To say that Rowan had strange dreams that night would be a grievous understatement. In the past she had experienced the surreal caress of her subconscious dragging her through a gauntlet of fuzzy images and sensations, but nothing had ever felt this real.

In her mind’s eye, she saw herself running towards her house as hard as she could, desperate to reach the safety of her bed as soon as possible. Reaching out for the distant shape, her arms stretched away before her impossibly. Indeed, her entire body seemed to swell outwards, her strides growing wider and wider as she grew ever larger. She could subconsciously feel her clothes beginning to tear from her figure as she expanded, littering the desert behind her as her feet left craters in the dirt.

An intense heat started to spread through Rowan’s body, starting at her hips but surging out in all directions. She could hear herself gasping, her breasts bulging on her chest, buttocks plumping outwards as her belly rounded considerably. Desires she typically only felt in the presence of William overtook her mind as she neared her house. But something was wrong.

Wind whipped around her shoulders as she towered in the night sky, her beloved home barely reaching up to her knees.

“Oh golly… how am I supposed to crawl into bed now? Shoot.” The lusty impulses she’d felt died down as she felt the frustration of wanting to be indoors. She saw herself dwindling gradually back to a more reasonable size. Eventually, when she was short enough to fit through the front door, she ducked under the doorway and trotted through as quietly as she could. Hoping and praying that she could avoid waking her father, she crept into her room, curled up in bed and pulled the covers over her head.

There, just as dream-Rowan felt herself drifting off…

… real-life-Rowan’s eyes snapped open.

“My my… that was… no more late nights for you young lady.” Rowan reprimanded herself, tugging the blankets of her bed down a few feet. A chill breeze bristled against her skin. Glancing down expecting to see a gap in her beloved purple nightgown, Rowan found herself gazing at her own naked flesh.

Her mind went blank for a moment.

“N-no… b-but… it can’t have been… r… no… that’s just silly Ro; don’t be so foolish! Just take a look out the window and see for yourself.”

Hopping out of bed and throwing a spare gown hastily around her shoulders, she strolling briskly to the window of her room. Throwing open the shutters, Rowan gazed down into the front yard. Her hand leapt to her mouth.

There, sprawling out before her was a colossal footprint in the soil. Her father and several neighbors were gathered around the imprint, gesticulating wildly and talking at great volume. Beyond it, a trail of receding prints led away over the rolling desert hills and scrubland.

Rowan slammed the window shut and slid down onto the floor, arms wrapped around her knees and a look of total dismay on her face. She rocked back and forth in confusion, tears springing to her eyes as she remembered the dream.

“Oh my Gosh… oh no… what have I done?”

Outside, Rowan heard the distinct sound of cars pulling up. Not just one, but several; at least half a dozen judging by the cacophony of tires on gravel. Propping herself up on her knees, the dark haired young lady peered suspiciously over the windowsill.

Just over the fence of her father’s property, a number of vehicles bearing the logo of the military had arrived. They had arranged the cars in such a way that all the obvious exits to the area were being covered, but the soldiers themselves didn’t appear to be here to pick a fight. A weather-beaten man in his mid-forties stepped out of the man vehicle, bedecked in the uniform of some sort of high ranking officer.

Marching briskly over to Rowan’s father, the man shook hands with the assembled parties and began asking questions that the young woman couldn’t quite make out. However, while she might not be able to fully understand the conversation taking place, she could easily understand when her father pointed in the direction of her room, a quizzical expression on his face as the men started to walk towards the front door.

Rowan was off before they’d taken more than a couple of steps. She dashed across her bedroom to the closet, throwing on the first dress she could lay her hands on and seizing a pair of shoes. The front door swung open with a distinct ‘thud’ as she crept out into the upstairs hallway, bare feet padding in total silence down to the end of the corridor. Although she trusted her father and didn’t even entertain the notion that he might sell her out to the army, she had no such faith in the military. After all, it was their job to protect America from bad guys and monsters; she was certainly no bad guy, but a monster?

She didn’t really know.

Dropping down onto all fours, Rowan crawled rapidly along the balcony overlooking the staircase, pressing herself fully against the wall in case the men beneath her decided to look up prematurely. She could hear them on the stairs as she scuttled out of sight into the upstairs bathroom. Slipping behind the door, Rowan decided to attempt something she hadn’t done since she was eight: jumping down the laundry chute.

Though she wasn’t nearly as scrawny as she had been in those days, she believed she could still make the trip. Holding her breath to keep as still and steady as possible, Rowan gradually lifted the sliding door of the chute, listening out for the progress of the men. They had reached the top of the stairs and turned towards her room; the moment they went inside would be her cue to drop. Swinging both legs into the gap, she sat with her bottom teetering on the edge of the chute, hands gripping the sides so hard her knuckles were white.

“Ro?” There was a distant ‘thud’ as her father opened the door to her room.

She had to fight not to shriek with adrenaline as she tipped herself forwards, plummeting down into the colossal pile of dirty pillows she’d thrown down just the night prior; small miracles. Bouncing herself to a standing position, Rowan made immediately for the back door. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she wondered what would happen to her if she was caught. What if they took her away from her father? What if they punished her for spying on training exercises? What if they tried to experiment on her? What if they locked her away in a dark room for the rest of her life?

All these thoughts and fears built in her mind as she approached the back door. As she seized the handle however, all of that trepidation melted away in favour of anxious optimism. She was a clever girl after all; if things got to be more than she could handle, maybe she could just run away? Run away and catch a bus across the country? The army couldn’t find her if she was hiding out as a baker boy in New York.

“Rowan?” Her father called again, the sound of footsteps descending the stairs causing the young woman to snap out of her reverie.

Darting out the door, the dinky dark-haired dame rushed off out to the rear of the property, away from the army soldiers and their mysterious motives. Dashing up the trodden path towards the laneway behind, Rowan glanced back over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed before she ducked around behind one of the tall fences that bordered her neighbor’s property.

She squatted down only long enough to pull on the shoes she’d carried out of the house before she set off for the center of town, hoping against hope that if she could just hide out until the excitement blew over, everything would go back to normal.