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I wanted to be done with everything.

That's what I thought as I sat at the dinner table with my family. I watched them all eat, laughing and enjoying their meal. I watched my mother pass a bowl of potatoes to my father, who in turn passed it to my younger sister, Lisa. They ate happily, as if they didn't have a care in the world. For all I knew, they really didn't. But I did.

"Are you okay, Stephen?" asked my mom, digging into her potatoes. "You look a little... down. Did something happen?"

"I'm fine, Mom," I said, taking some potatoes for myself. "I'm just... doing some thinking, that's all."

Mom nodded. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Just... nothing important," I said. "Mostly wondering what I'm going to get involved with this spring." It was a massive lie, but I desperately wanted to get her off of my back. I knew I had to say something, so I just went with the first thing that popped into my head. It didn't matter how wrong it was.

But evidently, it made my mom pretty happy. "That's great, Stephen!" she cried, smiling. "I'm glad you're finally trying to put yourself out there!"

My dad nodded. "It's about time, too," he added. "I don't think you've done anything with your school yet. I'm glad you're willing to get involved."

"Um... yeah! I'm... looking forward to it," I replied, desperately trying to fake enthusiasm. I stabbed my fork into a potato, hastily shoving it into my mouth. "Mmm... tastes good!"

Mom and Dad smiled at each other before turning to my sister. "You enjoying the potatoes, Lisa?" asked my dad. Lisa looked up at him and nodded, smiling back.

I glumly looked back down at my own potatoes. They were so happy together, the three of them. Perfectly social, perfectly happy, perfectly outgoing... all three of them. And then there was me: shy, timid, completely unsure how to handle myself socially. Thus, I was reserved... and my parents couldn't possibly understand why. After all, how could they understand someone who was so reserved, so socially inept? They couldn't. And nothing I did could change that.

Those glum thoughts still swam in my head as I cleared the dinner table after everyone had finished eating, reminding me of everything that had happened in this single year. I wanted my Freshman year of high school to be something... new. A chance for me to start over, to finally discover what I wanted in life. But the problem was... I had no clue how to make that happen. I saw all of the different groups of people... the jocks, the brainiacs, the artists... all fitting in with a group, being with people who were like them. But I wasn't like that. I didn't belong to a specific group. I was all by myself.

I smiled to myself, shaking my head. That was just the cruel reality of high school. If you didn't find a group that you fit in with, you were essentially a social outcast. And that was exactly what my problem was. It wasn't that I didn't want to get involved with anything... I just never found anything I felt like I could get involved with. No matter how hard I looked, nothing ever seemed to click with me. I never could find that one thing I felt like I could really enjoy, and I was wondering if I ever would.

Feeling discouraged, I decided to step outside for a little bit, just to clear my head. I opened the front door and stepped onto the front porch, feeling a light breeze blow through my hair. I took a deep breath, feeling the fresh air flow through my lungs. It made me feel calm, relaxed... exactly how I liked to feel. I found a spot on the front lawn and laid down on my back, looking up at the blue sky. I smiled, wondering what it would be like to be up there, in the blue sky. The truth was... flying was something that I had always wanted to do. I had always wanted to break away from my mundane life, leave behind the sorrow I felt on the ground. I wanted to fly... fly like the birds, embracing the freedom that I wanted so desperately.

As I laid there, I happened to close my eyes for a bit. I let myself relax... relax into a sense of security. Just lying there, calm and safe... completely at ease. But just as I was about to drift off, I felt something lightly touch my hand. I slowly opened my eyes, looking over at my hand... and saw a feather. Mostly brown, with a few white spots here and there. Presumably dropped by some kind of bird. Probably fell from the sky while my eyes were closed. Nothing too special, really. But the more I looked at it, the more... mesmerized I became. Something about it just... enticed me, made me want to look at it more and more.

As I stared at it, I suddenly felt something... strange come over me. For a moment, the ground beneath me seemed to... disappear. The next thing I knew, I was... flying? I felt like I was flying through the air, the endless blue sky stretching out all around me. I was soaring above the ground, nothing but myself and the thermal winds to guide me. I felt free, free from having to walk the ground below me to find myself. Free to sail the skies, to search them to my heart's content. This was what I desired. And then... it ended.

In an instant, I was back on the ground, staring at the feather. I shook my head, blinking rapidly. What was that? Was it some kind of daydream? It felt so real... but I knew that it couldn't have been. I was probably just tired. I needed to get some rest. With that in mind, I stood up and started walking toward my house, planning to head back up to my room.

Once I was in my room again, I walked over to my window, placing the feather I had just found on my windowsill. I continued staring up at the blue sky, wondering about the daydream I had just experienced. Flying through the sky like that... was it really possible? Of course, I knew in my mind that it wasn't... but something deep within me still seemed to disagree. Something within me that still wondered if there was truly a way for me to fly like I always wanted. I wanted so badly to believe that it was possible... but at the same time, I knew that it would never happen. After all, that kind of thing was impossible... right?

But even as the thought rushed through my head, I felt myself picking up the feather, running it through my hands. For some reason, it just felt like... I needed to feel that feather. I needed to hold it, let my fingers run across it. In fact, I was so enticed by it that I barely even noticed the slight itchy feeling that was spreading across my torso. It was mild at first, but soon grew to the point where I could no longer ignore it. Still holding the feather, I lifted my shirt up, revealing an image that I'll never forget.

Covering my torso was a row of brown and white... feathers. But these weren't like the one that I was holding. These feathers were attached to me... like they were a part of my body. Completely amazed, I ran my hands over them, feeling how soft and light they felt. Somehow, it felt... totally natural. I wasn't even scared... instead, I felt completely calm. Like I knew that this was meant to happen. I watched the feathers make their way across my torso, growing and spreading. By this point, I had taken off my shirt completely in order to get a better look at them.

Further and further up my torso they spread, until they reached my neck. As they did, I suddenly noticed them becoming... clearer, more detailed. I looked up again, realizing that it wasn't just them becoming more clear; everything around me was becoming far more vivid and detailed than before. With a gasp, I suddenly realized exactly what was happening: my vision was sharpening, becoming stronger and more focused. Becoming the vision of... a bird of prey. I gasped, my incredibly sharp eyes widening. Was I really... becoming...?

Immediately, my hand shot up to feel my face. Already, I could feel more feathers sprouting there, begining to cover my head. I reached back to feel my hair, only to find that it was starting to disappear, even more feathers replacing it. But even that wasn't the most shocking change, as I suddenly noticed that my mouth was beginning to... harden. The same thing was happening to my nose as well, as both my nose and mouth began to... fuse together. Suddenly, they began rapidly extending out in front of my face, creating a large, curved... beak. I had a beak. "This is... unbelievable..." I said, grinning. Well, I couldn't technically grin because of the beak, so it was more like internally grinning. But I was excited. This was exactly what I had been wanting for so long!

But I barely even had time to marvel at this new facial growth, because when I looked back down at the feathers covering my torso, I felt a sudden... weight on my back. Slowly, I turned my head, trying to get a good look at the... wings. I had grown a pair of wings. For a moment, I just stared. I reached back to touch them, just making sure that they weren't some kind of illusion. But they weren't an illusion... they were real! I could hardly contain my excitement at this point. The beak had been pretty cool, but wings... those were what would allow me to fly! Just like I had always wanted! Those enormous, feathery, beautiful wings... beautiful in ways that I couldn't even describe. They just made me feel so... complete.

As I admired the wings, though, I was interrupted by a ripping sound coming from the floor. I looked down and saw... a single claw, poking out from my left sock. Suddenly, three more claws ripped their way free of the fabric, two in the front and one in the back. I smiled, understanding exactly what was happening; a bird needs talons, after all. I kept watching, seeing the same thing happen to the other foot: Four claws grew from my sock, three in the front and one in the back. Still smiling, I bent down and removed what remained of the socks, fully exposing my talons. They were pretty large, and the toes looked long enough to actually have some decent grip to them. But most of all, they looked strong, powerful... exactly what I wanted. I was completely amazed.

A slight bulge from the sides of my jeans told me that the changes weren't over yet, though. I realized that I could feel my upper legs expanding, the muscles growing larger and stronger. I ran my hand across them, feeling the feathers growing underneath the fabric. At the same time, I noticed something else... something pressing against the back of my pants. Realizing what was happening, I quickly undid my jeans, pulling them down just in time. As I did, a row of massive, vibrant feathers exploded from my backside, spreading out behind me. But there was something... different about these feathers. Namely, the color: red. "Wait... am I...?" I looked down at myself, at the rest of the feathers covering me. "I'm becoming... a red-tailed hawk?"

As I processed that thought, I began feeling more changes, this time in my arms. More feathers began covering my upper arms as they began growing larger and stronger, similar to my legs. But that wasn't where the similarities ended, as the skin on my lower arms started growing rougher and scalier, like the skin on my lower legs and feet. I looked at my hands, wondering if they were going to change like my feet had. Sure enough, the rough scaly skin spread to cover them as my fingernails grew out into sharp claws. Another pair of talons... just looking at them made me feel twice as powerful as before.

Realizing that the changes were just about over, I looked down at myself. I wasn't wearing any clothes, but that was okay, since the feathers covered up my privates pretty well. And... I felt amazing. Everything about this body just felt... better than before. I felt beautiful, powerful, and above all... free. The feathers, the talons, the wings... this was exactly what I wanted. I felt like I had finally been given a way to find myself... to break away from my old life. And that was exactly what I planned on doing!

I opened up my window, my wings spread out behind me. It was time for me leave this life behind... to explore my new potential, find out what this body was capable of! But just as I was about to jump out...

"Stephen? I-is that you, Stephen?"

I quickly turned around, only to see Lisa, my little sister, standing in the doorway. "Lisa?" I cried. "Wha...what are you doing? How long have you been standing there?"

"Stephen!" Thanks to my enhanced eyesight, the fear in her eyes was even more evident. "What's going on? W-why are you a bird?"

"Lisa..." I walked over to her, bending down in front of her. "Listen. You can't tell anyone about this, okay. Not Mom, not Dad... not anyone. Okay?"

"But..." Lisa began backing away, even more terrified now. "But... what happened to you? Wh... why..." She could barely get the words out. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Mom and Dad came up to see what was going on, I stood up and began walking back over to the window. "Wait!" Lisa cried, running over to me. "What are you doing?"

I looked back at her. "Don't worry, Lisa, " I said. "I'll come back for you someday, I promise." With that, I turned to the window... and jumped out. As soon as I did, I felt the wind catch my wings and lift me up into the air.

Before I knew it, I was flying through the air, soaring above the town. And I loved it. I loved the feeling of no longer being tied down, a slave to the ways of the world below. I was free! And I wanted this feeling of freedom to last for my entire life. As long as I lived... I could finally be truly free.

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Five years later...

"Lisa! LISA! Are you just going to space out all practice? Come on, get with it!"

"Oh!" I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts. Sitting next to me on the bench was my best friend, Meg, wearing her soccer uniform. "I'm sorry. I'm just... doing some thinking about..." I swallowed. "About my brother, that's all."

"Oh... do you mean Stephen?" I nodded, and Meg sighed sympathetically. "I'm sorry about what happened to him, Lisa. I really am."

I nodded again. "You don't have to be sorry, Meg," I said, looking down at the ground. "It's just... I'm around the same age as he was when he... disappeared." I shook my head, continuing to stare at the ground. "I just... wish I knew why. Why he would just... leave us like that. If only I had known what he was going through... then maybe I could have done something to help him..."

"You can't blame yourself, Lisa," replied Meg. "You just kind of have to move on from that kind of thing." She stood up, holding her hand out to me. "Now, come one. Are we going to play, or not?"

I smiled. "Thanks, Meg," I said, taking her hand. "Yeah, I think I'm ready." With that, we both jogged onto the field, ready to put our hearts into this soccer practice. It may have only been practice, but I was still going to give it my all. Especially since I was hoping that it might take my mind off of things.

But throughout the practice, my mind continued to wander to my brother's disappearance. I just couldn't help but think about how... sudden it was. One evening, after dinner, he just up and vanished. No messages, no warnings, nothing. He just completely disappeared. Missing posters were put up, police searched the area... but nobody ever found him. I could still remember the scene perfectly: my mom sobbing into her hands, my dad trying to comfort her... it was a dark time for our family. And yet, I did remember something... odd about his disappearance. I remembered coming up to his room right before he disappeared, and...

Immediately, I shook my head. No! That wasn't real. It couldn't have been. I dreamed it, that's all, and then convinced myself that it was real. There was no way it could have been real... was there?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the soccer ball flying past me, though. I had gotten so caught up in my thoughts about Stephen that I hadn't even been paying attention to the scrimmage my team was engaged in. The ball flew past me, only to be caught by the goalie behind me. "Come on, Lisa!" yelled one of the other girls on defense. "You should have been able to stop that one!"

"Oh... sorry!" I cried, watching the ball get thrown to the other side of the field. I tried to concentrate on the game more, but I just couldn't stop thinking about Stephen. Luckily, the coach called an end to practice a few minutes later, so I was able to get off the field pretty quickly after that. I didn't stick around long, though. After quickly saying goodbye to my friends, I immediately ran off the field and out onto the road, ready to begin my walk home.

Now that I was off the field, I could have more time to think about exactly what happened that evening. I could still remember it clearly... I was walking into Stephen's room, when... I saw him. Only... he didn't look like a human anymore. He looked completely different... like some kind of cross between a human and a bird. But even so, I could tell that it was him. I remember asking him what was going on, and how he had become this bird-like creature... but all he said was not to tell anyone, and that he would come back for me someday. Then he jumped out the window and... flew away. It all happened so fast, I... didn't even know how to react.

Of course, my promise to not tell anyone didn't last long. Desperate to help my parents somehow, I did end up telling them about what I saw that evening. But of course, they didn't believe me. Not that I blamed them; I barely believed it myself when I first saw it. But I was sure of what I saw, and I kept on trying to convince them that it was real. But the more they doubted me, the more I began to doubt myself. In the end, I convinced myself that it wasn't real. That I had dreamt it up the night after he had disappeared, then convinced myself that it had really happened. I didn't want to think that way, but there was no other explanation... right?

Those thoughts still echoed in my mind as I walked in the front door to my house. As I walked up the stairs and down the hall to my room, I happened to look inside Stephen's room. The place where I last saw him... no, that wasn't real! I had to remember that. But as I kept looking, the memory started becoming more and more clear. Standing at the window, watching Stephen fly away... how could I possibly remember something that never happened so vividly? I felt a sudden longing... a longing to go into his room, to relive the moment from my memory. Was it just from a sense of nostalgia? I wasn't sure. But I was sure of one thing: I needed to go back in there.

Walking back into Stephen's room felt... strange. For one thing, it was completely empty. After he disappeared, my parents got rid of everything: his bed, his bookshelf, his desk... everything that could have reminded them of him. I guess the memories just got too painful for them. It made the place feel like a ghost room, completely empty other than the memories. Memories that only grew stronger the longer I stood here. I shook my head, looking away from the window. This was stupid. I didn't need to be in here. I needed to forget about Stephen and move on with my life. But just as I was about to leave, I heard a voice that stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Hey. Lisa. Is that you?"

I blinked. That voice... it sounded like... no, it couldn't be! Slowly, I turned around to face the window... and my mouth immediately fell open. Sitting on the roof just outside the window... was Stephen. Even more shocking than that was the fact that he wasn't even human... instead, he was the bird-like creature that I had seen the night he disappeared. "B-but... you... how...." I could barely even form the words.

Stephen simply stepped through the window, folding his wings back so that they would fit. "I told you I'd come back for you, didn't I?" He said, entering the room.

"But... but..." I couldn't believe this. Quickly, I reached over and pinched the skin on my left arm, to make sure I wasn't dreaming. When that didn't wake me up, I walked over to Stephen, reaching my hand up to feel his chest. The feathers felt soft and, more importantly, real. "You're... real..." I said, still at a loss for words. "This... this is real!"

"Um, yeah, it's real," replied Stephen. "Now, do you think you could stop gawping for a second so that-"

He never got a chance to finish. As he said it, my fist swung forward and nailed him in the stomach.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" I screamed, punching him once again. "You piece of shit! You stupid pile of-" I barely remember the rest of what I said. All I remember is punching him over and over, screaming curse after curse at him for what felt like forever. At first he was too stunned to react, but as soon as he recovered, he immediately grabbed my arm.

"Are you crazy?" he yelled, holding my arm tight. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Me? ME?" I yelled back, still furious. "You disappear for five years, don't give any kind of warning, don't give any hints as to where you went, practically tear our entire family apart, only to show up now and act like nothing even happened, and you ask what's wrong with ME?"

Stephen's eyes narrowed. "Look, I can explain," he said, letting go of my arm. "That night... I was outside, and... I found this feather. But... it wasn't an ordinary feather." He shook his head. "There was something about it... something that resonated with me. So I brought it up to my room, and... well, I turned into this." He turned around, showing off what he had become. The wings, the talons, the feathers... it was pretty impressive, but I wasn't about to tell him that. "And then... I just knew. I knew that I had been given the opportunity to leave... to find myself. So... that's what I did."

"Yeah, but not before you showed me exactly what happened," I said. "And then you just left, without explaining anything. Do you know what I went through after you did that to me? I thought I was going crazy! I knew that it couldn't have been real, but at the same time, I was sure of what I saw... and everyone kept telling me that it never actually happened, and just when I've started to convince myself that it was just some dream, you show up and do this to me again!"

"Well, I did tell you not to tell anyone," replied Stephen. "And anyway, it's not my fault that you happened to walk into my room right after I-"

"Dammit, Stephen! That's not my point!" I was so angry, tears were beginning to form in my eyes. "And anyway, how could I not talk about what I saw? You were missing! Our parents were in tears! I had to do something! I wasn't just going to sit around and not say something that could have helped!" I was so worked up, I actually had to take a deep breath before continuing. "Look, my point is that you shouldn't have just abandoned us like that. We went through a lot of pain after you disappeared, and it really wasn't fair of you to do that to us just because of some stupid feather that-"

"You don't understand!" I was thrown off by Stephen's harsh tone. "It wasn't just because of the feather! It was because..." He swallowed, looking down at the floor. "It was because there was nothing else for me here. I... didn't feel like I belonged here. At all." He looked back up at me, his eyes reflecting the sadness he was feeling. "I tried to find something that I could enjoy, something that I could use to define myself, but... there was nothing. So... when I found the feather, I realized that this was my chance... my chance to finally be free to discover what I wanted. So I took it."

I nodded, thinking about what he had said. I had no idea that he felt that way about his life, and I wasn't even sure if Mom and Dad knew. It was sad, but... it still didn't excuse what he did. "Why didn't you just talk to one of us about it?" I asked. "It would have been way better than just disappearing the way you did."

"Well, you were only ten, so I didn't think you'd understand," replied Stephen. "And Mom and Dad... well, I didn't think they would understand, either. I mean, they're so... social and outgoing. I just didn't think they'd react well if I told them that I hadn't found anything that I really felt like I could do. I thought that they might accuse me of being lazy or something." He looked down at my outfit. "I mean, I'm assuming you're doing soccer based on that uniform you're wearing. And... that's something that you found that you could fit in with, I'm guessing. You feel like you belong when you're out on the field, don't you? You found where you belonged." He lowered his head. "I'm sure Mom and Dad found exactly where they belonged when they were in high school, too. But I'm different. And I didn't think that any of you would be able to understand that."

I frowned. "You know, I'm not just doing soccer," I said. "There are a whole bunch of school activities I'm involved in. Let's see... I did cross country in the fall, and fencing in the winter... I'm involved in environmental clubs, community service clubs, a couple of after-school social groups... I've basically made an effort to get as involved as I can. Do you know why?"

To my surprise, Stephen nodded. "I know exactly why," he said. "It's because that's what Mom and Dad want, isn't it? It's because they're so obsessed with getting their children involved that-"

"No!" I screamed, the anger from earlier rising up again. "That's not it at all! It's not because of them, it's because of you! You!" I took a deep breath. "Listen. I knew that you weren't involved with anything when you were a Freshman, and I could see how upset you were about it. And after you disappeared... I knew that I couldn't let the same thing happen to me. I couldn't let my parents go through that again. So... I told myself that I wasn't going to be like you. I was going to become as involved as I could, so I wouldn't end up disappearing like you did." I looked up at him, my eyes narrowing. "Don't you see, Stephen? I did this because of you. I care about you, and so do Mom and Dad. Even if we didn't understand what you were going through, we still would have tried to help you, no matter what. You didn't need to fly away like that."

For a moment, Stephen just stared. Then, he slowly lowered his head. "Lisa..." he said, gazing down at the ground. "I'm... I'm sorry. I... shouldn't have left you like that. It's just... when I found the feather, and I changed... I just got so excited that I... just wasn't thinking, I guess." But as he finished speaking, I heard a sound coming from downstairs: the sound of the garage door opening.

I gasped, turning around. "Mom and Dad! They're home!" I cried, grabbing Stephen's hand. "Come on, we have to talk to them!"

"What? No! I can't do that!" Stephen cried, yanking his hand away. "I... I can't show myself to them! Not when I look like this!"

"Oh, yes you will!" I yelled, grabbing his hand again using both my hands. "This is to make up for those five years you spent away from us!"

"Hey! Stop it!" Again, Stephen tried to yank my hand away, this time digging his talons into the carpet. "Let me go!"

"Lisa?" I could hear my mom coming up the stairs towards us. "Lisa, what it going on up here? Why are you making such a-" As soon as she came into the room, she stopped, her eyes locking onto Stephen. For a second, nobody moved. Then she screamed.

"What's going on?" My dad, having heard the scream, was next to run up the stairs. "Why are you screaming? What happened to y-?" The moment he saw Stephen, the words died in his throat as well. Stunned, he took a step back, too shocked to say anything. "Wha... what are you?" he finally cried, pointing at Stephen. "You... what are you doing with my daughter? What do you want with her?"

"Dad! I... I can explain!" I cried. I took a step back, so that Mom and Dad could see Stephen cleary. "This is... this is Stephen. Your son."

Stephen looked at me like I was crazy. Then, realizing what he had to do, he looked up at Mom and Dad. "Hi, Mom... and Dad," he said, waving half-heartedly. "It's me, Stephen... I'm home."

For a moment, Mom and Dad just stared. Then, suddenly, their eyes widened. "St... Stephen?" said Mom, in total shock. "Is... is that... oh my God, it _is_you! Oh, Stephen..." Immediately, she ran over to him, throwing her arms around him. "Stephen... oh, my boy, my boy!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "You're... finally home..."

"Stephen..." Dad walked up to the two of them, looking like he was on the verge of tears as well. "After all this time... you've finally come back to us." As he looked at Stephen, though, the look of joy on his face shifted to confusion. "But... you look like... some kind of bird. What happened to you?"

"Well... it's a long story... but I guess I could explain it," replied Stephen. And he proceeded to explain everything. How he didn't feel like he could fit in... how he found the feather, and how it changed him... how he thought that this was his chance to escape and find himself... and how I saw him right before he flew off. "I told her not to tell anyone, but I guess she just didn't want to listen," he said. "I guess you just can't trust anyone these days."

"Well, I wish that you had just explained all of that to us!" cried Mom. "We would have been happy to help you!"

"That's exactly what I said to him!" I said. As I said, though, I happened to look up at Stephen again. "There's one thing I still don't get, though. Why did you come back all of a sudden? What made you decide to suddenly return?"

"Oh... that..." Stephen suddenly began to look a bit... nervous? "See, the thing is... I didn't want to be by myself anymore. I wanted someone to live with me... someone who I could spend some time with, who maybe could help me live like... this." He looked back over at me. "And, well... before I left, I knew that I might want you to join me at some point, Lisa. That's why I said that I would come back for you."

Now I was confused. "You thought you might want me to join you?" I asked. "Why?"

"Well... the truth is, I've always respected you, Lisa," replied Stephen. "You're social, cheerful outgoing... everything that I'm not. So... I thought you could help me become more like you. But..." He looked down at himself, lifting his wings. "That was before I figured out what else I could do. That feather I found... it turns out that I can produce feathers just like it. Ones that can turn other people into... well, whatever it is that I am." He plucked a feather from one of his wings, showing it to us. "I've done it before, too. I've changed people with these feathers, and... well, they've been grateful and all, but they've always disappeared as soon as they were finished." He looked down at me, holding the feather out. "What do you say, Lisa? You want to try it out? It feels amazing, trust me."

It took me a second to figure out what he was implying. "Wait... hold on..." I said, still not sure if I was understanding him correctly. "You want me to..." I looked over at my parents, then back at Stephen. "Would I be able to change back?"

"You should be able to," answered Stephen. "I've been doing a bit of experimenting with the whole thing, and I figured out that it's possible to change back into a human by concentrating while holding onto the feather. I actually turned back into one once... although I changed back into this form right away afterwards. After spending so much time in this form, I think humanity has just sort of... lost its appeal for me."

I looked back up at Mom and Dad. "Are you two okay with this?" I asked.

They both nodded. "If it's what you want, then go for it," said Dad. "Just make sure you come back, okay? That goes for you too, Stephen."

I swallowed. Took a deep breath. If I was going to do this... now was the time to do it. Taking another breath, I turned to Stephen. "I'm ready. Give me the feather."

Stephen nodded. "Okay. Good... good luck." With that, he held the feather out towards me.

I took the feather... and almost immediately, I felt a sense of euphoria wash over me. I no longer felt like I was standing on the ground... I felt like I was flying, flying above everything. It felt so calming, soothing, relaxing... I couldn't help but close my eyes as the feeling filled my being. I felt so... peaceful.

Suddenly, my eyes opened as I was snapped back into reality. I looked at my parents and Stephen, all three of them with expectant looks on their faces. But as I watched, their faces started becoming... clearer? Suddenly, I felt like I could make out every tiny little detail on all of their faces! It wasn't just them, either; everything around me was so much more vivid and detailed than before! "Whoa!" I cried, taking a step back.

"Guess your eyes were first to change," said Stephen. "You enjoying the new vision?"

"It... it's amazing!" I cried. But the next change to occur was even more amazing than that. My nose and mouth began to feel strange, as if they were... moving towards each other. My hand quickly shot up to them, feeling them fuse, harden, and... extend out into a large, hooked beak. Feathers also began covering my face, as my hair shrank back into my skull, replaced by even more feathers. Before I knew it, my head had totally changed to match Stephen's... at least, that's what I thought.

However, Dad's confused face seemed to suggest otherwise. "That's strange," he said, looking me over. "Your feathers don't look like Stephen's. His are brown, but yours... yours are gray."

"Gray?" I didn't have time to process this fact, though, because the next changes were already happening, this time to my feet. I had taken my shoes and socks off earlier, so thankfully nothing was destroyed, but watching the whole thing was still a bit... unnerving. My toes grew longer and longer, merging together until only three remained on each foot. Next, the toenails started growing longer and sharper, becoming deadly curved talons. Then, a fourth toe grew out from each of my heels, ending in another sharp, curved talon. And the whole time, the skin was becoming yellow and scaly, much like the skin on Stephen's hands and feet. "Whoa..." I said again, steadying myself on my new talons. "That's... actually kind of cool."

"Isn't it?" Stephen nodded. "Hey, looks like the same thing's happening to your hands, too!"

"Oh!" I looked down at my hands, seeing that he was right. The yellow "scales" were covering my hands, and my fingernails were curving into deadly talons, much like my toenails had. The changes weren't as drastic as the changes to my feet had been, but they were still pretty interesting. "Okay, yeah... this is really cool," I said. But as I said it, I felt something else... something pushing against the back of my shirt. Before I could even react, though, whatever it was pushed right through, leaving two massive holes in my shirt. I looked behind me... and I saw the wings. My wings.

In disbelief, I ran my new talon-hands through my wings. There was no doubt about it: they were definitely mine. But even so... they didn't look like Stephen's. My feathers were gray, not brown like his were. Did that mean... I was becoming a different kind of bird? As I processed that thought, I noticed that my clothes were starting to feel... uncomfortable. I ran my hand across my shirt, noticing that I could feel more feathers underneath the fabric. It wasn't just there, either; I could feel more feathers spreading across my entire body! I also began feeling something pushing against the back of my pants, before it finally burst from the fabric, revealing a row of massive, gray and white tail feathers. They weren't quite as large as Stephen's, but they were still pretty big.

"Is that it? I think you're just about done." Stephen looked over me, examining the feathers covering my wings and face. "Well, you're definitely not a red-tail, like I am. Hmm... actually, you kind of look like... some kind of falcon? Maybe... a peregrine falcon?"

I looked up at him quizzically. "When did you become such an expert on birds?" I asked.

"Well, I've changed a lot of people in the past five years," replied Stephen. "And I've seen a lot of different birds in that time. You kind of pick up these things when you've been doing this for as long as I have. Oh, and by the way, you might want to get out of those clothes. I'm sure they feel pretty uncomfortable right now."

He was right. With all of those feathers under them, my clothes were feeling a bit impractical. But did I really want to take them off in front of all of these people? I thought for a moment, before realizing that I was being stupid; after all, Stephen wasn't wearing anything. I hesitantly began undressing, thankful that my feathers were there to cover up anything inappropriate. Within moments, all of my clothes were off, and I was left standing there with only the feathers covering my body. "You feeling okay?" asked Stephen, walking over to me. "You look a little... out of it.

"I know," I said. "It's just... this is a lot to wrap my head around. I mean, I'm standing here, not wearing anything... and I'm a bird. This shouldn't be possible, and yet..."

"It's a lot to take in, I know," replied Stephen. "But you get used to it. You learn that there's more to this world than you realize, and then... you accept it and move on. Speaking of which, want to get going? We can talk about this later... like while we're flying, maybe. How about it?"

I nodded. "Sounds good," I said. I turned to my parents. "Mom... Dad... thanks for letting me do this. I appreciate it." After saying goodbye to both of them, I turned to the window, spreading my wings behind me. "Alright... let's do this!" I said. And I jumped out.

Immediately, I felt the wind under my wings, and I felt myself getting lifted up into the air. I took a deep breath, breathing the fresh air around me. I felt... liberated. Like I could do anything. I looked behind me, seeing Stephen flying close behind me. "How does it feel, Lisa?" he asked.

"It feels... amazing!" I cried. And it did. It really was freeing, being able to fly up here in the sky with no one else around. I could see why Stephen didn't want to change back. Of course, I knew I couldn't stay up here forever; I had a life back down on the ground, one that I would need to return to eventually. But while I was up here, I was going to make the most of the time I had. Oh yeah, I thought. I could get used to this.