The Wigamalefis part 4: Visitors A No More Fakes Story After the refreshing swim on Friday, I slept wonderfully that night. "I wonder why I haven't been swimming more often," I thought to myself. "Humans probably can't understand how relaxing it is to just stay underwater without any equipment." I got up and fixed breakfast. I watched Saturday morning cartoons until the news came on. They still didn't have any idea on how to change those people back. The strange feeling came again. The door bell rang. I went to see who it was. Cracking the door I saw it was Jim and Jenny Cornel, my neighbors. Jenny was carrying a small box. "Will, is that you?" Jim asked. I nodded. "I'm so sorry," said Jenny. I motioned them to come in. They sat down in the living room and I grabbed my note pad. I don't think they know sign language. "We didn't know," continued Jenny. "We just saw this blue furry thing coming out of your house. We didn't mean for you to get arrested." "That's ok," I wrote. "When we heard about the incident at the Raucous Chicken Club," said Jim, "we figured that the blue thing was you. But, you were already at the police station." "They just wanted to make sure I wasn't a threat to anybody," I wrote. "Some of the people changed mentally to fit their new form." "You are still you? Aren't you?" asked Jenny nervously. "I think. I want you to do me a favor," I wrote. "If I start acting like I think I'm a wigamalefis, tell me I'm human. I think I switch back and forth." "You do?" asked Jenny eyeing my antlers and tusks. "What do you mean switch back and forth?" asked Jim. "Supposedly I keep the same memories, but the way I perceive myself changes. I switch between thinking I'm Will or Wiggy." "Wiggy?" Jenny asked. "It's the name of this character," I wrote. "I don't notice the change. So, if I seem to think I'm Wiggy, remind me that I'm Will. Will you do that?" "Sure," they both replied. "Oh," Jenny said suddenly remembering something, "I made these for you. They are peanut butter cookies. I know you like them." "I hope you can still eat them," Jim cut in. "We didn't know exactly what to make. The Comforting Cookbook didn't say what to make for someone who is transformed into a furry blue thing." I took the box. "Thanks, do you want one?" I wrote then held out the box to them." "No, thanks. We already had some," Jenny laughed. I tried one. It was delicious. I didn't know if is was my new sense of taste or Jenny's cooking, but they were extremely tasty. "They are delicious," I wrote. "Thanks," replied Jenny. "Well, we better get going," said Jim. "We just wanted to see if you were ok." "Thanks for stopping by," I wrote. "We'll check up on you, Will," said Jenny going out the front door. "Later," said Jim. I waved bye and shut the door. Then the phone rang. "This is the most company I have gotten in a long time," I thought. I answered the phone with a grunt. I didn't realize how useless a phone is if you can't speak. "Will, this is Sandy. Are you doing, ok?" asked Sandy on the other end of the line. I made an affirmative grunt. "Oh yeah, you can't talk. Give me one grunt for no and two grunts for yes. Ok?" I grunted twice. "Good, are you busy right now?" she asked. I gave one grunt. "Do you mind if I come over?" I grunted once. "Ok, I'll be over there in a few minutes. See you then. Bye," she said. I made a grunt that sounded like "Bye." Or at least I think I did. After hanging up the phone, I got the cookies from the living room and put them on the kitchen counter. I couldn't resist getting another cookie. They were so good. The strange feeling came back. I grabbed a handful of cookies and sat down to watch TV. There were some old sci-fi movies on. It is amazing how little people knew back then about life on other planets. Then a thump came from the back yard. I ran to the window and peered out. Standing in the middle of the yard was a dragon. It looked to be human size, but it was hard to tell with the long neck and tail. The wings were huge. It started walking toward my back door. Although it walked on all four legs, the front legs looked more like arms. Its back legs were shorter than a human's legs proportion wise which allowed the torso to be longer. "It has got to be one of the transformed people from the Raucous Chicken Club," I thought. It walked up to the door and knocked. "Will," it bellowed. "Come on, Will. Open up." I just stood there amazed. "Why would it call me by my costume name?" I asked myself. "Open up, please," the dragon pleaded. "It's me, Lance." Lance was one of my coworkers at the office. I didn't know he was at the Halloween party. He is known for his elaborate costumes. This one was remarkable. I opened the door. "Hi ya, Will," Lance said. "I see you were at the party, too. Good costume." I grunted, "Wiggy!" That is one of the few human words I have been able to pronounce. "What?" he asked ducking his head as he came in. I grabbed my note pad and wrote, "You know that my name is Wiggy." "Oh, ok, ... Wiggy. I guess you have always been a wigamalefis?" Lance asked. "Of course," I wrote. "You see me every week day at the office." "Yeah,.... that's right," he said like he just realized something. "I go by Lancedragon, now." He laughed elbowing me with his scaly arm. "Get it? Dragonlance. Lancedragon." He calmed down his thunderous laughing. "So, um, Wiggy. How do you like my new body? Isn't it great?" I nodded. "I can even blow fire out of my mouth," he continued. "I didn't design the costume that way, but I guess firebreathing comes with being a dragon. And these wings are great. It is so relaxing to just fly in the sky. Although I do have to watch out for airplanes." He laughed again. I scribbled on my paper, "So, what does it feel like? I mean to have been transformed into your costume." "Huh? Didn't you.... Oh, yeah. I was pretty disoriented at first. When this was a costume, I was looking out of some well concealed eye holes here," Lance said pointing to a point on his neck just about his shoulders. "And all of a sudden I had peripheral vision. You know how hard it is to see in a costume. But, then I also noticed that I was looking over the heads of everybody else. That's when I realized that I was looking out of the eyes of the dragon. But the full shock of having been transformed didn't come until I started flying. The crowed was becoming a riot, so out of instincts I flew above the crowd. That surprised me so much that I almost fell. But I regained my flight control. I looked for Suzie, she was a princess, and I grabbed her and I flew out of a hole in the wall that had exploded a few moments earlier. I landed a few blocks away and tried to calm down Suzie. When she found out that this dragon that captured her was me, she hugged me and started crying. "But, besides the fact that I'm not human anymore, it feels great. This isn't foam anymore. It's muscle," he said pointing to his arms and legs. And I'm not short. Well, my body's the same size, but this neck makes me about 10 feet tall if I stand on my hind legs. You should have been at the office yesterday. I decided to go just to see the look on Mr. Peterson's face. But, we came up with an idea for the next computer game. We can film footage of me and other actors, and make an interactive movie about a dragon. We wouldn't have to spend a fortune on special effects." "Sounds, like a great idea," I wrote. "I guess Suzie is taking the fact that her husband is now a dragon pretty well now?" "Not really," Lance said. "Most of the time she handles it, but then she has her bad moments. I guess she's upset about having to postpone our plans on having children for awhile. But, hey, I will be handy at cookouts." He laughed half heartedly. The doorbell rang. It was Sandy. I opened the door, and let Sandy in. She froze when she saw Lance. "Um, do you know you have a dragon in your living room?" she asked. Lance took the initiative, "I am Lancedragon, a coworker of ... Wiggy here." "N-nice to meet you," Sandy replied still shocked. "Well, I gota fly," Lance laughed. "I need to pick up some groceries. Do you think I can get it for free?" He smiled wickedly. When we didn't reply he said, "I'm just kidding. See you later, Wiggy." He walked out the front door and leapt into the sky. I waved bye. I stood there watching him. I had never seen a dragon fly before. "Ok, WILL," Sandy shouted when I shut the door. "You have got to remember that you are Will. You are not Wiggy. Do you hear me?" I grunted angrily. "Don't give me that. You are a human," she said. "I am a wigamalefis," I signed. "I have never been a human." "Will," she started. "Wiggy!" I grunted. "Will, you have to remember who you are." "I know who I am. I'm Wiggy," I signed. "I can't take this," I signed. "I'm trying to keep my identity, and here you are trying to make me lose it!" "I'm not trying to make you lose your identity. I'm trying to help you get it back," she said. "I am who I am. I AM Wiggy," I signed storming into my bedroom and shut the door. "You can't get rid of me that easily, WILL," Sandy shouted through the door. I heard her sit down and turn on the TV. "Trying to keep my identity is going to be harder than I thought," I growled to myself in my wigamalefis language. To be continued....