Sarge was always a person who liked to hum what he was listening to. While walking down the streets one day, one of the songs he recognized, and loved listening to, came on. This was a song his friends and family would tell him fit his voice almost perfectly. He hummed the song, but after only two lines, he started to sing the song as he walked down the street.

Someone tapped him on the shoulders, stopping his blissful enjoyment. Pausing his song, he looked over his shoulder. "Oh, sorry, am I too loud?"

"No no," the person said. "What song are you listening to, hun?"

"Oh, uh..." Sarge looked down at his phone. He didn't need to find the title of the song, he knew it by heart... but being asked on the spot gave him a slight moment of hesitation. "It's 'Big Yellow Taxi' by Counting Crows"

"Ahh, thanks! I love that song!" The person said, holding a hand out to Sarge. "I just never knew the title. Counting Crows, though? Ever wonder why they're called that?"

Sarge looked down at the person's hand, curious as to what they were wanting. "Uh.. not really. It's just a band name. Maybe they were thinking of the Birds movie or something?" Sarge scratched his head, now realizing this person wanted to shake his hand... so he did so. "Crows are rather intelligent birds y'know! They can recogni-" Sarge stopped himself, realizing he was going on a tangent. Whenever he had a random bit of trivia to share, he would share it... but this was a complete stranger. "Sorry... uh... name's Sarge!"

"Veronica," the person said with a smile. "I'd love to have a crow for a pet. You?"

Sarge thought on this for a moment. "It'd be cool, yeah..." Sarge released his hand and smiled. "Well, nice chatting with ya! Take care now?"

"See you later!" Veronica said, waving their hand.

Sarge put his earphone back in. Oddly enough, he had a new spring in his step... but he just didn't know why....

~~~~~

Looking in the mirror, Sarge felt his heart sink. It had been three days since he started to notice things changing about him. The first day his ears were a bit shorter than they should have been. His paws were becoming elongated and scaly like a bird's. The second day, he noticed his snout was darker. When he tapped on it, it felt hard. When Sarge woke up today, however, he had a full-on beak. It was as black as the feather patterns he had gained.

Opening his mouth to speak to himself, Sarge noticed his mouth no longer had teeth. He chirped in surprise and held his hands to his mouth. He no longer had paw pads or claws. His fingers were long and feathery now.

"Holy *squawk*! What's happening to me?!" Sarge asked out loud. He knew the answer. It was pretty obvious... but he still couldn't believe it. Questioning why this happened, he remembered an encounter he had three days ago. "Veronica."

~~~~~

Going out to find that person was all Sarge could think of to turn back to normal. When he confronted them, he knew they were the person who caused it. Merely mentioning he was turning into a crow made them giddy. They had even said he was going to be a cute pet when the transformation completed.

When he asked how they transformed him, they stated he gave the consent to be turned into a crow. Sarge immediately knew what they meant. They weren't asking him if he wanted a pet crow. They were asking him if he'd BE a pet crow... and he unwittingly said yes to that.

"You can't force me to do that!" Sarge had said, squawking angrily at the person.

"When it completes you'll have no choice, really. Though, I feel you may be too fat to fly. Best you come to my place to wait it out, eh?" Veronica had said, poking Sarge's belly......

And now, here Sarge was. In his mind, he could think about the scenario all he wanted and how he could have avoided this situation, but it was too late now-

"Sarge! My little, chubby crow! I'm home!"

Sarge's eyes lit up. He felt his heart flutter with excitement. That tone of voice Veronica had usually meant she brought home some snacks for Sarge. He squawked happily, but caught himself showing any form of excitement for his circumstances.

[That's the last time I tell someone the song I'm listening to,] Sarge thought to himself before closing his eyes and resigning himself to being a fat, pudgy bird who couldn't fly anywhere. For now, he was stuck... he just didn't know how long 'now' was.

~~~~~

My part of a species TF trade with  Dragontzin ! We chose to be birds! :D

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Artwork/story/Sarge (C)  Juntarhenogu Me