because she never checked. Who could possibly use
up 2,500 peak-time minutes per month even if they tried?
Brandy
decided to make the most of it. She was going to call
everyone she knew – all her 775 cousins. And all her aunts and
uncles. And all her distant relatives whom she hadn't spoken to in
years. She was even going to call relatives she had never met
or spoke to ever in her life!
She
called Marianne.
“ Are
you busy?”
Marianne
was at work.
“ I'll
come pick you up,” Brandy told her. “Then we're going to the
health club. We'll go for a swim, then grab an early dinner.”
Brandy
jumped in her car and headed over to Marianne's Gator Rescue site.
Marianne
tried to keep her facilities as natural and peaceful as possible.
Brandy walked through the front gate, past the main building, toward
the pond in the back. High security fences kept predators at
bay. Gator hatchlings were easy prey for common animals such as
skunks and even small snakes. They were very, very vulnerable.
The
squeaking of the hatchlings was incredibly endearing. To Brandy and
Marianne, the hatchlings were cuter than puppies, although they were
a bunch of little troublemakers and neither woman wanted a batch of
her own. The littlest youngsters floated around on lily pads in
the pond. A shifter hatchling could be identified by the fact that
all of them had deep blue eyes, no matter what color eyes they would
have as a human. A normal alligator has olive green eyes.
Marianne
told Brandy she had to finish up some paperwork in the office, but
that Brandy could stay and play with the kids. The gators that
were hitting almost three years were kept inside, because any one of
them could shift at any moment. That could not be seen in
public at any cost.
While
Brandy was splashing around with the hatchlings, Susan Quackenbush
showed up. Susan was an unwed shifter mother who had gotten
herself in trouble. Her roots were showing – a bad dye job
growing out – and her eye makeup was smeared. The woman had
been crying.
“ I've
gotta see my babies!” she gasped. “Please, you've got to
let me see them!”
She
was desperate. Brandy had to hold her back and take control of the
situation.
Shifter
moms were as protective as they were stressed-out, and new mothers
had real trouble leaving their brood in another woman's care.
At
first they would want to show up day after day, but Marianne insisted
that they must stop. The shifter community did not want to
arouse suspicions. Any distraught woman showing up at a Gator
Rescue site day after day would at least cause local residents to
question her sanity (gossip spread fast in this county).
“ You
know you can't come back until they shift for the first time,”
Brandy said.
“ It's
not right!” Susan shouted. “It's not fair! You don't know
what it's like to have to go through this!”
“ No
I don't,” Brandy said. “You're right. What you're going
through is awful, I can't even begin to imagine. But we have
rules, and the rules protect all of us. What do you think would
happen to your children if anyone outside the community found out
what was really going on here?”
Susan
started bawling like crazy, and now she was past the point of being
able to talk. Brandy walked her to the main building, and they
sat outside at a picnic bench until Susan finally calmed down.
“ This
is going the be the longest three years of my life,” she
up 2,500 peak-time minutes per month even if they tried?
Brandy
decided to make the most of it. She was going to call
everyone she knew – all her 775 cousins. And all her aunts and
uncles. And all her distant relatives whom she hadn't spoken to in
years. She was even going to call relatives she had never met
or spoke to ever in her life!
She
called Marianne.
“ Are
you busy?”
Marianne
was at work.
“ I'll
come pick you up,” Brandy told her. “Then we're going to the
health club. We'll go for a swim, then grab an early dinner.”
Brandy
jumped in her car and headed over to Marianne's Gator Rescue site.
Marianne
tried to keep her facilities as natural and peaceful as possible.
Brandy walked through the front gate, past the main building, toward
the pond in the back. High security fences kept predators at
bay. Gator hatchlings were easy prey for common animals such as
skunks and even small snakes. They were very, very vulnerable.
The
squeaking of the hatchlings was incredibly endearing. To Brandy and
Marianne, the hatchlings were cuter than puppies, although they were
a bunch of little troublemakers and neither woman wanted a batch of
her own. The littlest youngsters floated around on lily pads in
the pond. A shifter hatchling could be identified by the fact that
all of them had deep blue eyes, no matter what color eyes they would
have as a human. A normal alligator has olive green eyes.
Marianne
told Brandy she had to finish up some paperwork in the office, but
that Brandy could stay and play with the kids. The gators that
were hitting almost three years were kept inside, because any one of
them could shift at any moment. That could not be seen in
public at any cost.
While
Brandy was splashing around with the hatchlings, Susan Quackenbush
showed up. Susan was an unwed shifter mother who had gotten
herself in trouble. Her roots were showing – a bad dye job
growing out – and her eye makeup was smeared. The woman had
been crying.
“ I've
gotta see my babies!” she gasped. “Please, you've got to
let me see them!”
She
was desperate. Brandy had to hold her back and take control of the
situation.
Shifter
moms were as protective as they were stressed-out, and new mothers
had real trouble leaving their brood in another woman's care.
At
first they would want to show up day after day, but Marianne insisted
that they must stop. The shifter community did not want to
arouse suspicions. Any distraught woman showing up at a Gator
Rescue site day after day would at least cause local residents to
question her sanity (gossip spread fast in this county).
“ You
know you can't come back until they shift for the first time,”
Brandy said.
“ It's
not right!” Susan shouted. “It's not fair! You don't know
what it's like to have to go through this!”
“ No
I don't,” Brandy said. “You're right. What you're going
through is awful, I can't even begin to imagine. But we have
rules, and the rules protect all of us. What do you think would
happen to your children if anyone outside the community found out
what was really going on here?”
Susan
started bawling like crazy, and now she was past the point of being
able to talk. Brandy walked her to the main building, and they
sat outside at a picnic bench until Susan finally calmed down.
“ This
is going the be the longest three years of my life,” she
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