Posting the first chapter of another story for people's entertainment.

Morph

Changing schools is never fun, especially when you go to a boarding school. I’m just packing the last of my stuff now, and I leave tomorrow. It’s not like its far. My new school is only a few towns away, and I’m only going because I have to. My parents aren’t forcing me; they’re dead. Nothing traumatic happened; my father died of natural causes a few years ago, and so did my mom last year. Our species has a pretty short life span. Some of us are lucky if we make to forty. It’s what we get for the wings, I suppose. I’m not completely sure; we haven’t gotten to that part in health class yet. You’re probably confused about the whole “wings” thing too. See I’m not a human, and like I said earlier, I’m part of a different species all together. I’m not an alien but a Metabbe. Well, actually I’m a chibi, and not the chibies you humans try to draw. We are short and kinda pudgy, but we don’t have the big eyes and cute or depressed expressions you try to draw on our faces to replace our normal facial features. The only reason why I’m a chibi is that I haven’t morphed yet. I know your mind is probably flooding with new information that probably doesn’t make sense at all so I’ll wait on explaining the whole morphing process and stuff. After the morphing process we Metabbes look almost identical to normal humans; well, except for the large wings that come out of our backs.
Before your brain explodes, I’ll get back to what’s happening at the moment. Right now I’m finishing the rest of my packing and my sixteenth Birthday is in two days. Well, actually one because today is pretty much over. I grabbed the last two tops in my section of the closet that I share with my three other roommates. I carried them over to my bunk which had my medium-sized, black suit case on top of it. Just as I was folding the second top, Allyson, who was one of my three roommates burst in through the door.
“Hey what’s up? Still packing?”
I turned and looked at her when I answered “Yup,” and then I went back to folding.
Allyson walked over towards me and peered into the suit case. Allyson was only about two inches taller than me, and had mocha-colored skin. Her eyes were also a deep brown, and she had dark-colored hair that was usually put in a series of small, tight braids. She’s fifteen years old and in two months she’ll be in the same position that I am now.
“You excited about tomorrow?”
“Umm… well… excited is a way to explain it”, was my answer. Then I grabbed two pairs of my jeans from the closet. They were the last of my clothes that I needed to pack. Then I made a deep sigh; I can’t believe this is already happening.
“What’s wrong,” Allyson asked with concern in her voice.
“Hmm” I was trying to ignore her question by pretending I didn’t hear her well and continued folding the pair of jeans in my hands.
Allyson continued to ask “Why do you seem all depressed? What’s wrong?” She wasn’t going to give up until she got her answer. I guess I should just say it now before we start an all-night guessing game.
“I’m just a little nervous that’s all.”
I guess that wasn’t specific enough answer for her because Allyson because she started asking for details. She wasn’t being mean or nosey; she was just worried. We were best friends since we were brought to this place so I wasn’t surprised when she asked, “What are you nervous about?”
I couldn’t lie to her because she was giving me her “concerned eyes” so I told her the truth. “Everything,” and I collapsed on my bed next to my suitcase, which was difficult because it took up about half the bed.
“What, the whole going to a new school and going through the morphing process and stuff,” was her response, and it pretty much hit the nail right on the head.
Going to a new school and leaving my friends behind until they eventually become sixteen is enough to make someone a little nervous, but add in the fact that they have to go through an intense morphing process shortly after arriving to that new school and you have one freaked out kid. See this is mostly where we Metabees and you humans differ, other than the fact that we have wings. When you humans start to become adults, you go through what you call puberty and it lasts for a few years. During those years you go through growth spurts, mood swings, lack of coordination and balance, hormone changes, and embarrassing voice changes. We on the other hand go through that all at once during what we like to call our morphing process. During this process our bodies shut down certain functions like those that are unnecessary in keeping us alive and we form a cocoon to protect our bodies. While we are in that cocoon our bodies change into adult sized using the extra fat stored on our bodies as energy. So see, there is a reason for our pudginess. Think of it as a caterpillar becoming a butterfly if that helps at all. Well, except that we don’t eat leaves, aren’t caterpillars, and our wings aren’t made of a thin cellulose, or whatever butterfly wings are made of. I really need to study this stuff more if I’m going to use it in analogies.
Now back to what’s going on right now, Allyson sat next to me on my bed, which was difficult because there was barely enough room for me to lay there, and said, “Hey we all got to go through it. It will be my turn in less than two month.” Seeing that it wasn’t working that well, Allyson tried a different approach. “Mitch is there waiting for you.”


This automatically sparked my interest. Even if I was a little nervous and slightly confused that will happen after today, the thought of having a hilarious, sweet, and slightly emo guy waiting there for me cheered me up a little and gave me something to look forward to. I would like to say that we were going out or only friends, but sadly, both of those statements would be lies. We aren’t going out. Let’s get that out in the open right now, but saying that I don’t like him that way isn’t exactly telling the truth either.
Allyson determined to get me even happier, and said while putting her hand on my shoulder and gently shaking me to emphasize what she was saying, “Hey, you hate being a chibi… remember. You complain about it constantly. You know, about being trapped here all the time and listening to the few people who are allowed to come within the campus snickering about your size and shape as you walk by them!”
“Thanks for reminding me,” I said as I looked up.
“Yeah…..maybe I took that a little too far. Sorry.”
She thought she had hurt me so it was my turn to comfort her, “It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it. Humans are evil anyways, and slightly self centered and idiotic as well.”
We both laughed at the comment like we always would. It’s not like it’s a false statement or anything. Think about it. Climate change, pollution, and species dominance and over population weren’t really a problem until human settlements began to expand, and they multiplied faster than rabbits. However, we Metabees pretty much follow the human lifestyle so I guess we can’t give you all of the credit for destroying the planet, but we do make a few more eco-friendly choices than you do. We have our wings when we get older so we don’t bother relying on cars to travel everywhere. In fact, most of us are kind of uneasy about cars. To us they seem more like steel, metal death traps that spew out noxious fumes.
That’s when Kayla walked in, and there goes the happy mood. The second she burst in the door and looked at us laughing uncontrollably, the laughter stopped completely.
“What’s funny, guys,” she looked at both of us with inquisitive eyes.
Kayla isn’t mean or anything; she is just kind of spoiled and nosey. It also doesn’t help that she thinks we are all best friends with her even though we are just roommates. I have no problems with her really. It’s Allyson who really has the issues with her. Those two are usually at each other’s throats at least two times a day. Our fourth roommate is usually the one that gets stuck breaking up the fights. Her name is Vanessa. Sadly, she turns sixteen before both of those two so for over a month they are going to be stuck here all alone with each other and probably killing each other or tearing themselves in half. I bet Allyson wins. I can’t see Kayla winning a fight that actually involves some kind of physical contact. She would be dead in seconds. Even against me she would lose, and with me being one of the smallest and weakest here; that’s a statement.
“Nothing that matters to you,” Allyson snapped.
Kayla must have been tired or something because she didn’t even come up with some kind of comeback that usually sparks an argument. Instead she ignored the comment and walked over to her bed on the other end of the room. Yeah, we don’t have bunk beds in our dorm rooms and the rooms themselves are actually decent sized here unlike most dorm rooms that humans stay in when they go to universities. They figure that because they trap us all in this place that we are going to all need our own space because we are going to be spending a lot of time here. It makes sense, and I don’t have to worry about banging by head when I wake up or forgetting that I’m on the second bunk and fall off and onto the floor in the morning. Kayla dove onto her bed and propped up her pillow against the backboard of the bed. Then she leaned up against it and turned her head towards me.
“You ready for tomorrow?”
By that time I had gone back to packing and was folding a pair of jeans that I had just got out from the closet, “Not really.”
“Come on you’ll be fine. It’s just the morph. It can’t be that bad.”
“Yup,” when it’s her turn to go through the morph, she can go tell herself that because it’s not working for me at all. Then she tried to play the card that I guess everyone was going to use to cheer me up.
“I bet Mitch is waiting for you, and he’s heartbroken without you there” she said with a sly smile. “You know you like him and don’t want to keep him waiting.”
I’ve been talking about the guy non-stop for a month so there is no way that I don’t like him. I’ve been obsessive about him and I bet I’ve been pissing off all of my friends and roommates with all of my obsessive blabbering over him. Even Kayla probably gets annoyed by it eventually. I have to admit it. When I’m obsessed over somebody like Mitch, I never shut up.
Allyson then attempted to out-do Kayla’s response by saying “Kristie is there too. We all haven’t seen her in months.”
Sadly it was true. Our roommate before Kayla was Kristie. Kristie was all alone in her room so when Kristie left ours, Kayla moved in. She’s close with the woman who runs the housing for the dorms so all she needed to do is ask. Kristie and I had been friends here for years and almost as long as me and Allyson had been friends. I can’t believe I’ve forgot about her. I think Mitch is beginning to cloud my mind. Ever since we met each other in that “Morphing Preparedness” class, I haven’t been able to think about much besides him. Then when I do get my thoughts straight, my mind will suddenly go on random tangents about him, like right now. I might want to explain that class too because everyone has to take for a month before their morph. It’s a class that goes over the basics of the morph, what will happen during the morph, and anything that may cause complications during it. I finished my last class yesterday, and because Mitch had already finished his last class the day before, I was forced to actually pay attention. All I learned is that I don’t want to be alone when I drop to the ground and form a cocoon and that having a cell phone on you during the morph can cause some serious problems.
Kayla was the one who ended my mind babble, “Are you gonna ask him out?”
Her question caught me completely off guard, and at first I didn’t even know how to respond to it.
She repeated herself slowly as if she was talking to someone mentally retarded, “Are you gonna ask out Mitch?”
“Umm… maybe”, was the only answer I could give her. There is too much going through my mind right now to even think about that, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought of it. I’m too nervous to ask him out; I’d die in the process. I’m hoping he asks me out.
“I don’t know how you can think of guys just before you both morph. It’s too much stress, and who knows what he will look like when he morphs.”
What she said sounded kind of mean but it is true. Mitch might be short, pale, and a little thin compared to most chibies but who knows what he’ll look like afterwards. I’m short too and about the width of most chibies but I’m not sure what I will look like either. Nobody knows what they will look like after they morph.
When Vanessa walked in she looked tired and stressed out, she threw her bag onto her bed and quickly joined it. Vanessa comes from an Asian background even though her name suggests otherwise. She is slightly taller than me, even though I’m beginning to think everyone is, and she is a little pudgier than me as well, but that means nothing until we become adults.
“Ugh! I hate that stupid morphing class! It’s so boring,” Vanessa shouted when she landed on her bed.
“Maybe you should find a cute guy in your class to adore, like Amy,” Allyson said as joke to lift all of our spirits. I immediately blushed.
Then, Vanessa suddenly jumped off her bed and shouted, Crap, I forgot my notebook in history class,” then she ran out the door with her mane of dark hair following her.
It was only 8 o’clock but the stress of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow were getting to me. I quickly changed into my pajama pants and baggy T-shirt and dove back into my bed.
“Well, I’m done packing. Good night,” I said before I pulled the covers around myself and passed out.

Hey, Lunar! ^^ Phew, I finished reading through the whole thread. xD You've got some interesting stories. The descriptions were a bit confusing in some of the Ringmaster sections, though. Mostly because you forgot periods in some parts, I think.

Your Morph story seems interesting, but are you going to stick with the story? What will happen in it rather than it just being a high school drama? Also, the story with the bat and hedgehog. What's going on with that one?

Ehehe, well, you did a good job of answering all the questions. =3 Cool! Now more questions! 8D I'm gonna be leaving on a four-week vacation tomorrow, so will there be more Morph chapters up by the time I get back? So, do you have an end in mind for both of the stories? This is just me, but I have to start thinking about how it ends, or else I get stuck at whatever point and leave the story to rot. That's the absolute worst form of writer's block, and is more often than not permanent. v__v

Well, I'll be looking forward to more chapters from you! You've got some interesting ideas. While I know of plenty "winged people" stories, yours is the first I've read that takes the "butterfly" analogy. :D