It weren't no small feat for me to walk into that house.

It was smack in the midst of high waters and scaled backs of what I reckoned were gators and I didn't think I could handle it. I was ready to turn back right there when she looked back at me and smiled and said I would be alright. I hesitated, but followed after a minute of debatin' with myself. Did I really wanna see this cat talk again at the price of possibly getting swallowed up by some big reptile?

The gators watched us as we padded across a thin patch of land. Big yellow eyes followed our every step, and every minute or so they would blink and sink back into the water. My heart raced with each pair that resurfaced and followed, followed, followed us to that big, high house on stilts.

Rivka didn't seem too fazed by them. I swore I caught her tossing meat out to one, big jaws snapping the tiny morsel up lightning fast. The water rippled around it as it sunk back into the water, lurking about as we tiptoed over to her home.

The steps were rickety and broken, old and crumbling. But they held out weight. I thought I'd fall through and be lunch for one of them watching gators but it didn't happen. I expected the same of the porch, all splintered wood and chipped paint, and the result was much the same. I wondered how Rivka could live in such a place, surrounded by predators in the dead of nowhere.

When she opened the door, I expected to see the house inside looking just as bad the outside but that was not what I got when I stepped through.

It was something out of one of Mama's catalogue books. The great swinging chandler greeted us from above, candles flickering to life. The furniture that welcome us was a small chair and a stool, a several small tables stationed in the open room. I blinked, and as if the one action breathed life into the room, they started moving about.

Rivka tossed the bag that had dangled over her shoulder onto one of the tables and the pawed thing scurried off dump it somewhere. I daren't move a muscle, else I'd be swept away. The chair shuffled over to her, a big lumbering thing that she dropped into. She disappeared in a flurry of fabrics as her sleek little black cat landed on the floor boards.

Eyes gleaming, the feline watched me for a moment before ambling down a hall. It paused to look back at me, as if to check if I was following it. Then I realized that was what it wanted, and I followed it absent my host who seemed to have been swallowed up by furniture. Maybe I weren't too smart for following an animal around an unknown house.

A few steps in and the floor was caving in. I hardly touched the darn floorboard before it went crack and I thought I'd fall right in. I knew there was only water waiting for me, and in it—hungry looking gators. All this in the span of a second, but it never happened. Like everything else in the house, the floors seemed to rearrange themselves. Brows furrowed, I watched them shift around with each step. How'd no one get dizzy with all this moving about?

I was finding it hard to focus on one thing, but that was a danger in itself. Dodging moving bookcases and tables carting things about, keeping up with the cat was like some kind of test. That sleek like thing was just a black speck by the time I had cleared all the moving furniture in the obstacle course.

"Can't you slow down jus' a bit," was the plea I made multiple times, to no avail. Every time I said it, he just looked back at me then kept moving.

When it seemed like he'd reached the place he wanted me to see, the cat lay down. More like, hunched over slightly and bowed his head down to something. I didn't know what it was, not even when I got close enough to see the surroundings. I was too occupied by the fact that he was shedding.

Little hairs flaked off at first, one or two at a time. Then they started coming out faster, and faster, and faster, 'til there wasn't any hair left. He got to wriggling and squirming, shaking himself out like he was checking for more hair. But he wasn't; instead, he was growing in size. Something like bones snapping sounded, filling the air. I flinched with each new crack, like it were my own body being ground up. He leaned back on his haunches, standing upright.

The first thing that struck me was his face. It wasn't that of a cat anymore, but a boy. Maybe even the same age as me. He turned an arrogant sneer my way before doubling over in pain as his tail disappeared into his body. Lithe muscle and the definite form of a male human stood in it's much taller glory before me.

I was too scared to move, let alone speak. What exactly had I gotten myself into?

He slid large brown hands over his scalp, and hair—soft looking and curly—sprouted up. His eyes didn't change, which made the whole thing that much more real, and when he spoke I knew that I wasn't just going crazy.

"Bet you ain't never seen nothing like that before, li'l girl," he chirped, voice velvety smooth and flashing a set of very human teeth. Well, minus those large canines.

My words came out jumbled, and not much like words, as I found my line of sight to be aligned more with his chest than with his eyes. He leaned in a moment, bringing over eyes level and stared at me for a moment.

"My eyes are right here," he stated.

"I know," I retorted, " 'm just tryin' understand wha's happenin' here."

He'd opened his mouth to speak when Rivka's voice cut in: "Boy, if you don't put on some clothes!"

Why, that was right. This strange man that had turned into a human from a cat was buck-nude in front of me. This day had been on to a right strange start, but this was just getting borderline unbelievable.

"What kind of trick was that," I asked numbly.

"Ain't no trick," he replied simply.

"Yes, it is. Can't be no way you coulda just up and become a person. Where'd the cat go?"

"You mean me."

"No, I mean that cat." I turned about myself, patting my hands on my knees the way I'd seen them ladies on the television do. "Here, kitty-kitty. Where you at, li'l pussycat?"

The man laughed, a rolling rumble coming up his throat. His head cocked to the side, like the way you see cats do, and he stared at me some more. I wasn't much liking all this staring, and instinct forced me to look down. Which wasn't much better.

Now, I ain't never seen a man's business before, so I couldn't be the judge of what was good or what was not. Wide-eyed and disturbed, my eyes shot right back up. Too fast, too fast because I was getting dizzy and everything was looking weirder than it had been before.

"Like what you see," was the last thing I heard.

// okay, so the least he could have done was give her a heads up, right? you don't just shape-shift in front of random people, dude. anywho, here is the second chapter that I hadn't been able to write last week. I hope it doesn't suck too bad. many thanks for getting this story close to 1k! really appreciate y'all ^-^ cheers, rem.