Sharon said, 'Jim, we need to talk, OK.'
He thought a moment and answered, 'Sharon, ... this is all so _diferent_." "Yes, just talking would help me gather my wits -- if I have any left."
"Just to be specific, Jim, let me describe how you look -- how you've changed. Now you look like a body builder not a computer geek. You have great abs, great pecs, biceps, triceps -- even your back looks like an ad for a health club instead of a soft mattress. Your muscles seem to have muscles and their definition is perfect. Your hair is great and you seem to be a lot more self-confident."
"On the other side of the coin, your furry, pointed ears are not like any human ears. No person ever could have as much hair on his legs as you have. In fact, lets face it, its _fur_. Your bone structure of your legs has radically changed. If I hadn't seen how the proportions changed, I would be tempted to say that your legs bend backward. Having watched the change, I know and can recognize that your knees still point forward, just higher up your leg. Your heels still point backward and seem to have replaced your knees, but that is an illusion caused by the new length of what used to be your feet. Finally, you have cloven hooves instead of feet not to mention that you now have a tail."
Sharon continued, "First, you have always been a great guy. NO, please let me finish first. Now you're very exotic looking and not exactly a guy any more. Wait let me rephrase that, you're still male, more male than anyone I ever expected to see. But you're not a _guy_ any more, if you get my drift."
Jim had been waiting for her to pause and said, "I'm still a great guy, even more than I was before. But I'm not sure that I know where you're leading with what you've been saying."
She continued, "Jim, don't you understand, you are changing into an animal. How can you still feel human? How can you expect me to act if nothing has changed?"
"Now I see several things that are bothering you. First, the changes have stopped haven't they?"
"No, at first you had just a furry lump above your butt, and it is now a good sized tail. Then again, it hasn't grown any more since we began to talk. Wait a moment, while I look at you." She walked slowly around him again. "Well ...," as she put her hands on her hips, "you might be right, the changes do seem to have stopped".
Jim looked at her, a little grin starting as he asked her, "Why are you running you finger nail back and forth on the denim?" "It was to see if you could hear the sound."
"Of course I can. Oooh, you mean because my ears have _changed_. You are right, my hearing has improved."
"Does that mean that your listening will improve too?" I see that you sense of humor is intact. But seriously, do you still think that I am becoming an animal?"
"No, you're right, the changes have stopped. But, anyone can see that you have become half animal and just half human."
Jim considered what she said for a moment. "Sharon, you're right ... and you're wrong. If you consider only how I look, you would be right. If you consider only how I act, you would be totally wrong."
"You're right, it is a little confusing."
"Here is how I see it. Yes, I've changed. I may look like I've changed as you describe, but that isn't how I feel, and it isn't what has happened. Just as I don't think of my self as part animal, I also don't think of myself as part human. In other words, I don't see myself as human with some animal parts. Instead, I see myself as something new, something different, not a collection of disparate parts, but complete, in and of itself, something totally new."
"That is a different way to look at this new situation."
"Yes, but is that how you see what has happened?"
Sharon thinks for a while and then decides that ...
Sat Aug 29 01:49:01 1998
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