She!

'Well, you didn't want them to do it anyway,' I said for her. 'Maybe someone else will. But someone you want to and that has some control of themselves. Not them.'

'No, not them,' she said. 'You're right.'

This time she was quiet against me for so long that I thought she'd fallen asleep. I rather hoped she had. By tomorrow she would be much better.

'Sue? Where did the lion come from?' I didn't know how to answer. I don't lie. This was just one truth I didn't want to tell.

'It's a long story, Minni. Are you sure you want to hear it?'

'I'm sure. I need to know I'm not crazy, Sue.' I wondered if my story would help her.

'Do you love me, Minni?' I asked. 'Do you trust me?' She nestled into my neck, holding me tighter to her.

'I love you more than anything, Sue. I trust you more even than mom and dad.' I wasn't sure I wanted to hear that.

'Would you believe me if I told you I'm not quite what I appear to be? Would it make you feel safer, better, or would it make you feel worse?'

'Sue, I've always known there was more to you than you told us. I thought for a while that you were just hiding the things that happened to you in New York before you came here. But I've thought for a long time that there was a lot more.

'You're so much smarter than me. You know things. You can always answer every question.' She fell silent. 'Are you from space or something?'

'No,' I laughed. 'No, that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm less an alien than anyone on earth.'

'Are you God or something like that then?' I was appalled that anyone could even think that possible until I thought about it for a second. In a way I supposed I fit many of the definitions of God. But there were some notable exceptions from the definitions as well.

'No. I'm not God and I'm nothing like him, I think.'

'Were you the lion?' she asked softly. I didn't even feel her body tense at the suggestion. Instead I tensed.

'What gave you that idea?'

'It just seems to fit. I don't know how it could be, but it seems like the most likely thing.'

'Would it frighten you if I said I was?' She moved her face away from me a little and I looked at her. Her face showed no fear. Just wonder and the hanging question.

'I don't know how but I think you were.' I sighed heavily. How much could she believe? And how much could I tell her? 'And you were the beautiful horse, too.'

I nodded as I looked into her eyes.

'Can you be anything you want?' That seemed an awfully broad definition of what I did.

'I can be the animals I've lived,' I answered.

'You've lived as an animal before?' I nodded again. 'Many animals?'

'Yes,' I answered soberly.

'Does that mean that you're pretty old or did you just start doing that when you were born?' This could prove difficult.

'Minni, I was born like this the morning I first met you.'

'Really? Neat!' she said exuberantly. 'What were you before?'

'A tiny microscopic animal.'

'Oh yuck!' she said, wrinkling her nose.

'It's just a transitory body. A quick way from one form to another.' She had completely forgotten her own problems now and was back to her normal self. I was happy about that even if I wasn't terribly excited about the reason for it.

'What were you before that then?'

'A dog,' I said. That seemed to shake her a little. Her smile wavered. I just watched her to see what she'd make of it.

'A dog,' she said matter-of-factly. She thought in silence for a long minute. I knew what she was going to say before she said it. 'Einstein. Einstein left the morning you got here. You've been with us for two years!' She was smiling and looking over my shoulder in thought. Then her face flushed.

'You licked me, my pussy, when you were a dog.' I smiled at her. Then I nodded. 'I loved Einstein,' she said wistfully. 'I really miss him and so do the boys.'

'I know. But I can only be one thing at a time and I like being Sue.'

'I like you now too,' she said and hugged me. Then she thought again. 'God, what all have you been? I know a horse and a bug and a lion and a dog. What else?'

'Many things. More than you can imagine.'

'An elephant?'

'Once.' She grinned from ear to ear.

'What was your favorite?'

'All things are valuable and I gained learning from them all.'

'But your favorite.'

'Maybe a bird,' I said wistfully. I thought about the flying. 'Or a whale. I enjoyed that as well.' She was awestruck. Her mouth was open in amazement. 'Being a girl is one of the best and I've only just started this life.'

'Were you anything more than once?'

'Oh, yes. I've been many birds and many whales and many fishes. Many kinds of cats and dogs.'

'Wolves?' I smiled and nodded. 'Lions and tigers and bears, oh my,' she quoted from the Wizard of Oz.

'Yeah.'

'Have you ever been a girl before?'

'Never,' I said.

'A boy?'

'Several times.'

'Really? You really have? Did I meet you when you were a boy?'

'No. They lived a long time ago.'

'Wow!' she said. She was thinking again and it worried me. Particularly the smile that split her face.

'You can be anything you've been before? Like the lion and the horse?'

'Yes,' I said.

'Can you do it right now?'

'Yes. But I don't know if you'd like to watch. I don't know what it's like. I've never seen myself change.'

'Oh, can I?' she said. 'If it's really yucky, I'll cover my eyes.'

'It would be better if I went into the bathroom and then came back out.'

'No!' she insisted. 'I want to see.'

'Do you promise not to be afraid?' I asked.

'Sure. I want to see.' I sat up then and took my nightgown and panties off. Clothes were all right. If they were too small for my new body, they tore and I didn't like that. Getting a piece of clothing off a smaller, animal body could be difficult and constraining.

Jewelry was the only real danger. I'd changed into a larger animal once while wearing a ring and that had been agonizing until I could change to a smaller animal. I'd had bruises for a week. I could only imagine what having a tight collar would be like in a situation like that and didn't want to know. Of course, if I was in a hurry I could become something very small to discard the jewelry and then re-animate in the larger form.

No one had noticed that both the lion and horse had tiny earrings.

I curled up next to her again and thought of the dog, the least threatening thing I could think of since she knew him already. I watched her eyes get big and then a smile spread across her features.

'Einstein!' she squealed. For a moment I was afraid everyone would hear but I bounded up onto all fours and licked her face as she hugged my neck with sheer joy. 'Oh, Einstein. I've missed you so!'

I wagged my tail and did little puppy things with her for the next 15 minutes as she sat on the bed and kissed me, hugged me, and talked to me.