Alexandra walked out of her small house leaned over the railing of her porch. She looked at the sun rising over the hills surrounding. She still rose every morning to watch the marvelous event that brought her warmth every day as she had done for most of the 70 years she had been on the Earth. Many of the women of her age could be found among the cities and country estates of the English countryside, but not Alexandra. Her home was here, on the edge of a African jungle, as it had been for 48 years, when she first arrived on the continent with her husband Donald, a missionary to the tribespeople who quickly shocked everyone by turning his profession to that of a defender of the wilderness and the animals that inhabited it. When they had left England all those years ago, Victoria sat on the throne as Queen and the British Empire was expanding across the globe. Now, Victoria was gone and the throne was held by her son for the second year of his reign. Alexandra's beloved Donald was gone as well too; she was forced to bury him in a clearing in the jungle they enjoyed walking to almost twenty years earlier after a sudden fever she herself barely survived took his life from him. She looked towards the directions he lay at rest every morning when she watched the sunrise. Since that day, she had been alone here and he was never far from her thoughts.
The main reason that Alexandra stayed in Africa all these years was to carry on her husband's legacy of defending the African wilderness. They had never had children; the wild was what they considered to be their true heir. Donald had always taken care of the jungle around their home and in his travels, repairing damage from both Mother Nature and man alike. He also would commit sabotage against poachers he encountered. During the years she spent alone, Alexandra had carried this on in the beginning, making it appear that Donald's anonymous deeds were still going on. As she grew into an old woman, however, she was forced to stop this as the effort was too much for her old body to handle. Her hair long gray and face lined with wrinkles showed the effects of this one-woman crusade for nature and losing her Donald forcing her to live here alone. Now, in her few remaining years, she simply managed to keep up the area around her home of many years. Even this was getting to be a chore, and every day poachers were rapidly approaching to take her land from her. She managed to fight them off yet, but she had no idea how long this would last.
Alexandra decided she would go out to check on a family of primates that lived just over the hills from her house. There had been efforts to destroy their habitat to build a large estate home for a local landowner. If she could not protect the entire region anymore, she could at least protect these innocent creatures. She dressed in the clothing she preferred to wear when she worked in the wild; a khaki safari shirt, khaki pants and brown lace-up boots. These were traditionally men's clothes but much more durable than the women's clothes of the era. She walked the short trail that led into the jungle and took the turn towards the primate's habitat. Looking at them from a distance as not to disturb them, she was pleased to see that everything there was in good order and it looked like the men hired to clear the area had not been around. Perhaps the project had fallen through. She went back to the trail and followed it into the clearing where her husband's grave was. She sat on the stump of a tree that had fallen and looked at the wooden cross she fashioned to mark where her beloved Donald lay. She often came here to meditate. As she sat quietly, she began to hear gunshots and smelled smoke. This was alarming; there should not be any other people for miles around. Worried, she decided to walk in the direction and investigate the source.
After a long hike, she arrived at a cliff she knew would provide a good vantage point overlooking the site she believed the noises were coming from. She looked down to see a large part of the grassland below on fire and several men firing rifles into the air. This did not make sense to Alexandra; the land was not of use to anyone and the men were just shooting at nothing. What purpose did this hold? She decided that she needed to get a better look. She walked carefully along the cliffside, but still learned nothing as to what their plan was. She was confused and looking around at the area behind her trying to think. Suddenly, she thought she saw a cloud of smoke coming from the direction of her home. She had not lit a fire in her stove and did not know the meaning, until the horror came over her that what she saw in the grassland was a distraction. She had to hurry to get back home and figure out the true plan.
Alexandra's tired legs worked hard as they carried her back. She went as fast back towards the place she had been living for nearly half a century. She decided it was not best to approach directly but to hide in the jungle within view of the house. She approached and took a position behind some trees before she looked around towards her home. A wave of sorrow overcame her as she saw the wooden structure was completely aflame! Men she recognized as local poachers stood near the burning structure with the implements for arson. She crouched out of sight, completely numb as she heard them talking aloud to one another.
"Any sign of the old woman?" she heard one of the men ask.
"No sir, Colonel. She must have been inside when we torched the place. Was not able to get out." was the reply.
"Excellent," the Colonel stated. "With her out of our way, no one is going to stop us from claiming this whole area for ourselves. So much money to be made here and no one to get in our way anymore."
The men waited an hour until the fire had reduced the structure to ash and left down trail on their way. Alexandra had concealed herself the entire time they were there, unable to move due to fear and her sadness. After they were long gone, she emerged from her hiding place and walked towards the ruins of her home. All her work, all those memories, everything she had was gone. Once more, she would be assumed dead since the scoundrels thought she had been in the house when they burned it down. She was too old to build again on her own; what was she going to do? As she was ready to collapse and sob, her thoughts returned to the family of primates she checked earlier. Those men left the scene of their crime headed in the direction of the habitat. Her fears for their safety were enough for her to forget about the loss of her home and run as fast as she could towards what she hoped would not be more heartbreak.
Her years caught up to Alexandra as she was near the primate's location. She had to sit down just a few yards away, otherwise she would collapse. As she caught her breath, she heard the voices of the men. They had gone there after all and would soon be doing unspeakable things to destroy those poor creatures. What could she, one old woman, do to protect them? There was no one else for miles, even if there was, she did not have the energy to seek help. She was ready to give up on everything and just lay down to die right there. Her sorrow was interrupted by the loud buzzing of an insect. She looked around for the source but could not see it. The culprit revealed its location when it bit Alexandra on her neck. She looked at the biter and did not recognize that particular insect. It looked somewhat like a mosquito, but the bright red and green colors it was did not seem familiar to her. It flew away from her and she sat there, annoyed by the burning of the bite's location.
Soon the bite stopped to burn her, but the burning did not go; it simply moved into her heart. Her heart felt like it was on fire as she struggled to her feet. She managed to stand up and the burning feeling radiated from her heart all through her insides. She felt the sensation move from her insides to her skin. Even her hair felt like it was on fire. She could not explain what was happening but it felt like her whole body was aflame. The sensation intensified second after second, but was soon replaced by a new feeling.
Alexandra stood there, feeling that her body was completely engulfed in imaginary flames. As she felt the burning, her body began to transform physically. It started in her feet as they began to grow tighter in her boots. The laces soon split apart as her feet burst through the tough leather the footwear was made from. She stepped out of them as she began to grow taller. Her pant legs started to move up her legs. They were full length when this started, now the hems almost came up to her knees! The muscles in her legs began to grow too. Her growing thighs soon caused the pant legs to split open at the seams. Still not able to be contained, her rapidly growing leg muscles caused the legs of her pants to rip right up the middle as well. She could feel her changing hips cause the buttons on her trousers pop off and go flying to allow them to fit on her. It also felt as if the seat of her pants burst open to accommodate her growing buttocks.
The upper half of her body soon caught up to the growth of her lower part. Her chest had begun to expand, causing the buttons of her shirt to fly off as a growing pair of breasts emerged. The muscles in her arms were growing and needed room to expand. Her biceps caused her shirt sleeves to tear open, completely exposing her arms. The flexing caused the shirt to split open from under her arms down to the tail of the shirt. Her growing back muscles caused the back of her top to rip wide open for accommodation. The muscles in her abdomen were defined now, as were the other muscles on her now powerful torso. Her breasts continued to expand as the burning feeling was still overtaking her body. She could feel the muscles in her neck also change as her face felt as if something was transforming with it. Her hair, previously tied back, fell down into its natural state. As the growing stopped, she felt as if the burning sensation concentrated itself into one location in a single massive flame that seemed to her to radiate up and out the top of her head. Catching her breath, she looked down to see exactly what had happened to her body.
Alexandra was taken aback by what she saw had happened to her. Her shirt was completely destroyed; the torn garment simply was sitting on top of her shoulders. Noticeable first was the massive pair of breasts that stuck out, larger than the biggest of watermelons she had ever seen in her entire life. Her nipples were dark brown and quite erect, but not too large for her breasts. She could not help herself as she grabbed at them, not being able to explain where they had come from. Her hands ran down onto her stomach. Her abdominal muscles were much larger and well defined than they had ever been, in fact the muscles in her torso all were now. She rubbed her hands over her now-bare arms. The muscles there were extremely large now. She flexed them and really saw how much bigger they were. Her hands began to run down her massive legs, now exposed through her pants with legs shredded like ribbons. They were huge, her muscles bulging as she bent down. She stood erect, not sure what had happened to her. Soon, however, she forgot about her change as she heard the noises of horror coming from the habitat of her beloved primates.
