Echo

around his torso under his shirt, the expanding bulbous end presenting little problem as he forced it to flatten against his abdomen. The gold sheen developing in his eyes presented a dicey dilemma. The danger of intrusive questions the most pronounced when he stood in the sun. As a result, he stayed inside during the day. He only went outside when he was sure he would be alone, which by the way, was most of the time. Strangely, he often felt compelled to go outside. He yearned for the sun, a new effect that energized him.
    He no longer ate food like the rest of the family. His mom noticed but let it go, not commenting. He pretended the concern in her eyes wasn’t for him. Hopefully, she chalked up his behavior to normal teenage angst. He covered by pushing his food around on his plate, feeding his dinner to his new bud, Barney. When Jose moved out, he left the poor boy behind, making Scotty promise to take care of him. Funny, how much comfort Barney brought him.
    He missed Jose immensely. Jose eventually told Scotty most of his family history over the years. It made Scotty feel small as he compared his nasty problems with his father, who disappeared, thankfully , seven years ago, to Jose’s story of tragedy. They grew very close. Jose took on a big brother role with Scotty, inadvertently enabling him to better weather the physiological shock as his tail began to grow.
    It started with constant soreness, then swelling and finally breakthrough growth. He didn’t mention it to his mom because he knew they didn’t have the money for doctors anyway, since Abby’s treatments were just barely affordable. He hoped it would just resolve itself on its own. When it became clear that something actually was growing, he thought it might develop into cancer; a scary fatal cancer. He watched fearfully as it developed quickly into its present form, finally fascinating him. He became very secretive. Even though clearly a freak, he didn’t want to be labeled again, still smarting from childhood taunts that left psychological scabs on his vanished scars, too easily picked open.
    What disturbed him the most? The big why. Why him? Why now? Maybe an infection? Was it evolution run amok? And shock of all shocks, he couldn’t get over the fact that the tail felt completely natural . He could move it at will. He liked it. And that fact scared him the most.

Chapter 6
    As time moved on, Scotty ached to confide in someone. His life felt like an emotional roller coaster. He vacillated between fear and depression, frustration and insecurity. And pride, can’t forget that. If he outed himself, someone might tell him his tail must be removed or put him on display. He felt like a freak; the kind of freak that might send the authorities slobbering to get a chance to study him and stealing his paltry life with its insignificant pleasures. So, he decided to keep the horrific changes his body continued to produce, a secret. Even the hair that grew back through his ringworm scars looked different. Abby teased him, saying the bleached blond look didn’t really work with his dark hair color. He tried to pass it off as the latest style at school, although it was more blond now than anything else. He almost didn’t recognize himself in the mirror.
    The kids at school sure noticed. He couldn’t fail to notice the whispers behind his back, the finger pointing in the hallways, the garbage dumped in his locker or the crude comments written on the blackboards; probably because of his eye. It no longer wandered. It stayed centered just like his other eye. Abby and his mom were stumped but very happy for him. Maybe in time the kids will stop singling him out and want to be friends. Sighing, he prayed that when he got older, maybe then he could confess and seek help without fear.
    He did have another thought (totally ridiculous, of course) lodged in the back of his mind, gnawing away like a wolf cub cutting its baby teeth on its first bone. As a child, he played in the woods constantly. He vaguely remembered an incident that involved him in some kind of traumatic experience in the woods. Mostly, because his mother laughingly told him something must have happened. His seventh birthday; the day he wished his father dead. He remembered that part clearly. He remembered running off to the woods, and falling asleep on top of a huge rock. Things got fuzzy from there but he knew he left the woods with a very valuable gold coin. Abby remembered a fanciful story