Amidst the plethora of notifications chiming from my mobile phone, an alarming text message was what caught my attention. It read – DON’T LOOK AT THE MOON!

Neither did I recognize the number nor did I know someone who’d text me in all caps. Drawing my eyebrows together, I squinted at the number, to deduce if something would click in my murky brain. Confused, I typed a reply – Who is this?

Another message arrived in two minutes.

You need not know who I am. Just follow my instructions, Aditi. DON’T EVER LOOK AT THE MOON TONIGHT. You are in grave danger.

Anger surged throughout my body. I wasn’t used to anybody commanding me. If at all someone had to tell something to me, they should do it so politely. Commanding me would only have the opposite effect.

So, I replied – Whoever you are, you should know that your tone doesn’t sit right with me. So, eff off!

The reply came immediately – What the hell! I’m warning you about an impending danger, but you are fighting with me about my tone.

I clicked my tongue impatiently. The person didn’t know who they were messing with. They should try harder if they wanted me not to look at the moon. Or it might be a scammer too. Maybe they wanted to have some fun before they started swindling my money.

Though I didn’t reply, another text came through – Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll tell you politely now. Please don’t look at the moon tonight, even though it’s splendidly beautiful. I’m someone who knows you well but hasn’t met you yet. Trust me, I will not be joking about something as serious as this.

‘What the hell!’ I bawled. I had the inherent urge to throw my mobile phone to the floor and watch it smithered into pieces. But then, I had to control my emotions, because I suddenly realized that the person was not a scammer. Someone who was trying to dupe me would have immediately asked for my debit card details.

As I was contemplating whether to reply or not, I saw a lizard scampering from the bedroom to the living room. I had to stifle the urge to gag. Since I was a little kid, I have had a thing with lizards. Those repulsive creatures got on to my nerves and I would freeze whenever I spotted one. Added to this was them randomly falling on me while I opened doors. I also killed two of them accidentally. I have had dreams about flying lizards and a bunch of them attacking me.

Once I made sure that the lizard had made its way to its usual jaunt under the fridge, I typed a reply to that person – Okay, I will try not to look at the moon. But once tonight passes by, I want to know who you are.

*

The notifications did not stop. Everybody was raving about how beautiful the moon looked. My Instagram Stories was filled with moon pictures. That angelic golden orb looked heavenly from all angles. Even my Twitter feed was all about the moon. Heck! Somebody had even shared a moon haiku poem as if to irk me.

full moon…
looking for the right words
before she wanes

That was it. Since there were no more warning messages from the sender, I assumed that it might have been a prank played by my friends. I had saved the sender’s contact to my phone under the name – Moony. Then I checked my WhatsApp, only to see that they were not available on it.

Heaving a sigh, I walked to my balcony. A couple of lizards were sprinting on the ceiling, but I chose to ignore them. Resting my arms on the balustrade, I slyly turned my face to the sky.

There it was.

A lush, majestic, and fat cream moon.

‘Wow!’ I exclaimed, for my heart couldn’t take in the elegancy of the celestial delight. I fumbled for the Camera app on my phone.

And that’s when I noticed it.

My hands were turning a shade of sap-green. As my eyes widened in horror, I noticed my skin cracking and turning all scaly.

‘Eff!’ I yelled, as my phone dropped to the floor. I could remember a sharp pain shooting through my chest before I fainted.

*

Everything was different. My body was not my body. I was trapped inside something. Only if I moved in front of a mirror, I would be able to see what I was. I tried to stand on my legs, but then I slipped and fell forward. I was on fours now. I looked at my hands. Where there should have been fingers, there were huge claws. I tried to scream, but my voice came out in a hiss.

‘There, there!’ I heard the soft voice of a man. I looked up to see him. My vision was RGB-ish, but the man was handsome. He picked me up in his arms and hauled me onto his right shoulder. I clung to him with my claws because I knew he was the only person who could explain.

‘I warned you,’ he continued, ‘See what has become of you. A monitor lizard? God! You’re still so stubborn. The things I had to do for love in all our births! Your headstrong character is what led you to shoot a monitor lizard while hunting in your previous birth. That lizard’s mate cursed you that you’d turn into a monitor lizard if you looked at the 347th full moon of your life. It’s my ill fate that it took me so many years to find you. And, of course, I should also curse this city’s traffic. I couldn’t reach your house on time. Well, I cannot explain anything more, until we turn you back into a human being. Let’s go and find that sorceress. She is quite mischievous!’

I finally understood why I had always hated lizards.

If you loved this short story, you can read my other short stories here.