A Fluttering Transformation
Manteo, North Carolina.
Jimmy Hook arrived at the Roanoke Island Animal Center. Earlier, he thought about making a visit and spending some time there while he watched the animals and the people taking care of them.
"This place looks as peaceful and wonderful as it always has been." Jimmy said as he breathed in the fresh air.
While a few birds were singing, Jimmy approached the main doors and rang the doorbell. Some seconds later, a young woman opened the doors.
"Oh, hello there! Have you come to visit the animals?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"Yep! Also, is there any chance I could help taking care of them?" Jimmy said.
"Of course! You can help us with dogs and cats, unless you have more experience." The woman said.
"Well, I guess I could also watch the birds." Jimmy replied.
"That's nice. Good to know we can count on you. We'll work with the other animals we have. Come in." The woman said, and they went inside the animal center, walking through the corridor.
"By the way, I'm Jimmy." He said, smiling.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Star." She said.
"Heh, that's a good name." Jimmy said, making Star giggle.
Just then, they arrived where the rest of people were working. Jimmy could see some animals inside and a few more running outside, at the gardens, chasing themselves as they played. Dogs, cats and birds were common at the centers, but Jimmy saw even more: two turtles, a lizard, bunnies... and even a bear taking a shower.
"Wow!" Jimmy was freaking out at the sight.
Star chuckled. "That's Harry! He was a bit of a problem the first days he was here, but we tamed him. Now, he is a good friend of us. And he loves showers!"
Jimmy laughed. "He sure is having fun!"
Suddenly, a guy and a girl entered the room, both of them with a serious expression.
"Is someone not working right now? We need anyone to watch the new animal while we get some supplies." The girl explained.
"Oh, well. Jimmy, come with me. I'll show you where it is." Star said.
"Wait, what new animal is it?" Jimmy asked, and Star's response got him by surprise.
"A jackalope."
Jimmy followed Star outside. Passing by other animals and their caretakers, they finally got where the jackalope was. There wasn't any cage there, just a few fences surrounding the area.
"Ok, Jimmy, you told me you have some experience with basic animals, so I'm not going to give you any hard tasks. Simply watch the jackalope while the other caretakers get the supplies." Star explained.
"Umm... What about you?" Jimmy asked.
"I'm already busy. Another animal has some medical issue. It's an octopus. But anyways, I think you'll be fine." Star said, opening the fence's door so Jimmy could enter. "Just walk around, and you'll eventually see it."
As Star closed the door and walked away, Jimmy eyed the area until he saw the jackalope. And it wasn't a normal animal: they couldn't have the body from an antelope nor the head from a rabbit. But this one looked exactly like that.
"Huh... And I thought those couldn't be real." Jimmy told himself, as he only heard about those animals because of ancient legends. He went slowly towards the jackalope until it noticed him. At that point, both of them stayed still, staring at each other.
Jimmy knew the animal would probably run away if he approached it even more. But he also wanted to see it, and probably take a few pictures as well.
"Hey, buddy... How are you?" Jimmy decided to kneel down and call the jackalope. It moved its head a bit, like considering the options, and then started to move its legs, approaching Jimmy.
"There we go... I must admit you look kinda cute. In a curious way, but yeah." Jimmy didn't think the jackalope would exactly understand what he was saying, but he kept talking, as if trying to calm it down.
The rare animal finally got beside Jimmy and, after looking around, it sniffed his hand.
"Awww, it's so cute! Don't worry, I'm just gonna-" Jimmy stopped when he heard a voice, and turned his head around, spotting the guy and the girl from before, whom were carrying a big box.
"What is it?" He asked loudly, realizing his mistake too late: pain filled his hand as the jackalope bit him. "AAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The animal fled as Jimmy stayed there, covering his bitten hand while a few caretakers ran towards him.
Back inside the center...
"You have been lucky, Jimmy. Not everyone is able to see a jackalope in their whole lives, much less getting bitten by one." Star said as she bandaged Jimmy's hand.
"I shouldn't have yelled when I saw the others. I think that scared it." Jimmy said.
"Well, those kind of animals can get easily angry if they think something is a threat. That's a thing I should have told you before." Star replied.
Jimmy looked at his bandaged hand, thinking about what happened. "So, how's my health?"
"It's... fine. I mean, you have the bite mark, which has gotten red, but I have checked your health and it looks like you haven't got any infection or other different thing." Star explained.
"Oh? Heh, it's funny, because I was expecting something else." Jimmy said.
Star chuckled. "Nah, you're good. Anyways, I suggest you go home and relax for some time. If you want to come back, the animals are still here."
"Sounds good! I'll love to be here again and see Harry taking another shower." Jimmy said, and the two of them laughed. "Well then, see you anytime, Star."
He smiled as he went to the center's main doors and got out of the building, as Star stayed still, smiling.
"Heh... If only he knew about me..."
Back home, Jimmy wasn't feeling pain anymore, so he decided to check his hand. He went to the bathroom just in case, and started removing the bandages.
"I could have taken a photo before anything else." He said.
When the bandages finally fell off, Jimmy saw his hand...
But the bite mark wasn't there.
"Uh?" Jimmy was confused. A bite mark couldn't just disappear within one single day. "Ok, this is... strange."
Getting that out of his thoughts, he tried to act like nothing did happen. After doing more things inside the bathroom, he walked to the kitchen in order to get some snacks and watch TV.
Just at that moment, he heard some sounds outside his home. At first, it sounded like dogs and cats. But even more sounds could be heard.
"Ugh... I hate Mondays."
Jimmy opened the main door, getting outside, only to discover an astonishing thing: a lot of animals were gathering around the building. Aside from dogs and cats, Jimmy also noticed mice, turtles, deers, birds, lions, crocodiles, monkeys...
All of that as passers-by contemplated everything.
"Ok, this is the most strange thing ever..." Jimmy told himself as he stared at the animals, which in turn stared at him.
He got scared when a lion approached him.
"No! Sit!" He yelled.
And, for his surprise, the lion sat on the ground.
"Huh... You don't see things like this everyday. Oh, um... Sorry for yelling." Jimmy said, and the lion replied with a growl. "Oh, if it didn't disturb you, then it... Wait, did you just... talk?"
The lion nodded. Behind him, a monkey ran inside Jimmy's house. "Hey! What are you doing!?"
The answer came as the monkey went back outside, giving Jimmy a banana. He felt more surprised when the biped animal peeled the banana.
"Wow... Thanks." Jimmy said, and the monkey made a few sounds while Jimmy ate the fruit.
A few minutes later, another animal appeared: the jackalope. At first, Jimmy thought it wanted to bite him again, but it remained where it was while they stared at each other for some seconds.
A while later, he decided to go to a different place, and he went to the waterfront located at the downtown, with each one of the animals following him.
Having arrived, Jimmy stood over the waterfront's edge and took a good breath. A good amount of fresh air invaded his nose as he looked at the horizon.
"Come on... What else could happen?" He asked for himself.
Suddenly, a monkey jumped on Jimmy, who was trying to get it off. "Hey! Get off! Get-AAAAAAAH!!"
The monkey only jumped off when Jimmy fell into the water. It sounded like that animal was laughing, or something like that, as Jimmy disappeared.
Just then, something shone in the water, a ball of light which shone more each passing second. The animals and people present at the waterfront had to cover their eyes because of the blinding light, as some things inside it were changing.
The ball of light emerged from the water and got over solid ground. Once there, it finally vanished, revealing a yellow girl with pink hair. She was wearing a beautiful dress and a pair of nice shoes, both of them decorated with a few butterflies, which she also had on her hair, along with a flower. And she also had a pair of wings on her back, along with pony ears peeking through her hair.
"Um... W-What happened?" Fluttershy said, looking around, a bit scared, although she felt happy after seeing all the animals there, and she hugged one certain bear. "Awww, Harry!"
She spent some good time with her animal friends before deciding they had to go. And there they were, Fluttershy and the animals, walking across the streets as people were marveled by the event.
Some time later, they stopped when they noticed another girl in front of them. She had purple hair with a golden tiara on top, which had some diamonds. She was also wearing a wonderful dress with a pair of gloves, golden shoes and a blue cape. Those also had a few diamonds and golden decorations over them. And finally, a pony ear was peeking through her hair.
Both of the two girls were surprised to see each other.
"Did the same thing happen to you, darling?"
The End
