A slither on the beach

Yvie slithered across the sand, enjoying it as it tickled her long body. It was a lovely day, the clouds helped to block the sun, and the sky said that rain would soon be coming.

There was no people on the beach. Only a breeze, a few visible crabs that sideways ran away from her, once they saw her beautiful white, glistening skin.

"I won't eat you" She hissed, although words did not actually come out. Her long tongue just made a few dance moves as she internally chuckled.

"I'm happy my sense of taste isn't on my legs or my belly" She thought as she maneuvered her body further ahead, feeling a bit silly at her unimportant thoughts.

However, this was the only time she was allowed to enjoy herself. Entertaining silly thoughts was something she quite enjoyed, though feelings of guilt tended to be brought alongside with them.

"I hope they aren't looking for me…" She wondered in a melancholic tone as she slithered on.

Yvie wasn't quite ready to go back home yet, but she knew these kinds of trips was supposed to be short, and that if she got discovered, it would be a cage the next time.

"Stupid cage" She mumbled in a few hisses as she hit her tail down into the sand with a few hard dashes, getting out some aggression she didn't quite want to deal with while she was enjoying herself.

To her, the curse she had been put under from since before she was born, had always seemed like a blessing in disguise. Being free of human expectations for just a while always put her in a good mood. It was a free space she so dearly needed, and something she couldn't live without if she was to fulfill what else that was required of her.

Deciding it was time to get back, she turned around. Passed the crabs that hadn't gone too far, gave them a nice smile which they couldn't understand, as they were crabs and not people, and slithered back home.

"YVIE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" Yvie's mother rushed toward a now human Yvie, who had just changed back to her clothes in the bushes behind her house, was caught off guard, as the strict woman approached her.

"Sorry mother, I just felt the need to get a bit of fresh air, and fell asleep under the big apple tree" Yvie said, sounding even more convincing than when she had first practiced this excuse. She wasn't a natural liar, nor a good one, but once she was able to do some preparation, and convince herself, she would be able to convince others as well.

"Oh, dear, have I not told you not to fall asleep on the ground? It's what animals do!" Her mother shrieked in a dramatic tone, feeling like it was the end of the world.

Yvie most of all wanted to respond that she technically WAS an animal, but knew her mother would pull out the cage if she brought it up. She was only allowed to talk about it when her father brought up a new method they could try to get rid of the curse.

"I'm sorry mother. I will be more careful…" Yvie said, bowed her head down a bit, mostly to cover her face, as she didn't want to be seen right now.

"Yes, do be careful child" Her mother agreed in a last passing comment as she had already moved on to more important business.

"I wish I could be a snake all the time…" Yvie mumbled under her breath, just silent enough for nobody to hear it, but it did feel good to have said it.

Such was the situation with Yvie. She herself quite enjoyed her so-called curse, with her parent's hating it, stopping at nothing, wanting to cure her.

Yvie especially remembered the first time she fully changed.

They had just brought her to her first party when she was five. Even back then she hated being forced into big groups of people. Yvie remember how she hid under a table and wished oh-so-dearly to just disappear, or at the very least, be able to sneak out, hugging a teddy bear she had brought with her as her companion.

Just as she finished wishing for it, she turned for the very first time, remembering how she got surprised at how big the teddy bear suddenly looked, as well as a happiness she couldn't quite describe. She immediately took the teddy bear in her mouth and slithered out from the party, creating havoc and chaos on her way, as people screamed and jumped.

Her parents, however, could recognize the teddy bear, as well as the glistening white skin and the green staring eyes. As a kid, she occasionally got snake eyes, or the tongue would change involuntarily, which freaked out her parents and made them isolate her.

Because of this, and knowing this day would come, at the party they knew it was her, and ran after her, pretending to be heroes saving the day. Even though all they wanted to do, was save their own reputation. When they caught her, they went straight home, and for the first time made use of the cage. They concluded that as long as she was an animal, they would treat her as such, until she once again became human.

This scared her off from trying to become a snake again for a while, but she didn't have any control. Once she fully transformed, she ONLY fully transformed, each time getting shoved in the cage whenever her parents found out.

However, Yvie at some point found out, that she could somehow change at will too. Once she dedicated herself to practicing, she fully mastered the art of transformation.

Once her parents found this out they forbid her from ever changing at all, and so her hidden life as a snake had begun, whenever she had just a moment of alone-time.

But of course, Yvie wasn't good at secrets, nor was she great at timing, so usually her time as a snake got found out when she was younger, which ended up with her and her parent's getting more and more distant, until they forbid her to even mention the word 'snake' altogether.

Which she complied with.

Yvie soon realized that if she wasn't asked about it, she wouldn't have to lie, and this would mean, her only job was just to not be found out.

A job well done for this time, Yvie thought as she continued to walk into the big house she didn't like to call home.