Perception
Perception
by Tseko
For Tony Tabilla, life is good. He is young, at the age of 21 years. He makes a decent living working security at the local library, plus he has all the books that he can read; not that he liked to read, just that working nights at a place nobody would even bother to rob is expectedly, quite dull. Nevertheless, he has taken reading as a way to pass time while on duty. In the two years since he first started patrolling the library's silent halls, he had already gone through the entire children's section and was gradually making his way through the young adult collection.
He lives in a modest apartment building, a mere block away from the library, in a quiet part of the city. This particular part of town, has an unusually disproportionate ratio of coffee stores and bakeries as compared to other sections of town, most especially the noisy part of town, which enjoys no such luxuries as blended coffees and freshly baked bread. Unsurprisingly, the noisy part of town enjoys a disproportionate ratio of establishments that provide alcoholic beverages and nighttime entertainment.
The nature of his work being at night, evening entertainment isn't a promising option to otherwise pursue.
Tony spends his afternoons with his guitar, after a full morning's rest, making rounds at the neighborhood cafes, playing for the local patrons; busking, as it is called.
For the most part, Tony has no greater aim for his life other than living happily, a mindset he decided to adopt when he determined that going for greatness wasn't well worth the effort; a conclusion he came to about seven years prior, after his indirect involvement in an incident the local high school now embarrassed to bring up. For Tony, being happy was all he wanted, and he has since lived this creed ever since. The only goal he set for himself, is to put together enough money to move to tropical country, preferably near a beach, where he can spend his days just enjoying the scenery and wearing aloha shirts.
Being just three years out of high school, he was in no real rush to meet his goal, as he still had plenty of life yet to live. So while his collegiate counterparts are knee-deep in debt, hoping to make it big in the near future, he opted to not pursue a degree and instead adopt a different kind of lifestyle, working nights at library security and performing for hip, coffee-sipping bohemians. It was a routine he liked, and generally followed on a daily basis. One particular day however, as he later would find, would change everything he lived for completely.
It started as a normal day for Tony, who had just awoken from his morning respite after coming home just before dawn. He put himself together a simple brunch, like he usually does, and is out with his guitar soon thereafter.
First stop for Tony was the cafe across the street. This cozy little coffee hut, displays no sign on the storefront other than a picture of a cup of coffee on the shop window. Honestly, with coffee like they make, who needs a sign? The inside of this little nook was simple, cozy, and homely. Simple teak wood panels adorned the walls, giving the place an almost rustic, burnt orange feel. The owners believed that only coffee mattered in the coffee business, not sleek modern furniture, nor fancy Italian names for a plain cup'pa joe.
For Tony however, he liked going to this cafe mainly because of Carol, the cute barista working the afternoon shift. She was about three years older than he was, and was studying to become a journalist. He thought of Carol as something of a good luck charm. When he first started out performing, Carol was always listening and cheering him on. In the two years since he first started, they have built something of a rapport and the two regularly looked forward to seeing each other.
Today though, the coffee shop was empty, not for any particular reason other than all the patrons coincidentally having other things that require their attention.
"Hey Tony! Having the usual today?" Carol said as Tony walked in with guitar in tow.
"Sounds good to me." Tony said as he took a seat by the window and set his guitar down, like he normally does when there is no crowd.
"Black with three sugars it is." Carol said as she began to pour the rich, dark brew into a cup and mixed in three cubes of sugar.
Carol brings the coffee over and sets it down in front of Tony, who just sat there looking at her.
"Coffee's on me today." she said, smiling.
She sits down on the seat across him and says, "You know, I hear from the regulars that there's a market in Chatham Park today. Maybe you wanna go check the place out?"
"Nah," Tony said, "I don't really want to buy anything today. I'll go with you though if you wanna. I figure maybe a change of pace would do me some good today."
"I'll take you up on that," she said cheerily, "I'll get Suzie to cover my shift and I'll meet you outside after I change."
"I'll stow your guitar in the back room so you don't have to carry it today." she added, picking up Tony's guitar.
"Thanks, I'll meet you outside." Was all Tony could say as Carol went off with his guitar.
"Nicely played." Tony thought as he went about sipping his coffee, thinking maybe that might've been what she wanted from the start. "Whatever though, a change of pace feels like the right thing to do today."
He soon finished up his coffee and proceeded to wait for her outside. Soon enough, she was out of her uniform and they were already walking to the park.
"It feels nice to get out once in a while, don't you think so?" she said to Tony as they made their way down the block.
"I couldn't ask for anything more." he said to her.
They continued making small talk as they approached the Chatham Park, just behind the library. It wasn't a very big park, probably about the size of half a football field, all around the park walls were trees and flowering bushes and there was a pretty, round fountain in the middle of the whole place, where kids can be seen playing with toy boats.
The market today, was circled around the fountain, where the vendors had set up small tent booths with cumbersome folding tables under the shade with all kinds of meaningless junk laid out.
None of them interested Tony at all, he had no need for bootleg DVDs, or silly trinkets, or that purse Carol was so checking out.
No, instead he sat at the edge of the fountain, thinking about what a missed opportunity it was that he didn't bring his guitar for a quick park performance.
While Carol was still checking out the merchandise, he let his mind wander for a bit, fantasizing about his big goal to move to the beachside, in some island in the tropics, he could put up a bar probably, where he could spend his days serving beer and sharing stories and surfing the waves with travelers and locals alike. He was just beginning to think about taking Carol along with him on his great adventure when he hears someone calling out.
"Pssst! Hey! You there! Over here!" the old man called.
Snapping out of his daydream, Tony looked over to see a man in the tent in front of him, waving his hand, motioning for him to get closer. The sign outside the tent read "Dante's Handicrafts" all around the smallish tent were wood-carved trinkets.
Tony thought about shaking his head at the vendor and getting back to his daydreaming. After all, he didn't come to buy anything though. These trinkets were probably just a silly waste of money. In the end though, he thought maybe a quick look around would satisfy the man and leave him be, at least for a moment longer.
"Come, come." the old man, presumably Dante, said to him as he came closer. "Come see my many things." The foreign-looking vendor put his arm around Tony, as if shoving him into the already tiny space, showing him the various goods he was offering. "I make everything myself", the man said to him, "Make only from best Narra wood."
All around the tent, the man had statues and woodcarvings that were probably Polynesian in style, like tikis. From the frame of the tent hung stings of wooden beads, making a curtain on the sides of the tent. Behind the tent Tony sees larger-than-life wood carvings of spoons and forks. Whatever those were used for, he'll never know.
He was just about finished looking around when something caught his eye. Tucked away at one end of the store, were tiny wooden animal figurines, no bigger than a baseball. All sorts of hand-carved animals were laid out. He leaned forward for a closer look, the detail on the carvings were impressive to say the least. The lines were well-defined, and the anatomy was spot-on, he could even see the eyes on these things. He picked one up to get a closer look.
"Do you like boss?" the man asked him. "I sell three for five dollar."
"I can't, really, I'm just admirin-" Tony said.
"Ok, I give one extra, four for five dollar." the man continued, going on about the fine qualities of the figurines.
At this point though, Tony's mind was debating "At that price, who could argue? The workmanship is excellent. But I really don't have any use for these."
Eventually though, he felt compelled to at least part with a couple of dollars, as a donation for really pretty work, and offered to take the first deal at three for a fiver. After all, he didn't have much use for these things. He chose the first three figurines that caught his eye, not really being picky, and hopefully, leave the rest for someone who could appreciate these things more. The vendor thanked him and wrapped up the figures in brown paper and handed him the purchase in a plastic bag.
He thought about sending one or two to his old school friends who have since left town for college.
The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur, Carol and Tony explored the market and went over every stall, they sat around the park and had even more small talk over rocky road ice cream, and as soon as it was over, he walked Carol back to the cafe, picked up his guitar, and headed back home to prepare for his shift. Incidentally, Carol did indeed buy that cute baby blue purse hand-painted daisies. It had the cutest little bee on it too.
He entered his apartment and set the guitar down beside the recliner, where he always puts it. He set the bag with the figurines down on top of the dresser and unwrapped one. It was a tiger. He held it in his hand for a few moments, feeling the details of the wood carving, the grooves along the body of the tiger that portrayed its stripes, the arched shoulders, that made the tiger look like it was stalking prey. It really was a pretty piece. Too bad he still thought that it was an unnecessary purchase. He set the tiger down next to his clock on the night stand and went off to make dinner before leaving for work.
He boiled some pasta and opened a can of tomato sauce. He dumped the sauce into a saucepan and threw in small cut chunks of SPAM into it, 'coz a man has to have his meat.
He quickly finished up his dinner and cleaned up. He then took a quick shower, changed into his work uniform and was out the door. He picked up some coffee to go from the cafe across the street. Susan was on duty, and business seems to have picked up. He could see a few regular faces in there. He wondered where everyone was off to today.
Nothing unusual happened that night at work. He quietly made his rounds, and upon finishing, he picked up the book he was reading last and sat down at the librarian's desk to read. Before long, it was time to make his second and third round. He couldn't quite finish the book yet, and he set it back into the shelf where he hid the books he was reading, fully intending finish it tomorrow night and putting it back where he found it.
He made his last round for the night and waited for the next guard on duty before he leaves his post.
Soon enough, the next guard on duty checked in and he was out the door just before dawn. He walked back to his apartment, changed out of his clothes, and was asleep the instant he hit the bed.
That night, as he slept, Tony had a very vivid dream. He was walking around in the rainforest, barefooted, he was looking for his shoes, which unfortunately, are nowhere to be found. He climbed a tree for a better view, maybe the shoes were tied up in the branches.
Nothing.
He searched and searched, but it was nowhere to be found. He gave up looking and thought to enjoy himself while he was there. He spotted a big, tall tree in the middle of a small clearing and climbed up halfway. He sat in the branches and decided to take it easy. He reached behind his back and pulled out a banana. He was hungry after all. He ate it and whiled away his time singing sweet nothings in the air.
Out of nowhere, he saw something moving in the shadows under the canopy below. He felt an uneasy silence fall descend the rainforest. He tried getting a better look at the tall grass behind the trees below. What he saw scared him. It wasn't easy to make out, but the stripes were unmistakable. There was a tiger prowling the rainforest below. He could hear his heart beating faster and faster.
The tiger, aware that it had been spotted, moved out from under the shadows and into the clearing ahead, its eyes fixed at the man on the branches above.
Tony feared for his life as the tiger slowly made its way towards the tree. The tiger put its front paws on the trunk and stood on its hind legs, as if trying to shake the man loose, keeping its focus on the man.
Suddenly, he felt the tree shake as the tiger put its weight on the trunk, its limbs wrapped around the trunk, its legs dashing up the trunk.
At that moment, just before the tiger was in arm's reach, Tony was scared awake, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Not how I wanted to start my day." Tony thought to himself as he reached for the clock on the night stand. Without looking, he felt the clock was covered in some fine powder, he glanced at it and found that the spot where he set the figurine the day before was now covered in sawdust, as if the thing just fell apart during the night and left its remains for him to see. "Was it like that before I went to bed?" he wondered. He was so tired, he didn't even notice.
"Whatever," was all he could think of as he set about cleaning up the sawdust.
It was just a few minutes past noon when he awoke, "Plenty of time to get ready and clean up." he thought. After cleaning up and enjoying a hearty brunch of bacon, eggs, and hash browns , he was soon back on his routine, already forgetting about the dream that startled him awake just minutes earlier; sadly, this is an condition shared by many.
Finishing up breakfast, he set the dishes in the sink to wash them after dinner, as he prefers to do the dishes just once a day. He picked up his guitar and was already out the door, heading for the cafe across the street.
Now, it didn't happen very often, but just as yesterday, the cafe wasn't serving any patrons at that particular moment in time. Odd. The coffee-sipping yuppies who normally frequent the coffee house are out and about on their own business.
Like usual though, Carol was at the bar, smiling sweetly as Tony entered the establishment.
"Having the usual today Tony?" she asked like she usually does.
Tony just nodded and set down his guitar and sat by the window like he always does. Today though, he just looked out the window, trying to get his mind around the events earlier that day.
"You okay, hun?" Carol said as she sat down with the coffee, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Nah, its just been a weird morning." Tony said, taking a sip of the dark roast.
"Well, don't let that get you down." Carol replied. "Coffee's on me today, how about that?"
"You're too kind." Tony said, smiling back at Carol.
The two continued their little chat by the big glass window when Tony saw something coming closer from down the street.
"It can't be.. it couldn't be..." he thought to himself as the familiar black and orange stripes came closer and closer into view.
"Look! Look over there!" he called out to Carol, pointing outside the glass window beside her.
Carol turned and look, unfazed by the sight.
"What are you so anxious about? There's nothing there." she said.
"But it's right over there!" he insisted, pointing madly at the striped creature ahead as it inched ever closer.
"Oh relax will you?" Carol tried to reassure him. From her perspective, there truly wasn't anything there. The locals sitting around outside didn't seem to notice anything unusual either.
"I mean it, Carol. " Tony exclaimed, dumbfounded that Carol couldn't see the feral animal drawing nearer and nearer.
"You sure you're feelin' alright Tony?" Carol asked, putting her hand over his forehead, worried that Tony might be delusional. "Maybe you better get some rest. Take the day off."
The warmth of Carol's palm against his forehead seemed to calm him down.
Tony turned away from the window, hoping maybe that'll make the sight go away, still tense from knowing that a wild animal was making it way toward them. However, if Carol wasn't seeing things, there had to be something wrong with his head. His mind was obviously playing tricks on him. It felt strange to him, because he was used to being the one playing tricks on others.
Looking away did sort of ease the tension though.. but he can't shake the feeling that it might still be there.
Failing to resist the urge not to look back, like some curious alley cat, Tony looked anyway. This time, it was what he didn't see that surprised him; the tiger had surprisingly vanished.
Tony quickly ran outside and looked around.
Nothing. Not a trace.
"What the hell." he muttered to himself, visibly confused. He knew for sure that there really was a tiger here only moments ago. But everyone else outside didn't seem to think so. Did that mean he was imagining things? Its presence felt too real to have been imaginary.
Carol followed him outside, and tried to calm him down.
"You must be tired, I'm positive you were just seeing things. Now, I want you to go back home, get some rest, and I'll bring you over some chicken soup after work. How does that sound?"
She walked Tony across the street and saw him off at the door.
"Carol is right." Tony thought to himself as he opened the door to his apartment, reassuring himself that this was nothing to get worked up about.
He entered the modest abode, plopped himself down on his recliner and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to process the events of his crazy day, which, unfortunately, had barely even started as he had just left for the coffee store just half an hour ago.
In the darkness of his own mind, he thought about the tiger figurine. It was strange how one seemingly innocent trinket had managed to muck up his day. It all started with that tiny trinket, he concluded. He made a mental note to revisit the old man Dante in the market later to straighten things out.
He thought about the tiger in his dreams. The one that tried to eat him.
Hold on.
Did it really try to eat him? He doesn't remember the dream well enough. He did feel threatened, scared to death even, but did the beast show any aggression? Earlier on the street, wasn't it the same tiger? He couldn't tell. It probably was. He remembered it moving closer and closer, but did it really want to attack? If it was, why not the other unsuspecting people on the street?
It wants him? For what? Dinner?
.....
"I need a nap." Tony thought to himself. "On the bed would be nice.."
He opened his eyes to get up, but was startled by what he saw.
It was the tiger. Just a little over 3 yards away from him.
Right in front of him was the same tiger, sitting on its haunches, its eyes trained on him.
He panicked, he couldn't feel his limbs.
He wanted to run out of the apartment, every thought inside him wanted to run.
He tried to stand up, maybe see if he can get a running start.
But the tiger growled at him, fangs bared, very sharp-looking fangs.
He sat back down, and the tiger was again calm.
Was it a stalemate? He was caught unawares. He couldn't make any move.
"I might be able to make a run for it." he thought, looking out at the fire escape in the next room.
"But if it wanted to attack, couldn't it have done so already?" said the voice of reason in his panicking head.
"Maybe..." he thought, calming himself down a smidge. He closed his eyes.
"Deep breaths." he repeated to himself.
"That kind of worked..," calming down enough to be rational.
He opened his eyes again.
The tiger was still there.
"If it doesn't want to attack me... what else could it want?"
He looked the tiger in the eyes. It had deep green emerald eyes.
They might have just shared a moment. Maybe.
The tiger got up and moved closer.
The tiger was just inches from his face.
Feeling the panic well up inside him again, he forced himself to stay calm. If it wanted to harm him, it would have done so already.
Tony reached out his hand.
He put his hand on the tiger's muzzle. His hand went right through it.
"A ghost? That explains a few things."
A part of him thought that if the beast didn't want to hurt him then, maybe it wanted to now. If it was a ghost though, it can't hurt him now. He felt relived somewhat.
Before he could think anymore though, the tiger moved even closer until it seemed like it went right through him.
And then he blacked out.
Again he was back in the rainforest, sitting under the huge tree where the tiger and he first met. Again, he seemed to have lost his shoes. For that matter, he seemed to have lost all his clothes. He wanted to feel ashamed, but he didn't seem to be aware of what to be ashamed of.
This time, the tiger was with him, sitting on all fours beside him. He petted the tiger. It wasn't a ghost anymore. He felt its orange and black striped fur, moving his hand back and forth the tigers back. It felt strange to him, it felt both smooth and coarse. The feeling of being with the tiger though, now sort of excited him. It was as if all his fears just melted away, leaving a bold, primal feeling. Tony felt empowered! He felt like nothing could stop him. Except maybe a tiger.
He let his arm rest on the tiger's back, and leaned back on the tree. He wanted to take in the experience fully. He looked up at the canopy high above him, and put his hands behind his head.
He looked down again and found that the tiger pulled another disappearing act.
Just like that, it was gone like the wind.
He put his arms down again on his lap and was surprised by what he saw.
Maybe the tiger was shedding, but it seemed to have left tufts of fur on the back of his hand.
Tony tried shaking it away but the fur didn't come off. He pulled on the fur. It seems the fur is stuck on his hand. Not only that, it seemed to be spreading. Orange and black striped fur was growing out of his skin in a slow cascade upwards toward his torso.
Underneath the thick fur that now covered his hand, he could feel something changing. His palm was getting heavier, thicker maybe. He turned his hand up and saw that he now had a paw as claws slowly made their way out of his fingers. A transforming arm, under normal circumstances, was obviously worth panicking over. However, that thought never crossed Tony's mind. On the contrary, he felt emboldened.
Powerful.
The growing mass of fur had now reached his shoulder and spread in all directions across his back and torso, his physique changing wherever the fur touched. The spreading fur reached up to his face and suddenly, his jaw was pushing itself away from his skull. He was growing a muzzle. His ears moved up the side of his head and rounded themselves out and were covered in black fur on the outside. His hearing popped and suddenly, he could hear the entire rainforest. Every trickling stream, every chirping bird. He felt a tickle on the sides of his muzzle, new whiskers were growing out of it.
His eyelids felt heavy, he blinked. His vision had gotten sharper, more vivid. Although he couldn't see it, his eyes had turned emerald green as well.
The fur was spreading down to his other arm and past his waist was towards his legs. The fur from his chin area down to his vital regions had grown white. It felt softer compared to the orange and black everywhere else.
Where the fur had met the end of his spine, he could feel the beginnings of a tail poking out, growing longer as the fur spread down his now changing legs. Where the fur touched his feet, it felt like his feet were growing longer. The skin had gotten thicker down on latter half of his feet, becoming new foot pads as the claws started coming out of his toes.
He stood up on his new digitigrade feet. He instinctively followed the sound of the river. He was wobbly at first, but he quickly got used to it and was immediately zipping through the rainforest, trying out his new feet.
He had grown taller, leaner, slightly muscular. He felt agile and powerful. It was incomparable to anything he had ever experienced before, zipping through the rainforest, following the river downstream. The sheer strength and endurance of his limbs alone was simply euphoric.
It felt like he could go on for hours. He continued following the river downstream, he heard a waterfall coming up ahead. He flashed a little smile as he sped up towards it.
He came to the cliff where the waterfall began. He ran towards the edge and jumped off into the water below.
And then he came to.
He was still a tiger. He had somehow scratched up his old recliner, but at least his clothes still fit, albeit a little more snug. His new tail had gone down his pants and hidden itself in his left pant leg. His tail was aching to be let out.
Clothing to him felt unnatural now. He actually kind of expected that his clothes would have torn to shreds, but they somehow held out.
He looked out the window. It was almost dark.
"How long was I out?"
He heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
A knock on his door.
"Tony? It's Carol. I brought you some soup."
The End?
No, not really. Stay tuned though. :)