This is my entry in Magus's JHD Contest. As yet, I have no idea how I went, but once the results are out, I'll tell you, plus put in relevent links.
And for those who have read it before, I've corrected the continuity
gaps referred to by the antlers, but that probably doesn't make any
sense to those who don't know what I'm talking about... :}
"He's coming around Doctor." They were the first words I heard. They are not the sort of words which you want to here when you are the one lying on the bed connected to the machines. Groggily I tried to open my eyes, but found they were stuck shut. "Wwwwhh...?" I attempted to moan, but my mouth felt strange. Really strange. I felt a reassuring hand on my arm. "Don't struggle," said a female nurse. "You've had a pretty rough time and I'm sure there will be side effects." I felt like yelling "Side effects? What side effects?" but instead I just moaned. I heard a door opening and sensed someone move closer. "Good afternoon Mr Mactee," said a male voice. "I'm Dr Stanton. I've been looking after your case." There was a pause and a shuffling of paper. "I feel I should warn you, you have been in a coma for approximately a week. During this time, there have been some significant changes to your metabolism which may take considerable time for you to adjust to, but we do expect a full recovery." This was great. More questions and no answers. Changes? Is that why my mouth felt all funny. Come to think of it, I felt funny all over. My hands and feel seemed constricted somehow and my head felt truly bizarre. I tried to gesture to my head and make noises which sounded like "eyes." Luckily the doctor cottoned on to what I was talking about. "Ahhh yes," he said. "Your eyes have been taped shut because during your comatose state we feared your eyeball would dry out. I'll have the nurse remove them at once. Again, I should warn you your vision will probably seem a little strange at first, but remain calm. You will get use to it in time. For the moment, you should lie still and try to remain calm." More of that don't panic talk. I tried to nod my head and started at the feeling of something strange behind me. I head the door open again and I assumed the doctor had left. Collapsing back onto the pillows, I tried to remember what happened. I was working at the lab, in the containment room. I turned, asked Doug for a sample. He nodded and was walking towards me. I noticed the air line before he did. He tripped and in slow motion fell forward. I can remember watching his hand spin out from his body and cartwheel into my thigh. There was a sharp pain and I cried out. As Doug fell to the floor, his hand slid down my leg leaving the depressed syringe embedded in my thigh, its needle clearly punctured my protective suit. I hit the panic button and began moving towards the airlock. I stumbled, slipped, began falling and everything faded to black before I hit the floor. I guess they grabbed me and brought me here to the hospital. The door opened and I lifted my head. "Good afternoon Mr Mactee," said the same cheerful female voice. "I'm here to open your eyes." There was the sound of blinds being rustled and I sensed her leaning over me. She smelled very nice. "Ok," she said. "Now, I'm going to take the tape off first, then the cotton wool. Then you can open them when I say so and not before. Please remember you haven't used these for a week, so they are likely to be very sensitive. Also, they may not work straight away so don't stress if you can't see perfectly." I nodded my head and felt that strange sensation again. She began fussing about my face and I felt my hairs being pulled. My beard must have grown longer. She then sponged my eyelids with what I assumed was water and repeated the procedure on the other eye. Obediently I sat there, not moving a muscle. She moved back. "I'm not sure what the doctor told you," she said. "But you should know, you now look considerable different to what you did." Another warning! Just what was in that syringe? "Ok," she said softly. "Try to open your eyes now, don't strain them." Slowly I prised my eye open. At first the room was brilliantly lit, but then faded to a more subdued tone as my eyes adjusted. Something was wrong, but I could not figure out what. Everything looked normal enough. It was a standard sort of hospital room, very sterile looking with a light pastel decor. One wall had a window in it with drawn blinds with blinding brilliant shards of sunlight dancing along the edges. The opposite window had a door in it, which I assume lead outside. I was lying on a bed with an attractive woman in a nurses uniform standing along side. That is when I noticed what was wrong. I could see too much. I was seeing both sides of the bed. I began to sit up when my eye glanced across my right arm, it was laying on the outside of the covers. The arms itself looked quite normal, but my hand was grotesquely misshapen. Lifting it up nearer my face, I peered at it. The index finger and one next to it had somehow fused together, as had my third and forth fingers. My thumb had grown larger and all three digits where tipped by some form of thick dark triangular nail. I let out a moan and pulled my left hand from under the covers. It too was shaped like the right. Looking at the nurse I attempted to say mirror, but all that came out was "Mmmhirra." She understood and opened the cupboard, pulling out a small mirror, which she held up silently. Tentatively, I looked at my reflection and let out a moan. That was not me! I did not look like that. I looked away and almost immediately found my eyes gravitating back. I was curious. The nurse set the mirror on a stand and backed out, mumbling something about ringing if I needed it. I am not sure how long I stared at myself. It could have been minutes or maybe hours. No matter how long I stared, it did not change my appearance. I was definitely not human anymore. My eyes had moved to the sides which explained why I could see so much of the room. My ears had moved towards the top of my head and were now much larger and furry. You would have though they would have stolen the attention, but no, that was taken by the a set of antlers protruding from the top of my head. My nose and mouth had both extended, forming a muzzle tipped by a black nose. My entire face was also covered by fur. It was mainly a light brown, but had lighter patches and was definitely darker between my eyes. To cut it short, my head now belonged on a deer. The only problem was it was on my body. Obviously whatever had been in that syringe was related to a deer. After a long while I began to wonder what else had changed. There was my hands, my feet felt strange too. Almost fearing what I would find I lifted up the covers and peered down towards the end. As my eyes travelled down my body I let out a short gasp. My manhood had changed. Where my penis use to be, there was now a furry sheath which almost reached my navel. Below that, my ball sac had also changed, becoming what I would swear was larger, but also covered in a short brown fuzz. By the time my eyes reached my feet, I was quite unconcerned with what they would see. My foot itself had extended, compensating for marginally shortened thigh and shin. My toes had reformed themselves into what could only be described as hooves. I flexed my foot and watched the alien foot move in return. This was weird. I had also noticed my eyesight was growing stronger as was my hearing. I could hear people talking somewhere outside my room. As well, my sense of smell was improving, I could tell at least six different people had been in the room recently. I heard footsteps coming towards the door and hushed voices talking about "how he looks different." I knew they were talking about me. The door opened and in walked Dr Stanton. I could tell it was him from his scent. "Mr Mactee," he said. "I have someone here to see you." I looked at the door and in walked Mary. Mary and I were going to get married. It was going to be in about four months in a little chapel we had found in the countryside. She was a kind, considerate woman and I was unsure if I deserved her. She stepped into the doorway and smiled. It was like a ray of sunshine, like a glimmer of hope that all of this would go away and everything would get back to normal. Then she saw me. She took it rather well at first. "B B Bbrian?" she stammered. I nodded, antlers scraping against the bed head. She stood there, staring. First at me, then at the doctor, then back to me. Then she screamed. I threw back the covers, jumped out of bed and ran towards her. She saw me coming and fled screaming hysterically in the opposite direction. I got as far as the door when my legs decided to tell me they did not know how to work. Luckily, this was not a problem because at that exact time the tips of my antlers hit the top of the door. My feet kept going, my head stopped and next I was lying on the floor seeing stars and tweeting birdies. I heard Mary run through a door and out of my life. I never saw her again. The doctor yelled for someone to help me and two burly orderlies hoisted me back to my bed. He waited for me to recover before giving me the low down on what had happened. The hospital guessed had been injected with some retro virus thingie which reprogrammed my genetic code. The code which it had inserted was turning me into a deer. They had not managed to reverse it as such, but they had injected me with another virus which stopped the first. That meant I would remain like this, probably for the rest of my life. Stanton let me mull it over for a while, before presenting the arguments and advantages about this form. I was incredibly healthy apparently. As well as amazingly fit, strong and he continued sounding like an ad for a health studio. I had gained a fair bit of weight, most of which was extra muscle, apparently they had to force feed me with a tube while my body gained its mass. He continued talking about the specifics of my case, but I lost interest and lay back on the pillow. So began my life as a deer. For the first week, I was at the hospital. They had thought I would spend several months in rehabilitation, learning to walk again, but for some reason I found myself walking easily in a matter of days. Regaining control of my hands was easy too, but fine motor skills were difficult and it would probably be a few months before I could handle a pen again. Speech was a problem. I still had my voice box and most of the muscles needed for speech, but it was a struggle to get the words to sounds right. Then one morning I woke up and bang, was able to talk. It was not easy, but they were my words in a deep rich voice. I considered auditioning for Darth Vader in the new release of Star Wars. Oh, that was the other thing. My boss came to visit. He strode in, full of confidence and beaming like an idiot. It turned out they had isolated the compound in the syringe. It was from a batch of stuff designed to produce bigger, better bucks for stud animals. Natural they were very pleased I was all right and would I please sign this piece of paper, please, grovel, beg, pled. I was about to when I realised I could not hold a pen. He left it on the table for when I could. After a while I became curious and picked it up. It was written in tiny type in legal jargon which I could barely understand. Borrowing one of the lawyers from the hospital for an hour I had him interpret it for me. It turned out it was an exemption form. If I signed it, the company could not be held liable for my accident. Curious I asked the lawyer what would happen if I pressed charges. He thought I would probably get money. A lot of money. After I left the hospital, I pressed those charges and he was right. I got a huge amount of money. Admittedly, they lawyers probably retired as well, but I got enough to keep myself very comfortable for the rest of my life. The downside was I became a media circus for the eighteen months while the trial dragged out. Everybody wanted me to appear on their television shows, endorse their products, represent their cause or just show up for a kid's party. You would not believe the amount Disney offered me. About the only thing I did attend deliberately was one of the Furry Conventions. I was a pretty bit hit, but was ruled ineligible to enter the costume competition since I could not take it off. It was a pity. I was sure I was going to win. Some of the money I spent on a small cabin up in the mountains. It was secluded, I owned all of the surrounding land and could get away from it all. When I first bought it, I planned on spending only a few weeks there, however, as spring came around I found myself spending longer and longer there. It did not occur to me why until one day when I was out wandering through the woods. I was walking along a secluded track when I found myself detouring through the bush. I was not sure why at first, but then I stumbled upon a clearing and the reason became clear. In the centre of the clearing stood a doe. Behind her stood a magnificent stag. He was covered in mud and I could smell both their scenes from where I stood downwind. His was masculine and threatening, her's was seductive and inviting. The stag lifted his head and let out a roar. For an instant I contemplated entering the clearing and challenging him for the doe, but luckily my humanity caught me. Then he mounted her savagely. I watched for a few moments, then suddenly became embarrassed by my voyeurism. I faded from the clearing and headed home. Jumping slightly when I found myself rubbing my antlers against passing trees. My antlers were very impressive at the moment. Fully grown with twelve points. One collector had offered me a considerable sum for them and if the truth be told, I would have been glad to be rid of them. They were surprisingly heavy and routinely caught in tree branches, but at the moment I was extremely proud of them. Opening the cabin door I paused. There was a human inside. I could smell her scent, it was similar to the doe's but also familiar. I matched the smell with the face and realised Anne must have come back. Anne was the nurse who I originally met in hospital. I had not seen her for a year, then I bumped into her while I was undergoing a check up. We got to talking. Talking lead to dinner, which lead to meetings and we were now very fond of each other. As I thought about it, I realised it was strange, but our six months of relationship had never turned sexual. I stepped inside and she pounced on me, throwing her arms around me, kissing my velvety nose. I smiled and licked at her lips, my mouth not really designed for kissing. She climbed off me and lead me inside. We talked idly for a while, sitting opposite each other. Then she got up to get some drinks and when she came back she sat beside me. There was more chit-chat and we found ourselves pressing against each other. Every time I breathed in through my nose, her scent filled my mind with images of the rutting deer. I found myself breathing in and out of my mouth, but slowly turning my head to get a stronger whiff of her smell. At some point, she must have had similar thoughts for she laid a hand on my thigh and gently began rubbing towards my groin. I shifted uncomfortable and found myself nuzzling at her neck. I do not think each of us knew what we had began, it just seemed to happen. She eased my custom made jeans over my short tail and pulled them off, I unbuttoned her blouse and explored below. She moved to undoing my shirt and I teased off her pants. I began to nuzzle her naked body and by the time I reached her dripping sex, my own was throbbing in her hands. She lifted my head and straddled my hips, slowly easing herself onto my hot shaft. I bucked my hips towards her and she moaned in ecstasy. As I nuzzled her neck, she caressed my furry head and shoulders, the pleasure in both of us gradually increasing. After what seemed like an eternity we both climaxed. I thrust savagely into her while she pushed down onto me, my fuzzy balls surrendering their load in a most exquisite and pleasurable way, before we both collapsed in each others arms. We made love several times that night. Then again the next day and once or twice the following day. On the third day I awoke to find myself entwined in her arms. Most of the previous days were much of a blur to me, but I did know they were very enjoyable. I leaned over to attempt a kiss on the top of Anne's head and my mouth nudged against something hard. Blinking my eyes in an attempt to clear them, I peered at her head. It was unmistakable. On the top of her head were the beginnings on two antlers. With all my peering and probing she awoke and wanted to know what was going on. I told her of my discovery and she immediately ran her hands over the new buds. Throwing back the covers we both peered at her body. There was a light fuzz beginning to show around her groin and she complained that both her hands and feet were stiff. Immediately I felt guilty over what I had done. The stuff I had been injected with was specifically designed for breeding stags. Obviously that part of me was still concerned with breeding bigger and better deer. I began to cry and between sobs explained what I had done to her. She pulled my head up and placed it on her chest, stroking at the fur on my cheek. She said she understood the risks after what tests they had run at the hospital and she was happy with what had happened and that it was not my fault. Eventually I stopped sobbing and just lay there on her chest. She then pointed out it may be a good time to get her to the hospital. Her transformation was not as quick as mine, but she looks similar, except her antlers are just tiny buds. We returned to the cabin about a month later. We were going to stay in the city, but she was in heat again and we decided that discretion was the better part of valour. We now spend most of the time at the cabin. Don't get be wrong. We have not abandoned out human lives. We have just found that its pace is not suited to us. Instead we take long walked in the forest, exploring and meeting distant relatives. Its strange, there are a lot of people out there who feel sorry for us. Loosing our humanity and living like animals, but I feel sorry for them...