*
I turned to go inside after Adam drove away and came face-to-face with Azura.
Closing my eyes and sighing, I snapped, “I don’t want to deal with this right now. We can talk tomorrow.”
She started to speak, but I hurried inside and slammed the door before she could get a word out.
“Everything okay?” Dad asked. He was on the couch in the living room, a gun and ammo magazine open on his knee. “You look upset.”
“Yeah. Just don’t want to deal with the lady outside.”
His jaw clenched. “She’s still here?”
“Yup, she doesn’t seem to take no for an answer.”
“Maybe I should go speak to her again?” There was a note of amusement in his voice. I bet he’d like to yell at her again.
“I told her I didn’t want to talk tonight.” I kissed Dad’s cheek. “Thanks for the party. I’m going to go up to my room and think about things.”
His face grew sympathetic. “You sure?”
“Yeah.” I climbed the stairs to my room. After closing the door, I stood there trying to decide whether or not I wanted to look in the mirror. I couldn’t avoid it forever. I reached the mirror and studied my reflection. If I covered my ears and didn’t pay attention to the wings, I still looked like me. I didn’t like the ears at all, but the wings were kind of neat.
I reached behind me and touched them again. A soft giggle escaped my lips. It tickled just a bit. It felt good to touch them, almost like an ache that needed to be rubbed. I concentrated on moving them and let them flutter a few times. I was amazed at how quiet they were. For the first time, I wondered what they were for…could I actually fly? Or were they just for show?
I made them flap as hard as I could and jumped, but my feet fell immediately back to the floor. “Hmmm. What good are wings if you can’t fly? Maybe I need pixie dust,” I said to myself, once again thinking of Tinkerbell.
I grabbed the brush off my dresser and ran it through my long blonde hair until all the knots were out. Yawning, I stepped into a nightgown, my wings popping out the top. At least they were flexible enough to wear clothes. As I crawled in bed, I noticed they did tuck in as I lay down.
At least they don’t get in the way, I thought sleepily, and closed my eyes.