Alissa writhed in the sleeping bag of her tent. The sky had been pouring down rain by the bucketful for hours. Funnily enough, she came up here camping to escape the pressures of city life, and now she was wishing she could sleep the rest of the day away and skip forward to tomorrow. With the sun getting ready to touch and starting sinking into the horizon, she might finally be able to do so; that is, if she would become tired enough to fall asleep while her ears were being constantly assaulted by the noise of raindrops hitting the tent. It almost sounded like the tent was being slapped over and over again on all sides. Sandwiching her head between a pillow and the inside of the sleeping bag did not do much to dampen it. Despite the layers of clothing and sleeping bag surrounding her, Alissa could see her own breath. She didn't bring a heater on her trip up this time; it *would* have been useless to lug along if the weathermen were right. The *lows* for the whole week were supposed to be much warmer than this! How do you screw up a prediction to this degree? Anyway, there was no use getting worked up over that -- she was a fool for not bringing the heater in the first place, and the energy she was wasting getting angry could be better used toward warming herself up. She broke into another shivering fit. Being confined to one spot and unable to do anything gave Alissa plenty of time to dwell on all sorts of topics, especially those she came here to get away from in the first place -- work, bills, and other people in general, to name a few. This time, she could not escape stress. Inch by inch, it came back, adding fuel to the fire that was her current situation. Relaxation techniques would only clear her mind just enough for the cold and rain to fill it up. Finally, after hours of teasing by lightening up for a short while only to resume at full strength, the rainfall truly stopped. Alissa did not get up and instead continued to lay down with her eyes closed, desperately waiting for sleep that would never come. Tossing around again and again and again convinced her that she wasn't going to be able to for a long while, so she reluctantly crawled out from her sleeping bag into the open air. If she was cold before, she was now freezing. Slipping on her boots, she tucked the laces in the soles after fumbling with tying them. Then, she put on her coat, slipped on her gloves, and peeked out the front of the tent. Everything other than the metal top and fence around the fire-pit looked like a soggy mess. The trees were all dripping wet and emulating their own rainstorm, dripping large drops of water. The sun was dipping below the horizon. Also, most depressingly, the pile of firewood outside the tent was drenched. The temperature would only get colder from now on! Unable to sleep through it, she needed to create a fire so she could be warm for at least a while, but finding anything dry enough to burn would be another challenge. Like it or not, she was now part of a race -- she needed to start a fire before she found out if she would actually freeze. Alissa stuck her head back inside to find her hatchet before venturing out. The ground was just as soggy as it looked, her boots squelching with each step. The frigid air all around her pierced through her clothes and into her body as if they weren't there. It would only get worse, and so would her intermittent shivering. She started investigating the woods around her for anything even remotely suitable. As the sun went down, the small pile of tinder in the front of the inside of her tent built up, being the driest spot available to store anything. Small branches were convenient, but finding any that were relatively unscathed by the rain was an exercise in frustration. She would need to break apart the wet firewood -- for her, a tiresome task -- but at least she saved herself some effort with her scavenging. Maybe. By the time she was done salvaging enough of the firewood, her face and hands were going numb. Thankfully, the metal cover of the pit kept out the rain, so the ground was dry enough to start a fire without needing to monkey around further and use more precious time. Finally, she lit the fire and stared at it, watching it grow and cackle. It was warm. It gave life. She breathed in its warm fumes, filling her cold lungs; looked into its light, bright in the almost-gone sunlight; and stood as close as she could without burning, regaining the feeling in her limbs. Alissa never wanted to move from that spot, but she needed to split or find more fuel to keep the fire going. At least the inside of the tent was not as cold this time when she brought in more soaked firewood to prepare. The sun was no longer visible. She would keep the fire roaring for as long as possible. All of the work was making her weary, but she was determined. She felt something hit her head, then again, then again. The rain started again, but it was just a drizzle. This was manageable. She would not succumb to the cold. Shortly after, the rain fell harder, but it was still nothing for her to become worried about. The rain then fell even harder, at which Alissa began to worry, but the fire was still going, so hope was not lost. Then, the sky fully opened up, and, in a taunting gesture, brought forth a downpour even more powerful than earlier in the evening, extinguishing her determination as quickly as it did the fire. Alissa stared at the remains in horror. There was nothing she could do. The cold was already coming back, threatening to suck away her soul. Wide-eyed, she turned around and walked back into her tent, moving at a crawl's pace. After removing her equipment, she closed the flap and nestled herself into her sleeping bag. Above her, the dreaded splattering of the rain from earlier resumed. A faint cloud left her nostrils when she exhaled. She wanted to cry. Her arms were weak. Her whole body was tired. All she could think of was sleep, glorious sleep, sleep that would bring the morning, sleep that would bring salvation. As she drifted off, her thoughts turned to the animals that must deal with this weather. Bears, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and so on -- all of them were built for surviving in this. She was not, and neither was any other human. "I wish I had fur," Alissa mumbled, adjusting her sleeping position. "I wish I was a wolf, being able to stay warm. I wish I was warm. Please..." The words trailed off. Suddenly, a tingling sensation covered her entire body, but she dismissed it as the body trying to keep in heat. Little white hairs had started to sprout from all over her skin, which were spreading and lengthening. Meanwhile, her tailbone began to extend, creating a fleshy limb poking out from between her pants and coat, it too growing little hairs. She felt the need to turn again, so she flipped onto her side with her arms and legs stretched out in front of her as far as the sleeping bag would allow. The growing tail curled between her legs so it could rest in front of her as well. Then, the nails of her toes and fingers extended and tapered off into claws, poking holes in her gloves and socks, followed by her thumbs merging into her hands and disappearing. Dark pads covered the bottoms of her former feet and hands, which were now paws. While her arms reformed themselves into another set of legs, the tingling sensation concentrated on her skull. Her ears were tugged upwards, deforming into triangular shapes in the process. At the same time, her mouth and nose pushed outward painlessly, fusing into a single snout. Her hair then whitened and receded, becoming uniform with the fur that thickly coated the rest of her body. Alissa's mouth became a faint smile. She no longer felt as cold -- in fact, she could barely feel it at all. Also, her chest and head were more comfortable, as if they were resting on another pillow. She was unaware that this was her tail; actually, she was unaware of the fact she was no longer human at all. Finally, she fell sound asleep. --- It was a hot summer day. The heat would have normally had Alissa sweating from head to toe, but it did not affect her. All around her were vibrant rolling hills, stretching off into the distance. She ran off without a care in the world. At one point, she fell onto her arms and started running on all fours. This did not slow her down; instead, she was running noticeably faster. Doing so felt as natural as walking. --- Alissa woke up groggily, blinking her eyes several times. Light from outside flooded into the tent. Perking her ears up, she didn't hear the dreadful downpour of the night before, but instead the chirping of birds. She survived the night! Now, she realized she was quite hot and started to come out of her sleeping bag. What else would happen when you went to sleep wearing enough layers to stop an arrow? She needed to stretch out. Letting out a huge yawn, she stood up to reach the sky, only to lose her balance and fall over. That was one way to wake yourself up, though you would never actually want to do so. Looking down at her stinging arms, she saw that they were no longer actually arms ending in hands but instead legs ending in paws, coated in white fur. Her gaze shifted to behind her, where she could see parts of her fluffy body and a floofy tail sticking out from the edges of her clothing. She tried to wag her tail, and when she saw it respond, she opened her mouth and panted, letting her tongue hang out. She was a happy wolf. It was a dream come true! Barring the night before, of course, she always loved camping because of the escape it provided from the stresses of life. Now, she could truly let her human troubles disappear -- for good! Bolting out the front of the tent, she ran around the tent, then the campsite, then through the trees encircling them. Only then did she remember she was still wearing her clothes. Her socks and gloves were missing, but everything else was still on. Bringing a paw to her neck, she swiped downwards and shredded her clothing, starting from her coat and ending with her pants. Everything underneath, such as her shirt, was already in pieces and fell out like confetti. The new wolf's stomach growled, and her throat felt parched. Being so excited with her changes, she forgot she still needed to eat and drink when she got up. Turning her ears in all directions, she listened for anything that sounded like running water, and heard something to her left, dashing more and only slowing down when nearby. Coming to a stop next to a creek, she took a moment to look at her reflection in the water before drinking. She could see her furry, lupine face, which was devoid of any of her former appearance, save for her eyes. Her tail wagged again. Finally, she brought her head down toward her reflection and began to drink. Instead of any sort of graceful movement, she stuck her snout right in and made a mess. She didn't care, though. She was free. Once she finished, she brought her head back up and caught a whiff of something meaty in the air, something that made her salivate. Oh, right, she needed to wet her nose from now on to enhance her smelling. She sniffed a few more times, and started to walk in the direction of the scent, sniffing continuously and licking her nose as it dried out on the way. Eventually, she found the source: a rabbit. Now, she knew what the scent she was tracking was and would remember it for the future. She should have recognized it from her time as a human, but with a new nose came an altered sense of smell. At the sight of her, the rabbit started to hop away, but the wolf was quicker, and it was soon in her jaws, the taste of blood running down her throat. Wolfing down her meal, Alissa understood that she was fine -- more than fine -- living like this. She didn't need to worry about having to money or buying food from a store or anything else from her past life. She could just find whatever she wanted, when she wanted. Instead of needing to always think about the future, she could live in the moment, doing anything. And nobody would care. --- A few weeks later, a party hiking through the woods came across the remnants of an abandoned campsite. The tent was ruined by a branch that crashed down on it. Looking inside, they found supplies and equipment typical of someone camping for just a few days at most, but no evidence that the site had been visited in quite some time. The only clue to the identity of whoever was here was a bit of white fur lying around. Obviously, the camper brought his or her dog along. Hopefully it didn't suffer the same fate as it's owner, whatever it was.