Chapter 16
The full moon was brighter than those LED high beams, the ones you have to squint and shield your eyes against as you drive past. That was the first thing I noticed when I settled back into my body. The second was how my torso rocked with an oddly syncopated rhythm, a bit like riding a horse at a trot.
Only, I wasn’t riding a horse. I was the horse.
No, not a horse. I was the monster, big furry paws slicing through the snow in a three-part rhythm while my fourth leg tucked up against my chest to stay out of harm’s way. It was as if a canine had been recreated in my image, belly slightly sore and arm still broken even though neither streaked agony the way they had when I first tumbled out of the plane.
For a heady moment, I relaxed into the wonder of my new existence. I’d nev
