The day ended like any other. Mike took the dogs out, helped his wife with a few lingering chores, and started his nightly routine. Upstairs, he sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thoughts about tomorrow's workload.
"Fuck, I'm so tired of corporate conference calls and fake-ass buzzwords," he muttered.
He leaned back and closed his eyes.
A sudden, blinding pain struck him, sharp, immediate and then everything went white.
When Mike opened his eyes again, his vision was blurred with green. The air reeked of soil, thick and overwhelming. His mouth tasted like earth, and his body felt... off. His limbs, his hands and feet sank into soft mud, though his body wasn't positioned in a way that made sense. Turning his head with effort, he saw vegetation towering above him: fern-like leaves glistening with moisture, blades of grass as tall as trees. The air was hot and wet, alive with the scent of pollen and soil.
Then he saw his hands or what should have been hands. In their place were green, scaly limbs with four clawed fingers. His body felt elongated. His legs moved like his arms. He spun in a tight circle, panic rising, and felt a strange, foreign sensation trailing behind his hind legs.
What the hell is going on? he thought. His vision wavered. His breath came fast. I just laid down. Now I'm... a lizard?
Trying to stay calm, he moved forward in a clumsy crawl, struggling to coordinate this unfamiliar body. He stumbled into the muck and pushed himself up again. As he found his footing, a rustle in the tall grass to his left made him turn.
Pain tore into his side.
"Fuck!!" he screamed in his head as agony overtook him. A grey lizard had latched onto his flank, blood spilling into the mud. Instinct surged. He kicked out with a back leg, catching the creature in the eye. It recoiled, hissing, blood dripping down its face.
It came at him again.
Mike twisted, trying to evade the attack, but the creature's jaws clamped down on his left arm. He screamed internally until rage filled the void. He reached with his right hand and clawed at the creature's other eye. It shrieked and faltered. Blood falling from its eye's letting out a panicked hiss.
Mike pounced.
He bit down on the grey lizard's neck, the metallic tang of blood flooding his mouth.
Die, you fucking lizard! he roared inwardly. He bit harder, primal instinct taking over. The creature thrashed, then went still, its body collapsing in the soil, limp and lifeless.
Mike stood there, panting. The surge of adrenaline ebbed, replaced by pain, a burning ache in his arm and the wound in his side. Still disoriented, still bleeding, he limped into the tall grass, seeking shelter.
He found a gap between two rocks and dragged himself in. As he burrowed into the moist earth, a high-pitched shriek pierced the air. He froze. Talons scraped across stone above him.
A bird. Based on its cry, it sounded like a hawk but the volume and pitch were distorted, alien. The rocks shuddered with the pressure of claws above him. He pressed himself into the mud, labored breathing, intense pain consuming his entire body.
What kind of world is this? he thought. Hunted twice before I can even think?
The shrieks faded. The talons moved on. Blood still oozed from his wounds, but slower now. His muscles throbbed with exhaustion. He fought to stay conscious.
Darkness took him.
When he awoke, his body was stiff with dried blood. Pain flared as he moved, digging his way out of his hiding place. Hunger gnawed at him. His mouth was dry. His limbs ached. He thought of the grey lizard he had killed—his first kill in this alien body.
He limped toward the scene of the fight, following the trail of disturbed soil and blood. But when he reached the spot, the body was gone. Only blood remained.
Damn. Something else must've eaten it, he thought, glancing around.
Empty-handed, he pushed forward, alert to every sound, every shift in the grass. The wind carried distant, unfamiliar smells.
He emerged into a clearing. A vast lake shimmered ahead, framed by jagged mountains. In the sky, multiple moons hung suspended each a different hue. The atmosphere glowed with a strange green tint.
So I'm a lizard, he thought. Everything wants to eat me. And this... this isn't Earth.
And the pain?
It's real.