??? ??:??
I woke up. Head hurt. Body tired. I was in a room. Not my bedroom. Wait I don't have a bedroom. I live in the woods.
I was in a bad place. The Pool. Yeerk Pool. There should be the Wild Things. Hork-Bajir. Where are they?
I wandered around till I found the pool. Oh look! A birdie. With a slug in its talons?
David? Is that you? Come on! It's me, Cassie! We need to get out of here.
Cassie? Looks like it's morphin time!
I morphed into a robin. A small red bird. I followed the big bird with the slug in its talons. We flew till we left the McDonalds.
I'm not sure how we ended up at the McDonalds, but we did. We flew out of there and made it back to Cassie's barn. Cassie and Erek got real worried about something. I didn't worry. I took a nap.
November 4, 1999 2:20 PM
Four days passed till we were all well enough to go outside. Apparently, all of us, save Cassie, got sick. Aximili was fine. Cassie saved him. Aftran was fine. Cassie saved her too. I was fine. Cassie . . . . well, you get the idea.
The last three days, I've been held inside a little shack. Tied up to a bed and being watched by Chee. This was to make sure I wasn't a controller. I didn't mind. I spent most of the time sleeping. I was that sick.
When I was well and confirmed Yeerk-free, I joined the others. We were on our way to the beach to say goodbye to Aftran. We saved her by giving her the morphing power and trapping her in a morph. Humpback Whale. A step up if you ask me.
So the five of us recovering sickies related stories of our infirmary adventures.
"My mom wouldn't let me eat solid food til today." Rachel complained. "And it's been four days since I got sick."
That's the worst thing that happened to you? Tobias challenged. I'm not even sure Mr. Verenda is a real vet. He tried to stick a pill up my--
"Yeah, well, my dad brought me baby aspirin! Like for a baby." Marco carped.
"I spent my first day being sick at the Yeerk Pool, okay?" I countered. "Then I spent the next three days chained to a bed, because you thought I had a Yeerk in my head, even though I didn't."
"I did have a Yeerk in my head." Aximili countered back. "Did-duh. In my head. Head-duh."
Aximili was in his human morph, but I was normal me.
"I can't believe David was Yeerk-free. He was down there for a whole day." Jake said.
"I guess it was because I was sick. I mean, I did throw up all over Visser Three."
"You threw up over Visser Three?!" Rachel mused. "It's a wonder you're still alive."
"I don't remember, I think I slept most of the day. Although I keep having dreams about being controlled by a yeerk named Calvca."
"Flu dreams." Rachel said. "I dreamt my bear morph and elephant morph were fighting over who should be my battle morph next."
"That's just weird." Marco said.
"Weeeeirrrrrd-dah." Aximili commented.
We wished Aftran goodbye. The weirdest thing was hearing Aftran's true 'voice'. Whenever you hear a yeerk it is always in the voice of whomever it has taken. Even if its in your own mind, as Cassie and Jake have told me. Aftran's true voice sounded almost wordless. Melodic. Sad. Much like a whale's song. It was thought-speech, but it was her 'voice' nonetheless.
I went for a walk down the beach after saying goodbye to Aftran. I need some time alone. I resolved to do something drastic for Terra Firma. Step up the invasion. I also resolved to do it alone, but after this encounter, maybe alone was a bad idea. I definitely need allies. And a computer program named Ayla wasn't enough. I needed--
"It's you!" A voice said.
I turned my head to see in the distance Melissa Chapman running toward me. The real me. The blond boy she met on the beach by the beached whale.
I ran behind a giant rock and morphed to Terry Stevens. When Melissa caught up to me, her face showed initial disappointment, then indifferent shock.
"Terry? What? I . . I thought you were someone else." She blathered. "I'm so confused."
I felt bad deceiving her. "You ok?"
"I'm fine."
"What brings you here to the beach?"
"Just walking." she said. No real answer. "I should go."
"Melissa." I said quickly, stopping her. I felt so stupid. I could face Visser Three, Scott Taggart, Sub-visser Five-zero-nine, and I can't say how I feel to a girl. Damn you, Stephanie. Damn you, Sub-visser Five-zero-nine. Fuck her. "Would it be okay if we . . . met someplace to . . .spend time . . . or whatever."
Melissa laughed at my proposition that was more awkward than a newborn deer taking its first steps when it's drunk and doing it on ice. "Okay. Um . . . . Friday night at the mall? If its okay with you I'd like to spend some time away from Manhattan Island."
I'm not sure what that meant. "Okay. Um . . . no problem."
"Oh, and ah . . .don't give me any silly nicknames."
"Not even Marla?"
"Marla?" Melissa said confused, but then it clicked. "Fight Club. I get it. Well, not unless I can call you . . . . What was the guy's name?"
"They never said. In the credits he's billed as the Narrator."
"Should I call you Tyler Durdin then?"
"How about not."
She hugged me then. We were the same, she and I. Kids who lacked love so we find it in each other. Orphans. She, the daughter of a Yeerk. She was the one least likely, but perhaps she's the one for me.
"You can't expect everything to go your way. Something will go wrong."
We'll see.
We'll see.
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Sorry these chapters too so long. Mr. Quill has had a lot of s**t going on his life. Ok. Now I must pester my fans for something.
As part of her column, FFN author and columnist Rb interviews an FFN author. She picks her Author by requests. Please, e-mail Rb at Rbooks5678@aol.com, and ask/beg/grovel for her to interview your favourite FFN author: Cougar19. Or that other guy, what's his name? . . . . . oh yeah, Augustine Quill.
So e-mail Rb and ask her interview Augustine Quill, author of the Animorph section's longest-running and awesome fic, "One Least Likely".
And don't forget to read Rb's As the Pan Thawps, and keep your eye out for her interview with Augustine Quill.