Lizard Part 5: Entries Tim couldn't believe what he was reading. He was reading his own past. The past he couldn't remember. Dr. Yonts (who he used to be) didn't fill in all the holes, just the important parts about the experiment. The whole community was an experiment. An experiment to see how humanoid animals would behave in a society. Timwas now one of those humans. "The humans who were changed were volunteers," the journal said. "They have no memory of being human. They have the same memories but they think that have always been the way they are. This brings me to another point. There are three versions of formulas. "Version one changes the human into a humanoid animal but remembers being human. This was before we managed to change the thought patterns. We used this version on a few employees who would interact with the citizens. "Version two changes the human and the thoughts. This is the formula we used on all of the inhabitants. "Version three is new. It changes the human and erases all the memories. This is what they used on me/you. I didn't know about this formula until it was injected in me. I didn't want to erase anybody's memories. Dr. Giberson, my assistant, was the one who had it secretly developed. Unfortunately, I was the first he tried it on. "I thought I overheard some discussion about a fourth version, but I have no idea what it is capable of doing." Tim put the book down and looked out the window. People were out in their yards doing chores. Children were playing. They had no idea that they were once a Homo Sapien. He wondered about the children born in the town. They were never human. He picked up the book again. "Tim, I'm sorry if I'm confusing you with the word 'human'. A human is a Homo Sapien. The citizens use the word human referring to themselves, anthropomorphic animals. If I say human I'm referring to a Homo Sapien. That is the way I'm used to. "The reason I'm now you is the fact that Dr. Giberson didn't like the way I ran the experiment. Plus, he wanted to market the formulas. I was against that from the start. I'm not sure how it would affect society. Here it is accepted. That is because everyone is an animal. But in the outside world, everyone is human. I doubt that the humanoid animals would be accepted." ---------------------------------- "Do you love animals?" the announcer voice from the TV said. Pictures of different animals were flashing across the screen. "Have you always thought they were fascinating? Then why don't you join them?" A picture of a pasture of horses was on the screen. A humanoid horse walked on and hugged one of the real horses. "That's right, you can be a human animal with The Animalizer. We have all sorts of animals to pick from. You can be a lion, tiger, or bear. Oh, my." Pictures of different transformed people were showing for each named. "Always wanted a family dog? Why not be a family of dogs? That's right we have everything from aardvark to zebra. You can be any animal for just $99.95. Just call this number and have your credit card ready. Be sure to know what animal form you want before you call." The number flashed across the screen. "Hurry up! Be the first hippo on your block." The next commercial started. Dr. Giberson turned off the TV. "That was a masterpiece. Wouldn't you say, Frank?" "Yes, sir," Frank responded. He didn't want to disagree with the Doctor. He might end up like Tim. "Hey, Cindy, you're a star now." "Want my autograph?" Cindy laughed which sounded more like a neigh. "Ok, back to work," the Doctor cut in. "Go make sure the packaging is running smoothly. I want to ship as soon a possible. A cargo plane should be arriving later tonight. We should have lots of orders to fill." The commercial aired all over the United States. The Doctor was going to send it to other countries, but they were short on funds. Frank and Cindy left the Doctor's office. Frank couldn't believe the Doctor was going through with this. Dr. Yonts may have been right. ---------------------------------- Tim decided to stop reading the journal for awhile. He felt like a walk. He headed down the street. The night air felt refreshing. All this stuff about his past life was overwhelming. He liked the life he had now. Would he have to go back to his old life? But that wasn't really his life. Or was it? He passed the house that had the moving van earlier. "I wonder if they moved in yet?" he thought. He walked up to the door and knocked. After a few seconds the door opened. "Yes?" asked the porcupine man. "Hi, I'm Tim Grey," Tim said extending his hand. The porcupine took it and shook hands. "I live down the street. Welcome to the neighbor hood." "Thanks," said the porcupine. "I'm Ned Boiger. I just moved from West Virginia." "Nice to meet you." "I would invite you in, but I'm still unpacking," Ned said. "That's fine," Tim replied. "I'm just taking a walk. Maybe we'll run into each other again." Tim turned to go down the path to the sidewalk. "Maybe," Ned closed the door. Tim continued on his stroll. He ended up on the outskirts of town. Not many houses were around. "Hey," he said to himself. "Why don't I go see if I can find the experiment headquarters." It sounded like a good idea. He didn't have anything else to do. And he loved to walk. -------------------------------------- "We've landed," the captain said. Darrel lowered the cargo plank. Twenty other people walked down the plank and gathered at the bottom waiting for their instructions. The captain of the plane walked up to two men that were stand out in the middle of nowhere. Darrel waited with the rest of the crew. "What would they need for us to pick up out here?" he thought. "The crates are behind those trees," one of the men from the island said pointing to one area of the forest. "I assume you have everything you need to load." "Yes, sir," the captain said. "Ok, men. Let's get to work. And don't get lost. I'll just have to leave you here." The captain gave one of his smirks. All the crew went to do their particular jobs. Some got the forklifts. Others made sure the crates were strapped together tightly. Darrel was one of those. He was one of the last to leave the forest when the last pallet was taken to the plane. He thought he saw something move deeper into the forest. It must be one of the crew exploring. "Hey, you," he yelled. "Come back! We are about to leave." He didn't get a response. Reluctantly, he went after the person in the forest. It got darker quickly once he got away from the air strip. "Hey, where are you?" Darrel ventured farther. Unfortunately, there was a large hole where he ventured. He fell to the bottom and twisted his ankle. "Oh, man," he said. "Help!" He heard the plane's engines start. "No. Help!!" No one heard him. He tried to climb out, but his ankle wouldn't let him. "Hello?" came a voice. It could be the other crew member that was in the forest. "Help! I'm in a hole." He heard foliage rustling. The he saw the silhouette of someone looking in the hole. "You down here?" the man asked. "Yeah," Darrel said. "Do you have a rope?" "I'll get something," the man said leaving. Darrel sat in the bottom of the hole waiting. Why did he come this far? A vine fell by his arm. "Here's a vine. Can you grab hold of it?" the man asked. "Sure." Darrel grabbed the vine and pulled himself out. When he got to the top, the man reached out his hand to help him out. Darrel took his hand and climbed out. The hand felt strange. Sort of rough. It must come from moving crates around. "Thanks," Darrel said. "We better hurry. The plane is about to leave." Just then he heard the plane fly overhead. "Just great! We missed the plane." "You missed the plane," the man said. "I live here." "Well, it looks like I do now." "No, don't say that. You don't want to LIVE here. You would much rather work here. But then there is a risk to that, too," the man said panicky. Darrel tried to see the man's face to get the expression, but the light was too dim. All he could tell was that he was bald. "By the way, I'm Darrel Ott. I was one of the crew on the cargo plane that just left." "I'm Tim Grey," the man replied. "That was a cargo plane?" He sounded worried. "Yeah, I...." "Come on," Tim cut in grabbing Darrel's hand. "We've got to get you out of here." Tim ran with Darrel behind him. Tim released Darrel's hand. Darrel kept up, but the long belt Tim had was getting in his way. Tim's hand did feel strange. It was rough on both side. "Darrel, I need to tell you this now," Tim said while they were trekking through the dark forest. "I am not human." "Not human?" "I used to be human.... It's a long story. I am now a lizard man." "What?!" Darrel stopped running. Tim stopped too and turned back. "What do you mean you are a lizard?" "Just that. I am a human that was turned into a lizard. All the inhabitants of this island are half man, half animal. Except the employees of the facility." Darrel stood speechless. "Come, Darrel," Tim said. "There is a clearing up ahead. You can see what I look like there." Darrel followed. Mostly out of curiosity. When Tim stepped into the moon lit clearing, Darrel could see that he was not human. The 'belt' was a tail. And his skin was covered with scales. "Darrel, don't be scared," Tim tried to comfort him. "I used to be human. Now, you are at a great risk here. The other animal people think humans as yourself have been extinct for thousands of years. If they see you, no telling what would happen. The citizens of Yontsville could deal with you themselves, or the employees could find you and make you a citizen. That means you would lose all memory of being human. Or, like me and lose memory of everything." Darrel stood there taking all this in. He didn't know what to do. There he was on an island talking to a lizard who says his life is in danger. "Ok, I believe you. Just want are you planning?" "Well, you could hide out at my house. Not many people should be out at this time of night. It should be easy to sneak you through town. I'll explain things better on the way." To be continued.