The Beast
Every evening, Marta returned home from work. Her route took her through a dark park in the heart of a huge metropolis with a troubled nightlife. She walked nervously looking around, speeding up every now and then.
At one point, Marta heard footsteps behind her. It was a man who clearly had bad intentions. Marta quickened her pace, and the man did the same. At one point, he nearly caught up with her and grabbed her arm.
Something inside Marta cracked. The man saw her shadow transform into the shadow of a huge beast. He instinctively recoiled, and Marta broke free and ran away.
The following evening, she encountered an aggressive gang in the park. This time, there were several men. Something cracked again, and Marta’s arm transformed into a huge beast’s paw, which furiously delivered several powerful blows to the attackers. The crowd scattered in terror.
Marta was left alone, frozen in shock. A strange-looking old man approached her.
“Hello. I’m a shaman,” he said. “Now you have a choice: remain a woman or turn into a beast. The latter is wonderful, but you will have to leave the human world and go into the mountains.”
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Marta imagined the lonely existence of such a creature, as well as the love of her family and how devastated they would be if she disappeared from their lives forever.
“No. I will remain human,” she replied.
“And I am certain that before the rooster crows, you will turn into a monster. Still, it is not your fault. This city is simply a cursed place, worse than Sodom and Gomorrah.”
At dawn, while still asleep, Marta felt an unpleasant cracking sensation throughout her entire body. Her joints began to transform, and her bones started to grow.
Once again, she remembered the love of her family and, with an extraordinary effort, stopped the process. Then she woke up.
Several hours later, Marta was sitting on a plane flying to another country, to another city, where there were not as many beasts in human form as there were in her hometown.
