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"Russel!"

The half-man-half bear only panted and let out a series of grunts. He began to step closer, falling forward onto his hands- paws. as his paws made contact with the ground, a loud pop echoed through the room. He continued slowly approaching me, slowly stepping back outside. I tried to keep my distance while pleading with Russel to stop.

"Russel, dude, what are you doing right now?"

Unfazed, he marched forward in his quadrupedal stance. Sniffing and grunting, his face seemed to look more and more like a bear with each passing moment. To the layman, it would appear a bear had wandered into the cabin on its own.

"Russel! Knock it off, dude!"

Russel pulled back a paw, preparing to swing. But as he started to bring his large paw forward, he flicked his head to the side. Quickly bringing his paw back down to the floor, he shut his eyes and began shaking his head. "Agh!" Russel shouted in a now human-like voice. Pushing off the ground, he attempted to stand, making it almost entirely vertical before he fell back into his front paws with a loud thud. Trying to stand again, he made it closer but still fell forward.

"Damn it! Dean, I can't get up! What's happening?"

Pushing off again, he finally made it upright. Stumbling slightly, he tried to keep his balance, each of his arms waving side to side, trying to counter his weight. His arms and legs were visibly thicker, and his legs looked inches shorter. Russel attempted to walk forward, each step slow and uneasy as he guided his feet forward. His feet now closely resembled his forepaws, with claws tipping each wide foot.

"Russel, take it easy, dude," Trying to assure him, but unable to think clearly.

Russel slowly made his way toward one of the chairs. I slowly followed, keeping my distance from the bear-like creature. Russel sat or rather fell back into one of the seats. His breathing picked up as he took a glance at his body. He was wearing only a worn shirt; the rest of his body was covered in some sense with thick brown fur. His snout was elongated, and his teeth had visibly changed. Holding a leg outstretched, he looked over his newly changed legs. Russel slowly shook his head.

"Is this happening, Dean? Am I really...a bear?" His voice was broken from the changes or the stress. Hard to tell at this point.

Taking a seat in the chair across from Russ, I tried to reassure him, but how could I reassure him? "Well, I don't think it's in our heads. But I don't know what is happening."

Russel blinked quickly and lurched his head back, "But I think it is in my head. I think I'm going mad! When it happens, it feels like a dream, but when I wake up, it actually happened." Russel looked at his left paw, flexing its muscles and exploring its motion, "I was about to swing my hand at you. I saw you as prey, and I was ready to attack. But it didn't feel real, and I wasn't doing it."

"Russel, I had a weird dream. I can't explain, but I don't think you're wrong." Scratching at my chest, Russel looked at my hands before closing his eyes and throwing back his head.

"You too, then?" Russel asked, "I've got brown fur, and you've got brown feathers?"

Glancing down and into my shirt, I saw the brown feathers covering my torso. The only bird I know of with white and brown feathers like mine was a bald eagle. If Russel had changed this much, how far would I go?

"It's getting late, isn't it? If these hallucinations feel like dreams, what will keep them from happening while I sleep?"

"You can't stay awake forever, Russ. Eventually, you'll have to sleep. Plus, for all we know, that could make it worse." Standing from the chair, I held a hand out to Russel. He lifted a paw to my hand, and I tried to pull him out of the seat. Once upright, Russel flailed his arms slightly, trying to keep his balance.

"Why is walking so hard now?" Russel sighed, "I'm done with this. I want it to all be over. My back hurts; I can't walk for shit."

I recalled the sound that came from Russel as he fell forward, the loud POP. Could it have been part of the change? Russel slowly walked to the bedroom, more of a shuffle than a walk. Before entering the room, he turned back in my direction.

"Can you promise me something?" Russel spoke softly, "if I start losing it again, can you just tell me?"

"As in, shout it or something?"

"Yeah, just yell at me, tell me it's not a dream. I don't know, and maybe it could help?" Russel turned back to the door and shuffled in, carefully closing it behind himself.

Once the door shut, I plopped back down onto the chair, let out a large sigh, and began massaging my feathers with my hands. They itched so badly, but I didn't want to distract Russel or cause him any worry. After minutes of running my hands through my head and neck feathers, I began working on my chest and back, eventually pulling my shirt off, which led to relief as the course fabric no longer pulled at my brown chest feathers.

Continuing to scratch and massage myself, I felt relaxed, tired, and ready to sleep. I had lost track of time during the session, and when I was jarred awake by Russel's loud snoring, I realized more had happened. My arms were now covered in feathers down to my wrists, their brown color matching those on my chest and assuring me that I could be only one thing, a bald eagle. I tried to brush off the feathers, hoping they would fall away, but instead, they just bent before flicking back into place.

"Damn it, how is this even possible?"

Rolling my head back and letting out another long sigh, I drifted off to sleep.

*THUNK THUNK THUNK*

"Dean! Help! Can you open the door? I gotta get out!" Russel shouted.

Flicking my eyes open, I saw the small cabin was lit with sunlight again. I tried to stand up quickly but lost my balance, still half asleep. The banging came from Russ's room, and I ran to the door.

"Ahh, ahh, no no no!" Russel huffed as I twisted the round knob and pushed the door in. Quickly the door pushed shut again, and I tried to open it again before Russel stopped me, "ehhh, no, don't open the door now," his voice shaky as he spoke.

"You alright? This is real, Russel..." I tried to remind him as he asked.

"Yeah... uhh, don't remind me, please." Russel grunted mid-sentence, "Just unlatch the door and walk away, is that ok?"

"Yeah, I can do that," unlatching the door, I could hear Russel breathing heavily, but I quickly walked away and out to the front door. Glancing outside, I saw the sky was clear, and the sun was shining. If it weren't for other things happening, it would be a fantastic day. Stepping outside, the sun was warm against my brown chest feathers, feeling like a heated jacket.

A few minutes later, Russel followed out the front door. He was panting from all the effort it had taken to walk. He sat on the edge of the porch and leaned forward. I couldn't place it, but something about him smelt... off. Maybe it was the unclean fur, or he had gotten into something. Either way, he did not seem like his usual self.

"How did ya sleep?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"Fine, I think," Russel sat up straight, "weird dreams, but I slept through the night."

"What did you dream?"

Russel grunted before speaking, "Er, I was walking on all fours in the field. I was alone, or well, you weren't here. There was a bear, like another brown bear, uhh, not that I am a brown bear."

"Russel, it's cool; I know what you mean."

"She, err, he followed me around for a while. I tried to keep my distance, but they wouldn't leave me be," Russel hesitated, "so I.. so I stopped and waited for him, err, it."

"What did it do to you?" I asked, putting my arm on his shoulder.

"Nothing, it just sniffed me and walked around. But I felt something building in me, like a warm pressure. And...." Russel was silent for a few moments, "I woke up."

"What was the feeling? Was it normal or something new?"

"I haven't ever felt anything like it before. It was alien to me, and I kind of... I still feel it a little."

"Oh, well, what does it feel like?" I asked, confused.

Russel shuffled side to side slightly, "warm; it feels really warm. Maybe even itchy?" Russel shifted again.

"Oh, well, I had some changes that you can probably see," holding my feathered arms out for Russel to see.

"Nice, I think?" Russel sighed.

"I don't know, but man, does it feel good to skip out on the shirt." I joked, hoping it would cheer Russ up, but he still sat quietly.

"Maybe we should get that fishing done. If your arms are changing, I don't know how long you'll be able to hold the pole." Russel said, standing up from the porch. Losing his balance, he fell forward onto his front paws again.

"Can you walk like that?" I asked.

Russel turned around, opening his mouth to say something before closing it. He took a slow step forward with his front leg, followed by his rear leg. After walking in a full circle, he turned and spoke, "I guess it seems pretty easy to."

"Why don't you just walk like that for now?" Standing up myself.

"It's degrading, Dean. I'm not some filthy animal. Why don't you fly around?" Russel snapped back.

"Sorry, Russ, I just thought it would be easier for you."

Russel sighed, "I know; I shouldn't have snap at ya like that."

The smell hit me again. It was more substantial, though, and I couldn't pin it down, but it smelt different from anything I had before. Russel shuffled in place and looked at me, confused, "You alright?"

"Yeah, just something smells funny. Can you smell it?"

Russel sniffed the air, holding his head up, "No, everything seems fine to me."

"Probably something else on me that changed." I walked toward Russel, and we both began to walk to the water's edge. Next to the canoe lay the fishing gear, and I started preparing the rod to be used. What little experience I did have would need to prove good if we were going to eat again.

That smell hit me again, and I raised a hand to scratch my nose. "God, it's strong this time. You really can't smell that?" I turned to the side, talking to Russel. With my head turned, I was inches from his bare, albeit furred, rear end; Russel was facing away towards the woods.

"Maybe you smell that?" Russel said, gesturing his head.

Leaning to the left, I saw what he was referring to. Out of the woods walked something large and brown. As it slowly approached, I could make out what it was. I tensed up and leaned closer to Russel.

Slowly out of the woods, approached a large, wild brown bear.

With a growl, Russel spoke, "Stay behind me."