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This is about a 15 year old that starts having dreams of turning into animals, and then suddenly finds himself a wedge-tailed eagle after going to bed. A slow burn more of a slice of life story.
This is a story I'm writing, will be releasing twice a week, Wednesday and Saturday. I would love to hear any thoughts about the story, do you like it, is it good, is it bad or anything.
My story on royal road is 10 chapters ahead, so if you want to read more check it out there.
link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/140572/sky-within-shadow-without
Shiners and I have already returned from a small flight to stretch our wings and get some exercise, and are back in the shed by the time my mom and dad make their way over. This is kinda exciting to be part of the family planning. With a plan, we can worry less about things.
My mom knocks on the door. “It’s just us,” she calls, letting us know it’s safe. Whew, it feels good to have my parents with us and to talk to as I give out a light chirp letting them know I was here.
Shiners calls out, “We’re here.” A moment later, I hear the shed unlock as my mom steps in with my dad. There isn’t any sign of Charlie. I look behind her, wondering where he was.
Noticing my look, my mom says, “Don’t worry, Charlie will be here soon. He thinks he found a book that might mention you, so he wanted to take it out from the library,” she says. She walks over and sets down a plate of thawed chicken for me. YAY!!!! Chicken!!!
My dad gets three lawn chairs from beside the shed and opens them up as I finally spot Charlie making his way down from the house. My dad gives a small smile. “So we have a few things to deal with. Christmas at Grandma’s, what we tell your friends and the school, and how to deal with Sarah.”
I nod my head as Charlie approaches and calls out, “Good news, we figured out what you are. We are 90 percent sure you’re just a lazy eagle,” he jokes as I shoot him a glare. I am NOT lazy… well, any more than I am as a human.
Gahhhh, I would normally have laughed, but have my hopes up for a second. Though maybe he did find something also. <So other than me being lazy, did you find anything?> I ask him as even Shiners shows interest when he repeats what I said to them.
Charlie shakes his head. “There weren’t really any books on eagles beyond North America, and like we figured, you don’t really fit any of them. If it weren’t for your tail, I might have said golden eagle. Best we found was some really old book with illustrations of various birds, but the eagles all seemed to be the same animal with coloration. And even those didn’t seem right, as they contradicted some of the eagle species we found in North America.
“Ones we found were Steller’s eagle, Philippine eagle, harpy eagle, martial eagle, and about it. Nothing really helpful, but that might be a place to start. Maybe if you guys end up in Vancouver, you could look up the libraries or bookstores there.”
I tilt my head at this, frowning. <Well… we at least have some options. I had tried looking up pictures of eagles in the past, but nothing was ever that great. Most books in the library looked to be twenty years old or more. But at least we can try in Vancouver. Though speaking about that, how are we going to handle that?>
My dad looks back at my mom and then to me as he speaks. “We’ve decided we should tell the school that you’re sick. It’s close enough to Christmas that it shouldn’t matter much. That should be the easiest, and Charlie can tell Frank and John the same story. The harder thing is your sister, how we deal with her, as she will know if you’re not sleeping in your bedroom.”
I do my best to try to roll my eyes, as my sister would always be the biggest issue. I loved her, but she wasn’t known for being subtle.
Charlie nods his head. “That will work, though they may want to come over, so we have to figure that one out,” he says.
Shiners laughs, helpfully spreading his wings for emphasis. “You know, you could just chase them away any time they got close to the house. Already worked once,” he says.
I wince at that, as while it worked, it was embarrassing and a little dangerous.
My mom stares at me. “Wait, you actually chased John and Frank off? You were not just joking last night?” she asks incredulously. “Why did you do that? You could have gotten hurt.”
I wince as I respond, <They got too close to where I’ve been staying and asking too many questions. Though to be fair, the other eagle started, I just joined in as it felt right to keep them away from my roosting spot.>
She nods her head at this, giving me a small questioning look but appearing to accept my explanation. “Just be careful. Until we know what species of eagle you are, we don’t know if you being too well known might cause problems.” Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she sighs. “On a good note, if you can turn into a wolf, we should be able to get you to your grandparents as a wolfdog of some kind. Sarah’s always wanted one. Plus, with you supposedly going to Hawaii, she will feel left out. So a new pet would be exciting for her.”
I give a small nod of my head, thinking it over. I’m not exactly sure what I think about it. But the ability to spend time with my family is a big deal. After a moment, I respond, <This sounds good to me. I will need to figure out how to turn into a wolf, but have had no luck. But maybe now that I have a place to sleep comfortably will help.>
Well… this seems to be going better than I had expected. I think we will have more problems to solve and bigger issues.
They nod their heads. “Is there anything you need? Other than food and here? We can bring you more things that might help, though I assume you’d be a bit limited in what you could do… maybe we could figure out a way to bring you a TV?” my dad suggests, which perks my head up a bit, giving an emphatic nod. Oh yes, TV… so behind on cartoons.
I grin at this. <Ohh, a TV would definitely be a great idea. I would love to have something to do. Other than that, some more of the books would be great too.>
Shiners shrugs. “I don’t get the point of watching your box things, way too hard to watch and distracting,” he says.
I just can’t help but roll my eyes.
My dad says, “We can set up the TV for you later if you want. Until then, I assume you will want to go out for a little flight and get some exercise… could we maybe watch?”
My mom nods. “We were talking to Charlie earlier, and he talked about how great it was to watch you, so we thought about maybe we could witness it. Go somewhere outside of town, and you could fly for us.”
Charlie gives me a thumbs up as I nod my head. <I would… love that. It would be great to share what I am now with you.> I think, feeling a little giddy. Dad going from I’m NOT his son to showing off.
My dad nods his head. “This is crazy… and hard for you and us, but you’re still our son. And we want to see all of you. We know you’ve always loved eagles, and if we didn’t know any better, we might swear you had done this on purpose,” he jokes, giving me a smile.
Well, I can’t deny that I wouldn’t have done it given a chance, though maybe being able to turn back too.
My mom nods. “Whatever happens, or whoever or whatever you are, we’re still proud of you. How about after lunch we drive out to one of the remote lakes near town, and you can show off?”
Shiners nods. <If they ever decide to cause problems for you again, I can always peck them.>
I move over to rest a wing against my parents. <Thanks, you guys. I will work to make you proud. Maybe once after Christmas, I can figure out a way to use what I am to help people somehow.>
Together, they place their hands on my back. “We can figure out something. Your safety is paramount, but I get that you will want to do something somehow,” my dad says. “For now, how about you eat up, and we will drive out to the lake in a few hours.”
I nod my head as I grab one of the chicken legs and proceed to swallow it whole as I sigh contentedly.
Shiners teases, “You know you could let them ripen a little bit, always tastier,” he says as I shake my head. No way I’m going to if I can avoid it.
My parents laugh, shaking their heads at me eating. “Okay, be back in a few hours, and then we can set off,” my dad says as I give them a small chirp before I go back to eating. Shiners also joins me.
This is a story I'm writing, will be releasing twice a week, Wednesday and Saturday. I would love to hear any thoughts about the story, do you like it, is it good, is it bad or anything.
My story on royal road is 10 chapters ahead, so if you want to read more check it out there.
link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/140572/sky-within-shadow-without
Shiners and I have already returned from a small flight to stretch our wings and get some exercise, and are back in the shed by the time my mom and dad make their way over. This is kinda exciting to be part of the family planning. With a plan, we can worry less about things.
My mom knocks on the door. “It’s just us,” she calls, letting us know it’s safe. Whew, it feels good to have my parents with us and to talk to as I give out a light chirp letting them know I was here.
Shiners calls out, “We’re here.” A moment later, I hear the shed unlock as my mom steps in with my dad. There isn’t any sign of Charlie. I look behind her, wondering where he was.
Noticing my look, my mom says, “Don’t worry, Charlie will be here soon. He thinks he found a book that might mention you, so he wanted to take it out from the library,” she says. She walks over and sets down a plate of thawed chicken for me. YAY!!!! Chicken!!!
My dad gets three lawn chairs from beside the shed and opens them up as I finally spot Charlie making his way down from the house. My dad gives a small smile. “So we have a few things to deal with. Christmas at Grandma’s, what we tell your friends and the school, and how to deal with Sarah.”
I nod my head as Charlie approaches and calls out, “Good news, we figured out what you are. We are 90 percent sure you’re just a lazy eagle,” he jokes as I shoot him a glare. I am NOT lazy… well, any more than I am as a human.
Gahhhh, I would normally have laughed, but have my hopes up for a second. Though maybe he did find something also. <So other than me being lazy, did you find anything?> I ask him as even Shiners shows interest when he repeats what I said to them.
Charlie shakes his head. “There weren’t really any books on eagles beyond North America, and like we figured, you don’t really fit any of them. If it weren’t for your tail, I might have said golden eagle. Best we found was some really old book with illustrations of various birds, but the eagles all seemed to be the same animal with coloration. And even those didn’t seem right, as they contradicted some of the eagle species we found in North America.
“Ones we found were Steller’s eagle, Philippine eagle, harpy eagle, martial eagle, and about it. Nothing really helpful, but that might be a place to start. Maybe if you guys end up in Vancouver, you could look up the libraries or bookstores there.”
I tilt my head at this, frowning. <Well… we at least have some options. I had tried looking up pictures of eagles in the past, but nothing was ever that great. Most books in the library looked to be twenty years old or more. But at least we can try in Vancouver. Though speaking about that, how are we going to handle that?>
My dad looks back at my mom and then to me as he speaks. “We’ve decided we should tell the school that you’re sick. It’s close enough to Christmas that it shouldn’t matter much. That should be the easiest, and Charlie can tell Frank and John the same story. The harder thing is your sister, how we deal with her, as she will know if you’re not sleeping in your bedroom.”
I do my best to try to roll my eyes, as my sister would always be the biggest issue. I loved her, but she wasn’t known for being subtle.
Charlie nods his head. “That will work, though they may want to come over, so we have to figure that one out,” he says.
Shiners laughs, helpfully spreading his wings for emphasis. “You know, you could just chase them away any time they got close to the house. Already worked once,” he says.
I wince at that, as while it worked, it was embarrassing and a little dangerous.
My mom stares at me. “Wait, you actually chased John and Frank off? You were not just joking last night?” she asks incredulously. “Why did you do that? You could have gotten hurt.”
I wince as I respond, <They got too close to where I’ve been staying and asking too many questions. Though to be fair, the other eagle started, I just joined in as it felt right to keep them away from my roosting spot.>
She nods her head at this, giving me a small questioning look but appearing to accept my explanation. “Just be careful. Until we know what species of eagle you are, we don’t know if you being too well known might cause problems.” Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she sighs. “On a good note, if you can turn into a wolf, we should be able to get you to your grandparents as a wolfdog of some kind. Sarah’s always wanted one. Plus, with you supposedly going to Hawaii, she will feel left out. So a new pet would be exciting for her.”
I give a small nod of my head, thinking it over. I’m not exactly sure what I think about it. But the ability to spend time with my family is a big deal. After a moment, I respond, <This sounds good to me. I will need to figure out how to turn into a wolf, but have had no luck. But maybe now that I have a place to sleep comfortably will help.>
Well… this seems to be going better than I had expected. I think we will have more problems to solve and bigger issues.
They nod their heads. “Is there anything you need? Other than food and here? We can bring you more things that might help, though I assume you’d be a bit limited in what you could do… maybe we could figure out a way to bring you a TV?” my dad suggests, which perks my head up a bit, giving an emphatic nod. Oh yes, TV… so behind on cartoons.
I grin at this. <Ohh, a TV would definitely be a great idea. I would love to have something to do. Other than that, some more of the books would be great too.>
Shiners shrugs. “I don’t get the point of watching your box things, way too hard to watch and distracting,” he says.
I just can’t help but roll my eyes.
My dad says, “We can set up the TV for you later if you want. Until then, I assume you will want to go out for a little flight and get some exercise… could we maybe watch?”
My mom nods. “We were talking to Charlie earlier, and he talked about how great it was to watch you, so we thought about maybe we could witness it. Go somewhere outside of town, and you could fly for us.”
Charlie gives me a thumbs up as I nod my head. <I would… love that. It would be great to share what I am now with you.> I think, feeling a little giddy. Dad going from I’m NOT his son to showing off.
My dad nods his head. “This is crazy… and hard for you and us, but you’re still our son. And we want to see all of you. We know you’ve always loved eagles, and if we didn’t know any better, we might swear you had done this on purpose,” he jokes, giving me a smile.
Well, I can’t deny that I wouldn’t have done it given a chance, though maybe being able to turn back too.
My mom nods. “Whatever happens, or whoever or whatever you are, we’re still proud of you. How about after lunch we drive out to one of the remote lakes near town, and you can show off?”
Shiners nods. <If they ever decide to cause problems for you again, I can always peck them.>
I move over to rest a wing against my parents. <Thanks, you guys. I will work to make you proud. Maybe once after Christmas, I can figure out a way to use what I am to help people somehow.>
Together, they place their hands on my back. “We can figure out something. Your safety is paramount, but I get that you will want to do something somehow,” my dad says. “For now, how about you eat up, and we will drive out to the lake in a few hours.”
I nod my head as I grab one of the chicken legs and proceed to swallow it whole as I sigh contentedly.
Shiners teases, “You know you could let them ripen a little bit, always tastier,” he says as I shake my head. No way I’m going to if I can avoid it.
My parents laugh, shaking their heads at me eating. “Okay, be back in a few hours, and then we can set off,” my dad says as I give them a small chirp before I go back to eating. Shiners also joins me.
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Eagle
Size 80 x 120px
File Size 31 kB
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