7-year-old Ashla Carmen stomped away from the living room filled with her parents, aunt and uncle, and two cousins, blinking back frustrated tears and grumbling to herself. Her cousin, Dori, stepped in front of her. "What's wrong?" she asked. Ashla blinked extra hard and looked up. "Everett called me a clumsy bear! Mama told me to go cool off after I called him a mean old shark." Dori frowned. "Everett is so mean! I hate it when he calls me names!" Ashla nodded. A tear escaped her eye and trailed down her cheek. "Let's go out back." Dori said. "Yes!" Ashla agreed, running up to the back door and tugging it open. She was greeted by a cool breeze and fireflies winking in the twilight. Dori followed her quietly. Ashla ran behind a rose bush and sat down. Dori sat next to her. Ashla gave her a small smile. Dori was such a nice cousin. Not anything like her brother. Dori's short brown hair rippled in the wind. Her dark blue eyes gazed sympathetically back at Ashla. "Why did Everett call you a clumsy bear?" "Just because I tripped over him when he was on the floor, playing some silly game on his phone. Such a dumb spot!" she growled in frustration, clenching and unclenching her hands. Dori put a calming arm around her shoulder. "And then," she went on, "Mom told me to go and cool off. She completely ignored Everett!" Dori squeezed her sympathetically. "I know. Don't worry, this happens to me all the time. His phone will get taken away tomorrow." Ashla grinned. "He deserves it." "Is that why you called him a shark? Because he deserved it?" "Yes." "That's not what Jesus wants us to do. Remember the lesson at church this morning?" "Yeah..." "You've got a temper. You need to learn to control it." Ashla huffed. "I know, I know." Dori smiled. "Let's play tag, huh? Burn off some energy?" Ashla hopped to her feet, brown eyes sparkling, just as Dori tagged her on the arm. In a flash, she was gone, swerving around trees and bushes. Ashla pushed her orange hair back and darted after her, giggling. She almost caught up to Dori, then stumbled over a root, and accidentally grabbed Dori's ankle on the way down. "Oops, sorry!" she gasped, standing up and dashing away. She ran and ducked under a low branch, trying to slow Dori down. Then she doubled back and ran to a bush, fell to her knees, and scrabbled at the dirt, worming under it. "Tag!" Dori poked her foot. Ashla scrambled out and ran after her. She panted, her hands hot again, though, oddly, not sweating. She put on a burst of speed, brushing Dori's arm. She collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. She grinned up at Dori, whose own smile looked a trifle worried. As Ashla sat up, Dori bent down and felt her forehead. "What?" "Your hand was hot when you tagged me. Maybe you've started to-" "I'm NOT getting sick!" Ashla grumped. Ashla examined Dori's sleeve. "Oh, look!" she squinted through the dim light. "Why is there a black handprint on your jacket?" Ashla asked. "I-I don't know..." "Let's-" Ashla began. Dori frowned over Ashla's shoulder. "Everett! I heard you snicker! Go away. We're having girl time." "You two are weird." Everett smirked. Ashla stood up and hissed under her breath. She stomped her feet, then trotted towards Everett. She tripped again. "Clumsy bear! Clumsy bear!" Ashla shrieked and ran at Everett like a bulldozer. "Ashla, wait-" But Ashla was too far away. She chased him back to the house, Everett laughing annoyingly the whole way. "MEAN OLD UGLY SHARK!" She hollered. "Ashla..." Dori called, but Ashla still didn't hear her. When she came back, Ashla panted, "He's so... so... sharky!" Dori burst out laughing. "I-I'm sorry, it's just-" she laughed again. "Your voice is so squeaky!" Ashla laughed too, squeakily, which made them have a hard time catching their breath. "Here, I'll get some water," Dori said. When she came back, they both took long slurps of ice-filled cold water. They gazed at the moon as they drank. "Pretty moon." Dori commented. "Magical, glowy, beauty moon!" Ashla corrected squeakily. Dori chuckled. "Want a mint?" Dori always had a mint or two. Ashla popped it into her mouth. "What's those stars called?" Ashla asked, pointing at a constellation. "Oh, that's the Pleiades." "The Pleeds?" "Pleiades. Plee-aids." "Pleiades." Dori chuckled. "What's those?" "You know that one! The Big Dipper." "OOOH! Yeah!" Dori pointed out different constellations and Ashla stared at the sky with eyes as huge as the moon. As she sat, she noticed that her feet and hands were both hot and tingly. The grass beneath her hands was steaming. She examined her hands and the grass, then started opening and closing her hands, trying to rid the pins-and-needles. Once the mint dissolved, she said, "Let's play tag some more!" Dori swatted mosquitos. "No, not if you have a scratchy throat." "Nooo, taaag!" Ashla begged. Dori smiled. "No, you don't want to lose your voice. Or worse, get a cold." "No colds! Please though, just one round? Ashla gave Dori the puppy eyes.
"Let's catch fireflies instead." "Okayyy." Ashla said. She stomped her feet again. The tingling was stronger now. She chased after fireflies and made little zapping sounds at them. Twenty minutes later, Ashla stood panting next to Dori, who had managed to catch at least five hundred fireflies. "HOW do you do it?!" "Well, for one thing, I stand still." Ashla froze and whispered, "What else?" "Next I wait till lots of them are close to me. I slowly follow one until I'm close enough, then I gently close my hands around it." Dori demonstrated. "Okay." Ashla did the exact same thing and caught two fireflies, naming them Zap and Wink. Suddenly, everything was tingly, and Ashla stumbled to her knees. "Dori?" her vision was blurry as she tried to stand up. Dori put a hand on her back. "What's wrong? Are you sleepy? Come on." Dori tried to lift Ashla to her feet, but her legs wouldn't hold her. "D-Dori, I'm scared!" Ashla's voice was squeaky in an odd, musical way. "Shhh, it's okay." Dori rubbed her back, which felt tingly and hot. Everything felt tingly and hot, actually. All Ashla could see was a hazy orange mist. She felt as though she were shrinking. She was trembling all over, and her eyes were too hot to cry. She faintly made out a sound: Dori's terrified cry. Then she felt and saw and heard... nothing. Suddenly, jolted awake by the sound of gasping sobs, Ashla stretched and peeped out, "Dori?" Dori let out yet another startled cry. "W-where did the pile of ashes go? What-" she bent over and ever so gently cupped her hands under Ashla. Wait. She did WHAT? "How did I shrink? What happened? How come I felt dizzy and hot and..." she realized she was making squeaking sounds. She stretched out an arm to look at it. She fell back with a startled squawk. Her arm was now a wing. An orange-and-gold wing covered in feathers that shimmered in the moonlight. She shrieked and flames burst all over her feathers. Dori dropped her, and by some crazy instinct, Ashla flapped her wings wildly and managed to get into the air. "A-Ashla? A-are you a bird?" Dori was staring at her with a crazy look in her eyes. After several tries, Ashla managed a squawky, raspy yes. Dori collected herself and began trying to teach Ashla to speak. Soon after, Ashla could form small, simple sentences. "I am bird w-w-" she couldn't say /what/. "I am bird how?" "I-I don't know." "I am bird w?" "What?" "Yes." "What??" "Wut. I am bird wut." "You are a phoenix." "Wiy?" "I don't know." "Scary. Weird." "Yes." "Umm..." Ashla glanced at the back door. It was opening. She shot up into a tree. Dori whipped around. Everett walked up to her. "Time to- where's Clumsy Bear?" "Don't call her that!" "Well she is." Dori glared fiercely at him, but glanced worriedly up at Ashla. "We are... well..." "Playing hide-and-seek, I suppose?" "Sure." "I bet Clumsy'll make a noise and then-" Ashla shrieked and flew straight at Everett's face. "Ashla NO!" Ashla stopped just as he ducked. "Wh-ASHLA?!" "Everett, do. NOT. Tell ANYONE about this!" Everett's face was all confusion. "So... Ashla is a fiery bird? How? And why shouldn't I tell?" "Yes, I don't know, and because I will get your phone taken away for a SOLID MONTH." Everett's face paled. "O-okay..." Ashla smiled and chirped a laugh. "So, we need to help Ashla, okay?" "Okay." "And I think she also can control fire when she's a human." "Hold on a sec." Everett did some tapping on his phone, then said, "Pyrokinesis." Ashla and Dori rolled their eyes. "Anyway, we are supposed to get going soon. My idea is, we carry Ashla up to her room and say she was really sleepy, tell the parents not to bother her, and Ashla, hide under the covers of your bed when we get there." "I did not expect you to have a plan, Everett, but I have to admit, it's better than mine." "What was your plan?" he asked. "We-ell, I didn't exactly have a plan ye-e-et..." he smirked. "Quit that!" Dori smacked his shoulder. "Okay, operation sneak fiery bird to her room starts now!" "Phoenix. Operation Sneaky Phoenix." Dori said. "Ok," Everett agreed. "C'mere Clum- er, Ashla. Uh, I'm sorry for calling you Clumsy Bear." "Sorry for shark." Dori smiled and held out her arm. Ashla landed on it and Dori hid her arms behind her back. She and Everett snuck inside and tiptoed up the stairs. "Guys?" Ashla peeped, startled. It was Aunt Mara and Uncle Derek. They stood at the bottom of the stairs. "What are you doing? We have to go soon." "Oh, Ashla's really sleepy. We're taking her to her room." "Oh, okay. Well, hurry up, please." Ashla's cousins nodded and hurried to Ashla's room. Ashla wriggled under her blanket. It was odd to be a bird. The bed was so huge. "Bye, Ashla," Everett said softly, opening the door. "G'night, Ashla," Dori whispered, closing the door behind them. Ashla listened as they left, chattering and hugging and murmuring goodbye. She was frightened, but also unreasonably excited. Ashla smiled. Her life's adventures had just started. *Art is NOT MINE*
