Page 2 of Baseball and Shifters

Where are my stripes?

I spin in a circle. Somehow I’m chasing not one tiger tail, but four fluffy red tails with white tips.

Oh, my fates! I’m a fox!

I yip at Ms. Coleman, but when I look back at her face, I can see that she is now openly crying. I don’t understand why she’s so sad.

My fox is so cute! Why would anyone not love her?

I try to rub against her leg to provide her some comfort, but she leans down and scoops me up before gently placing me in the picnic basket alongside the food.

“Stay quiet for just a minute, sweet girl. I’ll get us somewhere safe.”

Safe? Why wouldn’t we be safe?

The rustling of the food and other picnic items around me is super loud to my new fox hearing. Even with the sound and smells overloading my senses, I can still hear Ms. Coleman’s sniffling as she shuffles through the woods to our mystery destination.

After what feels like hours, but could be just minutes, she finally comes to a stop and sets the picnic basket down.

When she lifts the lid, I once again lose the fight for control, because my fox takes over, and we pop out of the basket, landing on the ground with a roll before taking a few excited leaps. Ms. Coleman's chuckle gives me all the permission I need to give in to the moment.

We run, hop, and yip around the small clearing, finding a butterfly to chase and a toad to spook. When we finally tire of playing, we curl up on the big rock Ms. Coleman is sitting on and lay in the sun, just enjoying the day. I must have fallenasleep because when I open my eyes again, Ms. Coleman is now crouched in front of me, gently petting my head.

“You ready to shift back and talk now?” she asks, with a sad sort of smile.

I stand up and stretch out before giving her the best nod I can.

“Okay, just close your eyes and think of what you want to happen. Then take a few deep breaths and open your eyes.”

I do as she says and close my eyes. I imagine coming back to the front of my own mind. It’s a strange feeling to only just now realize I was kind of in the backseat of my own brain. I picture shifting back into my human self, with my long black hair and green eyes. When I’ve taken a few deep breaths, I open my eyes and look down. Thankfully, I’m back in my human form and I’m proud that I did it just like Ms. Coleman said. My happiness is cut short when I look back at her and she has a very serious face.

“We need to talk,” she says as she takes her seat next to me on the large rock. “I assume by now you realize you are a fox like your mother instead of a tiger like your father?”

Her question catches me off guard. “What do you mean? Mom was a fox?”

“Oh dear, I could just throttle that man. Yes, your mother was a fox, actually, shifter foxes are often called kitsunes. Unlike most other shifters who typically shift for the first time sometime between sixteen and twenty, kitsunes shift on or around their tenth birthday. We aren’t sure why fate made you that way, but they also gave you another blessing. A physical sign of your fated mates. I think you saw that you have four tails, and that means some day, when fate thinks you’re ready, you will meet four fated mates who will have a soul deep connection with you.”

I nod, trying to follow along.

Mates?

Like with an s?

Does she mean boyfriends?

I never knew girls could have more than one boyfriend, never thought about it, really. To be completely honest, I’ve never even really thought about boys like that. I try to calm my racing thoughts and tune back into what Ms. Coleman is saying.

“And so he must never see your fox form, okay? Your father would be very upset and we don’t want to make him mad, do we?”

I must have missed some of what she said, but I quickly agree. We definitely don’t want father to be mad. He’s scary when he’s mad.

But why would he be so mad about my fox?

Probably because I’m not a big strong tiger like him.

I settle on this explanation, but something about it feels wrong. It's nagging in the back of my mind that I should probably ask Ms. Coleman to explain more.

But I don’t.

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