Story: Gift of Dragon

The night sky was still and pitch black. Soggy grey clouds blocked out the night sky, casting the earth below into perpetual darkness. Not even the streetlamps dotting the highway could abate the consuming black.
Alex shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and kept walking, head lowered and only staring at the asphalt beneath his feet. He was supposed to be home by now, but of course his car just had to break down in the middle of nowhere. Now he had to walk to the nearest gas station for a phone, wherever that may be. He clutched his jacket closer around his body. The wind was sharp and biting, and it certainly wasn't helping Alex's mood. The gusts howled between the tree branches, and at times it sounded so animal-like Alex had to stop and wonder if it wasn't the trees, but an actual creature lurking in the forests. Alex shrugged it off and kept going. He was getting the heebie-jeebies all over.
A loud snap caught his attention, and before Alex could even turn, something very large hit him head on. He slammed back into the pavement, and a blinding pain seared up his arm. Alex screamed, and he jerked his hand up, where it connected with something large and . . . scaley?
Before he could make heads or tails of what happened, Alex found himself completely alone, lying on the road, and whatever attacked him long gone. He sat up, and noticed his right arm was bleeding. He flung off his jacket, only to see a gruesome bite mark on his forearm. His arm was covered in the red fluid, and the flesh on his arm looked mangled. Alex was so stunned by the sight he couldn't even register the pain.
Or what happened next.
The blood on his arm began to harden . . . crystallize even. Alex dropped his jaw wide when he saw the red begin to spread all up and down his injured arm, covering his skin with the hardening red shell. The shell began to take on a more distinctive shape.
Scales!
Alex jumped to his feet and clutched his arm, watching the scales crawl further up his arm until they reached his chest. Underneath his shirt he could feel them spread, across to his other arm and down to his abdomen, even up to his neck. His fingers began to swell , and his nails began to turn darker and longer. With a sudden burst of pain, they sprouted into deadly hooked claws. The same blinding pain in his other arm told Alex both hands were now sporting vicious claws.
Alex groaned, bending over. His spine felt like it was being pulled, and a sudden uncomfortable bulge in the seat of his pants made Alex stop short. With a howl of agony, a long serpentine tail emerged from his back, the same color as the scales all over his arm.
He twisted around, staring in horror at his new appendage. There was no doubt in his mind this was part of him now; he could feel it and he could move it. He willed it to swish back and forth, and it did just that.
His legs were next to change. They began to burn, not unlike after a long run, and powerful muscles rippled beneath his jeans. The fabric was ripped to ribbons, and underneath the scales continued to progress. His calves began to shorten, while his ankles began growing in length. Alex could feel his center of mass begin to change, until he was standing on the balls of his feet, with his ankles in the air. His toes strained against the sneakers, until the fabric tore, revealing three large toes, each equipped with razor-sharp talons. Alex ripped away whatever remained of his tattered jeans and examined his body further. His body was covered in red scales, but along his belly and underside of his tail, yellowish plate-like scales began growing in. Scutes.
A painful surge in his jaws reminded Alex he still wasn't finished with whatever was happening to him. His jaws stretched, pulling out away from his face, with his teeth growing longer and sharper. His tongue rushed to fill his jaws, splitting into a forked tongue as his jaws finished growing. A searing headache ripped apart Alex's head, and instinctively he clamped his paws over his head, only to feel two boney horns grow in, one over each brow. His dark hair was falling out in great clumps, and along his back he felt his vertebrae extend upwards, ripping past his skin to form a black ridge of spikes along his back.
"What is happening to me?" Alex thought. It was all happening too fast for him to react, or even figure out how he should react. The changes were terrifying, but he was too paralyzed with shock to scream or protest against the changes.
What felt like a thunderbolt struck Alex's back, and he fell awkwardly to all fours, screaming in agony. His back surged with pain unmatched by any other, and he could feel something grow beneath his skin, snapping, bending, stretching, until it burst forth. Two great leathery wings emerged from his back, and collapsed to the ground, surrounding Alex.
Wings. He had wings. Piece by piece, it all came together.
Somehow, someway, he had transformed into a dragon.
He examined his new body, equipped with black claws, a long serpentine tail, and of course two wings. He stood to his feet. Although a dragon, he could still stand upright, although his legs were now bent in such a way he had to stand on his toes. He flexed his wings, and the membrane snapped in response. Alex grinned. Spreading his wings as far as they could go, he took one flap, and he shot off into the air. The smile on his muzzle broadened. He was flying.
He could definitely get used to this.