Return to Form
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 117797
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One day not too long after midnight, Fred woke up suddenly, feeling strange. She shortly fell back into her state of immobility, but a few hours later, when she rose back to awareness, she noted that she was definitely bigger than she was before - substantially so. Was a growth spurt like this normal for developing cockroaches? It didn't feel normal... She tried her best to ignore it, and went about her day, nibbling at the rotting wood all around her, sleeping, and communicating with her fellows. They began to appear rather unsure of her, though, and she was starting to feel... funny. Her legs hurt, and her antennae seemed less perceptive than usual... Same with her eyes, really. And she was still getting bigger! What was going on? Eventually, everything prickled horribly, and everything disoriented her. She stopped moving, just hoping to ride it out, though at a certain point she wasn't sure whether she could move even if she wanted to. Her legs weren't working properly, and her body was getting longer than it should be... It was around midday when she became lodged in the log, and began to feel a terrible pressure as she continued to grow regardless. Eventually the top of the log gave way - fairly easily, since it was rotting - but not until the thought crossed her mind several times that she might be crushed and die. Her eyesight was improving again, but she felt almost blind, in a way, with her now functionally useless antennae. Everything felt different, her skin was soft and vulnerable instead of the nice, durable shell she had had before, and finally, finally, she remembered that she was human before, and may be returning to that state. Knowing didn't make the slow transition any more pleasant, though! Her hisses of pain eventually became groans, and as she grew fingers, she took to grasping at the leaves and dirt all around her. She was still mostly in the log, and attempted to crawl out, fearing she may become stuck again. Her cockroach family was crawling around her, and she sensed their confusion. Finally, in the late evening, a young woman of about 22 lay on the forest floor, covered in dirt and dead leaves, horribly disoriented, but mostly human once again. The only exceptions were the small bumps on her forehead and sides which were what remained of her antennae and middle pair of legs. Exhausted from the changes, she fell asleep and slept through the night. Upon waking up the following morning, she struggled to a sitting position, not brushing off the cockroaches clinging to her back and legs. In fact it somewhat comforted her to know that she had belonged so profoundly in this little community that some members still considered her one of them, even now. It took some time, waiting for her brain to settle down, but eventually, she processed that she had somehow achieved just what she'd wanted! She was... Right? Hadn't she wanted to be human? Wait, more than that - to be human again. In fact, she'd been trapped, for ages and ages... Judging by her adult body, a lot longer than she'd realized... The only thing left now was to return to the proper human form that was rightly hers! She stood up, filled with purpose, and immediately tripped and fell flat on her face. The roaches caressed her comfortingly with their antennae. She smiled in appreciation. While she was down here, might as well eat some of these dead leaves... Oh... They didn't taste nearly as good to her now as they had before... Eventually, she had to get moving, properly. And what a ghastly sight she was - a naked young woman with her hair in total disarray, dirt and dead leaves sticking to her, her bare skin spotted by roaches. Her brain was still struggling to catch up with her body, and at this point was not likely ever to be caught up again, but somewhere in the back of her mind she did realize what a sight she must be. But c'est la vie - what could she really do about it, after all?
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9/12/2020 5:31:53 AM
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