Sarah waited patiently while Simone’s phone rang. She resisted a powerful urge to bathe herself with her tongue. She opened the fresh pack of smokes she’d bought the night before and lit one. She smoked half of it, her hand (paw?) trembling a little as she did.

Simone’s phone rang and rang.

Finally, there was a groggy, half-drunken, “What?” on the other end.

“Simone, what the fuck is going on?”

“Whozit?”

“Look, I know you run with a strange crowd, but…”

“Is this Mike? Mike, be quiet, Mikey. I sleep today.”

Sarah took a deep breath and tried to avoid yowling into the phone. “Simone, this is Sarah. Your friend Sarah. Your drinking buddy. Your best friend of 15 years. We went to a party in the Hollow last night. We got very, very drunk. And I woke up this morning with fur, kitty ears and a MOTHERFUCKING TAIL .”

There was a pause. Something in the air had changed.

“A tail?” Simone’s voice was sober.

“Yes, a tail.”

“I think you should come over right now. Before things get worse.”