The meadow was in full bloom, and pollen danced on the wind. Every gust picked it up, covering anything in sight. The sun shown down on the plants, which received it welcomed rays. The flowers were all open; summer was here.
     Hooves thrummed across the grass, whisking the stems apart. Heavy footfalls trampled it, creating a wide path throughout the field.
     "This is dull." Violet said, dramatically waving her hand over her mouth in a mock yawn. She quickly stopped, though, as the horse broke into a gallop.
"Fine, I know you didn't come out here just to ride with me on my horse." Anna rolled her eyes. She knew Violet too well. Riding out on Pepper was just an excuse to show off. Not that Anna cared.
"Quite right." Violet smiled, bouncing her eyebrows up and down. She heaved herself upwards so as she was in a crouching position on Pepper, then more-or-less gracefully jumped off.
She shifted gracefully, though. Into a beautiful dapple grey mare, light and slim. Pepper swung a bit to the side, but was used to this sort of thing. Violet pushed onward, easily outpacing Pepper, for he was more of a cob, her a racer.
But then they came to some trees. Violet veered off to the side to the smaller logs, but Pepper pushed on, urged by Anna. He might not be a runner, but he was quite the jumper. While Violet had to take the long way round, he was thundering over huge fallen trees, landing gracefully, ready to jump the next.
Anna and Pepper broke from the trees first, well ahead of Violet. They streaked forward, but soon heard her catching up. But it was too late. The pond was at Pepper's hooves; they had won the race.
Violet trotted up and snorted, then shifted back. "Not again!" She said, exasperated. "You would think I could beat a dumb horse."
"Goodness," Anna said, patting Pepper's sweating neck. "You would think you would have some respect for your relatives." Violet just rolled her eyes, and stalked off to the pond. Anna jumped off of Pepper, took his bridle off, and let him graze. He had earned a good mouthful of sweet grass. She then went to join Violet.
"Remember Sadie, lives a few houses down from me?" Violet said after a few moments of chatter.
"You mean Sophie?" Anna corrected.
"Yes, thanks, Sophie."
"I remember, what about her?"
"I heard she was found marked a few days ago."
Anna sucking in her breath and shook her head. She had never liked or disliked Sophie; she was just another face in the crowd.
"She was a Cat, right?" Anna asked.
Violet shook her head. "Bengal, I think. They said she had the loveliest stripes."
"Her parents must be devastated." Anna hoped she didn't have to see them in their grief.
"Yes, but they are trying to keep it all hush-hush, as always. I only know...because I know." Violet wiggled her eyebrows, she had a real talent for that. The truth was, she somehow seemed to know all about what was going on in the town, in other words, the gossip.
"Yes, I know you have your 'sources'." Anna tried raising her eyebrows, but failed miserably.
"It's easy to stay in touch when your a Horse," Violet shrugged. "They seem to be real popular."
Anna just shrugged, looking into the water of the pool. She dipped her finger in and swirled the leaves at the bottom, making her reflection a muddy mess.
"I'm sure you'll shift soon enough." Violet said after a few awkward moments.
"I'm not even sure I want too." Anna shrugged. She came from a long line of humans, most non-shifters. She wasn't sure what was in her mother, but her father definitely had dog in him. On a good day he could actually shift, but it was sloppy, and took far too much effort. A few of Anna's relatives could shift as well, but not many, and with no more success then her father. At this point she wasn't sure she wanted to shift at all, she liked being human, and wanted to stay human. Not be some half-shifter.
"Still," Violet protested. "For all you know you could be more then one animal! Wouldn't that be cool?!" Her eyes lit up with awe. Anna guessed she was thinking of the people she knew that had three or four animals, or more.
"At least if I'm not a shifter, I know I won't be marked." Anna said quietly, shivering.
"That's true." Violet replied, hanging her head. "There is a high price to be paid for being a shifter." Anna saw her reach down and spin her bracelet around her wrist. "If only there was a way to prevent being marked."
Anna didn't reply. It wasn't a subject anyone talked about, not in public. The truth was, no one knew much about it. In most stories Anna knew there was always someone who came back, someone who told a tale of what happened to people who disappeared or were taken away. Not so with marked people. They were simply taken, then gone. She knew they were too dangerous to be kept around, that was a fact. She didn't exactly know why, but that's what people said. Still, it seemed awfully unfair sometimes.
But Shifter Inc. said it was the only way to protect everyone, the loved ones, so it must be worth it. At any cost. Still, Anna had her doubts. But being a non-shifted made her mind wander too much, probably not caring enough. But what if her friends or family were marked? What if Violet was some day marked? She shuddered. Not many were marked, but enough to make her worry.
     Anna studied Violet's bracelet again. It was pretty enough, simple though. When Violet shifted it would disappear, but the blue material under it would stay. It would be well hidden under her horsehair, but still there.
     Anna wasn't wearing one, not yet at least. Shifters Inc. said there was a possibility that putting one on someone who hadn't shifted yet would stunt their growth, perhaps keeping them from ever shifting. Anna didn't mind not having one to wear, in fact she enjoyed it. Still, it made it painfully obvious when she was around people how different she was.
     "I think they're making a sweep through our neighborhood," Violet continued. "That's when they found her." She sighed. "I guess it's not too soon before they come knocking on my door."
     "And mine." She shook her head. Even if Anna wasn't a shifter, she still had to go through the checks. Every so often, sweepers would come through the houses, checking everyone for marks. It always felt so degrading to Anna, but she had to put up with it, or else they would instantly suspect she was somewhere marked. That only lead to a more complete search, which was even worse.
     They left the pond soon after, Violet deciding to ride on Pepper instead. She didn't want to overuse her shifting privileges. That was another thing Anna couldn't stand. When you were a shifter you had to constantly keep track of when you shifted, where you shifted, how long you were shifted, and when you shifted back. Back at Shifters. Inc. they already had the information down somewhere in a computer, but they wanted to make sure you had it written down in your own words, to make sure you weren't trying to put something over their heads. It was simply all a lot of nonsense to Anna.
     "So, tomorrow?" Violet questioned. They had just reached her house and Anna was dropping her off.
     "I don't know, I'll get back to you." Her father was going on a business trip, her mother going with him. Somewhat of a boring second honeymoon, or something. Anna would be home alone for a while, and she wasn't sure if she should leave the house on the first day alone.
     "Well, if not, I'll just come and storm your house." Violet winked, running off towards her house.
     "You would!" Anna shouted back, laughing.
     She got home and hurriedly brushed Pepper, then put him out in his paddock to graze. She ran inside to help make dinner, when she found it was already made.
     "What's this?" She asked.
     "I decided to make it early, your father and I have to leave somewhere between three-thirty and four." Her mother replied, brushing some loose hair behind her ear.
     "That's smart." Anna said, grabbing a large slice of pizza. Her parents had already eaten, and she decided to sit and watch some pathetic TV show in her room, while texting Violet.
     After five episodes, three more pieces of pizza, two sodas, and countless texts to Violet, Anna decided she was ready to sleep. Her parents had gone to bed hours ago, but her dad had said to was alright for her to stay up a little later. I stayed up more then a 'little' later, Anna thought, forcing herself to turn off the soap opera. And right when Dan was going to ask Sandra out!
     The caffeine in her system would usually keep her up, or put her to sleep. Tonight, she was out like a light. She was always surprised how it affected her. Her father, being part Dog, urged her not to drink too much, but since she hasn't shown any signs of shifting yet, he finally gave in. She saw his point, but at the same time wasn't ready to give up her favorite soda.