“Mike, wake up. Time to go to school.” jolts me awake. A light poke hits my side, and I swat at it half-asleep. “Skree!” comes out instead of “let me go back to sleep.” Wait… was that just skree?! And why is my bedroom balcony door open? I shake my head, trying to glare at my mom. Instead, Charlie stands a few feet away, laughing nervously and keeping his distance. An officer in Army Cadets once said you aren’t responsible for what you do when someone wakes you up too fast in the morning. Shiners perches nearby, trying not to laugh.

  Why is Charlie in my bedroom? Do we even have plans together today? I lift my hands to rub my eyes, only to wince when my wings don’t bend that way. And a… glowing raven? Looking around, the memories hit me all at once. A groan slips out as I look down at my “hand.” Ughhh, not sure whether to be happy or upset. I give my wings a few flaps, trying to see if it’s still real.

  Shiners shakes his head, chuckling as he repeats my words to Charlie.

  Charlie shrugs. “I was pretty sure it was a dream… I wasn’t expecting you to actually be an eagle.” A small nod is all I can manage.

  Giving the best grumble an eagle can, I ask,

  My throat twitches as I try to gulp, but it doesn’t work. That could have been bad if I’d turned into a leopard, or if someone else had seen me.

  Charlie shrugs as Shiners repeats my words. “I was going to finish the test until I saw you running off and knew something was up, finished as much of the test as I could, then followed you. Though I'm probably going to have to do a retest.” A full-body wince runs through me at his word, great I know how much he hates tests. I can only imagine how crazy that looked. Not sure how I’d react in his place.

  Shiners finally speaks up for himself.

  Charlie nods. “To be fair, as crazy and dumb of an idea of you becoming an eagle was, my first thought was that you jumped out the window naked and were showing all the animals a frightening view. At the time seemed more reasonable then you having a feather butt.” It’s a lot to take in, but it lets me relax a little.

  Shiners gives a small sigh. I nod, now feeling a little nervous.

  A deep sigh comes out, as best as an eagle can manage, sounding more like a snort. A nod to Shiners comes first. I keep rambling, too many worries on my mind. Could it be years before I could become human again?

  Charlie stares at me for a few moments. “Wait, hold on. You’re telling me you’re going to be an eagle for a while?”

   Funny, I’m not sure when I accepted all of this. Wanting to deny it doesn’t help when the evidence is as plain as the yellow banana on my nose. Saying it out loud finally gets some of it out in the open. School’s probably starting soon. Having a plan makes it feel almost normal.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Charlie thinks for a moment. “That could work. We’ll need to speak with your family today or tomorrow. But in the long term, being able to pose as a dog would be a good thing.”

  Shiners nods.

  Charlie gives me a questioning look. “I’ve been meaning to ask… how exactly are you an eagle? I know it’s true because you’re acting like Mike, but come on, tell me, is it just a costume? You had those really weird dreams, yeah, but those were just dreams. Have you been able to do this for a while and just didn’t tell me? Just how is any of this even possible? If John or Frank told me about this, I’d think they were playing a joke or had gone insane.”

  I give a small nervous twitch at that. A dry chuckle hides some of my concern.

  Shiners shoots me an indignant look.

  Charlie holds up his hands. “Hey, I’m not a mouse, so don’t bite my head off, or whatever you eat. I’m not accusing you, I just want to know your story,” he says with a nervous chuckle. “It’s hard for you, sure, but imagine me seeing it. How would you react if it was me?”

  I groan at that and shrug. I click my beak and hold up my talons for emphasis. Saying this out loud finally lets me admit to others what I’ve been thinking and feeling.

  Charlie frowns. “I can imagine it’s scary and exciting, but you’ve got me and Shiners, and with luck, your parents will be there too. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out, assuming I haven’t gone completely loco,” he half-jokes.

  Shiners lets out a low kaw. A small shake of my head answers that.

  We all nod as Charlie stands up. “Well, I should get to school. You two want to follow me?” A nod answers him. I hope he hasn’t. Maybe in time, but too many too fast if he did.

  “No, I haven’t, and it’s probably best for now that we don’t. The fewer people that know, the less trouble it might cause. At least for now,” he says. “I know it bothers you, but we can tell them in time. Though I’m not sure how readily they’d believe it either.”

  

  Shiners glances between the two of us. “Whatever works for you. I barely understand you humans half the time, so don’t ask me for advice on secrets.”

  Charlie gives Shiners an odd look before laughing. “Yeah… that’s rather fair.”

  Charlie climbs out first, giving me a thumbs-up as I step to the doorway. A wave of vertigo washes over me. The ground looks so much farther away than it used to. After a moment’s hesitation, I drop from the edge and beat my wings hard to gain height, the vertigo fading once I’m fully in the air. A few flaps later, I’m above the trees.

  Shiners follows after me, his wings beating steadily beside mine.

   I circle above, flapping more than I need to as it still feels like I might fall, keeping watch on Charlie below. He looks up occasionally to smile, and we soon reach the school. I swoop down carefully and pull back up above the tree line, giving a skree, my best attempt at saying “have a good day.” It obviously doesn’t come out right. He gives a thumbs-up and goes inside.

  Shiners calls back over the wind. “We forgot to mention, he left us more meat at the fort. We should eat first, then get back to flying practice and maybe start figuring out how to get you shifting into something else.”

  I give another glance toward the school I may never return to. Even if I become human again, I might have already aged out. With a wistful look, I turn and fly back toward the fort.