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Worried that Daniel would have trouble bringing us back, I huddled up close to Uncle Jonas. He put his arm around me reassuringly, and my brother yanked us from the present. When we safely stood in a grassy area, I finally let out my breath. Cicadas chirped in the trees, and far off a wren whistled.
“Keep it down, and be alert,” Jonas warned, glancing all around him. “You did a good job, Daniel. I don't see anyone–”
A bright light flashed, silencing Jonas mid-sentence and blinding me.
I waited a few seconds for my vision to return to normal. Soon the afterimage from the flash began to fade from my eyes, allowing me to scan my surroundings once more. Two new, scrubby wild blueberry bushes grew to my side, where Jonas and Daniel had stood just moments before.
“Your family makes such lovely greenery. How fitting, given your last name.”
“No!” I yelled, frantically searching around. Allen had found us immediately! He must have been waiting for us to show up. But where was he? What was he?
I saw something drop from a tree, and a second flash placed me nearly face-to-face with my nemesis.
“I had to get all those time travelers out of the way, except you,” Allen explained. For some reason, he wore a black top hat, which he tipped at me. “You're a changer too.”
I considered changing my brother and uncle back, but decided against it. Allen was less likely to harm them in their current form.
“You lied to me,” I growled.
“I never lied. I suspected you were a changer, I just needed to find out for sure before I said anything. Why do you think I led you through all those changes? I was trying to ease you into it and help you discover your talents. Of course then you turned on me, so I wasn't able to finish. But even after that, I hoped forcing you into bird form might help you bring out your transformation ability.”
“You made me a bird to punish and stop me.”
“Then why did I let you fly off? I could have kept you locked up.”
I squirmed, wondering that myself. But he was twisting everything around, and I knew I couldn't trust anything he said. “I think you just enjoyed keeping me as a pet. And by the way, we didn't turn on you. We're trying to help you. Believe me, it's best for you and for history! I know all about you.”
“Best for me? How arrogant of you to decide that unilaterally! And as for history, we can change it. Daniel said so himself.”
I groaned. I'd said all of this to him before, and he still couldn't accept it. It disturbed me that leaving him here would be followed by his cruelty to Hannah and Andrew. But I wasn't going to play God with the past if I could help it.
“You should’ve told me that I might be a changer right away,” I said, switching back to the earlier line of our conversation.
“Why get your hopes up?”
“You're still a liar. All that time I was with you, having a great time, Daniel was stuck as a tree!”
“He was hardly stuck. I never hurt him, and he loved it! You know that!”
“You kept him a prisoner, even if he enjoyed it. And what about Owen?”
Allen's face contorted, and he scratched at his dark hair in disgust. “Oh, you found him, did you? Well, he threatened to shoot me. What would you have done?”
“But you turned him into a log, you stole his house, used his car–”
“I 'stole' his shack and converted it into a usable house which he could rent and make money off of when I left!”
“Were you ever going to change him back?”
“I hadn't thought that far ahead,” he chuckled, tapping his hat.
I took a moment to look around us. The two new blueberry bushes swayed lazily in the wind, just like the surrounding trees. No other humans were present.
I felt a tightening in the pit of my stomach. Something else was wrong.
“Who else have you hurt, Allen?” I whispered.
He was taken aback. “Hurt? I haven't hurt anyone!”
“Who else have you changed?”
“No one! Only people who get in my way–” He cut himself off.
I desperately tried to keep from shrieking. Instead, I stared right into his eyes. “Where's my father, Allen?”
Allen paused, looking right back. Slowly a smile played across his lips, and he traced a finger across the rim of his hat. He framed his reply in a bouncy, singsong voice: “On my head!”
Beyond horrified, I merely stared at the nondescript hat. How could anyone do this to my father? I'd finally discovered how remarkable he really was, and now he'd been reduced to this? There was only a slight glow; no hint of Julian Greene's consciousness emanated from the fabric.
“Do you like him? I can get pretty creative with changing people,” Allen laughed.
I cringed. Jonas had made that same observation. “How could you? That's my father!”
The laughs grew louder and more grating. He lowered the hat toward me, dipping into a very exaggerated bow. Then he straightened up, tossed the hat in the air, and let it fall back onto his head. “He makes a nice hat. I wish I could have turned my own father into one. I mean, that's so much fun – reducing a loved one to headgear!”
I lunged at him, hissing, “Give him to me!”
He jumped back, eyes sparkling. “Easy, Corinne.”
“Do it or I'll change him back on your head!” My eyes were watering, but I couldn't let him see any weakness.
But he only lapsed back into yet more laughter. “I do love you, Corinne. Why don't you stay here with me?”
“Here?”
“Yes, do you have a problem with my century?” His eyes narrowed. “If it's so bad, why leave me here?”
“You belong here!”
“If you stay with me, I'll leave the rest of your family alone. Even 'Hat' here.”
“That would change history!”
“Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be – your staying back here with me! Ever think of that? In fact, why don't you check? Go to the future and see.”
“You are not in my future,” I retorted, which was the wrong thing to say.
He winked. “You know, I can always use another bird statue.”
“I'll change myself back!”
“Not if I change you completely!”
An enormous gust blew through, knocking Allen and me off our feet and wrenching the hat from his hands. I felt resolve and reassurance all around me, and I knew the wind was actually my mother. She was protecting her family.
The hat fell to the ground, but the wind swiftly scooped it up and carried it away. Allen ran toward it, and an odd spectacle ensued. He fought an invisible force, endeavoring to wrestle the hat back from the breeze.
“That's mine!” he shouted angrily. “I made him!”
In a burst of rage, he focused on the wind and, in probably the strangest phenomenon I'd seen yet, it formed into a cow.
“No! No!” I ran forward. “You can't!”
The mild animal whipped its tail back and forth, bending down to chew some grass.
Allen grinned nastily at me, then turned back to his victim. “Now, hello, who were you?” he asked, addressing the bovine. “A wind so intent on grabbing a hat that I was able to transform it quite easily. A changer usually can't be transformed against her will that quickly unless she isn't paying attention. I did suspect there was another changer among your family, Corinne. That owl that attacked me seemed too smart to be just a bird. She must have closed her mind off so that I couldn't tell.”
I covered my eyes to avoid giving him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. “You can't do that to my mother!”
The cow looked up, uninterested, and then resumed her meal.
“I can use her on my farm here,” Allen commented, patting her haunch.
“Don't you touch her!” I screamed, focusing my anger at him. I wanted to hurt him, to change him...
I reflected on the ending to The Sad Little Peahen. Aldous had changed into a rock to sleep safely, but the prince's brother pulverized him and scattered him throughout the land.
I'd make him into a rock and crush him with my bare hands!
The glow started to gather around him, and thoughts of making him a weak, soft stone fueled my soul. Okay, I couldn't actually kill him, but it would feel good to reduce him to a pebble.
But suddenly I felt the light and warmth surrounding me, and I wasn't the one generating it. “No!” I gasped. “Leave me alone! Stop it!” I'd fight him! I'd never let him change me again! But I was having trouble pushing him to transform while keeping him from changing me.
“Back off, Corinne,” he warned. “I've been doing this a lot longer than you. I'm a bit older than I look, as you know.”
“You even lied about your age,” I spat, batting valiantly against him.
“Oh, not by much. You saw my true appearance. I'm only about six or seven years older than you. I didn't want to scare you away by being too old.” His face hardened. “Now let go, or I'll change you into something you'll regret. Well, your family would regret, if they ever found you.”
Knowing he was right, I turned away, letting the light fizzle out, and he left me alone. I heard him walk over to the cow and smack it on the side. I winced.
“You have to admit,” he called back to me in a self-satisfied, taunting voice, “your mother really does make a nice milk cow.”
I twisted back around, my eyes blazing, only to see that he had picked up the hat again.
“And that's my dad!” I screeched. I reached out with my mind, somehow pulling the hat to myself through the air and catching it.
Both of us paused a moment. Had I done that? Had I really just moved something with my mind alone?
“That's an impressive feat, Corinne. I think they call that telekinesis, if I'm remembering my research right.”
Choking back my astonishment, I stared at the object in my hands. The fact that it was my father left my mind as I could only think about how I'd obtained it. Now I had telekinesis? What next? But it didn't matter; right now I had to focus on helping Mom, especially because I had no idea where Grandpa Brian was.
Trying to avoid Allen’s attention, I concentrated on bringing my mother's mind back while leaving her in animal form. I hoped Allen wouldn't pick up the fact that she had regained awareness.
What happened?
I heard her welcome voice in my thoughts, and I let out the breath I was holding in. Mom! Allen changed you into a cow! I'm so, so sorry!
Then I remembered why I was holding a hat. This is Dad! I held it up, not caring how silly I sounded.
Shh! Don't communicate! Close your mind to him!
“Oh, Corinne, you don't think I hear you and your cow-mother? I'm a changer too! Now, maybe she would like a friend–”
A rush of fire erupted from behind Allen, cutting him off. It took a slightly more corporeal form as a reddish-orange fireball, growing darker and more colorful as it expanded toward us. This was no natural phenomenon.
Allen burst into light, escaped into the sky, and, while ascending, became a bat. Lingering at cloud's edge, he tried to discern where the fire had emanated from. Who's doing that? he cried.
I heard him, even from such a great distance, but I didn't answer. I was watching the fireball turn into another dragon.
It blasted into the air, its words echoing through the sky. “How dare you change Patricia into a cow?” it thundered. “Of all things, a cow?!” This bright, new dragon was far larger then Allen had been. And its voice was unmistakable. It was Grandpa Brian's.
Allen darted off, and the dragon followed in fast pursuit.
Another changer? How many of you are there?
Enough of us! The dragon answered him, punctuating his words with more fire.
You took my favorite shape! Allen retorted. But I can do better!
As Allen summoned up his strength to change, another wave of flames singed his delicate wings.
“Oh, no you don't, you little bastard!” Yes, that was most definitely Grandpa Brian, no matter what form he was in.
The bat tumbled down through the air. “You...can't...do...this! I'm very...powerful!” the animal squeaked weakly, a faint glow appearing and then waning around its struggling figure.
“And I'm extremely powerful!” One more fiery rush from my grandfather left Allen dropping toward the ground like a dead weight.
“Dad! You can't kill him!” my mother yelled up to Grandpa Brian. She had reverted to human form once again. “You know that!”
Something inside me pushed me to check on Allen. Guilt? Worry? Almost dazed, I moved toward where he was falling, but my mother gently held me back.
“Corinne,” she met my eyes, “leave him.”
I knew she was right, and I slowly turned away.
The dragon came back to us, shrinking down to our size. “I don't know what I did to that son-of-a-bitch,” he began. “He's probably nearly dead. If I did kill him, we'll have to use one of 'Mr. Hat's' time travel tricks to get him back.” He took the hat that was my father in his claws, but I didn't flinch. I was too busy staring at the dragon standing eye-to-eye with me.
Yes, Grandpa Brian had returned to his usual five-feet ten-ish height, but he retained his dragon body. I inspected his brilliant green scales, secretly amused that my grumpy grandfather had chosen to make himself so imposing and fairy-tale-like. His golden eyes revealed a strange mixture of humanity and savagery, and I wasn't really sure which way he was leaning.
As he conversed with Mom, he swished his thick tail back and forth agitatedly, crushing the grass and pushing dead leaves side to side like a rake. In upsurges of anger, his leathery wings lifted up and flapped as he made a point.
He caught my gaze and chortled, emitting small bursts of flame, which he put out with his black claws. “Dragons aren't real, right? So what? I can be anything I want. I put my body in that form, real or not. Ever been a centaur, Patricia?”
Mom rolled her eyes in response. Which was probably the best answer. I really didn't want to know if my mother had ever been half-woman, half-horse.
“You like me like this, huh, Corinne? Ever think I had it in me?”
Backing away, I gulped. I was kind of scared that he'd set me on fire unintentionally.
“You can do it too if you want. Try it!”
Me as a ferocious dragon? “Um, no. I’ve had enough of dragons for now. Grandpa, what are we going to do about...” I motioned to the general vicinity where Allen had fallen.
“We'll take care of him.” He twirled the hat on his taloned hand, snickering. “And I have to admit, I love Julian like this. Quiet and not annoying. You should change him into clothing more often, Patricia. He seems very wearable.” He plopped the hat on his head and tipped it.
“Dad, that's my husband! Cut it out!” Mom grabbed the hat, cradling it gently. “I'll change you back, Julian. We have to figure out what to do with Allen–”
Suddenly fire lit the sky once more. I looked up to see another dragon erupting from the woods. This one was even larger than Grandpa Brian had been.
“Ha, ha, ha! Bet you didn't see me turn to stone when I fell!” it boomed at us, firing more flames. “I'm stronger than you think! No one stops Aldous the Changer!”
The trees all around us were now ablaze, and my mother gave a cry.
“Sounds like a goddamn spoiled child,” Grandpa Brian spat. He grew back to his enormous size and flew after Allen, while Mom raised her hands into the air.
“Mom, what are you–”
A torrential downpour put out every tree. But we remained dry.
“You control the weather?” I gasped.
“No, but I can conjure things. This time I conjured water!” She tossed the hat to me, and, a bit hurt, I caught it. How could she throw her husband around like that? But then again, he probably couldn't get too injured as material – and he wouldn't know, anyway.
“Aldous will hurt you now, he's angry. You've got to get out of the way.” She glanced around us, her attention falling on a stone outcropping under a thick area of trees. “Get over there. Blend into the rocks. Turn yourself to stone!” she demanded, her voice wavering very slightly.
“Why? What do I do with Dad?”
“Change him too! Just do it!”
Before I could protest, my mother exploded into a mass of light, and I shielded my gaze from her brightness. When I uncovered my eyes, a much darker green dragon stood in her place. This new mythical creature was not as showy as Grandpa Brian, but just as extraordinary.
“Holy...freaking...hell...” I breathed.
The dragoness flipped its tail nervously. “Now do what I said. Protect yourself! Change! Keep out of the way!”
“Should I change Dad back first?”
“No, he's safer like this.”
“He can help you! I can help you!”
Mom glared at me through her creepy yellow eyes. “Aldous is after you. And Julian's not a changer. He won't be able to defend himself. Take care of him, and keep an eye on us in case we need help. Now go. I have to help my father!” In a burst of wings, my mother launched into the sky. I watched her rise, her flapping making the treetops rustle.
I understood that Mom wanted me to be safe, but the recollection of my brief stint as a jade statue sickened me. And would I really be protected? How hot was the fire they breathed? Even stone could melt at a high enough temperature.
Change! Now! I heard Mom's voice as she flew overhead.
I dashed over to the large rocks and ran my hand over the rough surface with dread. Somehow, the idea of blending into a rock formation so I couldn't be identified bothered me far more than becoming an animal. Yet I looked down at the hat I clutched, and Dad's sheer helplessness hit me with a deep twinge. I had to do this for both of us.
I slid into a tight crevice, crushing my father slightly to fit him in.
“Sorry, Dad,” I whispered, tucking him under my arm.
Now how was I to go about performing such an unusual transformation? Could I fill in the space? Should I just be a rock inside it?
Then Mom's words came back to me. I honestly wasn't sure if I was remembering them, or she was sending them into my head from above: “Aldous is after you. And Julian's not a changer. He won't be able to defend himself!”
I rubbed the hat lovingly. “Dad, not that you can hear me, but I'm changing us. Mom wants me to keep us safe.” I let the warmth creep over my body, allowing myself to flow and fill in every crack and cranny. I let the energy consume Dad as well, and was strangely comforted that he was in some way becoming a part of me.
As I hardened into stone, I realized it was actually rather nice when it was controllable. Now, for once, I was under my own power, and I knew I could escape the immobility at any point. And as scary as my situation should have been, a different feeling overcame me. I was part of something bigger and grander. I was mortar holding together one of nature's wonders.
Oh, God. I was part of nature.
Allen, Allen... How? Why?
A cool wind swished against the part of my surface that was exposed. But how did stone feel anything? I could hear the screeching dragons above, and I could see them. With what eyes or ears? Stone was...stone! I was at present merely inorganic, non-breathing, and devoid of a brain. Jonas' soul/consciousness discourse came to mind, but even so, I still didn't really understand how I was capable of remaining aware while being solid rock.
As I witnessed the battle raging in the clouds, a conflicting emotion gradually took over. This rock didn't need me. It had been fine without me for eons, and it would survive for many more millennia without my support. But my family did need my help. Remaining here was starting to make me feel useless. Like my father, Daniel, and Jonas, I was currently an inanimate object at the whim of some very powerful people.
But I wasn't useless. And perhaps I had just as much power as they.
Dad, I know you can't hear me, but I can't just sit by like this, I thought.
The sky lit up with explosions of fire and flashes of light. I could just make out my mother bombarding Allen with a bluish flame, as he answered with a shower of green.
We have to help them. I know what Mom said, but she needs us. I allowed myself to warm up and glow without taking my gaze from the war overhead.
Grandpa Brian rushed up from behind, hitting Allen with a violet orb which simply bounced off his scales. My grandfather roared angrily, this time showering the other dragon with a thick, liquid flare. This rolled off Allen like it was water, and his mocking laughter echoed through the sky.
“Was that really Greek fire? That's all you've got, old man?”
I bristled at his words. Brian Fox never once struck me as old.
Grandpa Brian did not reply. Instead, he bellowed so deafeningly that it would have made my ears ring– if I had had ears at the moment. Flames and an incredible amount of wind issued forth, and Allen was blown across the sky.
Without pausing, he changed direction and charged back at my grandfather. “You know what? I don't care who you are anymore. Whether you're kin or not, I'm going to destroy you,” Allen declared in a deadly voice.
This was all I needed to hear. “No! No!” I gasped weakly. I slid from the crevice, forcing myself back to flesh and blood. Dad was back in my hand as an object, and I could only hold him there, uncertain as to my next move. Was he less likely to be hurt like this?
There was nothing to stop Allen from doing whatever he wanted to Mom and Grandpa Brian. If he managed to overcome them, he could murder them, and I couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t.
I placed the hat on the ground. I couldn’t leave my father powerless. “Dad,” I whispered. “Dad, I need you. Help me.” Faster than I'd ever done before, I forced the object into a glowing sphere and pushed it into my father's form.
The first action my newly-restored father did was to yawn, which under better circumstances would have made me laugh. I flung myself into his arms and embraced him. “Oh, thank God,” I whispered into his chest.
“What happened? What did he do to me?” he demanded.
“You don't want to know.” I pointed to the epic battle taking place above us.
Dad merely stared, mesmerized. “Dragons in the sky...like some medieval fantasy...”
“Dad! It's them! He's going to kill them!”
He snapped out of it. “That's Mom, Brian, and Aldous? We need to stop him.”
“How can we help?”
Scratching his head, he glanced nervously at the clouds, failing to answer.
“You can fly, right? Go up and help them!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, I'll fly. Then Aldous will quickly roast me alive.”
“So teleport away from him!”
“When I'm on fire?”
I shook my head in frustration. “Dad, I can make you–”
He snapped his fingers and cut me off. “Corinne, can you figure out how to turn me into fog?” He didn't wait for me to answer. “Yes, it's possible. Your mother was even a hurricane once.”
“Oh! Years ago we had that storm. Was that Mom?”
“Which one?”
“Hurricane Patricia?”
“No, Corinne. She was a minor, local atmospheric event. She wasn’t around long enough to be named. Now please hurry up and make me fog.”
“Why fog?”
“I want to obstruct Aldous' view so one of you can get him. Fly up to him as a bird, keep out of his sight, and then change him into something that's not conscious.”
“Won’t he sense me?”
“Try to close your mind. Even if you can’t, he’ll be so busy battling your mother and Brian that hopefully he won’t notice you. How close do you need to be to transform him?”
“How would I know that?”
“I guess pretty close, then.”
“And if I actually manage to change him?”
Pursing his lips, he grumbled, “We'll figure that part out later. Now change me.”
Truly, I was afraid to transform Dad into something so insubstantial. Would he stay together, or would little bits of him break apart and be lost forever?
A particularly loud explosion boomed in the skies, prompting me into action. I focused on my father, willing him to thin into a great amount of fog. Just as he became bright energy, I heard him gasp, “Yes, you've got it!” and then his voice echoed away.
Now fully diffuse, he surrounded me, growing larger and snaking around the trees and grass. Very nice job, Corinne! I heard his voice in my head. At least I hadn't killed him.
“Are you okay, Dad? What does it feel like being nearly nothing like that?”
It's very nice. I'm not nothing. I just feel less...corporeal. And the way I can float myself around everything – it's amazing. Now I'm going to rise up and start expanding across the sky. Change yourself.
I became a seagull, hoping that this animal was common enough not to call attention to myself.
Let me keep you out of sight, Dad said, and I could see wisps curling around me.
Now get going. But please be careful. If I don't have anyone to change me back, I'm going to have a very weird life from now on. His nervous chortle echoed eerily from several places at once.
How totally bizarre, I thought as I wended my way upwards. My wings were strong and I maneuvered the air currents like the experienced flier I had become. Thanks for all the practice, Allen, I thought bitterly.
I approached the three mythical creatures, my anxiety mounting. Compared to them, I was incredibly small and insignificant. The air stirred violently around me from their movement, making it hard for me to keep straight.
I'm going to fight. I'm going to stop Allen, I told myself, forcing my body to stay on target.
At that moment, Allen heaved a huge wall of fire at Mom and Grandpa Brian. Through my feathers, I felt the rush of heat, and I dipped back into the fog, fearing for my life.
Careful! cautioned a thick cloudy area near me.
Hearing Dad and knowing he was with me emboldened me considerably. I'm okay, Dad.
Watch out for Brian there!
Grandpa Brian changed Allen's fire to ice. Pieces scattered every-where, creating a literal hailstorm. An ice pellet grazed my wing, and another small one struck my head.
Are you okay? Dad cried.
Yes, yes, I replied, shaking my wing to make sure it wasn’t damaged. My forehead stung where I’d been hit, but the pain was bearable. I didn’t seem to be pouring blood or anything.
What about you, Dad? How are you doing?
My father took a moment to respond. I’m just fog, Corinne. Ice can’t really hurt me.
It can rip holes in you, I’d think.
And I can close them right back up!
We watched the larger ice sheets tumble to the earth. They shattered into the woods with a thunderous crash. The shards reflected light up at us, blinding me partially, and I faltered.
The fog thickened all around me, and I realized Dad was trying to keep me from falling. I blinked my eyes several times. I'm alright, Dad.
You're shivering.
Actually, my entire feathered body quaked in fright, and I couldn't stop my shaking, but I knew I had to persevere. Dad, I'll be fine. I have to do this. Let me go.
I pushed through the vapor, caught an air current, and ascended. Just in time, I ducked back into the fog to view Mom direct a fireball straight into Allen's chest.
Howling as the flames hit him, Allen liquefied into water. He remained suspended in the sky as the rest of Mom's fire wafted off of him creating steam.
If he partly evaporated, did this mean he had lost some of himself? Was he weakened enough that we could stop him?
Apparently not, because after re-solidifying, he was totally intact. He held his arms up toward a nearby cloud, and it shifted into a fluid. This new, heavier substance spattered onto Mom and Grandpa Brian, fizzling when it hit their scales.
Their cries of agony tore me apart. What had he done to them? I’ll kill him! I’m going to kill him right now, Dad!
Corinne, no! Get away! Don’t you see he turned the cloud into acid?!
Acid? Oh, Dad, they’re in pain! As I darted farther out of reach, Allen cackled a frightful, reverberant laugh. Did he know that Dad was all around? He must have been able to sense him! If he did, he didn't seem to care. Instead, he began to draw at more clouds, pulling at them and changing them, showering my mother and grandfather more and more with the noxious chemical. It was in their eyes, burning their scales and skin away, and soon they were plummeting to the earth like Allen had before.
Dad!
Now, Corinne!
My father parted himself before me, and a clear sunlit sky radiated above. I had the perfect view of Allen. As I was about to act, he turned to me. I wasn't sure if he sensed me or not, so I quickly retreated into the welcoming fog. Pushing any thoughts away, I tried to close my mind off from him.
Allen peered into the vapor. “I can feel you everywhere, 'Mr. Hat'. But you're no changer. You can't stop me!” he called aloud, sending flames at us.
Dad withdrew from him, and I knew I'd be discovered if I didn't act right at that moment. I focused hard on the dragon, intending to change him completely, before he could react.
For a moment, a bewildered expression came over his face. “What?” he managed to cry before being swallowed up into light.
I concentrated hard on the mindless glow. “Be something soft,” I commanded, changing Allen to an insensate ball of cotton. As he fell lazily through the sky, I launched myself at him, catching him in my beak.
Nice! my father exulted. You did it! Thank God! Now help Mom and Brian!
The two remaining dragons feebly attempted to assist themselves. They fluttered their burnt, torn wings to stay aloft, endeavoring to surround themselves with a glowy haze. They were trying to transform, but they didn't have the strength.
Corinne... I heard Mom's weak voice in my head.
They were getting frightfully close to the earth, and I had no idea if they could die if they were dragons, but I didn't want to find out.
Help them, Corinne! They're too weak to help themselves! They'll fall to the ground and die!
Dad's words in my ear were all the encouragement I needed to hear. I darted toward the creatures. Mom's wing scraped against the soil as she attempted to land, but a strong gust of wind yanked her back up into the air.
Mom! I yelled, throwing every bit of my power at her. She changed so quickly I almost missed her becoming solid light. She was now a seagull like me, and, even as she landed safely, she was muttering, “Thank you, thank you” under her breath.
Oh, Mom! Are you okay?
Not even taking a second to rest, Mom cried, Corinne, we’ve got to help my father! He’s worse off than I was!
Grandpa Brian was plunging straight toward us, and he no longer fought to stay airborne.
I heard Mom gasp. She looked completely exhausted, yet I saw her tense up, struggling to draw up the power to help her father.
Mom, let me. You’re not strong enough yet, I pleaded.
My strength is coming back, but I don’t trust myself. The slightest mistake... She slouched down, her bird-legs tottering. Help him, Corinne. But leave him as energy. His signature is so weak...
I directed all my energy at my grandfather. Feeling physically sick, I changed him to pure light, praying that I wouldn’t do anything to make him worse. Slowly, holding my hands out as if to guide him, I gently pulled him through the air, directing him to the earth. I could hardly feel his presence, and I found myself silently pleading with him to stay with me.
Good, good, Corinne, Mom said gratefully. You’re doing fine.
Carefully, I set him down in a sandy spot. Mom and I crept over, gazing down at the bright orb.
I almost couldn’t speak.
Mom...is he?
Mom didn’t answer. Instead, she laboriously took human form and indicated me to do the same. Distraught, I spat the cotton ball from my beak and forced myself back into my proper shape.
“Is that Aldous?” Mom inquired without looking at the cotton.
“Yes,” I uttered, not breaking my gaze. Grandpa Brian's light flickered before us. “Mom... Please...Is he going to be okay?”
She held her hand over the orb and let out a small sigh of relief. “He's still there. But his aura is so weak...”
A weak aura? How could we fix that? “So what do we do? Change him back?”
“Eventually. But first...” She drew the light into her hands, staring into it and cupping her palms around it.
“What are you–”
“I'm helping him,” Mom murmured. “Giving him every bit of energy I can muster, which is not a whole lot right now.”
I wasn't sure how that would help, but the orb grew brighter with her ministrations, and I heard some familiar expletives emanate from the ball: “Oh, holy hell!”
I grinned. Grandpa Brian was back.
“You can put me down, Patricia.”
Mom's eyes shimmered with joyful tears as she placed the orb on the ground. The object grew into her father, and both embraced each other wordlessly. I joined them.
“You’re shaking, Corinne,” Grandpa Brian noted. He sounded tired, but not weak like Mom had been when I’d saved her. Had she healed him?
“Dad, look what she’s been through!”
“I’m an expert on shaking,” I tried to smile. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”
“That’s a brave daughter you have there, Patricia. You raised her right.”
Mom blushed a little, then frowned at the cotton. It lay at our feet, gathering dirt like an old, discarded sock. “Dad...”
Grandpa Brian followed her glance and abruptly pulled away from us. “I'm guessing that's Aldous?”
I nodded. “And after what he's done, I have a few things I'd like to do to him.”
“Me too, but you can't,” my grandfather warned. “You know that.”
“I know,” I curled my hands into fists, “but Grandpa Brian, you almost died!”
He put his arm around me. “Corinne, trust me. I'm a hard one to kill.”
“I'm glad.” I hugged him. “You know, I could kill Allen to make me feel better, then we can go back in time and tell me not to.” I meant this as a joke, but it was tempting.
“Corinne, this is not the time– Oo!” My mother jumped back in alarm as a wall of fog twisted around her. It thickened rapidly, making it hard to see her at all.
“Oh...Julian...” From within the enveloping mist, I could still hear Mom's voice. “That's very...nice...” She sounded almost amorous. I didn't want to think too much about that...
“Now, now, children,” Grandpa Brian chided, apparently agreeing with me. “You make an attractive wall of fog, Julian, but there are other things to do now. Take back your real shape.”
The fog glowed, and soon my father stood before us, appearing somewhat forlorn. He gazed down at his body with distaste. “You know, I kind of liked that form. It's so liberating.”
My Grandfather snorted, then picked up the ball of cotton, crushing it with his fist.
Why did his action make me cringe? I had spoken of killing Allen only seconds before! “Wait, Grandpa Brian. Don't–” I stopped myself, but Grandpa Brian answered anyway.
“He's a piece of cotton. Can cotton get hurt?”
“I don’t know, but if you tear it apart...” I let my voice trail off.
With good timing, Mom completely changed the subject. “Are Jonas and Daniel okay?”
Amidst the total chaos, I had completely forgotten them. “Oh my God! They're bushes!” I almost giggled as it sounded so ludicrous.
But my parents and grandfather remained stern.
“Take me to them,” Mom demanded. “Dad, you stay here a second with Julian and figure out how we're going to finish with Aldous. Here, Corinne,” I wasn't expecting my mother to transform me, so when I was suddenly a bird again, it was a bit jarring.
Mom changed too, and she took to the sky. “Come,” she called down to me.
I met up with her in the air. She was flying surprisingly fast for someone who had been so frail before.
Of course, she had an explanation for me. “I healed myself.” Another changer talent that was particularly disconcerting – she had heard my thoughts even when I wasn’t trying to communicate with her.
“So you’re all fine now?”
“Well, you need the strength to heal, so I couldn’t do it right away. And I saved it for my father first. But I’m much better now.”
There was a lump in my throat. What if she hadn’t made it? What if Grandpa Brian hadn’t? “I’m glad you’re both okay,” I murmured.
We lapsed into silence as we skirted the treetops. Even after being a bird for a while, it still was disorienting to view the trees from above. But Mom dipped and soared over them like a natural.
She must have known I was admiring her because she flew up several feet, nosedived into the trees, and joined back up with me. “Just testing the reflexes,” she commented.
“Reflexes?!” I exclaimed, impressed at her acrobatics. “Like, bird reflexes?”
“Yes, and we might need to use all of our bird instincts to find Uncle Jonas and Daniel. Use your sense of direction, smell, sight, even hearing.”
“But can't you just feel where they are?”
“Not if they're fully transformed. If they are, then their minds are gone. I would have to be right on top to them even to see the ounce of aura they have remaining.”
“Oh,” I responded. So I'd been correct in assuming that was why I'd had so much trouble finding Daniel as a bug. I had to get the rules straight.
My mother laughed. “You'll get them straight soon enough.”
The mind-reading thing could become an issue, I saw quite plainly. Mom had caught that concern in my head too? I felt like my brain was spinning around in loops. But then, fortunately, I spied Jonas and Daniel.
“I found them,” I announced. “They’re right down there.”
The two bushes were green and healthy, but otherwise did not stand out much from their neighbors. Daniel had seemed to enjoy life as a tree so much that it was a shame that he had no awareness in his current state.
“I actually feel guilty changing them back,” I said.
“They don't know they're bushes.” Mom ran her hand lovingly down one of Daniel's branches. Slowly, as if she were creating a masterpiece, the plant grew brilliant and flowed into a humanoid shape. Daniel's features appeared, and he soon was whole.
I changed Jonas back, not as artistically as Mom had done with Daniel, but at least I had performed it successfully. Both Jonas and Daniel returned with serene looks on their faces.
“Whatever he did to me, whatever I was, I do feel very relaxed,” Daniel admitted.
Jonas looked down at the disturbed earth at his feet. “Oh, we were plants?” He shook some soil off his slacks. “It's nice that he changes us with our clothes. He doesn't have to, you know.”
“What kind of plants were we, Mom?”
“Blueberry bushes, to be exact,” my mother replied. Like before, she didn't seem too put off by this fact. She had undoubtedly experienced some plant transformations of her own.
“So I could have grown berries?” Daniel questioned, displaying great interest.
“Yes, and we could have made blueberry pie with them,” responded my mother with a smirk. She transformed Jonas and Daniel into birds. “Now let's get back to your father and grandfather. We have to end this. And we have to save Julian. My father probably turned him into a doormat by now.”