Hope is the Thing With Feathers

Chapter 4

Apologies for the delays! I've been incredibly busy and having a rough semester for various reasons, but I'm hoping to get back on track during this spring break. In more exciting news, 11 days until New Horizons! Who's ready? I've got the game preordered and can't wait :)

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Fuzzle cradled a framed picture in her wing, which she stared at in admiration. A spare tear managed to slip down onto the glass.

"Look how small you were. At only ten years old," Fuzzle said with a choked sob.

Blathers brushed his wing against his forehead and sighed. "Mom, please don't be embarrassing, especially at graduation tomorrow."

"She'll be embarrassing for sure," Celeste assured her brother as she fetched herself some morning coffee.

Blathers still didn't care much for the taste, but it had become a necessity as his years in grade school, and eventually high school, continued on. Now, it was his last day of high school, and as Blathers fastened his green bowtie across his neck, Celeste only managed to giggle at him.

"What?" Blathers asked.

"Will you really be wearing that to school?"

"As it is my last day, yes," Blathers answered.

"This is why you're the biggest nerd at school," Celeste teased.

"You're not much better," Blathers retorted.

"Enough, you two," Orbit grumbled. "You're interrupting my morning paper. Blathers, wear the bowtie if you want. If you want to go to school looking like that, then it's your choice. You're an adult now."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Blathers exclaimed.

Fuzzle gave the two generous pecks as she led them out the door and wished them a good last day. Blathers stepped outside under the warm sunlight and grinned to himself. He had worked hard to get to where he was today, and he would savor every moment of it. That is, if his younger sister didn't ruin his chance.

With Blathers being eighteen now, that meant Celeste was fifteen. While Blathers was finishing up his last year of high school, Celeste was merely completing her first year. She had found her place in school quickly, and as much as Blathers loved archaeology, Celeste was a science whiz at heart. The times they had gone up to the roof as chicks had progressed in Celeste taking Blathers outside these days and pointing out to him each constellation, as well as the symbolism behind it.

"You can't make fun of my bowtie, if you still wear that bow in your feathers," Blathers complained to his sister.

"But I've worn this red bow every day. It's only recently you've started wearing that disgusting accessory," Celeste replied. They took a few steps further, then Celeste paused. "Say, let's race to school."

"By flying? You know Mom and Dad don't like us doing that," Blathers murmured.

By the time both had learned how to fly, the house had turned into a chaotic wreck, and there were a few shattered vases that had led the both of them into time-outs. Now, flying was strictly forbidden to outdoors, and even then, Blathers and Celeste didn't practice much. It was not so often for birds to fly freely, especially with pedestrians and traffic. Plus, Blathers liked savoring his walk.

"For old time's sake," Celeste suggested.

Blathers let out a sigh and decided to give his sister the benefit of the doubt. This would be the last time they walked to school together as it was, so he spread his wings and got a head-start. They flew low, but not so low their claws managed to scratch the heads of passerbys. Blathers laughed as Celeste tried to catch up with him, but as he came to a halt at the school steps, it seemed his older feathers were still no match for Celeste.

"No fair. I'd been training to beat you," his sister complained.

"I still win," Blathers teased. "And with that, have a good day," he said as he headed into the halls.

The seniors were overly joyous today, of course. Blathers was tempted to join into the excitement, but he didn't want to get into too much trouble, knowing the reputation of senior pranks. So he attended each of his classes and paid attention diligently, even though most of his classes today merely existed to hand back a few papers and for the teacher to give a speech about the responsibilities of adulthood.

Blathers was stopped by his history teacher, another owl, like himself, with gray and white feathers and yellow eyes. Blathers had grown quite with his teacher, considering his teacher had even written a letter of recommendation for Blathers.

"Today is your last day of high school, huh?" the teacher, Mr. Grayson, asked.

"It is. Thank you for having me in your class this year. I very much enjoyed it."

"And you are all set for college?"

Blathers nodded, thanking Mr. Grayson again for his letter of rec, and relaying to him of how in only the past month he had heard back from his top-choice college, a prestigious university not too far away that had a renowned archaeology program.

"I'm finally achieving my dream," Blathers told his teacher. 

"I'm sure you'll do great things," Mr. Grayson assured him with a tap of feathers against Blathers' shoulder. "Nice bowtie, by the way."

"Thank you!" Blathers exclaimed, glad someone could appreciate his fashion choices.

Mid-day, the hallways were crowded. With only a few classes left, Blathers was looking forward to eating his last lunch with a few friends. That was, until he opened his locker, and a rush of mantises flew out. Blathers let out a screech and flew into the air, something he rarely did indoors.

Celeste was rushing after him in an instant, shooing the bugs off and picking off any from her trembling brother. The bystanders laughed before they were shooed off by a teacher who checked to make sure Blathers was okay.

"I'm sorry," Celeste told Blathers. "I tried to make it in time once I heard some of the seniors were shoving bugs in your locker."

"It's all right," Blathers complained. "They're all gone now, right?"

"Yes," Celeste assured him.

Blathers supposed it wouldn't be the last high school without one more prank. Always the nerd in school, Blathers tended to be picked on, but once the bullies had learned of his fear of bugs, he couldn't go one month without an incident. It started innocent, with someone placing a ladybug on his wing, or someone sneaking a beetle into his lunch, until then, like today, live bugs were placed in his lockers and belongings for the enjoyment of others around him.

"I sure hope no one hears of my entomophobia in university," Blathers complained miserably.

"I think it'll be hard to hide it," Celeste teased. "Hopefully your future roommate will be as unafraid of bugs as me. Though they probably won't like the stars nearly as much."

"That's true," Blathers said.

Getting over his scare, Blathers only managed to pick at his lunch before resuming his classes. He was on the look-out for even more bug pranks, but it seemed the coast was clear, and when the bell rang at the end of the day, he walked out triumphantly and also looked back fondly at the place he had grown his education over the past few years. He knew that very soon, he'd be looking at the steps of a quite larger building, with Latin phrases carved into the sides, and perhaps a statue out front.

His family had a celebratory end-of-the-school-year meal in the evening. Blathers could barely sleep that night, as he thought of the day to come. And soon enough, it had arrived.

Gathered on a field, under the warm sun, Blathers accepted his diploma and threw his cap into the air with the other graduates. There was still much more to study, much more to learn, and many more steps he would have to take to fulfill his dream, but in this moment, he was thankful to have come this far.