all four of her limbs.

Her world had collapsed into pain and confusion. She believed she was dying. Thoughts of her family were cruelly torn away by fresh pains so intense her vision swam. Lauren stopped struggling and resigned herself to what was happening. Let death come. Put an end to this.

Death was not coming for her. Grey fur began to slowly grow from her pores. It matted to her skin with sweat. She managed to pull herself onto all fours as her beautiful female body changed into an animal. Her thighs and calves cracked and shortened. A strong crunch expelled the breath from her lungs as her chest barreled out. Her eyes were watery and expressed fresh panic when she realized she could not catch her breath. She struggled to draw a breath but could not put her hand to her throat. She worked her head and neck trying to clear her airway. Tears streamed down her face as her mouth gaped like a fish out of water. Fresh waves of sweat sprang out over her entire body as she struggled. She realized with disgust that for some reason she had become wet as she tried to breath.

The forest was mocking in its silence. The only sounds were cars passing on the nearby interstate and the crunching of dead leaves and Lauren's changing body as she writhed in desperation.

With a series of muffled pops her neck shortened and she was able to breath again. She gulped air and regretted wishing death a few minutes before. The rush of oxygen seemed to fuel her changes. The fur was growing thicker. A flesh colored tail was slowly pushing its way from the base of her spine. She felt it but couldn't see it. "Oh, God," she thought. "This can't be real."

Lauren collapsed onto her side. Her waist cracked horribly when she hit the ground and collapsed into a thinner shape, erasing her feminine curves. Her thighs had thickened with muscle and were covered in fur. Her sweatpants and thong had become a loose pile around the base of her wolven legs. Thick black claws had grown on all four of her new paws. Her tail bloomed grey fur as it completed its growth and lay limp.

She could smell the damp earth as she laid on her side panting. This was really happening. With sad brown eyes that were slowly turning yellow, she wondered if she would ever change back. The brown hair on her head fell out, replaced with short grey fur, spreading to her neck. Her ears stretched and rang as they moved towards the top of her skull and became thick with fur in the process. "God, this fucking hurts so much. Please let it be over soon." The pleading was in her mind. She could no longer speak.

Her nose became cold and leathery and her entire face sore with pain. A horrific pressure built up in her skull. Flecks of mucus came out of her nostrils as she began to breath hard through her darkening nose. Her jaw was forced shut and into an involuntarily grimace as her face cracked and slowly pushed outward into a muzzle. Lauren did the only thing she could and began to paw frantically at her skull with her front wolf legs. Between breaths, a sound came from her throat like a woman straining from childbirth. The pain was horrendous. Grey fur began to cover the lengthening muzzle. Her back legs scratched at the dirt and her eyes were squeezed shut. Sharp canine teeth grew and filled the gaps in her new gums. The straining noises from her throat grew deeper. The muzzle finished forming. Lauren's consciousness had faded to black as her forehead flattened. The wolf had taken over and worked its new jaws until they felt right. It stood up and worked its body out of the tank top. It sniffed at her clothes, turned and ran into the forest.

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Lauren awoke the next morning shivering in the cold forest. She was nude and her body ached from head to toe. She was dazed and felt like she had been asleep for a month. As she walked through the forest rubbing her arms and legs briskly for warmth, blurred memories of her transformation came bubbling to the surface. Still in shock, she walked in the direction of a distant truck horn. After what seemed like miles, she found the edge of the forest and the interstate beyond. Cars whizzed by, ignorant to her plight. Her first instinct was to run out and wave for help.

Despite the cold and her growing desperation, the sobering reality was that a naked woman found on the side of the interstate would draw attention from the police she would not welcome. Either she was crazy or this was real. Either way, she needed to figure it out on her own. She stayed in the forest and followed the road until saw her car.

It wasn't hard to find where she had changed. Looking around, she knew it had been real. The leaves had been pushed around by her struggle, exposing the bare dirt beneath. She collected her scattered clothing and dressed. Still shaking, Lauren dug her key out of her sweatpants and walked back to her car. A large orange sticker had been placed on the back windshield by the state police warning her that her car would be towed if it wasn't moved in 24 hours.

That was the least of her worries.