1
They're called irises. Not pupils. Shala had been trying to grasp the word but it slipped away. Just like the woman who approached her in the grocery store. The woman, gypsy – whatever, had thoroughly creeped her out. Not so much her appearance (except for the irises) as the way she appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into the same wrinkle in space, it seemed. Then again, it was Wal-Mart.
After work Shala had stopped to pick up some last minute items for the camping trip she and Dawn were beginning tomorrow. Cruising down the paper goods aisle, the woman had practically given Shala a heart attack. One minute, she was alone and the next, the space directly to Shala's right was occupied by what appeared to be a four foot tall pile of rags. Then it turned and a face appeared. Not an unkind one but definitely what you would call "wizened." Shala was startled but struck by the color of the eyes – the irises, rather. They were a shade of blue normally not seen in nature and almost seemed to flow and move, shifting into an iridescent gold. Shala was so transfixed that any alarm she felt was delayed until much later. During the encounter, she may have been convinced of anything being so drawn in by the woman's eyes.
Even now, in the safety of her home, Shala couldn't quite remember the words she exchanged with the woman and the only proof she even had that the encounter occurred was the necklace and a slight feeling of confusion. Looking at it now, Shala marveled at even accepting it. The thing was hideous and nothing like the delicately understated pieces she normally wore. This thing was heavy. And chunky. If she had to guess, Shala would have to say it was made by some insane jeweler with a morbid sense of humor. The chain was a gold box link, not too thick but definitely a bit masculine with an old fashioned appearance. Shala held the chain in front of her and gazed at the pendant in all its horrific glory. The ram stared back. Its dark ruby eyes made her uncomfortable. Horns thrusting out to form the familiar curly shape gave the ram's head a powerful, menacing look.
"Why didn't I throw this thing out of my car window on the way home?" Blinking and forfeiting the staring contest with the hunk of metal, Shala dropped it on the kitchen table and went to finish packing.
2
Finally satisfied that she had packed for anything nature may throw at her camping in a semi-natural state park, Shala decided she deserved a nice, long shower. She pulled off the t-shirt and sleeping pants she had put on after work revealing a well maintained body. It was both a blessing and a curse that the company she worked for offered paid memberships for employees to the gym around the corner from her office. A blessing in that she didn't have to pay for it out of her own pocket and a curse because while she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, it took a lot of willpower to breeze past the sandwich shop between her office and spin class. Still, glancing at her firm round ass in the mirror, she had to admit it was worth it.
On her way down the hall, her cell began to chime. Running to grab it, she already knew who it was: Dawn. Leaping across the bed, she landed on her stomach and answered the phone just before it went to voicemail, "What's up, buttercup?"
"Wow! You're still awake! Must be as excited as I am to get away from this place for a while," Dawn said, her tone effervescent.
"Huh? What time is it?" Glancing at the clock, Shala was surprised to see it was almost midnight. "Holy shit! I thought it was like 8 at the latest."
"Uhhhh...what have you been doing all evening? Rubbing off to JT's music videos?" Dawn loved teasing her best friend about having a crush on Justin Timberlake. They both knew Shala wasn't into the singer but since she had once dated a guy who looked eerily similar to him, Dawn never missed the opportunity to taunt her about it.
"Oh yeah! But I kick it old school, ya know? N'Sync was when he did his best work, I feel," Shala said, playing along. "What are you doing calling me so late anyway? Just want to hear my sweet voice before bed?"
"You know it! I just got really excited about tomorrow and remembered you were going to Wal-Mart after work. Did you remember to get..."
"Yup," Shala responded before Dawn could finish. "I got you stuff to make s'mores."
"Hooray! I love you! See you in the morning then!"
"Good night, sweaty cheeks! I'll pick you up around 9." Shala hung up the phone and marveled that she seemed to have lost track of four hours. What the hell? Dawn hadn't seemed too concerned for her even though she had always been the punctual and meticulous one since their friendship had developed in college. Losing track of time was just not something Shala did.
Forgetting about her bath for the moment, Shala rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She let her thoughts go back to the encounter with the woman in the supermarket. Her eyes had been so beautiful. And the way they glowed...wait, glowed? Eyes don't glow, she thought. But this woman's eyes did. Or at least they seemed to when she spoke and handed her the necklace. What had she said? Shala concentrated and tried to remember. The woman held the necklace by the chain in front of Shala's face, the ram's eyes glittered, and the woman said, "...your destiny..." or something. Damn! It was right there at the front of her mind but slipped away. And in any case, what would some old woman in Wal-Mart know about my "destiny", she thought.
Shala went to the dining room and picked up the ram's head. Staring at it now, it didn't seem so menacing. Still pretty ugly but that could just be its crude construction. It was all bumps and grooves combined to describe a very detailed hairy head of a ram. Something about the shape of it pulled at her mind and gave her the impression that she had seen it before. Shala, thinking only half-way straight, slipped the necklace over her head. The head of the ram lay perfectly nestled between her breasts. It was quite cool at first but soon became warm and comforting. "Odd," she thought, "it should be uncomfortable with all those spikey protrusions but it feels ok...almost like it's not there."
Heading back to her bedroom for the night, Shala stopped in the bathroom to look in the mirror. The sight of herself naked wearing nothing but a heavy gold necklace with the large pendant nestling between her breasts aroused her for some reason. Her long hair, which normally seemed mousy brown to her, suddenly became a wild mane of luscious dark chocolate brown. It cascaded down her back and around her shoulders in silky waves that seemed to seek to occupy the space around her in the bathroom. Her skin had a bronzed sheen almost as if reflecting firelight. Staring at her face in the mirror, Shala noted that her face was flushed and her lips were fuller than normal.
"What the hell is going on? Why am I so hot?" Shala felt fevered and ran her hands over her body feeling the heat it was radiating. She felt like she was sitting too close to a fire and her skin was responding to it naturally by sweating. Shala slid her hands over breasts and let her fingers capture her nipples between them as she cupped herself. "Mmmm...this feels so good," she moaned as she pushed her large boobs together they captured the ram's head between them. It felt hotter but not painfully so.
Overcome by an urge that was a bit abnormal for her, Shala climbed onto the oversize bathroom counter and sat facing the mirror. She bent her knees toward her chest and spread her legs as wide as possible. Getting in this position, she was proud of her flexibility and all those hours she spent on the yoga mat. Her eyes were drawn to her throbbing sex and her fingers followed. As soon as she got near her glistening lips, Shala let out a small whimper. She was very close to climax already and the sight of her body: perfect, sweaty and pulled into an odd position, gazing at her reflection almost sent her over the edge.
Shala slowly trailed her fingers along the edge of her labia, relishing the tingle it created in the pink bud that was just beginning to peek out of its shelter. Using one hand to pinch and caress her nipples, the other to spread her lips, it seemed like she was looking at someone else in the mirror. It definitely looked like her, but there was a distinct difference in the way this reflection made her feel as opposed to when she had seen her reflection in the past. Shala considered herself to be a cute girl but this bitch was hot. Smoking hot. Shala could almost see the steam rising off her in the mirror as she moaned and played with herself.
"Aahh! Ooohh...shit!" Shala couldn't control herself as her fingers ministrations continued their manipulation of her pussy. She slipped two fingers inside and pressed on the slightly rough patch just inside her vagina while her thumb pressed on her clit. "Mmmm...oooohhh yaaa!!" She had found the perfect rhythm and staring at herself in the mirror as her pussy loosed it's liquid gifts, Shala came harder than she had ever before. "Uhhnnn....oooohhh...fuck yaaa!!" She screamed as her tight hole pulsed and contracted, clenching her fingers in an attempt to milk them for seed like a penis.
As her orgasmic sensitivity faded, Shala pulled her fingers out of herself and was astounded to see how much fluid had built up around her ass. "Geez...I've never came like that before. Of course, it's been quite a while since I came at all," Shala said to herself as an odd wave of depression descended onto her. She suddenly felt embarrassed at her behavior and as she cleaned up the mess she had made, she wept and refused to even glance in the mirror. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" Shala wondered as she finally lay down in her bed. She looked over at the clock and it was only 12:15 am. It felt like it should be much later. Her performance in the bathroom seemed to have lasted at least 45 minutes and then the cleaning and weeping....where had that even come from?
Shala let the cool air from the fan blow away her concern for her behavior and accepted the tryst with the other Shala, the one in the mirror, as a gift. From whom she did not know.
...
It's here.
No, not it...He is here. But it's so dark, thought Shala. Where is here even? I can't see shit.
A humming noise began to sound behind her. Shala turned and woke up to the sound of her phone's vibrations on the night stand.
"Shit!" It was Dawn on the phone and way past dawn outdoors. Sliding her thumb across the phone's screen to answer the call from her probably distressed friend, Shala spoke "Just woke up...on my way!" and hung up.
Leaping from the bed to her walk-in closet, Shala began to hurriedly dress herself in some casual shorts and a denim shirt with long sleeves. While putting her feet into hiking boots, Shala caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the back of the closet door. The ram was still there. He appeared to have lost some of his luster in the morning light and looked less menacing. His ruby eyes were dull and his horns looked even more sloppily constructed. Realizing she had been evaluating the pendant's appearance as though it (HE) was a living thing, she jerked it off her neck and winced as the clasp dug into her neck. Gently grazing the tender skin with her finger, she noticed it came away slightly bloody. Ignoring the blood and pain, Shala jammed the necklace into her duffel bag, grabbed the rest of her stuff and headed out the door.
3
On the short drive to pick up Dawn, Shala struggled with a feeling of loss and despondency. Confused by a wave of submissive thought and emotion that was totally abnormal, she cranked up the radio in an effort to dampen the unwelcome fire she could feel welling up from somewhere in the bottom of her mind's chasms and resolved to lighten up before seeing Dawn whose presence would be sure to put her in a better mood.
The muffled sound of Joan Jett's voice screaming in her driveway was Dawn's cue to pull herself out of the lawn chair and lug her large pleasing form and gear over to Shala's SUV. The loud music grew louder as Shala opened her door and ran around the car to help her friend load her luggage into the storage area.
"You know, I've been thinking," Dawn began but the look on Shala's face caused the joke to fizzle in her throat. Instead, she asked, "Hey, are you ok? You look like someone took your last Nutter Butter."
