Rude Awakening

The morning after the party dawned as bright and beautiful as ever.

Ferdinand awoke in Nina's bedroom long after the little girl had already left. He stretched and yawned. He was feeling extra groggy this morning and attributed it to all the fun they'd had last night. Juan had even let Nina stay up a little extra late.

With eyes only half open, he made his way out of the house and to the kitchen window. He pushed his head through the opening in the wall and saw that the others had already been there; only scant pieces of vegetable were left on the counter.

"Morning, Little Big Guy!" Nina beamed, carrying a fresh crate of produce to the counter for him.

He greeted her with a sleepy smile and a tired moan.

"I knew you'd be tired if you stayed up late," she playfully chided.

He lethargically munched on his breakfast before retreating and making his way up to the hill. He was still incredibly tired and thought he'd catch up on some more rest much better now that his tummy was full.
To his slight surprise, he found the others already there in an apparently deep sleep.

'Guess the guys are as tired as I am,' he thought, and promptly laid down in his favorite spot.

It was one morning in a hundred for a perfect nap. The sun had baked the grass warm, and a wind came rushing up from the valley below, bringing the faint scent of flowers. Within minutes, Ferdinand fell into a contented slumber, still trailing happy memories from last nights' celebration.

The sun was high in the sky when he awoke.
He let out a sigh and eased himself up. How long had he been asleep?
Stretching, he decided he'd better get up before the day escaped him entirely. He casually glanced at his friends asleep on the grass - and nearly jumped out of his skin.

Letting out a startled shout, he stared at the five human forms lying on the grass.

"What the…!" He stood up, and immediately sensed that something was wrong...something was definitely wrong.

He looked down at his hands and saw that they were human hands. His legs were human legs. He felt his face and sure enough, it was a human face.

"I'm having a nightmare," he breathed, in borderline panic. "That's all this is...too much cake last night. I should've known..."
But if it were a nightmare, it was too vivid for comfort. He pinched himself several times, he slapped himself in the face, but he wouldn't wake up.

"What is going ON?" He shouted to the air. In doing so, he caused the others to stir in their sleep.

Valiente was the first to wake up. Even though they looked like humans, Ferdinand could easily tell who was who among his friends. Valiente's dark hair and scowl were signature, and the former bull groggily rose up and glared at him.

"What's the big idea?" he growled.

Ferdinand could only stare in horror.

"What?" Valiente asked. Then, just as Ferdinand had done, he began to sense that something was wrong.

The others began to wake up, too.

"Must you startle us from a nap with all your shouting?" Angus groaned.

"Yeah man, I was having a great dream," Guapo muttered.

Valiente suddenly shouted, drawing everyone's eyes to him. Chaos ensued.
First, the bulls began wondering who on earth Ferdinand and Valiente were, then they began shouting at each other, mistaking one another for strangers on the property. Finally, they realized that they themselves had changed altogether.

It was just as well that Juan and Nina were elsewhere, for the sight of so many confused "strangers" up on the hill would have alarmed them greatly.

"Guys, guys! Calm down!" Ferdinand said, holding out his hands in a placating gesture. "This is just a bad dream!"

"A bad dream!" Bones screeched. "I knew it! I knew I shouldn't have eaten so much cake! Bones, you'll be payin' for this tomorrow I told myself, but no I just had to go and gorge on that delicious sweet stuff!" He held his head in his hands.

"You sure this is a dream?" Guapo asked, still marveling in horror at his human hands and face. "I'd ask for a mirror, but I'm afraid to look!"

"I don't know what's going on," Ferdinand admitted, still staring at his human friends in despair. "But whatever it is, we gotta find out! Something's really wrong here!"

Maquina, who'd been just as horrified as the others but who so far had not said a word, opened his mouth for the first time.

"We should tell Juan and Nina."

The others stopped in their tracks and stared at him, dumbfounded.

It sounded just like Maquina...that is, if Maquina had ever actually spoken. But he'd never done so before. To see him as a human had been shocking enough; now they were hearing him speak in intelligible English for the first time.

Bones was the first to flip out. "Wake up, Bones!" he wailed. "I can handle a dream about being human, but a talking Maquina is too much!"

"Hey man, pull yourself together!" Guapo took him by the shoulders and gave him a gentle shake.

Bones slowly came to his senses. "You're right, Guap...I need to calm down..." He took a deep breath. "Sure never thought I'd see the day you'd be trying to calm me down. This is definitely a dream."

"It feels too real to be a dream," Valiente said, frowning.

"Aye, he's right," Angus said. "There's some funny bit of devilry going on here, and we must find out what it is."

Ferdinand nodded. "You're right Angus. And...so is Maquina." He looked at the human Maquina standing beside him. It was strange to see Maquina slightly calmer than the rest, but then the bull had never been the most emotional one in the group. "We need to find Juan and Nina, and...hopefully they won't think we're intruders..."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Guapo said. "All we have to do is tell them something only us bulls would know, like...how much fun we had at the party last night!"

Ferdinand nodded. "Yeah...yeah that could work. Let's hurry and find them."

Walking on two legs seemed to come naturally to them. As they made their way down the hill, Ferdinand wondered how on earth their human family members were going to react to the situation. Or Paco and Lupe for that matter. Were they human, too?
His dread grew as they approached the house. He was positive that Juan an Nina wouldn't be too happy to see a group of human "strangers" out in their field. Hopefully, he'd be able to get an explanation in before they overreacted.

'An explanation,' he thought, miserably. 'I could use one, myself!'

Suddenly they heard a dog barking, and were soon met with the sight of Paco - still a dog - running toward them.

"That's the bark he uses on strangers," Ferdinand observed, still in a daze. As the sheep dog ran up to meet them with a scowl on his face, Ferdinand raised his hands. "Hey, Paco, it's me! It's Ferdinand! Look, we're in some trouble, pal. We need Juan and Nina!"

"Oh, right!" Paco growled. "You expect me to fall for a dumb trick like that? Juan! Hey, Juan!" He continued barking incessantly.

But little did Paco expect to be understood by who he thought was a real human being. "It's not a trick!" Ferdinand protested.

Paco's voice died in mid-bark, his jaw hung and he stared at Ferdinand with eyes like dinner plates. In spite of their situation, Guapo actually laughed at the stunned look on his face. "You should see yourself, Paco! I don't think we've ever seen you look so scared!"

Paco's attention then focused on the others. It was all he could do to find his voice. "G...Guapo?!"

The smile left Guapo's face. "Yeah, it's us, buddy..."

"But what in the name of Roverandom happened to you all?!" They'd never heard him sound so frantic before. They could hardly blame him.

"We don't know, Paco," Ferdinand said, "we were taking a nap under the tree and woke up like this!"

"Please tell us this is some kinda funky dream we're in, man," Bones said with a pained expression.

"Well it's gotta be," Paco said, "'cause only in a dream would six bulls take a nap and wake up as humans!"

"Where's Juan?" Valiente asked, stepping up.

Paco started, still clearly unsettled by this weird turn of events. He stared at Valiente as if he were a ghost. "Uh, they're in the garden..."

"Thanks," Ferdinand said, walking past Paco and giving the dog a reassuring pat on the head. The others followed after.

"I've just been pet by my bull-turned-human brother...Definitely not how I thought I'd be starting the day..."

The dread of the group increased as they approached Juan and Nina, hard at work in the flower garden. Ferdinand stopped before they were within sight and faced his friends.

"I've been thinking this over guys, and it might be best if I tell them by myself."

"You sure, laddie?" Angus asked.

He nodded. "I'm sure. Let me break the news to them first, and then you can show yourselves. I think it'll be less shocking, you know?"

"He's right," Maquina said.

"We'll wait here then," Guapo put in.

Ferdinand nodded, gathered what wits and courage he had left, and approached his human family members. Not until this moment did he realize that for the first time in their lives, they would be able to understand what he was saying to them. A plethora of strange feelings welled up in him at the thought. He was intrigued, terrified, confused, and bewildered all at once. And in truth, he wasn't at all sure what Juan or Nina could really do to help them, but he had no one else to turn to.

'Well, here goes,' he thought, and cleared his throat. "Hi." He mentally chided himself on the lame intro, but he wanted to get their attention first before offering up an explanation.

Juan straightened his back, set the shovel against a wall and approached Ferdinand. He seemed slightly confused to see a human man standing at the edge of their garden, but he took the situation by the horns, so to speak.

"Hola. What can I help you with? You are aware you're on private property, yes?"

"Uh, Juan...look, this is gonna sound crazy, but we need your help..."

Juan's expression went from mild curiosity to outright confusion. "Do I know you?"

He nodded. "Please don't freak out, Juan...It's me, Ferdinand."

Juan's eyes narrowed. Nina had set down her trowel and stood a little behind her father, looking curiously up at the stranger. There was something familiar in his face and in his eyes, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Juan shook his head. "Forgive me, señor, but the only Ferdinand we know is our bull." He chuckled, brushing his hat back a little.

Ferdinand stared back at him with a sad expression. It was the strangest thing to be having a real conversation with Juan.

"I know," he said. "That's who I mean. It's me."

Poor Juan's confusion only deepened. "Forgive me, I don't understand..." He frowned.

Ferdinand then proceeded to tell him about his nap and how he and the others had woken up in completely changed forms. As he was telling the story, Nina's eyes widened. No wonder this man had seemed so familiar.

"It is Ferdinand, dad," she marveled.

Ferdinand looked down at Nina. He stared into the little girl's face, and instead of fear or confusion, was met with the same loving look he'd grown up with. Gratitude filled his heart, and he actually smiled. "Yes, Nina."

To both his and Juan's surprise, Nina rushed forward and wrapped her thin arms around Ferdinand's torso. Though it was much easier for her to embrace him now, she was still too small for her arms to wrap completely around him. Juan was taken by surprise yet again when Ferdinand returned the hug.

He noted the hesitant look on Juan's face. "It's ok, Juan," he said. "It really is me. We celebrated my birthday last night." When he got no response, he continued, "...Remember when you found me on that cliff? ...You two took me in and raised me, and I was the happiest bull in all of Spain. And Nina," he gently pulled her away so that she faced him, "remember that robin's egg I gave you for your birthday?"

Not that Nina needed any convincing, but Juan was definitely coming around. He muttered a startled oath to himself, and his eyes grew wide. "...Ferdinand...?"

He nodded. "The guys are waiting on the other side of the house. We didn't wanna startle you."

"But..." Juan shook his head, struggling with what he was seeing and hearing. "...But...how can this be?"

"I don't know. Believe me, we're as shocked as you."

"Let the others come, Ferdinand," Nina said.

He gave a half smile, nodded once, and called to the others. They hesitatingly appeared around the corner of the house and came to stand beside him.

Valiente was the first to speak. He addressed Juan, "Did he tell you?"

"Yes...yes, he told us." He was so stunned, he grabbed a nearby stool and sank down on it.

"Dad, are you ok?" Nina asked.

"Fetch me some water, sweetie. This is a lot to take in."

She rushed into the house and brought him a glass of water. The others had remained silent, patiently waiting for Juan to get over this revelation. Part of him still seemed unconvinced, and in turn, each "bull" began relating bits and pieces of their lives on the farm to him.

Still Juan sat silent, mulling over the situation and constantly shaking his head. "But how?" he kept asking himself.

"Dad, I think I might know," Nina said.

Everyone stared at her in surprise.

"It was a witch that did it," she said, simply.

"A witch?" Juan repeated, doubtfully.

She nodded. "At school, I heard these kids talking about a Señora Hiedra that lives in a dark, old apartment on the far side of Madrid. Everyone says she's a witch. She lives alone, and no one ever talks to her. She's crazy."

"Oh, honey..." Juan put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, clearly in doubt.

Ferdinand, however, frowned in thought. Could it be that a witch was responsible for this? It sounded crazy, but at the moment there really was no other explanation.

"But why would anyone wanna curse us?" Bones wondered out loud. Then, worried that he may have sounded silly, added, "Assuming it was a witch, of course..."

Valinete rubbed his temples in frustration. It was a very human gesture and both Juan and Nina couldn't help wondering where he'd learned it.

"Yeah, I mean we've never hurt anyone...Unless you count matadors," Guapo said. Then his face lit up.

So did everyone else's.

Ferdinand's eyes grew wide. "You don't think..."

"El Primero?" Valiente offered.

Angus looked troubled. "But the odds are against it...That windbag acknowledged defeat, didn't he?"

"He did," Ferdinand admitted, "but he had no choice...He would have killed me if the crowd hadn't intervened..."

Juan stood up. "We need to think more on this. For now...why don't we all go inside?"

Nina strode beside Ferdinand. She looked up at him. "Don't worry, Little Big Guy," she said in a soothing tone. "We'll help you all get back to normal."

He looked down at her. It felt good to hear her still use his nickname. And even though he wasn't nearly as big as he used to be, she was still quite small next to him.

"Thanks, Nina." He smiled down at her.

She took his hand in hers as they walked into the house. "You know what? I can ask you all sorts of questions now."

Juan invited everyone to sit down and he brought out refreshments, mostly because he felt they needed some kind of reprieve from their shock, however small. He almost considered the wine, but felt that it was best to keep things as uncomplicated as possible for the time being.

"Questions?" Ferdinand asked, as they sat down at the table together.

"Yeah. Like, what your favorite food is, what kind of flowers do you like growing the most...things like that!" She seemed to be taking their transformation with much more ease than anyone else. She really must have believed that it was no more than the prank of a witch, but he wasn't entirely convinced of that yet. Even so, she had a point. They all could communicate with each other now, a feat which had never been possible before. Though it was a lot to take in, and he still wasn't completely over the shock of their situation, the thought of being able to talk to Juan and Nina and have them understand was a wonderful notion.

Nina gave her attention to everyone at the table as Juan set down water for everyone.

"I can't believe I can talk to you all, now!" She said.

Angus actually chuckled. "But lassie, you always talk to us."

"But now you can answer back! I mean, I can understand you all!"

"It is passing strange," Juan said, finally taking a seat. "Um, listen...can you all relate to me, one more time, exactly what happened after you all went to sleep last night?"

Everyone took turns giving their account of what happened, and everyone's story was exactly alike. Very little could be gleaned from it.

"I'm telling you, dad, it's a witch. It has to be," Nina insisted.

"Alright, honey. We won't ignore that possibility, ok? Maybe..." he rubbed his chin. "Maybe what we ought to do is make some phone calls. I'd hate to head to Madrid unless there was something we could accomplish."

A glass clattered onto the table. Guapo looked around at everyone and gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. It slipped."

Nina hopped off her chair and fetched him a paper towel.

"Thanks," he said.

She regarded each one of the former bulls in great awe. There was so much she wanted to know about them, so much she wanted to ask, and she didn't know where to start. She watched them as they looked around the room, seeming to marvel at it from a human perspective.

"Everything in here's much bigger now," Angus commented. "And to sit in a chair as if I were a bloomin' human..." He trailed off.

"We are humans. At least for now," Guapo said. "But I hear ya, Angus. This is too weird for me. Oh and hey," he got out of his seat and walked over to a decorative mirror hanging on the wall. "Finally get to see what I look like!"

A human face stared back at him as he took in his appearance. As if to triply confirm that the whole ordeal wasn't some kind of supernatural joke, he raised a hand to his face. It definitely was his. His expression went from mild awe to mild satisfaction. "Just as I thought: still a good-looking guy." He gave his reflection a flashy smile.

Valiente rolled his eyes, but the others exchanged amused glances.

"It would be kinda cool to see what we look like," said Bones, and reluctantly joined Guapo at the mirror. "Move over, Guap, it's someone else's turn." Gathering his courage, for part of him was afraid to see anything in that reflection other than his normal bull-self, he stepped in front of the mirror.

"...So this is what I look like," he muttered. He stared at his reflection.

"You all look really good," Nina said, hoping to cheer them up a little. She sensed how uncomfortable the situation was for them, and being a perceptive and sensitive child, her heart went out to her dear friends.

"Thanks, Nina," Ferdinand said, affectionately ruffling her hair. "But I don't think we'll ever get used to being...human. It's all so weird..."

"Hopefully we won't have to get used to it," said Valiente, his arms folded on the table. "Whether a...witch did this or not," he felt funny just saying the word, "there's gotta be a way to get us out of this mess."

"There is," Juan said with much more confidence than he felt. "Don't worry, my friends. We'll get to the bottom of this and we won't stop until this...curse, or whatever it is, is solved." He stood up. "For now, I think it's best for you all to rest and...at least for the moment, get used to your situation. I promise that we'll do everything we can to get you back to yourselves, but I make no pretense: I don't know where to start." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Believe me, you all are not the only ones who are in shock right now."

Ferdinand nodded. "I understand, Juan. Thanks for being so cool about this."

Juan's face almost betrayed a smile. "Don't thank me yet, Ferdinand - something tells me this is all going to hit me in a day or two. Anyway, I have some spare rooms I can set up for you all." He fumbled for the right words to say, but there didn't seem to be anything appropriate to say that would relieve their discomfort. "I know it's hard, but try to relax and take deep breaths. You're not in any danger, you're just...different."

"I can help set up some pillows and blankets for them," Nina offered. Her calm, encouraging demeanor never faltered, and although the others didn't quite recognize it through their own stress, it did wonders in keeping their anxiety at bay.

"Good, Nina. We have some trundle beds in the guest room. Two of you at least will have to sleep on the couches in the living room. Unless you're more comfortable in the barn." He said it as a half-joke, but he seriously wondered if his bulls were human in more than just their appearance. Would they take to living like humans just because they looked like humans? He honestly didn't know, and he hoped that they wouldn't take the joke the wrong way.

But Angus laughed. "No thanks, mate, you've had us ruined for good living ever since we came to live on your farm."

After Juan and Nina set up some bedrooms for their unexpected house guests, they headed back to the living room and Juan threw himself onto the couch. He rubbed his face for the umpteenth time.

Nina sat on the couch next to her father. "Don't worry, dad," she said. "We'll be able to help them, you'll see."

He gave her a sad smile. "You sound so sure, honey. How can we help them?"

She sighed and looked a little put out. "I told you, dad, the witch. I'm sure it's her that did this!"

He mimicked her sigh and shook his head. "At this point, I'm willing to try anything to get us all out of this mess..."

"It's not a mess," she insisted. "Ferdinand and the others may have changed, but they're still them."

"I know, Nina, but think how they must be feeling right now. They're probably terrified and confused...We still love them, but we have to help them. And," he pushed his hat back, "for now, I guess that means looking up this witch, as you say. I'm not even sure I believe in witches, but tell me, what was this person's name?"

"Carlos, in my art class, called her Madame Hiedra. He said his mom had a weird encounter with her one time."

"Mm. Well, it's a start, like I said. But let's not rush into this just yet. I think we need to give the bulls - that is, our guests - time to decompress. And us, as well."

Ferdinand, Valiente, Guapo, and Bones were situated in one of the guest rooms that came with two trundle beds.

Valiente insisted on having the top side where Ferdinand was gracious enough to take the pull-out mattress on wheels. Valiente may have lost some of his hard edges ever since reforming, but not all of those edges were lost. Juan had taught them all how to pull out and put back the mattresses.

Maquina and Angus were there as well, though their beds would be made on the couches that night. The guest room, thankfully, was spacious enough to fit all of them. It came with a few bedside tables and a futon.

"I know Juan said we should rest, but I don't think I'll be able to rest for a long time," Guapo mused, lying on the trundle mattress with his arms folded behind his head. He was staring at the ceiling.

"I hear ya," Bones said, also trying to relax but failing miserably.

"Remember, this is hard on Juan, too," Ferdinand said.

"But not Nina," Valiente observed. "She's the only one who's taken this whole thing pretty well."

"Nina has a good heart," Ferdinand said, absently. He laid back onto his pillow. "I'm sure she's confident that this'll get solved..."

Maquina said, "I agree with Nina. I think it was a witch."

Everyone looked at him. They still weren't quite used to the idea of him talking. In some ways, it weirded them out more than his being human.

Angus, who'd been sitting on the futon with him, said, "What makes you think so?"

"Nina is intuitive. She must be right," was his simple answer.

"If it was," said Guapo, "how are we gonna get her to reverse this?"

"Yeah, that's a whole 'nother matter," said Valiente, doubtfully.

Angus frowned and leaned back on the couch. "Still, we must remain hopeful, lads...And, I'm beginning to agree with Maquina. I think the lass may be right."

"We'll have plenty of time to talk about this later," Ferdinand said. Exhaustion began to take hold of him as the shock wore off, and he felt even more tired than he did when he woke up that morning. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm bushed. I'm gonna sleep on it for now."

Bones yawned. "Sounds good to me, Ferd."

The others, also feeling drained from the trauma, began to feel dozy. Maquina and Angus took their leave, as well as their spare pillows and blankets, and headed to the couches in the vacant living room. The others soon passed into sleep, neither very restless nor too comforting. It wasn't until the sun began to sink behind the distant hills that they woke up, all of them wishing with all their might that when they did, they would find themselves as bulls again.