Once upon a time there was a girl named Lillian. Lillian was 14 years old.



One day while at school, Lillian’s stomach began cramping while in her science class. She also began to feel a slight wetness between her thighs. Her mother had prepared her for this day, and she knew what was happening: she was getting her first period. She raised her hand and asked to be excused to the restroom.



When she arrived at the bathroom she rifled through her purse looking for her maxi pad her mother had made her start carrying. She found it and unwrapped it, discarding the wrapping in the small trash can that sat between bathroom stalls.



When she pulled down her pants down to sit down and apply the pad though, she found something she didn’t had not expected; instead of bleeding, she had begun excreeting a thin string of silk.



Lillian was terrified. She was some kind of freak!! She hurriedly pulled the strand of silk free and flushed it down the toilet. She pulled her clothes back on and returned to class, resolving not to speak about the incident to anyone.



But the silk didn’t go away. There was more the next morning, and the day after that. Lillian’s thighs began itching constantly and it was all she could do to keep from scratching them in public places.



Other changes began to take place as well. She began to be hungry all the time and began eating constantly. But no matter how much she ate, she still wanted more.



A month passed. Lillian packed on the pounds, much to the chagrin of her mother, a former cheerleader and beauty queen. Her mother begged her to stop eating, but Lillian ignored her. She was having a hard enough time hiding all the silk she was now producing.



At school she would ask to be excused to use the restroom every class. Between her sudden weight gain and her constant bathroom trips the kids at school began to whisper about Lillian behind her back. And although she hated it, the silk came so often and in such large amounts that it was the only way she could keep it from creating bulges in her pants.



For two months Lillian struggeled with the horrors the changes her body was undergoing caused. She had gained close to 80 pounds. She had to sneak trashbags full of silk out to the trash can while her parents slept. She thought it couldn’t get any worse.



Then, Lillian began sleepwalking.



The first night wasn’t so bad. She woke up on the floor of her parents bedroom with no memory of how she got there. Her mother told her she had come in and lay down some time in the middle of the night. Her mother also clearly frowned at the fat that had built around her daughters midriff, but said nothing concerning it.



The second time it happened, Lillian woke up on the balcony outside her window.



It was the third time it happened that she began to get scared. Lillian woke up to the sun in her eyes. This confused her, because she always closed her shades before going to bed.



Opening her eyes, Lillian was immediately disoriented and frightened. Not only was she out in her front yard, she was also hanging upside down by her legs in their small tree. She quickly righted herself and snuck back through the open front door, hoping that no one had seen her.



That night after school, Lillian became I’ll. She began running a fever and got the shakes. Her mother was worried, but Lillian insisted that she didn’t need to see a doctor.



As her family slept, Lillian began sleepwalking again. Only this time she didn’t stop at her front yard. Out the door and down the street she went, walking the empty streets barefoot and unconscious, until she arrived at the park. Once there her sleeping form climbed the tallest pine tree it could find, and curled itself around a branch deep in it’s boughs.



When Lillian awoke, she thought she had somehow crawled under her covers. Fabric pressed against her face and held snugly to her body. She struggled to move her arms at her sides, but it felt as though someone was holding her blanket down.



Lillian yelled at whoever was holding her covers to stop, but there was no response. Struggling against the pressure, she tried to wiggle a hand up in front of her. Suddenly there was a tearing sound and light flooded her eyes. With a gasp she realized two things: she was vey high up in the air, and she was also now falling.



Lillian screamed as the ground rushed up at her with incredible speed. Instinctually she threw her arms out in front of her, as though to catch herself from falling. As she did, muscles in her back clenched and flexed. With a yelp she jerked to a halt in mid-air.



Lillian was terrified. She hovered 40 feet above the ground. Breeze caressed her face. A soft foomping sound came from behind her. Fighting her screaming emotions, Lillian slowly turned her head to behold what she already knew she would find; reaching out behind her flapping rhythmically, two brightly colored wings stretched to either side, holding her aloft. Softly illuminated by the suns early morning rays, the wings were primarily a deep shade of azure, with small yellow dots sprinkled around each one.



Lillian shook with emotion. Everything she had repressed as she struggled to cope with the silk and the weight gain came rushing to the surface. Unable to contain herself any longer, Lillian screamed. She screamed for the horror her body had become. She screamed as the life she had dreamed of died before her eyes. And she screamed for the normalcy she would never again have. Overcome, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.



The aching woke her. Her whole body hurt. From somewhere nearby Lillian heard a faint beeping. She slowly opened her eyes.



Sterile white walls and hospital machinery broke through her teary squint. Her mother sat in a chair by the door, crying softly.



Relief washed over Lillian. It had been a dream! The whole time she had been asleep in the hospital, sick or injured! She wasn’t a monster! She opened her eyes, grimacing against the pain of her protesting facial muscles. “Mom?” Lillian croaked.



“Sweetie! Oh baby!” lillian’s mother was at her bedside in an instant. “I’m so happy you’re awake! The doctors didn’t know when… If…” her mother sniffed back tears, “when you would wake up! How do you feel?”



“Terrible,” Lillian croaked out. “I had such horrible nightmares.”



“Well don’t worry,” her mother wiped away tears and put on her bravest face. “we’re going to get through this together. I’m going to find the best plastic surgeon in the world and we’ll cut those horrible things off.” Lillian’s face twisted in horror as her mother smiled. “you’ll be beautiful again in no time.”

(Photo used courtesy of Kjunstorm via Flickr)