Haley's Eyes

"Before we go on," Haley bit her bottom lip, took a deep breath and continued, "this is me."

Nothing happened at first. She just stood there her thin arms curling around her nakedness. Then her form began distort, melting in shimmering waves of purple and gold hues. Her face stretched out, elongating. Her hair disappeared. She became a raptor.

Clive blinked at the intrusion. "I think you're going to have to put that suit back on for this night to continue."

In the darkness of their carnality he kept seeing flashes of hard scales and teeth like knives. In the end, he had to go, leaving them both dissatisfied. Guilt followed him around for the next few years before an abrupt ending to his life. No matter how he tried, he couldn't treat a raptor as a human being. In his last moments, he thought once again of the teeth and the scales, but this time he saw the eyes above them. They were still Haley's, hesitant and hopeful, yet ringed with sorrow.

Haley.

Everything dimmed as sleep drowned him one last time.