Where was the light coming from? And why did I feel so uncomfortable. I opened my eyes to look upon the crystal blue sky, and squint from gazing directly into the sun. I seemed to be laying on my back...but where? Just then a head appeared over me. I couldn't see anything but a silhouette, but I could tell it’s a guy from his voice, “You okay, there?” I then realized he was offering me his hand, which I took to help get to my feet. As I stood up, I felt a sharp pain in my head, and figured I must have hit it on something to make me black out. Once standing I got a good look at him. Sort of slim, but with physic. Short cut hair, wearing a white button-up tee and brown pants, and had to be at least in his 30’s. I nodded to him while rubbing my head, “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” I turn to leave, but something makes me stop dead in my tracks. What was THAT?! I looked over it up and down. It had the legs and body of a feline, but where the head should be, it switched to a human torso! The head itself was of a housecat, and it was completely covered in Jaguar patterned fur from it’s tail all the way over it’s rounded ears. The well sized breasts of the creature obviously meant this was a female. At first I was merely stunned, but not in that bad of a shape at coming face to face with this...whatever it was. But then I was REALLY knocked through a loop when it(she?) opened its mouth and SPOKE! “Boyce, honey, are we going now?” My world went black again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The damp cloth on my forehead is delightfully cool. I hum, and smile. That was a freaky dream. I open my eyes to look at an all white ceiling, much like the one at home. But then the view changed as the head of the very same cat-taur (that’s what I assumed it was) came into view, “Feeling better, now?” My heart skips a beat, but returns as I jumped off the bed and to the opposite side of the room, grabbing a lamp that’s on the dresser beside me, and prepare to throw it just in case, “Stay back!” She holds her hands up, “It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you. I want to help. I am Chakat Forestwalker, child of Desertsand and Longstripe.” I just stutter at her, “...wh-wh-who? ...w-wha? ...where? ....huh?...” She slowly walks over to me, “It’s okay, I’m a friend.” Shaking my head, I finally got to say what was really going through my mind at the moment, “WHAT are you?!” She looks at me in confusion, “You haven’t seen a chakat before?” I shake my head again in reply, “Lady, I have never seen nor heard of ANYTHING like you before! I don’t mean to sounds so rude, buut...I honestly don’t know what you are!” She nods, “Well, I’m a chakat, basically. One of the many morph species still around since -” “There’s MORE OF YOU?!” I drop the lamp, and it lands with a small crash. I start walking around the room, now going hysterical, “where am I? Am I dreaming? Am I still on earth? Was I abducted last night?“ She walks over to me, now knowing I'm not going to attack her, “You’re in Australia, on earth. You aren’t dreaming and no, aliens definitely didn’t take you.” “No way! I may have never been to Australia, but I know NOTHING like you existed here, no offence.” “None taken. Who are you anyway?” I stop for a second and look at her, “I’m Spencer, and I’m kinda out of it right now!” As I continue to pace, she talks more, “Well, Spencer, let me help you. What do you last remember?” I think for a second, “I don’t really know...I-I remember getting in the car to go to a doctor appointment of some kind...and that’s pretty much it.” I look at Forest again, but then my attention is brought to the calendar that’s along the wall. I go over to it and look at the year. I lay my forehead against the wall, and Forest goes over to me with concern, “Are you okay?” I look at her, “Aside from the fact that I’m over 300 years in the future, yeah, never been better!” She looks at me in a mixture of surprise and confusion, “You’re what?! Impossible.” “Not according to this,” I poke the calendar, “This is saying it’s 2330...last I remember it was 2007!” She shakes her head, “I still don’t see how this is possible...” “Neither do I, but apparently it is!” Just then the door opens, and another enters the room. “Any news on our special...oh, hello there.” This one looked like a female artic fox (With only two legs and her summer coat in). What hit me, though, was that she wasn’t wearing anything! I jumped half a foot into the air, and turned around, not knowing what to say. Luckily Forest helped me out there, “Trina, dear, get everyone together in the living room, please. We have a...situation.” I stuttered as she left, “A-and p-p-PLEASE...p-put something on!” I hear the door close and turn back around to face Forest, who explained, “Sorry about that. We aren’t used to uncomfortable company.” Rubbing my head now because of a slight headache (You'd have one too if you went through this!) I look to her, “Look, just go out there and come back when they are together...and DRESSED.” She nods and leaves the room. When she comes back in, I’m still pacing the room, trying to get my head together. I nod and follow her out to the living room. It was quite the sight to behold, going into the living room. Two fox morphs, a wolftaur, a foxtaur, a human, and three other chakats! I wait patiently as Forestwalker makes introductions, doing my best to remember so many new faces and names at once. “Spencer, this is Quickpaw and Goldfur, my sisters; Boyce Kline, you’ve met before, Lupu and Gerrek, Goldie’s mates, and my own other three mates Kris, Trina, and Midnight. Everyone, this is Spencer.” I give everyone a handshake, finding that they all had quite the grip! I blush a little when instead of the handshake, both Quickpaw and Trina (who left little to imagination when 'clothed') decided to give me a hug instead. I stood in front of them, shuffling my feet. I’m not usually social, and this was just a bit much. I enforce what little self-confidence I had, and finally found something to say, “Hello...a-as Forest here said, I’m Spencer...and if my calculations are correct...” I think for a second, and took a deep breath, “I am 339 years old.” The reaction made me chuckle, despite the situation. Everyone who was taking a sip of the tea Forest served spat a bit. They all looked at me like I was crazy. Kline’s eyes bulged a little. Forest, already knowing about this, had no reaction. Goldfur put her hand on my shoulder, “You’re kidding, right?” I shook my head, “Nope. I was born July 1st 1991. Before I woke up on the street it was 2007. And now it‘s 2330.“ Kris looked at me in disbelief, “There’s no way.” I pulled out my wallet, “Want proof? Here.” I remove each item as I stated it out loud, “Student ID from the year 2007. Movie tickets from the year 2007. Gift cards that expired in 2007. Even a driver’s permit from the year 2007!” I let everyone take a look at these objects, all apparently in fascination. I start to talk to them again, “Not only that, but I was ALSO on the other side of the world! I SHOULD be in the United States! You see the address on the permit? Pennsylvania, USA.” Kline looked up from reading the permit, “How is any of this possible?” I looked at him, shrugging my shoulders, “You tell me.” Nobody spoke. Feeling agitated again from all of this, I let out a sigh, “Last I remember is going to a doctor’s appointment for something, and next thing I know...I’M HERE!” Forest seems to notice my voice is beginning to get heated, “Spencer, it’s okay.” I look at her, giving a sarcastic chuckle, “Okay?!” Goldfur pats my shoulder, “Calm down, Spencer.” I finally snap, shrugging her hand off my shoulder and stepping away from them. Every second my voice gets louder and more angry, “CALM DOWN?! Perhaps you don’t understand my situation!” I start counting on my fingers, “I wake up 300 years in the future to a bunch of people and things I didn’t know would exist, let alone know personally; I have no idea how I got here! Nor any idea how to get back! I have no money, no friends, no FAMILY! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSE TO CALM DOWN?!!!” In my intense heat of rage, I slam my fist into the wall with such force that a small crack is left in it. Breathing heavily for a few seconds, I realize that everyone has gone dead silent. I begin to feel weak, and slump to the ground, my back against the very wall I just assaulted. I look around the room, and see that they are all looking at me with concern, “I...I’m sorry...I snapped.” Forest came over to me, resting her hand on my shoulder, “It’s okay. We don’t blame you. You’re going through a lot.” Quickpaw then asks, “Any idea on what you are going to do?” With a heavy sigh, I shake my head in response. Then Lupu offered a suggestion, “I think it’s best if you got some sleep, so that you can wake up and think this through refreshed.” Forest noded, “That’s probably a good idea.” I give an empty chuckle, “And...just where am I suppose to sleep?” Goldfur answered, “You can just have the guest room. It’s always open.” I begin to protest, “No, I don’t have to stay here. I don’t want to be an inconvenience.” Forest hugged me, “It’s no problem, we welcome anyone who needs help.” Quickpaw then came over and hugged me, too, “I think I speak for all of us when I say we would be glad to help.” I blush beet red from the hugs, and smile, “uh...thanks...you sure?“ Everyone nods, some of them actually saying ‘yes.’ Suddenly the aspect of sleep hit me, and I then noticed how tired I was with a big yawn. Kline spoke, “You have had a long day. Why don‘t you go to bed now.” Forest nodded, “I’ll show you to the guest room. It’s the same one you came out of.” I bid everyone good night, blushing as I receive more hugs from them. I was so not used to this. I then followed Forest back to the guest room, making conversation as we headed back, “Quite the family you have, Forest. They all seem so nice.” She chuckled, “That’s what a chakat family is. Pure happiness and a zest for life. Here you go.” She opened a door, and led me in. I finally took in the bearings of the room. The walls and ceiling were all white, with only an oak dresser with a mirror on it and a large mattress that filled the space. A window looked to the eucalyptus trees that were outside. Forest indicates to the mattress, “Hope you don’t mind.” I shook my head, “It looks comfy, but do you have a blanket and pillows of some kind?” “In the closet,” She replied, “Good night.” “Good night,” I said as she closed the door behind her. ‘You are in some deeeep shit’ I thought as I grabbed a large blanket and two pillows from the door Forest motioned to, my mind still trying to absorb it all. ‘In Australia? 300 years in the future?! Weird (though I had to admit kinda cool) ‘taur and morph creatures with human intelligence. What’s next?! I shake my head as I lay down on the mattress, which was in fact quite relaxing, ‘This is all too much...The wolftaur’s right, I need to sleep. Maybe when I wake up all of this will either make sense or not exist.’ I pull the blanket over top of me, and lay on my side. The thoughts continued to echo in my head, keeping me up. I toss and I turn, trying to get into a comfortable position in a strange place. I eventually get to silence my brain and get as relaxed as possible. In a matter of minutes, I slowly drift off into an empty and uneasy sleep.