What If ?

by Tekwolf

What if? Have you ever played that game. Brian had done so many times when he was younger. Now that he was 16 years old, that old child's game was forgotten. Brian had had a hard childhood. His father was an alcoholic. He wasn't bad, just always soused and he kept getting fired from all of the jobs he managed to find. Brian's mother worked at a dead end job to try to make ends meet and was seldom at home. When she was at home, his mother and father spent most of their time fighting. Brian couldn't stand it and spent most of his time away from home. He spent many nights at friend's houses and sometimes stayed at a hut that he had made back in the wood that bordered his house. He was about to recall the age old game, when what if; did.

When his friends were busy, Brian spent much of his time in the hut, that he had built when he was younger. He had needed an escape from the constant bickering. He thought that he had done a really neat job on the hut. It was pretty weather tight. He had gathered supplies from old houses and barns that were in the area. There were numerous pastures and fields near the woods. And as always, in the country, there were usually falling down buildings from a long time before, that had been forgotten. Brian used pieces of these to build his place. It was decorated with pictures of horses. That was one love that Brian didn't share with anyone. He gathered pictures of horses from any were that he could find them and pinned them up in his place.

Brian had taken all sorts of things from home to help make the place more livable. A kerosene lantern, several blankets and an old pillow. All the comforts of home, without the aggravation of his real home. Brian didn't tell any of his friends about this place. It was his alone. This was where he went to get away. It was Friday Evening and most of his friends had gone away for the weekend. This was one of the times Brian hated. There was no one to do anything with. The twins, Donny and David had gone to the beach with their parents and Steve was away on a fishing trip with his dad. Julie had a date with Bruce and that just about killed all of Brian's options.

He made plans to stay in his room and read for the evening. It seemed that even that plan was about to go bad. His father came home early, fired from yet another job. This one was loading feed at the mill. Brian's mom came home early from work and found Brian's father passed out on the couch. She got really mad and threw a pitcher of water on him. He screamed, jumped up off of the couch and they got in a yelling, shoving match. Brian could stand it no longer. He ran from the room and down the stairs. "Where the hell do you think you are going?" his mother yelled. "Anywhere that I don't have to listen to that damn bickering. I'm sick of it," he screamed back. The door slammed and he was out and running for the woods. He heard someone yelling for him to get back inside, but Brian was in no mood to listen. He headed for the hut.

It was dark when he got there. He went inside and lit the lamp. Brian looked at the blankets, thinking that he wouldn't need them tonight. It was late spring and would only get down to about 60 degrees. Brian pored over some of the same old books that he had read before. He threw them down in disgust. He stared at the pictures on the wall, an idea forming in his mind. He looked outside and saw that the moon was full. He decided to walk to the neighboring horse pasture and watch the horses. He did this often enough, though in the daytime. Sometimes, he even took sugar cubes or carrots to feed them. Bob, the owner of the horses, even let him help feed and groom them at times. This was one of the few things that gave Brian pleasure. Because he was so good with the animals, and they seemed to like him, Bob told him to come over anytime.

Brian blew out the lamp and headed along the creek to the edge of the pasture. There were no horses to be seen. Brian thought this was odd, because there were always a few of them at the fence by the creek. He decided to enter the pasture and see if he could find them. This particular pasture was almost 500 acres big and there were many places where they could be. He searched for a while and almost gave up, when he remembered the meadow that was in the far corner of the place. It was on the other side of the patch of woods that was on the far edge of the place. He approached the meadow from the woods and tried to be quiet, so he wouldn't spook them.

As Brian reached the edge of the meadow, and broke into the open, he couldn't believe his eyes. He was seeing something that he had only read of. He hadn't believed that they could be real, but there they were. Brian tried to move back into the woods so he could watch them without being seen. He was afraid that if they saw him, they would be gone and he was fascinated. His foot slipped on a branch and Brian fell down the hillside. There were rocks along his path and in trying to stop himself, his head hit a large one and he was knocked out cold.

The first thing Brian noticed was the that his head hurt. He opened his eyes and got his second shock. There were numerous equine legs surrounding him and as he looked up he saw not horses, but centaurs. There were both male and females there and he lay at the feet of a large male. He had the powerful body of a stallion and the chest and head of a man. As Brian looked up at him, he spoke," You are Brian, Bob's helper. You were never meant to see us as we are. Long ago, humans and centaurs broke company. Humans hunted and killed centaurs because one of our brethren molested a human woman. We got a reputation from this and were hunted almost to extinction. No human may see us in this form and live!"

Brian was scared. This huge creature was so powerful and could surly make good on his threat if he wanted to. Brian wouldn't have a chance. Thoughts flashed through his mind and he prepared to try to get between the legs and run. He knew that he could not out run them, but he had to try. He didn't want to die. The centaurs pranced from hoof to hoof and it seemed as if they were getting impatient. Brian was about to make his try, when the stallion spoke again. "We know of you Brian. You have always been good to the horses and were always our friend. So, now we offer you a choice." "We cannot suffer you to live with our secret. If you let slip a word about us, we would be destroyed. There is another option, other that death, that we have the use of. Part of the magic that hides us from the human race, will allow you to become one of us. That is the only other way we can assure your silence. We have no wish to harm you, but the choice must be yours. If you choose death, we will make it quick and painless as possible."

The Stallion spoke once more," we give you a small amount of time to think, but warn you, that if you try to run, you will die." Brian sat on the ground and pondered his fate. He didn't want to die. The thought of becoming what they were scared and yet excited him. As he looked at them, he made a decision. He went toward the herd and spoke to the leader," I don't to die, so I choose to become one of you." The stallion told him to remove his clothes. Brian was sort of embarrassed at this, but complied. The centaurs once more surrounded him. The Stallion moved forward and began a chant in a guttural tongue that Brian couldn't understand. His hands started to glow, with an eerie blue light. Brian was frozen in place and couldn't move a muscle. The Stallion placed his hands on either side of Brian's head and there was a flash.

Brian suddenly felt a strangeness about him and as he looked down his body changed. Hair was growing from his thighs and they were getting thinner. He felt a sudden push from his back and a tail sprouted, as his butt got larger. From near his waist, two bumps pushed outward quickly forming into a second set of legs. He felt his backbone stretching out as his new chest formed between sets of legs. His front (?) legs now ended in large flat hooves and as Brian felt motion and tremors come to an end, he realized that the change was complete.

He turned at the waist and looked back. There was a large brown equine body, ending in a black tail. He suddenly wondered about something as bent down to catch a glimpse of his groin. He was relieved to find that he was still a male and a rather huge one. He took a tentative step forward and felt strange muscles flex and bulge as he moved. There was a feeling of immense power. He was really pleased at how he had turned out. The circle opened to allow him to move and the stallion asked," How do you feel?" 'Awesome," was all Brian could say. On a sudden thought Brian asked," Why was there no pain?" "That is part of the magic," the Stallion replied. "You are one of us now. Welcome to the herd."

Brian spent nearly all of the rest of the night getting used to his new body. He ran the length of the meadow, marveling at the speed that he was generating. It was nearing day, and Brian went back to the herd. He asked the Stallion," How do we remain undetected during the day?" "You will see is a short while," the Stallion replied. Brian waited with the herd as the sun started to rise. He suddenly realized that he was changing yet again. His arms were shrinking and being absorbed into his body. His human torso was growing hair and becoming much more narrow. His face pushed out and his sight was changing. He couldn't see so well straight ahead. There was a dark mass there and he realized that it was his nose. As he looked at the others, he saw regular horses where before there were centaurs. So that was their secret.

Bob went out in the morning to feed and water the horses before he went to work. He knew all of his horses and now there was a new one that hadn't been there before. This wasn't the first time. Last time he ran an ad in the newspaper, but nobody ever came forward to claim the newcomer. This time he didn't even bother. He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth!

End

What If ? copyright 1997 by Tekwolf.