Warning! Some Graphic Material...
Way back in '96/'97... can't remember exactly... the company I worked for had mandatory sixty hour work weeks (ten hours a day, for six days)... and I was so tired, during one breaktime, I sat on a bench, to get off my feet... and rest... but the break was only ten minutes, and I kept falling asleep... all the while trying not to, so I wouldn't be late returning to my station... and in this state, where my body kept forcing sleep, and my mind kept forcing wakefulness... I had what I still consider a vision... it was so vivid, intense, detailed... and realistic, despite its content....
As I sat on that bench, trying to stay awake, I suddenly found myself waking up in an alien body... with sunlight shining in my eyes. I was immediately aware of the nonhuman nature of my body... and strangely, I could still feel my human self... faintly... still sitting on the bench... like the memory of a dream. While I blinked, and lifted my head out of the sunlight... that was a very disorienting sensation to my now alien mind, this connection to this strange creature I had been, in some bizarre dreamlife. But still, the connection was there... I remember the air being cool and moist (my "human" body was in a warm, dry place)... and I remember feeling a slight breeze all over my alien body... and the act of lifting my head out of the sunlight... made me realize my neck was very long... I could lift my head up, and look down on myself, without lifting my shoulders....
But, I remember, the first thing I noted... visually... was the room being dark and windowless... except for the sunlight, streaming through frosted glass, from a pair of tall double doors set in the wall far to my left... and I knew... the doors had been set so the sunlight would shine on the head of my bed, and wake me at a given time every day... and, that the doors led into the rest of my home. I also remember, to the right of the door, in the lefthand corner of the room, there was a sunken area, with built-in couches (futon-like), some end tables, and these spheres... set into the wall over two of the three couches, and configured as a lamp, on the end tables... that glowed a soft blue. And... there was the hushed sound of falling water (this is important, later)....
I remember the bed I was lying on... my head had been resting on a thin pad, and my bed was actually a stone slab... a pedestal, if you will... bare, with no sheets or blankets of any kind... further, given the feel of cool air over my body, amongst other things, I realized I was naked... and confirmed that fact... after lifting my head out of the sunlight... by looking down at myself... having taken in the previous details (and others) in only a few seconds, while looking towards the light. At first, I was a bit startled... though I'd been vividly feeling every aspect of this alien form, I was still disoriented, having just woken up (I think I may have yawned)... at first, given the lack of external genitalia (actually, it was a dolphin-like urogenital slit), I thought I was female... but the alien mind I was part of was indeed male... and, considering my human self is typical couch potato... this body was slender, sleek, athletic, muscular (I could feel the strength), long-limbed... and healthy....
My hide was mouse gray, devoid of marks, markings or scars... if I remember rightly, my "hands" had five fingers... but they were tipped in short, black claws... my legs were digitigrade, and my toes... I believe there were only four per foot... were also black clawed. And I could feel this muzzled face... flick large, mobile ears... feel a mane of thick fur running from the top of my head, down the back of my (very long) neck, and over my shoulders... I remember lifting one of my legs up... the left one, I believe... and wiggling the toes... and I could feel a very long tail (I'd say at least half of it was hanging off the end of the bed), which I swung up into view... both seeing and feeling the large tuft of thick, dark chestnut colored fur on the tip... that tuft, and my mane, was the only hair anywhere on my body....
And at that point, looking down along my body, to the end of my tail, I saw the source of the falling water noise... the wall I saw beyond the foot of my bed looked like the side of a cliff... the room, a very large half dome built against it... and right down the center, from a hole in the ceiling, a waterfall flowed... ending in a pool circled by flat cut stones. I remember knowing that this waterfall turned a water turbine, providing power to my home... and I remember feeling drawn to it... like to the smell of coffee in the morning. Without thinking... as if it was something I did every morning... with a relaxed roll to the right, I fell off my sleeping pedestal (it was unusually high... at least, compared to a human bed)... and landed gracefully on my feet... stood on a path of stones, like those circling the waterfall's pool... only straight-edged, rather than curved... that led straight to the pool... I remember noting stones set in the floor on either side of my sleeping pedestal, and path stones set on the other side of the central path, perpendicular to it, but curving... to match the curve of the dome... with blank areas I knew were for other sleeping pedestals... though mine was the only one there... and I knew that this meant I was single... no mate (or mates?)... and no children... yet.
And then, I walked down the path... the feel of the air against my hide, as I moved... felt very sensual... my sense of touch, very intense... I could feel every bone, every muscle, every touch of air... the texture and temperature of the stones under my feet... as I moved... with an athletic grace... a sense of power... a swing in my hips and tail, as I walked up to the pool... the sound of falling water... and the feel of cool, damp air... growing stronger... without hesitation, I stepped into the pool, and moved under the rush of water...
... The sudden sensation of wet and cold bathing my super-sensitive hide... woke me up with a start, to find myself back on the bench at work, with a co-worker asking me if I was asleep... and telling me our break was over.
Though it's taken me longer to describe it, the whole experience took less than two minutes... probably less than one and a half....
But, that night, I discovered my dream/vision was not over... when I went to bed, and fell asleep again... I found myself back in this alien's body... I was outside, in daylight (under a yellow sun no different than our own)... and, I was both surprised, yet not surprised, to find myself still naked... even though I was now "out in public"... so to speak. The day was warm, with a cool breeze gusting about, and I was enjoying the warmth and sunshine by the side of an unpaved road... stretched out on my back, on a grassy hill... all along the side of this road, I could see other grassy hills, just like the one I was resting on (and trees beyond)... hills with dimples, like a well used beanbag chair... places for travelers to rest... my own body cradled by my own hill's dimple... the grass short, thick... and very green... very comfortable. I felt very relaxed, sleepy... in what seemed to be early afternoon....
And... I knew exactly what I was doing there.
I remember, through my relaxation, becoming aware of a sound... a vibration through the ground... of someone coming along the road... of footsteps. I looked in the direction of the sound, off to my left, way down the road... and saw a figure approaching, still too distant to identify... but I remember hoping the figure was female... the reason I was lying naked by the side of the road... I was waiting for a potential mate to pass by, as I enjoyed the afternoon warmth. But, as I watched this figure approach... could finally see it clearly enough to identify... I found myself disappointed. The figure was dark, and clothed... and, as it came closer... I could see this figure was an older male, his mane and tail tuft almost black, and his hide turned chestnut brown... wearing a robe than matched his hide coloration... both from his color, his clothing, and his physical attitude, I knew he had a mate... I remember knowing that not only age, but... in some way (probably to do with hormonal changes)... sexual activity caused fur to darken, and skin to take on the chestnut color of the fur... and further knowing, that the wearing of clothing signified his mated status... his attitude, however, was his own fault....
He walked with the same gait I remember... the hip swing and tail motions from my walk to the waterpool... but I noted an attitude in his bearing... he walked with his snout in the air... though, for whatever reason, he was walking alone... I read in his physical posture an overly superior pride... a snootyness, if you will. And as he came near to where I rested... and then saw me... I could see his snout go up... and he spoke. I can't remember exactly what he said... partly, because this dream was so long ago... and mostly, because he did not speak in English... or any other human language... yet I understood him perfectly. The gist of his words were: "You're too old to be single... you should already have a mate, like me... you shouldn't be lying naked by the road..." words to that effect. I know I made some reply, in the same language, but I can't even remember the gist of it, except that I made some comment about his attitude... something to do with my not being rushed to find a mate?... I don't remember what.
Anyway, he continued on in a huff... and I continued to enjoy the day... closed my eyes, as he walked out of sight... feeling the warmth... and the breeze touching my body. And suddenly... I felt something else... and opened my eyes. And had further confirmation, from my previous time in his body... that he was, indeed, male... in the form of three thin, dark blood red, pale yellow banded... two and a half (?) foot long... umm... you knows... waving in the wind. Just glad that other male was not around to make rude comments... but I remember being surprised, more than embarrassed... and I think I smiled a bit, as I waved them around in the breeze... can't be sure, because at that point, I woke up....
