Ivy Laine Is Not Amused

Day Seven

I flapped my wings impatiently. "Will you two hurry up? You just need your phones really. We didn't pack anything else important." They hurried towards me, and I bent down for my dad to climb on my back. "Where am I going to sit?" Parker asked, walking back around towards my front. "I'm going to hold you." The look on her face was payment enough for what I was about to do. I held my older sister close to me as I lifted off the ground with surprising ease. I flew through the air as fast as I could, my dad giving directions every so often.

Eventually we came upon a small rural town surrounded by towering oaks. I landed with a thump on the grass, Parker toppling onto the earth. I dropped my dad softly down and folded my wings behind me. This was certainly the best transformation so far. Looking back on it, only the tail had been that much of a burden, other than the social catastrophe that was the bat snout. The rest were actually kind of cool. But there was no time to dwell on the past. My mother was closeby, and I needed to find her. We ran through the sleepy town with ease until arriving at a townhouse on the outskirts. Parker knocked on the door, me right behind her, dad bringing up the rear. A woman in her late thirties opened the door. She was wearing a faded sundress and large beaded earrings. She beamed at the two of us until she saw our dad. "Arman." She said with an undertone of dislike. "Constance." He replied with a hint of regret. This woman could not possibly be an evil witch.

She invited us all in for tea, and Parker explained the situation we were in. I would have done it, but I had always been uncomfortable with talking to people, especially when I didn't know them well. The woman (I wasn't yet open to calling her mom or Constance) leaned back in her chair as my sister spoke, an amused look on her face. When she finished, the woman turned towards me. "Oh sweetheart, you've got it all wrong. I didn't curse you out of spite, I cast a harmless spell so that you could experience the changes of adolescence with a bit of humor and fun to it instead of the usual pimples and voice cracks." I was quite taken aback. Then I realized that I hadn't had any of the normal symptoms of being a teenager like Parker had. Maybe this woman wasn't so bad after all. "I hate to break it to you dear, but your father probably told you it was a curse because he couldn't bear to tell you that he was wrong." The man in question had taken a convenient bathroom break halfway through Parker's retelling, and was not back yet. "If you didn't hate any of us, why not come visit me? You would have gotten joint custody, right?" The woman sighed. "Unfortunately no. You are not legally my daughter. But you can still come over whenever you like, it'll be easy if you choose to keep those flappers of yours." She winked impishly and poured more tea for Parker. "What do you mean, if I choose to keep them? They'll go away overnight, right?" She laughed goodnaturedly and turned back to face me. "Well you have magic in you don't you? Those symptoms only went away because you wanted them to. The schedule was merely a precaution for if you wanted to change your mind." I was flabbergasted. Me, controlling magic? Maybe I wasn't so inept after all. I assured the woman that I would visit, and she gave me a hug and a promise that she would teach me some magic. At this time, my dad walked back in. Parker stood, assuming that it was time to go. The woman stood as well, and asked the two of us to go out to the backyard. We obeyed, knowing that she would want to talk to our father. When we got out there, we found a Jeep waiting for us. Parker checked and saw that the gas tank was full, then climbed in the passenger seat. I climbed in back and we waited for dad. During our wait, she spoke. "So I guess you're going to be learning magic now, huh." I nodded. "I'll ask her if you can learn too." She laughed. "Nah, it's alright. I've got enough on my plate." We were quiet for awhile, then she spoke again. "Are you mad at dad? I sort of am, and I don't like it. It feels wrong." I told her, "I'm not mad necessarily, I'm just disappointed that he didn't tell me everything up front. And that he lied. But I forgive him." "Why?" "Because he was guilty and scared of me being mad at him. So he lied."

Soon after my statement, our dad walked out to the Jeep and got in the front seat. He started the engine, put one hand in the wheel, and said "Lessons are on Friday afternoons." And we drove off, my feathers rustling in the wind.