Photosensitivity

Photosensitivity

I had spent the past week out in the sun, doing work for the community. They were organizing a fun-fair, and I had volunteered to help in the setting up of the booths and tents. However, I had not known that it would entail a week toiling under the hot sun. Still, I had volunteered, so the job had to be done.

I was having a bad day in school. I had been late, and had to serve detention later. As I stepped out of the staffroom, having just been caught, I felt a strange tingling sensation on my skin. I ignored it, being already late for my lecture.

The lecture was on physics, on light. The teacher had shown several videos, which were very interesting, only that the projector was not co-operating, and the videos seemed to have something wrong, but I could not put my finger on it. However, whenever a video was screened, my skin would tingle. Something was amiss.

After the lecture, I had another two lessons, the last of which ended at 12. As I cut across the assembly plaza to go to the canteen, the burning sensation returned, but with a much higher magnitude. My head and eyes also began to hurt, and the pain in my head blotted out my thoughts. As my vision began to flash white, I stumbled into the welcome shade of the canteen, and the agony subsided somewhat. However, the pain neither went away, nor reduced to the point of being bearable. Still, my stomach was churning, demanding to be filled, so I bought myself a plate of chicken rice, and went to the darkest corner that I could find, and wolfed down the food.

As I ate, several thoughts surfaced in my mind, through the haze of pain.  The symptoms I exhibited seemed to point to me having a bad case of photosensitivity, however, I had never been subject to this before. Could it have been the projector? I quickly dismissed the thought, but it seemed like the only vaguely logical explanation. The past week in the sun did not cross my mind.

When I finished eating, I dragged myself into the student lounge. On top of been air-conditioned, the lounge is perpetually dark, as although its called a lounge, most students go there to sleep on the sofas. Presently, there were two people sleeping, and the air conditioning made the place feel like a fridge. Unfortunately, because of the fact that it was still around noontime, the place was quite bright, with sunlight streaming in from the windows. There were no curtains, because they had been removed after some students had started playing with them.

Sadly, the air conditioning offered no respite from the pain, as the burning sensation in my skin continued, and my eyes continued to hurt.

All of a sudden, my vision flashed red, and there was an extreme pain in my eyes, and my vision blurred. This prompted me to rip off my glasses, causing my vision to clear. I was puzzled. How could my eyesight have become perfect again?

Then, my whole body felt as if it was on fire, as liquid pain coursed through my veins. By then, the lounge had emptied, as the bell had rung, signaling the continuation of lessons for some. I screamed in pain, and stumbled out of the brighter area of the lounge, into a dark corner. When I ran past a mirror (there are a few in the lounge), I stopped, horrified. My entire body had turned red, as if I had been badly sunburnt. On top of that, my eyes had turned reptilian, and had acquired a yellowish tint where it had formerly been white, and my pupils had narrowed to slits. I screamed, and quickly scuttled to the corner. It was becoming evident that this was no allergic reaction.

As I stumbled into the welcome darkness of the corner, I felt pressure building in my shoes, as if they were too small by several sizes. That was strange, because in fact, my shoes were a half-size too big. The only logical reason why my shoes were becoming too small so quickly was that my feet were growing at an exponential rate, but that was impossible. Still, I quickly removed my shoes and socks, wanting to preserve the shoes. What I saw made my jaw drop.

My five toes had elongated, and two of them had fused, while my big toe was presently making its way to the back of my foot. Then, I heard a loud cracking sound, not unlike the one I make when I crack my knuckles, but louder. However, I was not cracking my knuckles. Then, the pain started. It felt as if the bones in my feet had broken, and proceeded to move into a new configuration. The pain was excruciating, and I fell to the floor, my feet unable to support my own weight. I hit the floor hard, and pain shot up my shoulder, but instead of simply fading away like it usually did, it stayed, and was mirrored on my other side. By then, the pain had progressed up my body, leading to every part of it being in some form of pain or another. The pain was crippling, and I found myself unable to get up. A few seconds later, the pain in my feet seemed to have subsided somewhat, and I glanced downwards, ignoring a sharp spike in pain in my neck as I did so. What I saw absolutely baffled me. My feet no longer looked human. They now had three toes in front and one behind, similar to those of a bird of prey. However, I was in for another shock, as scales, starting from the tip of one of my toes, began to appear on my skin, and making their way up both my feet. Then, there was a sensation of pressure in my feet, followed with an excruciating pain, as if I was being stabbed from the inside out. Then, ivory, blood-coated talons erupted from my feet, spraying blood over the sofa in front of me. All the while, there were alarming sloshing sounds coming from my stomach area, and my chest, as if my organs had liquefied, and were moving around. Thankfully, the pain had subsided somewhat, but I dared not move, afraid that it would get worse.

Then, there was another burst of pain, as my legs reformed, followed by a slight tingling at the tip of my spine. A feeling of pressure at my abdomen followed this, as if something was trying to get out of my body. Something was. Before I could somehow try to salvage my pants, knowing that whatever was trying to get out would probably destroy them, a tail burst forth from my abdomen, covered in red scales that matched those on my legs. The seat of my pants was completely obliterated, together with my underpants.

Before I could react, a fresh wave of pain burst forth in my chest and neck, as they began to reform, becoming covered with the same red scales as my legs and tail. However, my underside covered with creamy white scales. My hands had also begun to change, but thankfully, they kept their five-fingered configuration, and had no claws. Otherwise, i would not have been able to write. Then, there was a strange sensation at my shoulders and along my back, which were followed by the painful emergence of a pair of what looked like arms that were ridiculously short, which had very long fingers, which reduced my shirt to tatters. However, my puzzlement was removed, when a membrane began to grow between the 'fingers'. They were wings.

Then, it hit me. I was turning into a dragon. My only thought was: How? Dragons did not exist, not in this world anyway.

My thoughts were cut short, as pain erupted in my head, which started to reform, becoming a reptilian muzzle. My vision blurred, and sharpened, becoming clearer than ever. For a few seconds, I could not breath, and my nose disappeared, and was replaced with two nostrils at the end of my muzzle.

As the pain subsided, I assumed that the transformation was done. I picked myself up, and turned to the mirror to inspect my new self. However, I was stopped, as the pain returned, with a vengeance along my back and tail. My hair all fell off, and spikes emerged along my spine, and my tail grew a point at the end. Two parallel ivory horns emerged at the back of my head, spraying blood everywhere. Then, there was a burning sensation, coupled with a feeling of pressure in my throat, as if I was going to vomit. Assuming that I was really going to vomit, I turned away from the sofa and my belongings. However, what issued from my mouth was not vomit, but a torrent of fire, which incinerated a portion of the floor. I stared dumbly at the burnt spot, not knowing what to do.

I then caught sight of myself in the mirror. It was an impressive sight. I was a red dragon, with cream-colored horns and piercing black eyes. Then I noticed the remains of my uniform. I removed what was left of the shirt, but left the pants, which looked all right, apart from the hole made from my tail. Then, I glanced at my phone. Fifteen missed calls! On top of that, I had already missed half of the chemistry tutorial. Not knowing what else to do, I cleaned up the mess the best I could, and I grabbed my bag. Not knowing what my teacher would make of my new circumstances, I turned to the door. It had definitely been the projector. The videos had seemed to have a reddish tint, which was similar to the color of my scales. How it caused the transformation, however, was a mystery to me.

The door then creaked open, the old hinges protesting. It was my chemistry tutor. As the door opened, I scuttled behind a sofa.

'Keane, are you okay?' she asked, her voice pregnant with concern.

My only thought was: I am fucked now…