Goldengirl

She was cold, wet and crying when she entered the world. She didn’t know what or where she was, or even who. She did know, from somewhere deep down, that she was far smarter than her tiny frame should permit.

She had no idea how she knew, but as she tested the limits of her tiny body she felt a disconnect between mind and flesh. She should have hands, yet clawed digits were at the tips of her already strong arms. She could see pale yellow scales across a long back and whiplike tail. She shouldn't have a tail. She shouldn't look like this…

The first time a man opens her cage, she knows. She doesn't remember how or why, but she knows. She was one of them. And now she was not.

Eating dead rats was hard at first. Then her new body gained a taste for it. She felt herself slip away when the body was excited. Even more so when  they started giving the rats live. And months later they put her in a box. She was carried somewhere that smelt clean and sweet.

The first thing she saw when the box opened itself was sunlight. More than she had seen since… well she couldn't remember but she had seen it at some point. She stayed in the box for two days before she was too hungry. It was several more till she made a kill. Then there was the cycle. Hunt, kill, eat, drink, sleep. Months later she found the box again, she could only fit her head inside. Had she really grown so large?

The snow came, then went. And the flowers bloomed. Smaller prey was no longer enough. She stayed on the move to stay full, and each day was a little harder to do even that.

Then the storm came, and her regular uncomfortable routine was utterly destroyed. A fallen tree sheltered her for a while. She starved in her shelter, cowed by the sights and sounds. The storm had raged near a week when lighting struck nearby, spooking her utterly. The smell of smoke broke her.

She ran blind through the trees, mud and thunder, with no care for where or what may lurk ahead. Her heart thundered in her aching breast, and she felt as though she were a passenger in her own mind as the fear drove her.

One second she was running, there was a flash, then her body collided with another. Both fell over one another, tangled in the mud and scared beyond reason. Each struggled to their feet and turned to face one another. Before either could react a large crack and sickening crunch sounded close by, and together they fled. They eventually found themselves sheltered in the same shallow cave.

The storm passed before the dawn. She could finally see the other being. He was just like her, only larger. She was wary of him, and he of her. Then he spoke. It sounded more like growls and huffs to her ears, but her mind understood perfectly. For the first time someone spoke to her.

She had a name once, she remembers that. She cannot remember what it is. He declares that he shall name her, Goldengirl for her gold and cream hide. She feels it is a bit silly but can think of none better. He calls himself Flex, a name given to him by an old friend.

She stayed with Flex for many moons. Months not moons, she needed to remember that. They wandered, hunt and talked. She grew. When they arrived at the twin lakes she was almost as large as he. Nobody is around, they felt safe and comfortable. They began to play.

It was quiet at first, shoves and splashes in the lake. Then someone got pushed in and it is war. They frolicked in the shallows. Then Flex spotted something. A raptor. It is crouched a short distance away, hidden slightly in the brush. She realised it likely wanted to drink. She began to leave the water, common courtesy and all, when Flex slammed his tail into the water.

A wave crashed into the poor raptor, who screeched. It sounds like a string of curses to her mind. She waited in bated breath for a moment as the raptor glared, then it jumped in the water with a screech of glee. The three play for hours, grateful to finally enjoy something that feels right to their human minds.

She was gleeful one moment, then something deep within her screamed. A shadow in the corner of her eye, the slight tremor of the mud beneath her feet. She turned aside just in time to avoid the charge of a huge predator, not unlike them but vastly larger. She started to run. From behind her comes a scream, squelch and crunch as the raptor perished. Fear drove her, a desperate need to get out of the open. Flex caught up to her and they made eye contact. His eyes widened, and he shoved her aside.

She stumbled right under the toothy maw of a second beast. Another scream and the metallic scent of blood. Flex’s blood. She looked back for a moment. The beast has Flex but he refused to go down easily. She wanted to help, but was no match for these monsters. She keened at Flex, and he shifted his head to look at her. Just a moment, but a moment too long. The beast latched onto his neck. Another crunch and pained scream. Flex went down.

This body couldn’t cry, but the all too human urge remained. She could no nothing and it killed her inside. She turned to flee, both from the threat to herself and the sounds of the monster eating her friend.

She was alive only because of Flex. She would not forget him. She would keep him as a part of herself, the name he had given her. She was Goldengirl.