Part-Time Phoenix

Quaint

Melark, Missouri has been my home since the day I was born. The town is small and is pretty down to earth. Crime is fairly low. If it wasn't for Lake Jah, which was created during the 70's, this town would have no major income. We would be even smaller than we are currently.

The closest high school is two towns over. My sister and I go to the tiny private school in town, Lakeview Private Academy. I'm not a prissy girl with her makeup on fleak and glares down her nose judgingly. There are only two girls like that at my school, but even they have a good side at times. In fact, I've never worn makeup, and I only wear jewelry on days when I feel like it. Private school doesn't uplift us to a higher status.

Look at me. I'm completely normal. Sort of...

Thankfully, summer hasn't come to an end yet. I'm not ready to return to school and sit in a plastic chair for hours on end. The fresh air and hot summer sun is a hundred times better then being cooped up inside.

Not only that but this quaint town becomes a summertime buzz. Visitors from up to fifty miles away come to spend their weekends in a lake lodge to enjoy all that the lake has to offer. The town makes profit off visitors by selling t-shirts and trinkets with the lake's name embroidered into them.

Summer is an exciting time for those of us residents. A local farmer's market opens on main street each Saturday morning through June and August. There's usually an annual quilting show in August.

July fourth was last week. It has always been a huge event that draws people in like a magnet. Hundreds of families will gather along Lake Jah's shore and watch fireworks shoot into the air. The fourth is one of those nights that I stay home and avoid night activity.

If you're just now joining my story, then I'll give you a brief definition of my life.

I am Olivia Linn Davis. My initials spell out as O-L-D. I have a sister named Felicity who will be going into fifth grade this coming school year. She's ten years old.

Diesel Summers is my amazing boyfriend. We've been dating since the end of May. Last month him and I along with his best friend, brother, and Felicity went to Pensicola, Florida. Our vacation had an unfortunate turn of events. Some crazy situations happened, but it'd take too long to explain.

The group of us who went on that wild beach trip are close. Not only do we share a special relationship but we also have an uncanny attribute in common.

Each of us are shapeshifters. A shapeshifter, or shifter for short, is someone who has the ability to morph their form into a specific creature. If that in itself isn't freakish enough, we all happen to be able to turn into mythical legends.

My boyfriend has the ability to turn into a black pegacorn. As you would expect, it wasn't easy for him to adjust to that ridiculous fact. Diesel has accepted his ability and fate now. At the moment, Diesel is more pegasus than he is unicorn. During an uncontrollable accident, Diesel's alicorn horn snapped off while trying to escape from a group of crazies. That spiral horn is halfway grown back.

Felcity is a white pumagriff. She's an albino mountain lion with ivory wings. She first morphed in May.

Garret, Diesel's older brother, is a hippocampus. To be short, Garret is a water horse with a horn.

Diesel's best friend and neighbor is Ash. He is special, especially since he's the newest shifter but the most original member of our group. For weeks Ash had yearned to be a shifter like us. He was the one and only human in out tight group. On our beach trip last month, Ash was caught in an explosion. In the fiery accident, Ash became a phoenix. A phoenix is like a giant eagle with wings of fire.

Thankfully, we're all back home from that vacation. I haven't even told you the story of that trip yet it's evident that the trip was disastrous.

Like I said earlier, Melark is a quaint, down to earth town. The traffic is tame. Danger is rare. Scamming is unheard of.

I love my hometown. My secret has always been safe here. It's a good thing I grew up here in this town specifically. There's plenty of woods surrounding Melark which is great for a shifter like me. The skies are free of air traffic for those of us shifters who fly.

Every day and night that I use my gift I remind myself to be thankful for my homeland and its protection.

By the way, the creature I shapeshift into is a griffin. Yeah, that half eagle, half lion creature.

I have one weakness and one special side-ability.

That side-ability requires me to only have three hours of sleep each day. My unfortunate weakness? I have an unexplainable and uncontrollable fear of fire.

Remember Ash, my phoenix friend? Yeah, he's a living flame. Being around him isn't easy when he's in his other form.

There is one way to cease the fear that rips through me at the sight of fire. If Diesel and I hold hands or at least touch each other, my wild fear completely fades.

My life has many aspects that can't fully be explained. For instance, why can we shift, and why into creatures that don't exist in reality today? Other shifters are normal animals found in nature.

Another question is why the group of us all happen to be shifters? Shapeshifters are supposed to be rare and far apart in distance from each other. So how is it that we're all shifters? All of us.

We become shifters for a purpose. Ash just recently became a shifter which means his destiny will likely bump paths with our own.

I've been a shifter since I was nine years old. Many years passed before I ever used my ability to ward off evil. The same could be for Ash.

But then again, Diesel was only a pegacorn for a few weeks before he began using his gift for good.

Back to normal life... This summer has been the best yet. Not specifically because Diesel is my boyfriend or because I have fellow shifters at my side to make me feel as if I fit in. No, the true reason is because I have more people in my life. Diesel, Ash, and Garret have proved themselves to be loyal and amazing friends over and over again.

Diesel isn't a friend though. He's much more. Don't get me wrong. Diesel will always hold a special part of my heart.

My other friends, Cellcy and Wonona, are still my most trusted friend. The two of them don't know of my secret. It's best for both them and I that they aren't caught up in this craziness.

Unfortunately, we've been slowly growing apart since Roxanne left. She was the one who knitted us together as one. Don't think I'm neglecting my friends, but Cellcy and Wonona have been less... communicative since last month. I think they suspect I know more about Roxanne's leaving than I let on. They know she was like a sister to me. If anyone, I would know the reason why Roxanne moved away without a word.

Sadly, I've learned how easy it is for someone to exit out of my life. Roxanne, her brothers, Mr. Wilks, and Suraj are all out of my life. Of course, they'll be in my life again one day, but that will be so many years from now. More than I can estimate.

This is why I am so thankful to have friends that I can share my secret with. It's a bond that can't be shared with anyone who is unaware of the existence of shapeshifters.