Carmel

Okay, how do I get off of here, I mean, I could just jump onto the toilet and get down from there, or... Lets pray that I don't break a leg here, Derek can't explain this one to a vet. Hup!

I close my eyes and await a hard landing. Nothing. I haven't felt anything yet. I quickly open my eyes to see, that no, I'm not flying, rather, I'm on the ground already. No pain.

I mean damn, if I was a human and jumped down from there, I would have even heard a soft pang or even felt myself land on the hardwood floor, but nothing. Does this mean that I could jump off of a 2 story building with no repercussions? No, it's not time to think about that just yet.

Oh crap. I just remembered. I closed the door. Wait! Luckily I have my trusty stool here to help me! I drag the stool to the door and turn the knob as best as I could. These claws of mine really aren't helping me right now, but at least I'm getting it open.

Walking down the hallway, everything seems so different, different because I'm at the height of a toddler. It takes me a minute or so to get to the end of the hallway, where I'm presented with my next challenge. Stairs.

Well, It's not much of a challenge, but going down seems hard. If I jump down, I'll trip and tumble down. Let's just uh, go down one at a time, shall we? Climbing down those stairs was troublesome, but I didn't get tired.

The upper floor had carpet, with the only exception being the bathroom. The first floor consists of only hardwood floors and fancy looking furniture. I'm just hoping my claws won't scratch the floor and rip the couches, like an overgrown scaly cat.

I see Derek sitting on the couch with a distressed look in his eyes. I'm going to give this a bit of thought but I should try to calm him down. He probably thinks he's crazy for imagining that his sister turned into a talking lizard. I have to at least say something.

"Hey." He looks over to me and shifts his sitting position.

"Your coffee is on the table, it's caramel, just how you like it."

"Thanks... So, what's on your mind?" As I ask him that, I scramble to get on the couch. I take a nearby blanket and wrap myself around it. I reach for the coffee and sip it. It's really good.

Derek still hasn't responded yet. I look and see that he's taking a moment to think. He looks like he's about to speak and then he goes back to the same position he was in before. Finally, he starts to talk.

"Well first of all, You're a well, I don't know, an um, dragon, I guess. Second of all, what's going to happen to your friends, job, and college? You can't just suddenly disappear! Oh yeah and what will mom and dad think, once they see you like this? Well, either way, it's not your fault. You were as surprised as I was." He's right. I won't know what to do. I don't even know how I got like this in the first place.

Ai yai yai.

Wait, where are our parents? Well actually, Derek said that they went on their trip last night, but when are they coming back? They go on business trips a lot but when are they gonna come back?

"Hey, speaking about mom and dad, when are they going to back again? I forgot entirely last night, well, a whole lot of last night."

"2 weeks. Wait, you don't remember last night?"

"Well, I remember getting into a drink off, and I remember Mark getting me an uber, then you carrying me into my room." As I said that my brother started making a face, like he was thinking hard about something.

"You were at the bar? That explains why you were drunk and said Mark got you a ride. Though, I was the one who picked you up. I got a call during work that said you were passed out at an abandoned factory, nowhere near the bar. You're lucky that this is a small town and some of the locals recognized you."

"Don't blame me. Blame drunk Steffen. Maybe I just gave the driver wrong directions."

"You couldn't have. It's Uber, not a taxi, you have to put in the destination beforehand. Since it was Mark who ordered it, he might know something about it. I will call him up right now." Derek takes out his cell phone and starts to dial Mark's number. A ringing noise was heard less than 30 seconds later near the front door. Then the noise stopped and then Mark was on the line.

"Wow! What a coincidence! I was just literally walling up to your door when you called. May I please be permitted to enter you humble abode?" The entire time he was talking, Derek and I were with our mouths open in shock. After Mark stopped talking Derek quickly regained his composure and said,

"Yeah, lemme get the door for you."

The one thing going through my mind was

Oh crap.