The Selkieskin Coat

While on vacation in Scotland, she wandered down along the beach alone, lost in her thoughts, admiring the beautiful coastline. Turning a corner around a rocky outcropping, she stumbled across something strange - a series of timbers lodged in the sand at odd angles, almost like an old shipwreck. The one standing most upright had what looked like some clothing hanging from it. As she approached, she discovered it was a grey coat, and in remarkably good condition. It looked like it hadn't been out in the elements for more than a few hours. It was quite clean, though its unique fuzzy exterior seemed a bit waterproofed, which may have helped. She decided to take it back to civilization and turn it in to the hotel lost-and-found, but since it was starting to get a bit chilly, she decided to see if it would fit and just wear it back.

The minute it touched her skin, the coat felt as if it took on a life if its own. It melded to her skin wherever it touched, constricting and wrapping around her with a vice-like grip. Though she screamed and tugged at it, the coat seemed to grow and stretch, encompassing her entire body...her legs were encased together, tightly compressed, until she could no longer feel both of them and found herself "kicking" an enormous, blubbery tail. Webbing grew between her fingers, and her strained gasps took on a barking quality.

She frantically looked in every direction for anything that could end her strange predicament...the sea filled her vision. The rational part of her mind reasoned that the water might loosen the coat and help her get it off, but something deeper called her to dive below the waves...and as she did so, an air of finality set in, an understanding that the skin was now her own, likely forever...