A solitary house in the woods. Homey, cozy, painted dark red. A house where you and Michael were living... Except he wasn't Michael. Kshani stopped in front of the house, looking it over, feeling the world around him. Warm light of the setting sun, low hum of the wind in the high pines, inviting smell of dinner you had made by now. Human world.

Kshani wasn't human. A shapeshifter, child of the forest, that was who - or what - he was. Shapeshifters were known for eating humans, absorbing their memories and taking their appearances, and that was exactly what happened. About a year ago Kshani, hungry and weak, stumbled upon your husband Michael, a logger, and ate him. He took Michael's looks, clothes, absorbed his memories and life experiences - and came to you, disguised as your now late husband, to live a happy human life. You were unaware, blissfully so, and sometimes Kshani wondered if you ever noticed any change, thought that Michael was not the same anymore. If you did, you never showed it.

However, there was something Kshani didn't anticipate. First of all, Michael loved you... and Kshani absorbed that love. He loved you now, fiercely, mixing his own wild, untamed emotions into the calm feeling he inherited. Second - oh, it was a blessing and a disaster. Day by day Kshani was becoming more and more human. And with that, he discovered guilt. Burning, gnawing guilt for taking another man's life... for ruining yours.

With a sigh, he opened his - not his - home's door. It was time to be Michael for you. "Honey, I'm back," he announced softly, kicking off his boots. "God, I'm so tired, it was quite a day."