Dragonfly Dreams, Part Seven

Coming out of the tall grass toward them was a large, bushy brown and black animal. It took Frank a second to realize it for what it was…a bear! It was making a large mewling, screeching sound and was shaking its head wildly from side to side. It stopped in front of them and raised up on its hind legs. Frank guessed that it had to be at least 7 feet tall. His legs felt like water. Was this the end?

Suddenly Chuck burst out laughing. Frank once again wondered about the man’s mental state. But, the laughter did seem to have an effect on the bear. It slowly lowered itself to the ground and shook its head one last time. And then…it began to talk.

“Honestly Chuckie, old boy,” it stated in a rough, deep voice that had a bit of British accent, “I really thought that I hit that one head on. I could have sworn that I had you fooled this time.”

“Oh…oh…” Chuck tried to talk through his laughter, “Honestly, mate, you would have. You look like a great bear….but you got…you got….”

And then he started laughing again. Frank was still in shock that the bear could talk. And apparently, it knew Chuck!

Finally, Chuck was able to get in a breath, “You got the tail wrong, my friend.”

Frank looked at the bear’s tail. Indeed, it was wrong. Instead of the short stubby tail of a bear, Frank saw the fluffy white tail of a bunny! What in the world was going on?

“Oh….bloody hell,” the bear muttered, looking back over its shoulder, “These bigger animals require so much concentration. I was so worried about the front that I didn’t pay much attention to the back. Enough already!”

And then the bear began to change…a little at first and then faster. The fur seemed to draw back into the skin, the claws retracted into the paws (which were beginning to grow longer and look more like fingers), and the fluffy, bunny tail simply disappeared. Soon, instead of a bear, there stood a very large man. He was very hairy…almost too hairy….which was a good thing at the moment since he was completely naked. He grinned sheepishly at Chuck and then nodded toward Frank.

“Is that him?” he asked, staring at Frank with eyes that were dark and wild. Frank noticed that the man still had large, bearlike teeth.

“Yep,” Chuck stated, turning to Frank, “In the flesh….but where are my manners? Let me introduce you two. Frank, this is my old friend Harry….Harry McCain. And Harry….as you already know….this is Frank. He’s the…”

“The Finder,” Harry said, still staring at Frank.

“You were a bear,” Frank said, trying to soak in all the strangeness that had been happening to him lately, “A real, live bear.”

“Oh…that?” Harry chuckled, his mood suddenly seeming to lighten, “Yep…I was a bear. The fact is….I can be any animal that I want to be.”

“Harry is a shapeshifter,” Chuck looked over at Frank as if that explanation would clear everything up, “He can change shape at will.”

“I just have to concentrate pretty hard is all,” Harry said, “And…as you just saw…it doesn’t always work out the way I want it to!”

Both men started to laugh again. Frank tried to join in, but it was just too bizarre. He just felt hot…and thirsty. Suddenly, he was craving an ice cold Sprite more than anything else in the world.

“I’m glad that I found you though,” Harry said, suddenly serious, “SHE sent me. She seemed to know that you all would be in this area….but I don’t know how she knew. She said that I needed to bring you to her….immediately.”

“She?” Frank asked.

“Irza,” Harry said, looking down at the ground as though he were embarrassed to be saying the name out loud, “The one who has seen…”

“The face of God,” Chuck finished, making Harry draw in a hiss of breath and stare coldly at Chuck.

“You told him?” he asked.

“I didn’t see the reason to keep it a secret,” Chuck said, “After all….he’s supposed to be finding the thing, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Harry said, “But still….”

“ENOUGH ALREADY!” Frank yelled out, “Stop talking about me like I’m not here!”

Chuck and Harry looked at each other. Some sort of silent communication seemed to be going on between them. Finally, Harry nodded his head.

“Okay,” he said, “Enough talking. This place isn’t safe. We need to get out of here and fast.”

Frank watched with amazement as Harry closed his eyes and a look of intense concentration came over him. Slowly, he began to change. His nose pushed out…longer and longer. His ears turned up at the corners and grew longer. And his hands folded in on themselves into hooves. Soon, there was a fine looking horse standing before them.

“Climb on, you two,” Harry the horse neighed to them in a gravely sort of voice, “I can get us there in just under an hour.”

Chuck let out a whoop and jumped up on Harry’s back. He held out a hand to Frank.

“Come on mate,” he grinned, “Why walk…when we can ride?”

“Just don’t get too comfortable up there,” Harry said, kicking up dust as they started out, “This is a RARE occurrence. I’m not a pack animal.”

“Oh come on Harry old boy,” Chuck laughed, slapping Harry on the neck, “You know that you love it!”

“Watch it!” Harry warned, bucking a little underneath them.

Frank sat cautiously behind Chuck. He didn’t know how he felt riding this horse…that used to be a man…who used to be a bear. But….he wasn’t in any position to argue. He just hoped that this nightmare would be over soon.

With a loud snort, Harry the horse took off at full gallop. The beautiful Brazilian countryside was whizzing past them in a maddening whirl. Soon, the grasslands were left behind and the three of them were entering a village on the outskirts of a large rainforest. It was here that Frank first met Irza.

It was here that Frank had his first encounter with the Dragonfly.

Until next week…class dismissed!