Part-Time Griffin

Hey Sister

When I wake up on Saturday morning, I slowly watch the sunlight filter into my room. At first, no thoughts exist in my mind, but memories from last night quickly fill my brain. The alicorn, our alliance, us working together, and how he wished to keep his life in two separate pieces.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as my sister barges into the room saying, "Let's go fishing!"

"Wait.... what?" I stutter drowsily.

Felicity leaves the room as fast as she had entered it. I have somehow forgotten that she adores doing outdoor type things. She loves going camping and hiking. I like doing that stuff too, but she's much more open about her likes and dislikes.

I climb out of the covers and change into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Today is supposed to be very warm, possibly even hot. It's mid-May. I'm looking forward to summer, because when I have no school I can stay out at night later. The bad thing is that warm weather brings bees and snakes. Do you know how many snakes I've had to kill while in my griffin form? A lot.

I find Felicity in the backyard. She's holding two fishing rods and a tackle box. I just woke up, but she doesn't care. When Felicity is ready then you should also be ready.

Every weekend I do something with Felicity. Of course, I'm not always able to, but I enjoy our time together.

As soon as we are settled down in our usual fishing spot, Felicity starts questioning me, "What happened last night? Tell me everything!"

I look out at my bobber that is bouncing on the tiny lake waves. It is only nine in the morning, but the sun is overwhelmingly bright and the hot rays beat down on us.

"Did you really bring me out here so that you could interview me?" I say sarcastically to her.

"No- okay maybe I did, but that's not the point. You look like you just came back from a week long adventure." Felicity rambles on.

I give her a raised eyebrow. An expectant expression grows on her face. Should I tell her that I met the alicorn?

Well, I guess it wouldn't do any harm.
"Okay, so I met the alicorn. He's cool. We're friends." I start.

"What's his name?"

I shrug, "He didn't tell me, 'cause he doesn't want anyone to know he's a unicorn pegasus. So he wants me to call him Walker."

She gives me a horrified stare, "Olivia, that screams suspicious. You told him your real name, didn't you? Why would you do that?"

"I didn't tell him my real name, Felicity. I told him that he should call me Thea." I correct her misunderstanding.

She loosens up a bit, "There wasn't a vandalism, robbery, or any suspicious activity reported last night. Did you find-?"

"No. Neither of us saw anything."

She goes back into suspicious mode, "He was with you last night, and there was no vandalism. Is that just a coincidence or is he lying..? Maybe he is the crazy guy going around town. I'm telling you Olivia. You can't trust every Joe-Shmoe you meet at night."

I start to quickly reel in my fishing line when I feel a jerk on my rod. Felicity finally stops ranting negatively. At the same time she gets a bite on her line too.

My fish begins to fight and tug against the line. I stand from my chair and reel in much faster, and after a few more seconds I can see the bobber coming closer.

I'm let down when I see a turtle attached to where my hook is. I continue to drag him out of the water as I grab a pair of pliers from the tackle box.

Felicity laughs as she pulls her fish out of the water. It flops its tail uselessly as she holds it up in the air pridefully. A triumphant expression covers her face.

I sigh and glance toward the poor turtle who has a hook stuck in his mouth. Don't worry. He's fine, but I'm sure it hurts a lot.

I place my hand on top of its shell as I gently pull the hook out of its mouth. This has happened many times before. Sometimes the hook is stuck too deep, and we either have to cut the hook with wire cutters or leave the hook so that it can rust away on its own.

It's stuck pretty deep, but I'm able to cut the fish hook into two pieces. Once I fully pull it out, I set the turtle back into the shallows. I watch amusingly as it paddles away until it leaves my sight.

"Olivia, look! It's a catfish." Felicity announces from behind me.

I turn and say with a smile, "How in the world did you catch a catfish at this time of the day."

"I don't know." She shrugs happily.

I grab the fish making sure I hold down its bony little spines. It's long whiskers move as its mouth opens and shuts. The fish is about nine inches from mouth to tail tip.

"Looks like a channel catfish to me." I say as I let her unhook it.

Once Felicity takes it off the line, she gives it a curious look as she holds it out in front of her. Then she puts it back in the water. After a few seconds of breathing in water, the fish darts away in a flash.

We normally throw the fish back in, because we have no need for them. Every once in a while we'll try catching enough fish for a whole meal, but only when we have extra time.

"Ready to head back?" She asks me after watching the catfish swim away.

I give her a confused look as I say, "We just got here... You don't want to stay longer? You normally fish for hours."

"Nope. Let's do something active. Like... biking riding. Yep, we should definitely do that." She grabs the tackle box and her chair then starts walking back to our house.

I snatch up my chair and catch up to her saying, "What's with the sudden change of mind?"

She turns to me without stopping, "I wanted to go check something out."

She is so different for someone of her age group. That's a good thing though. Felicity is smart. Very smart.

Maybe she will become what I am.

Whatever I am.

What am I?