Anima: The Bird House

Chapter 4

They were right. Living with the tail was a pain, but eventually, you got used to it. I spent a few days getting it caught on and in everything. From doors to knick-knacks on tables, nothing was safe from me. Add the irritation of knocking everything over to the itchiness of the feathers in my pants, and it was not a fun time. I ditch the pants and wear my boxers around when I am the only one in the house. This made it quite a bit more comfortable and easy. However, I try to avoid windows.

So that's standing solved. But sitting is a new game for me. There is not a single chair in my house that I can sit with my back against. I can sit on chairs sideways or sit on the armrest of the recliner/couch. But nothing that I can lean my back against. Nothing we have has anything close to a design that would accommodate me.

Even laying down is a multi-step process. First, I have to sit with a slight lean forward. Then I lay onto my side and rolled into place on the bed. This is the only way I can find that gets my tail feathers to lay flat and straight against the bed. But it is what works and my only real option now. At least the weird dreams have stopped. Honestly, I don't seem to have any dreams now, and it's just eyes closed at night to eyes open in the morning.

I visited the AA crew the day after Jeremy arrived. Everyone was going about their typical day. Jeremy was quiet, though, which is different from how he was in the short time I knew him before the recent changes. It seemed his mouth never stopped moving. Now, he never would even try to say a word. Instead, he would only answer yes or no questions with a nod and point his hands to anything else. Anything beyond that required either texting or pen and paper. It's just odd to see someone trying to ask for something when they have no words. Sometimes it seems like he gets left out of conversations without anyone realizing it.

Sometimes when he was having difficulty getting his point across. He would repeat whatever motion or gesture again and again. When someone would finally guess right, you could hear him make those same odd sounds. It was his only way of making his excitement known when he was finally understood. Like a game of charades but never-ending. Everyone was trying their best to accommodate him. But at times, it could be twenty minutes before you realize the simple thing he was trying to say.

After talking with Nash, I learned he is essentially the designated person to go out in public. Matthew, Damien, and Rylie just stay put in the house. Nash almost thought that maybe Jeremy could assist with errands. But then, of course, what happened, happened. He thought that perhaps it would be OK to ask Jeremy to help with a task that wouldn't require communication like that, especially in public. I offered to help him do running, and he didn't hesitate a moment on that offer.

It's been a week since the changes started. Nothing else has changed, and everything seems to get into a groove. Nash picked me up from my house the following day, and we made our way to the local supermarket. Nash was an odd case when it came to his changes. Most people seemed to have had their modifications spread across their bodies. Not Nash, though. He was short, for sure, but he still looked like an average human. That is if a normal human had the bright red and black head of a cardinal. Down to the bottom of his neck were feathers, up his face, and to the top of his head. In the dead center of his face was a bright orange beak. His voice was slightly affected by it, not having lips and all, but his speech was surprisingly clear considering.

"Maybe I can leave the talking to you," he said with a chuckle. "They see me often enough as it is. Maybe a new face with me will help a bit."

"Is there anything special you have to do to go out? Or do you have to do anything differently?" I asked him.

"Eh, not really. Some people just like to treat you a bit differently. Nothing awful, but they are not good at hiding it," He said with a laugh.

"Well, I haven't been out really since.... This," I said, looking back at my tail.