Author's Note: This story is inspired by Haruki Murakami's "Samsa in love", which appeared in English on The New Yorker Oct 28th 2013. (That one's about something transforming into a human. Potentially a cockroach.)

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He woke to discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Sasha of Spring Gathering.

His movement felt strangely constrained, more so than he thought he had been before. His skin was pleasantly moist against the slightly cool air, just after rain. He reflexively reached around to examine his surroundings.

His first reaction at the flood of sensory input was abject horror. He felt so exposed to the world, there was so much out there, anything could happen, and he had no way of protecting himself against advanced persistent threats-

He reflexively retracted, and found himself engulfed in a pleasant state of comforting blindness. He felt safe there, encompassed. It was like a feeling straight from his childhood; oh, how he had missed it!

The world felt much better this way; he concentrated on sorting out his feelings in peace and getting a firmer grip on his current situation. He could be happy here, this was the life.

The blissful sensory deprivation did not extend to all of of Sasha's senses. The surface he found himself occupying had a strong earthy taste to it. The smell of moist dirt was filling his olfactory senses.

He found out he was starving. As wonderful as his current existence felt, he would have to find food to sustain himself. And that required another venturing out into the noisy world outside him.

Although it felt like he was almost rooted to the ground, he firmly willed himself in the direction where a pleasant fresh smell of salad was flowing from. Little backyard farms were typical in these parts, and he could probably pop into one for a quick and healthy snack. He felt very keen on eating green today. It would soothe his nerves, get that business with global governmental surveillance out of his mind.

You are what you eat, after all. And he needed a fresh, crisp mind to deal with his current existence, which felt somewhat alien.

He felt he was definitely making progress towards food, and dared to take a new peek at the familiar yet confusing environment. His field of vision was slightly wobbly and disorienting, but he found that when he concentrated for long enough, he could figure out what he was seeing.

Judging by the space that weeds around him occupied, it seemed he was reasonably small. Luckily, he was already inside a garden, which explained the delicious smell. It would not take him all day to reach food, a few minutes should be enough.

When he reached the first batch of salad leaves, he assaulted them with fervor. Before too soon he had devoured his way through quite a few of them. Looking back, he realized that it looked like a ravenous pack of students promised free food had passed there. In miniature size, of course.

He did not let this bother himself too much, however, and moved on. He reached another tasty-looking plant and climbed up its stalk to reach the tantalizingly inviting young leaves higher up.

From his new vantage point, he noticed some other residents of the garden were moving not too far away, minding their own business. He noticed that most of them used the plants above them for shelter, probably from predatorial birds. Or potentially the satellite images; it was amazing how well those eyes in the sky could see these days.

For a moment he felt like curling up within himself again, but as his vision started to narrow down he caught hold of his nerves and counted to four slowly.

A movement below caught his extending eye. His environment had suddenly gotten notably more interesting. He hastily climbed down the stalk, retracing his trail almost back to where he started. Then he saw the newcomer emerge from behind the side curtain of dandelion leaves, expertly examining the mucus he had left behind, and his heart skipped a beat at the sight.

The dark stranger turned one eyestalk at him; Sasha was hoping, no, almost certain, that the stranger feigned disinterest. This beautiful creature had come looking for him. He felt a visceral excitement building up in his body, and he raised himself higher.

The stranger's eyestalk immediately shifted to glance at his now exposed midriff area.

"What is that?"

Sasha paused in his movement towards the angelic creature he greatly wished to embrace. "...Sorry, what?" He tried to look at himself, but had some trouble controlling his muscles the right way.

"You're expecting to be the guy? Have I got news for you, dearie."

The stranger was not making any sense. Of course he was, what else could he be? "Um, I'm a bit new to this whole thing."

"Oh really now." The stranger seemed unimpressed, and retracted her eyes somewhat in a way that made Sasha feel she was about to shut him out, to choose to not see him. His heart could not bear the thought.

"Please don't leave me, I think you are the most beautiful sight I have ever beheld." He knew he was babbling now, but the weight of the day and the limited processing capacity he had for all the strangeness he had encountered today suddenly weighed heavy on him. "And I'm really confused now, I feel I have no idea how I should behave with other people, I am sorry if I have offended you."

The stranger still seemed suspicious, but at least looked at him curiously again. She slid closer to him. "Very well, I will play along. I am Andrea. How do you do."

Andrea, such a beautiful name. It warmed him from head to foot, and it filled him with strange urges. "Hello, Andrea. I am Sasha. I feel like I want to stab you. How are you?"

Andrea shifted her posture to match his, and he saw something white in her midriff region that made him very curious. "What is that?"

"You're about to find out, dearie. Be still for a moment." She moved closer to him until he almost forgot to breathe, rubbed her soft underside against him, and then-

"Ouch!" He felt something sharp pierce his skin. For a moment he panicked; maybe she was an agent sent to eliminate everyone who knew about-

And then a blissful sensation spread through him. Andrea, oh Andrea, I would cross deserts for you, I would brave the bare skies, anything for you...

He considered this sudden change for a moment. "...Did you just..?"

"You'll feel good in a little while, baby. Don't fret, I'm not going to eat you or anything." She slid back a bit, apparently to wait for the wonderful drug she had injected to take effect, but never quite broke off contact with him.

"Andrea, I-" She stroked him soothingly, and he forgot what he was about to say. But he hardly knew her! How could she have such an effect on him? "Who are you? Where did you come from? I hardly know you, but I love you so much-"

She rubbed against him, and her scent filled his mind. "I'm from the other side of the fence, sweetheart. There's been a lot of commotion around here of late, you should be careful. Lay low."

The concern hardly even pierced the pink fluffy clouds filling his head. "Commotion? What kind of commotion?" He tried to look for a way to stab her back. Gods, how he wanted to stab her. He had no idea why. She just smelled and tasted so good.

"It's just not very safe to get around in this area. I'm dark, as you can see, it's easier for me to slink around in the shadows, unnoticed."

"You are so hot when you talk about slinking around, Andrea." He meant every word of it, and finally found a way to stab her. It was just a nick, but he could feel her quiver in pleasure against his love dart.

"Sneaky little thing, aren't you, Sasha." She sounded amused. Then she stiffened a little bit, and he felt something soft sliding out of her, tracing his sensitive wet skin. It made him almost mad with lust.

"I want you, Andrea, so badly." His breathing was rugged, he tasted her in his mouth and he felt the sting of her dart on his foot.

"I know, Sasha." She pressed against him, fiercely, demandingly, and his eyes went wide.

He felt like putty in her hands, ready to be shaped into whatever she wanted him to be. He did not know how to please her or how to court her, but she was all over him so it did not matter.

She teased him a little more, and he almost bumped his eyestalks together from the stars it made him see. Then he felt her penis slide into his vagina, and it felt like the best thing that had ever happened to him. She was large and reassuring, and stroked him as she fucked him, first gently, then harder, as they both moaned with growing intensity.

When in the end she stiffened for a moment and came inside him, Sasha almost fainted with bliss. He was filled with her seed, and it felt so right. He would find a good place for their brood.

After he had returned from upon the golden cloud in seventh heaven, he noticed she was making ready to leave. "Will I see you again?"

"Possibly. I'm going to head over home to the other side of the fence before sundown, but I can come look for you later. Watch out for the birds."

They bid farewell and she left. It seemed like he could follow her, but he felt so good here and the food was nearby. It would be a while, he could collect the courage to brave the realm on the other side of the fence with her.

She was so strong, she could probably help him survive it. But for now, she had left him to his own devices again. He felt a bit drowsy; probably the new life growing inside him was demanding its toll. He decided to find a nice spot under a leaf and rest. He withdrew into the comfortable solitude of his shell, which he had noticed actually was lighter than Andrea's. Beloved Andrea. He fell asleep thinking happy thoughts.

oOOo

In the early morning, Sasha met Grandma Zamani, a friendly elderly woman who loved her garden dearly. The encounter was very brief, and bloody; his shell crushed in a gloved hand, Sasha was thrown into a bucket of salt and quickly perished, his last thoughts filled with despair over the unborn children inside him. Finally, he saw Andrea looking down at him, sunlight behind her, and she reached out to carry him to heaven.

Then he felt pain no longer.