SHAPESHIFTERS
Part 3

The sound of the night beast, became a friend to Marco who sat relaxing on his porch.

All the homework other than renovating, which he usually had to do, was done.

Dressed in a thick jacket and a cup of coffee, Marco looked at the fireflies flying in groups, on top of his corn crop.

Marco has never tried to change shape into a small animal.

The long-tailed white rat, was the smallest animal he had ever imitated.

A little worry, often appears when he wants to change shape into a small animal.

The worst shadow, is in case he gets eaten by other predatory animals.

Marco laughed to himself, imagining that when he turned into an insect, a frog swallowed him.

About what's going to happen?

Is it possible that he will die immediately?

Or maybe he still had time to turn back into a human being, and blow up the stomach of a frog that devoured him?

Marco should not try anything, which is risky, and which is likely to happen badly.

A raccoon was seen climbing over the fence of his house, and it was as if he was talking to Marco.

Although Marco can mimic the animals' shapes and sounds, Marco cannot yet understand what the animals are telling him.

All the voices of the animals, just like an irregular vocabulary, and confused his mind, while forcing to understand what they were saying.

As it is today, when Marco changes shape into a raccoon, as it is fenced in his house, and listens carefully to what the raccoon is saying.

"You"

"Corn"

"requesting"

"My kids"

"Effused"

"I"

And there were many more words, which the raccoon spoke at this time.

The animal's words sounded clear, but due to the chaotic arrangement of words in the sentence, Marco finally could not understand them.

With raccoon eyes sharp at night, Marco looked at all the areas around him, which his gaze reached.

After making sure that he was alone, in a hurry, Marco returned to his human form.

Although the location between the houses is far apart, but still does not rule out the possibility, just in case someone sees a change in the shape of Marco, and it will be a big problem for him later.

The cold temperature outside, pierced to the bones of Marco, who when he returned to being human, always in a state of complete nakedness.

His clothes, which had fallen on the floor, were grabbed by both hands, and quickly put on the clothes back.

While wearing his clothes, Marco's eyes remained busy looking over and over.

It's a stupid mistake!

Tonight, Marco turns into a raccoon, not because he did it on purpose.

Though, Marco has tried hard to learn to control his mind, but there must be - there is only time, he will be immersed in thoughts about the animal in front of him, then change shape like that animal.

Fluid from a coffee cup that also fell on the floor, scattering wet wooden floors in his house.

If Marco does not immediately clean it, it will be an unpleasant stain to look at.

With a mop, a brush and a bucket of soapy water that Marco took from inside the house, Marco cleaned up the traces of coffee spills that spilled everywhere, splashing even to the walls of his house.

Damnit damnit!

Fuckin' shit!

Or the stupid Marco?

At such a cold temperature, Marco had to wet his hands with cold water, absolutely torturous.

Both of his palms seemed to be pierced by thousands of needles that stuck, and penetrated into the back of his hand.

Cramping and pain, felt on both arms.

Marco looked in all directions at his house, and it seemed that all the black marks of the coffee had disappeared cleanly washed.

Instead, Marco warmed his hands in front of the fireplace, and it was enough for him to sit for a long time outside.

Marco locked the door of the house, then sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace, sticking his hands close to the burning fire.

Fortunately, the incident only happened at his home.

Imagining that he changed shape among the crowd, could make Marco's knees tremble violently.

Hopefully according to Marco's estimation, that no one saw him just now.

Tonight, Marco chose to sleep by the fireplace, instead of going to bed in his cold room.

Loaded in a thin mattress, complete with pillows and a thick blanket, and the glimmering sound of burning wood in the fireplace, Marco slept soundly until morning.

As usual, every time Marco woke up in the morning, his entire limb must have felt as if it was crumbling.

Although Marco knows, if he sleeps soundly all night, but every morning the situation is always the same.

The same dream is always present every night, since the first change of form occurred, until now.

A magnificent building that looks like a castle or an old church, is between a large tree trunk that is lush and shady.

At first glance, Marco saw in his dream, the place was like being in the middle of a wilderness, which had never been touched by humans.

Heart-wrenching cries echoed from inside the building, and penetrated outwards.

There was not a single existence of something human, which Marco could see, in the place in his dream.

It was really just the sound of a sharp shrill sadness screeching, and deafeningly breaking the silence without being, that Marco could realize.

The dream felt very real, as if it had indeed been seen consciously, with his own eyes.

However, every time Marco walked and tried to enter the building, it never worked, because Marco must have woken up from his sleep, and in the real world, it must have been morning.

The dream repeats itself every night, and that's all Marco knows, without being able to figure out more about what's going on, or who's in the building.

Marco stretched his body, before he tidied up the mat and sleeping utensils that were still in disarray on the floor.

Feeding livestock, picking chicken eggs, and milking cows, has become a routine in his daily life every morning.

The cornfield had just flowered, and it still took a few more months, until Marco would be busy to harvest the fruit.

Three buckets of fresh milk are sterilized, then put into clean glass bottles, with wooden caps.

His milk began to decline, because his cows were getting old.

Livestock trading week, which is usually held on Sunday, will be the time for Marco to sell his cows, and buy young cows in his stead.

Dozens of eggs have been neatly arranged in a wooden box with straw, and Marco has been put in the back of his car.

A bottle of milk was put in the refrigerator, left to himself, and the others were put in his car, along with the eggs.

Without the need for breakfast, Marco then brought his livestock to the grocery store provider of fresh groceries for sale.

The price of fresh food is quite high in the market, making Marco get money which is also quite a lot, even though only selling eggs and milk.

Not much if compared to usual, the reduced number of milk bottles, greatly affect the sales results of Marco.

After selling the milk and eggs, Marco then cooked a little corn milled mixed with milk, which he made soup, which he ate along with hard bread, and egg omelets, accompanied by a cup of coffee.

The breakfast of misfortune, which was more than enough for him, was to fill his energy at that moment.