A TAIL OF NINE

CHAPTER ONE: A Boy, a Fox, and an Ocean

When I was really little, I spent most of my time in a place called Belle Lake and the rest at Mr. Unger's house. Once you've been to Belle Lake, you never forget it. It's where real monsters live. They're not the hide-under-your-bed and ready-to-eat-you kind of monsters ... well, most of them. The lake itself is shimmering sapphire streaked in silver, and framed by every kind of tree you can imagine. Nothing can compare to the beauty of Belle Lake.

After that night, Kon and I moved around a lot. I've been back to Mr. Unger's place some, but not Belle Lake. With a monster after me, it wouldn't be smart to go to where a bunch of them hang out.

No matter where I am, Kon's with me or pretty close by. Even if my parents weren't dead, I bet they woulda abandoned me anyway. Kon never will.

That's how family is. Family isn't about who you're related to. It's about who you end up with and stick up for. It's the ones you're willing to fight for.

Most people in this world don't know that magic is real. They don't know about the things that hide from them. Even though I can't do a single lick of magic by myself, I know about the real world, the one that's a secret.

Some humans have magic in them and can do all kinds of things. I'm just not one of them. What would it be like to be able to do stuff like heal people? Or have a magic all my own and not have to rely on anybody else to get it? At least I have Kon. She told me that once, a long time ago, no human had magic. But then something HUGE happened (none of the monsters we know were around then) that blurred the line between monsters and humans, so that we weren't so separate anymore. To hear monsters talk, and some of them love to, it was a really big deal. After that, people started being born with magic inside them. Imagine being the first human that could do magic! I bet it scared the heck out of their parents!

While we're talking about parents, I should tell you more about Kon, my adoptive mom. She's more than a talking fox. She's a kitsune. When most people hear the word kitsune, they think of T.V. shows or movies about trickster monsters that look like foxes some of the time and people other times. Well, that part is true. Sometimes movies get things right.

But what they don't tell you is that any fox that lives long enough becomes a kitsune. The longer they survive and have adventures, the more tails they earn. Next time you see a fox, stop for a good look. You might just notice that it has a few extra tails. But even a fox with only one tail is special. Many cultures have stories about how foxes get their first tail. According to Kon, before a fox is born, it starts as a spark of flame that refuses to burn-out. This ghost-fire, as Kon calls it, is invisible and eternally curious. Inside it burns the nip of an icy wind and the mischief of the rain when it falls while the sun still shines. It's hard to explain and Kon tells that story way better than I do. Anyway, when the great spirits that roam the world find a purpose for that ghost-fire, something only it can do, they give it its first tail. And then the ghost-fire gets a physical form and is reborn as a fox.

Fox. Kitsune. Kon. Any word you use for her, she's Mom.

Tonight, Kon and I are on the beach. Together. Like always.

When Kon stops to look at me, her whiskers twitch and her eight tails curl around her. She got the silver one, her sixth one, before she met me but won't say how she got it. She earned a seventh one right after she adopted me. And then an eighth one for outwitting a trickster named Coyote when I was around five.

It's December on Topsail Beach. I'm not sure of today's exact date because Kon and I don't keep up with that sort of thing. Even though we're in North Carolina, the breeze blowing across the ocean is still pretty cold. I've always heard that most kids can't lie to their moms without them finding out. It's even harder when your mom's a fox. Foxes sniff out lies like a dog roots out a buried bone. But don't ever let Kon know I ever compared her to a dog.