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\pard\plain\pard\qc{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 Pre-shifting\par }
\pard\qc{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 Mara Lynn Barbee\par }
\pard\qc{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab I hurried to my magic lesson wearing an eager grin: this promised to be interesting.  Today I'd be taking a step up, working my way through the lessons one learned before first attempting shapeshifting.  These pre-shifting lessons were highly engaging.  I}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1  thought of them as the virtual reality of shapeshifting; the next best thing to being there.  In pre-shifting we mentally hitched rides with other creatures.  We knew that these secondhand experiences were invaluable; when first learning to shift, you had}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1  to have some knowledge of how the creature lived.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab I was quite apt at pre-shifting, and had recently passed up the rest of my class.  Since they weren't too far behind, the teacher had decided to let them catch up.  Soon they'd be at the level I'd reached: ready to shapeshift for the first time.  We'd try}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1  a humanlike creature, maybe a chimp.\par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab But meanwhile, instead of using the pre-shifting knowledge I'd gained about various animals, I'd skip ahead to the next part of pre-shifting.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab Plants.\par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab The teacher had explained to us how alien an experience it was to live as any kind of plant life.  Her descriptions had been very detailed, and I felt I was as prepared as I could be.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab I met the teacher before class started: she was to get me set up, then go back to teach the others.  Apparently pre-shifting lessons involving plants weren't quick: I'd be at this all day.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab Szuli (the teacher; we all went by our first names here at the academy) directed me to a sunroom where the chosen plant had access to the pleasant summer weather.  I didn't know ahead of time what kind of plant it was, but I wasn't really surprised when i}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 t proved to be a simple little flower.  We always started with the easiest: apparently a tiny Angiosperm was easier to comprehend than, say, a centennial redwood.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab I lay down in the suspended animation bedpod next to the plant.  Mentally activating the bedpod was easy after all the practice I'd had.  I extended my aura to press the appropriate "button", and a force field snapped into place over the top of the clear }
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 oval bedpod.  I was then in the unique state of suspended animation: I could think just like always, but I couldn't sense anything.  With my five mundane senses, that is.  I was receiving Szuli's telepathic instructions just fine, and I could sense the aur}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 as around me: hers, the bedpod's, the plant's.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab As per her instructions, I carefully meshed a section of my aura with that of the plant.  After that I lost track of time for quite a while.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab It seemed I was of two minds: the human part intent on observing (and occasionally "thinking" "thoughts" that would have been incomprehensible to the plant, had it been able to hear them), and the plant part.  This portion of my consciousness didn't "thin}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 k" in the way I'd always been accustomed; it mostly just felt and reacted.  It didn't react very quickly, either.  Perhaps a Venus's Flytrap would have "thought" faster.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab This little flower grew its roots toward moisture while straining for the sun with its aboveground half.  It noticed the vague breeze ruffling its leaves, though it did nothing about it.  The plant also observed its source of photosynthesis-food inching a}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 long, and adjusted the angle of its leaves accordingly.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab Not much else was happening to this flower, but this was amazing enough.  I was lost in the plant sensations until some time after the source of photosynthesis-food had disappeared, and I/we began changing over to darktime breathing.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab It was then that a strange feeling made itself known to the "watching" part of me ... right, the }
{\plain\i\f21\fs24\cf1 human}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1  part.  The feeling was Szuli patiently tugging at my aura.  Coming back to myself, I bid the plant goodbye and retracted my aura.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab I was then alone in my own mind, a bizarre sensation.  After a moment I remembered how to turn off the suspended animation, and awkwardly sat up.  Szuli regarded me with a smile and a raised eyebrow.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab "Wow," I said eloquently, "}
{\plain\i\f21\fs24\cf1 That}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1  was amazing."  The feeling that talking was an odd thing to do soon wore off, and I eagerly described the time I'd spent with/as the plant.  I was vaguely astounded that a whole day had gone by.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab Szuli said I'd done well.  }
{\plain\i\f21\fs24\cf1 I}
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1  said I understood why shifting into a plant was part of the more advanced curriculum.  I confessed that I didn't think I was ready to shift to plant for real.  Szuli assured me that I would be when the class had gotten that far.  Meanwhile, the next time }
{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 the class convened we could all start learning how to shift to animals.  This was good news; I couldn't wait.  We left the twilight sunroom, talking about chimpanzees.  \par }
\pard\ql{\plain\f21\fs24\cf1 \tab That night I dreamt about the wind on my leaves, and the taste of sunlight.  }
}