The Other Side

"Um, she's in the back," Paul managed to stammer. For some reason, he couldn't speak clearly. The man struck a nerve in him.

"I'll get her," Chris volunteered. He headed into the back. "Hey, Della," he called as he left.

"Nice to meetcha," the man with the cowboy hat told Paul. "I'm Mikey. Mikey Johnson, but just call me Mikey. Who're you?"

"I-I'm Paul," he stammered in response. Mikey nodded with a big smile and held out his hand. Paul shook it, numbly.

"Heard a lot aboutcha, Mr. Paul," Mikey replied in a big booming voice. "Della seems to wantcha to stick around."

"Y-yes, well, unfortunately I'm leaving at the end of the month," he replied.

"Darn shame," Mikey replied. Before either could say anything, though, Chris and Della emerged from the back.

"Mr. Johnson," Della greeted, her calming accent a sharp contrast to Mikey's booming voice. "I was hoping you'd come by."

"You must be the owner of this place," Mikey replied. "Nice to meetcha, finally. Call me Mikey. This seems like a right nice business."

"Yes, it is rather profitable," Della replied, leading Mr. Johnson towards the back. "The last owner left it in a very good shape."

"I was kinda hopin' you and me could work out some sort of a partnership," Paul heard the big man reply as they left his range of hearing.

Chris leaned against the counter next to Paul, smiling slightly and shaking his head in amusement. "Some character, that man," he commented. Paul agreed, frowning slightly.

It was a full two hours later before Della and Mikey Johnson emerged, shaking hands and laughing. Paul guessed that the meeting had gone well.

"I'll be back here in about a week or so," Mikey said as he left the store. "Then I'll sign the final papers and everything."

"I look forward to it," Della replied with a smile, waving as the big man got into his big car (a large, pale blue Chevy) and drove off. Then she turned to Paul and Chris (who had returned to see what would happen).

"I guess everything went okay, huh?" Christopher asked.

"Pretty well, yes," Della agreed. "He's a strange man, but he's got a good business sense, and he'll make a nice partner. I think he'll do the store good."

"I certainly hope so," Paul muttered under his breath. Della had gone into the back again and didn't hear him, and neither did Chris.

A week later, Paul, Chris, and Della stood at the bus stop. "I sure wish you could stay longer, Paul," Christopher said. "The store certainly needs you."

"So do I, Chris, but I'm afraid I need to be moving on," Paul replied. "I'm glad Della found Mikey, though. He seems to be working out nicely." He looked at the exotic woman as he spoke, and felt a flash of memory from somewhere far away. "When I figure out where I'm staying, I'll drop you a line."

"I hope you find what you're looking for," Della told him as she handed him his suitcase filled with all his worldly possesions. She placed a light kiss on his cheek, and he thought he remembered something once again. It was gone before he could even notice it, though.

The bus drove up just then, and Paul climbed aboard. He paused in the enterance just long enough to turn back and wave to his friends. Then he entered the bus, and waved from the window.

"Good-bye, Good-bye!" Della and Christopher called from the curb as the bus turned west back towards the Ocean.

As the bus left the small town, Paul stared up at the sky and saw the faded almost full moon in the distance, and was reminded why he had to hurry out of there. Did the full moon have something to do with his loss of memory? Or was it simply a coincidence? Was it because of the curse on him that he was alone in the world? He didn't doubt it.

He stared out the window at the passing yellow line of the highway and wondered if he would ever find the answers to his questions. It didn't seem likely.

Paul checked himself into a hotel for the night and prepared himself for the night. He locked the door tightly so that no one would walk in on him while it was happening.

Standing in front of the mirror, he examined his face, as he had done the first time, and wondered again if anyone out there was missing that face. Wondered if it was useful to wonder, and decided that it probably wasn't.

He was glad of the prospect of a good night of sleep. The last two days had been on the bus, and he was still a half-hour away from the mighty Pacific Ocean that he felt drawn to. He yawned as he removed his shirt and pants, hoping that he wouldn't be too tired in the morning.

The light blue glow surrounded his body, and he felt a chill of memory of the first time he'd seen it. Not the first time since he could rememember, but the first time before it. But this memory, like so many others from his past life, was merely fleeting, and it was gone before he knew it was there.

Although he'd thought it strange in the beginning, he secretly wished for the silent voice he had heard in the beginning, answering his questions and explaining a little. There was so much he wanted to ask, though he doubted the voice would answer most of his questions. He wondered why it was gone. Perhaps he had moved to far away when he'd gone to stay with Christopher and Della, and the voice didn't know he was back yet. He was somewhat aware of how silly and small minded his thoughts sounded, but it was unusual.

His change began quickly, leaving him little time to think of the absence or the origin of the strange voice, and Paul was glad he'd remembered to remove his clothes. His legs changed shape and his feet grew smaller, rounder, with sharp claws. His spine changed shape, making it impossible for him to stand upright anymore, and he dropped to all fours as silently as possible, not wishing to alarm anyone else in the building. As he dropped down, his changing eyes caught a glimpse of his hands, now changing slowly from the dexterous instruments he was used to into small, round, padded feet with nails sharp enough to be considered claws. His eyes had already begun to change shape, and the rest of his face soon followed. His ears grew longer until they fell in a flap over his now quite sensitive hearing organs. His nose changed shape and color, and his face contorted. Hair thick enough to be fun sprung out suddenly all over his body, a color slightly lighter than his "normal" hair. Finally, his tail sprouted from the end of his spine, hairless for a brief moment before it, too, was covered in the thick, warm, fur that now covered the rest of his body.

The change was complete. He was no longer a human being.

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