Yesterday's Special

Today’s the day I change. Yet do we never not change? The law of conservation says that Mass, matter, is neither created nor destroyed. Though matter can’t be destroyed, it may be changed in form. And for eternity we are the Mass that is always changing. We are changelings turning into other shapes through the millions of years.

It is said about shapeshifters, in jest, is that they could look just like you and me. Since we are changelings taking on new shape and form, then we are shapeshifters. This is my life as a shapeshifter.

Throughout my whole life I’ve had mixed emotions about rain. I was from a large neighborhood with lots of friends around me. Perhaps it was inherited impatience of youth, but it felt like years before I change form and grew tall. My friends and I always played in the rain. Out of all of nature’s elements, the rain was a welcomed visitor to us. There was something innocent, nourishing, and clean when the rains came.

Through the years, the neighborhood changed as most of my friends left and branched out. I remained recalling the good old days wondering about my departed friends. Where did they end up? What had they become? Were they happier?

That’s when the rain changed for me. It went from a playful friend to nuisance, pouring loneliness and sprinkling melancholy on my once joyful life. Maybe it was the fast departure of friends or the constant thought of my future. Do I stay behind in my deep-rooted home? Or do I move on joining the log jam of life? The thought excited yet frightened me. Was the rain warm and inviting or harder and colder elsewhere? One day the rain stopped, and destiny opened a path and picked me. I left home rolling out on a new adventure.

The new life was a total makeover for me. My hair was buzzed off and I was pulled, cut down to the bone and left naked. My body was stripped down only to be built back up again. The rite of passage for growing up. Though I was reduced to bareness, the process transformed me into something purposeful. I found a place with structure where I met others with a common background. Together we became a tight supportive team, holding each other up. It was good to build a long-lasting comradery.

The years went on until an explosion of sparks surrounded us. We held onto each other wondering where the attack was coming from. There was more explosions that sprayed hot ambers in the air. I don’t know what happened next, only that I heard my friends whine and moan from facing the hot ambers. We were all struggling to hold each other up. I saw friends around me fall and change. I was paralyzed waiting for the end. Moments later I was captured. The only comfort came from of an old forgotten friend, the rain.

Being outside in the rain reminded me of the old neighborhood. I recalled the events in my life. I was so wild in my youth but now more refined. I wondered what was next for me and my team. Is my time over? I was separated from the others and placed on a transport vehicle. Days earlier I was part of a sturdy foundation, a framework, that was upright. Now I changed and became the sole survivor.

The transport arrived at a location where I was shredded, drenched in water, and beaten to a pulp. At first, I thought it was a form of torture, but it was an ancient ritual, baptismal of sorts, that bestowed upon me. I floated, christened, and transformed in the water and I felt myself being put back together. It was an odd sensation that seemed to reduce yet stretch my soul into something else.

In my new flattened state, I was pushed into a casing. There was attention on me. I was discussed a lot and seemed informative to my captors. My recent celebrity status did not last, and I was discarded. I had become yesterday’s news and was placed in a blue boat, where I met others. We were a motley crew sailing off braving the elements again. I felt alive in that moment in carefree bliss. Nothing mattered anymore.

A rainstorm arrived and our vessel was tossed around. We shifted from side to side. I was lighter than my crew mates. The wind swept me off the boat and into the sky. I was separated from the others soaring along the wind getting punched by the rain until landing on a street. The rain overpowered and pinned me to the ground. The gritty dirty water rolled over me. Perhaps that is what saved me. The rainwater made me cling to the ground as the raging river passed on top of me.

I awakened hours later still wet but drying. I was battered with some scrapes and cuts. As I dried, I became wrinkled and old. My crinkled body rolled in the wind. The sun shined on me. I moved in fear but found a wooden telephone pole that I propped up against. The tall pole reminded me of youth as I stood and defied the wind with support from friends. There was no friends anymore. I thought of the old neighborhood and how I wanted to leave like the others. I let go of the pole and soared again finding refuge leaning up on a brick wall. A dark shadow fell over me.

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“What’s this?” a homeless man said to himself. He squinted looking down at the smudged words on the water stained sheet from Flo’s Diner. “Ah! Yesterday’s daily specials at Flo’s Diner. That means scraps in the dumpster! Today’s Specials, Eggs Dirk Benedict, Hoss-burger with Ponderosa sauce, Hop-Sing Special and Boneless Meatloaf. Boneless meatloaf? Good thing the meatloaf has no bones.”

The Man smiled showing his missing teeth. “This better be worth it!”

The man crumpled me into the form of a ball, dropping me into a puddle. It started to rain again as the Man climbed into the diner’s dumpster while I soaked in the water changing form. Today’s the day I changed, realizing it’s not the last time.

THE END