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Chimera's Curse

Chimera’s Curse

Daciana – Dax to friends - pushed aside the stray locks of brindled hair that sprang from her head like a fountain. A pale light seeped through the shutters painting the bedroom in argent shades as she felt the full moon and stars melt in the rising dawn.

That’s better, she thought as the tautness of her skin diminished. Rising from the bed, she hummed a nameless tune as she went to the bathroom.

In the mirror, a normal looking seventeen-year old stared back, not the chimera of folktales that she heard all the time. Dark hair with a multitude of highlights framed a pale face; piercing eyes were returning to their usual green although the yellow still showed in the pupils and hadn’t fully changed back to their round shape. Pretty, she thought with smile. “Ooops,” she muttered as the long canines caught the light causing her to grin.

“Werewolf, lycanthropist, freak!” Dax was the reality. A small gland located behind the pineal flooded her body with hormones. The result was increased muscle mass and the reshaping the cornea and pupils of her eyes giving her a feral look. She was aware of the changes and didn’t become some mindless animal – just … unique … and scary as hell to look at! she chuckled. The chemical stew that tumbled through her veins destroyed red-blood cells. To compensate, she ate huge quantities of raw meat in her altered state. She could see how the myths had sprung up over time.

“Dax,” her mom’s voice floated from the hallway. “Are you up? You don’t want to miss the bus.”

“If I hear one more girl complain about her monthly curse …” Dax left the sentence unfinished as she padded back across the room to finish getting dressed. Shaking her head, a thought came to her: Those girls don’t know what a curse really is!

A response to Lostwordsmith ’s Newfeed Challenge "Note: Yesterday I saw a photo on Twitter with an awesom..."
Prompt: Chimera’s Curse
Word Count: 312

chimera ~ The term Chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals, or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling.

Daciana: Romanian name derived from Roman Dacia, the name for the region that is today Moldova and Romania. According to Strabo, the Dacians were originally known as the daoi, from Phrygian daos, meaning "wolf."