Oculama

“Mana, mana, tell me the story again! The one with the big bad wolf!” “You always ask for that one!” “But I wanna hear it, pleeeease?” “Oh, alright, come here you two.”

—

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a girl named Ramona. She had four younger siblings who she loved very much. However, her parents had to work long hours every day to provide for their big family, so she had to become a second mother for her siblings when she was just a pre-teen. Even if the family was poor, and Ramona had little time to rest, they were all very happy together.

However, one day, Ramona's father was caught up in an incident at the city where he worked. A supervillain attack destroyed his place of work, and his life was one of the many casualties. The family was overcome with grief, but Ramona could not afford to mourn. She had to sacrifice her school life in order to start working, all for the sake of her family.

She worked any job she could get as a teenager, but it was barely enough to keep them afloat. What would happen if her mother got sick or injured, and had to miss work? What would happen to their family? Would they be forced to split apart, taken into custody of the foster system?

At a point of desperation, someone reached out to her, one of her regular customers at the coffee shop she worked at. He promised her a good opportunity, one of great importance, but also great secrecy. He was a scientist working on a government-funded project, but they needed volunteers for their experiment. She would be paid upfront, a high sum too. It would be enough to give her family a comfortable cushion to fall back on in times of need.

So, she took the job, signed the contract on the dotted line, and sold away her body for the sake of science. This was the right thing to do, she kept telling herself. It was a government project, so surely it was safe. It would hurt to be away from her siblings, but they weren’t babies anymore. The youngest was 10 now. The siblings could manage themselves. She kissed her family goodbye as she left to stay at the laboratory, to be quarantined off from the world for the duration of the experiment.

Everything at the lab was clean, pristine, and professional. They all greeted her with smiles as they led her off to the testing facility.

“This is for the betterment of humanity,” they all said. Sweet words of encouragement as they sat her in the chair.

“This is for your safety,” they said as they tied restraints around her wrists and ankles.

“This is for your own good,” they said as they injected her with an unknown substance.

—

“Grandmama, what big arms you have!”
“All the better to hold you with, my dear.”
“Grandmama, what big ears you have!”
“All the better to hear you with, my dear.”
“Grandmama, what big eyes you have!”
“All the better to see you with, my dear!”
“What big teeth you have!”
“The better to EAT YOU WITH!”

The sound of giggles as the two young children are pounced upon by their older sister, tickling their tummies as she mimics the sound of the wolf gobbling them up. They usually didn’t even finish the story after this part. The brave woodsman who saved Red Riding Hood didn’t really matter. It was all just a fun game to the kids.

A fond memory of a loving home.

—

Two months later, the lab was breached by a team of heroes, freeing the experiments who were still sapient, subduing the ones who had gone berserk. The villains had already been captured and would be taken to justice, made to serve for their crimes. But even so, it was too late for their victims. They would never be able to reverse the changes done. They had to live with their mutated bodies for the rest of their lives.

Ramona cowered in the corner, a lump of fur, when a hand reached out for her.

“Everything is alright now, you are free. You can go home.”

“How can I go home like this? I’m a monster. A terrifying, hideous beast. I… I can’t let my family see me like this. They would be scared of me.”

The hero paused.

“If you cannot go home, then come with me. I know somewhere you can stay, until you have the courage to face your family once more.”

It was only then that Ramona turned to look at her saviour, and with a small nod of her head, she reached for his hand.