Crows of a Feather

21. I experience really bad growing pains

I watched Ms. Cormier cook up a potions for at least an hour. Because of the curtains blocking all light I wouldn't have been able to tell with my human eyes, but I knew the sun was setting. Elvira sat on a kitchen counter watching Ms. Cormier as well, and every now and then grabbing a cookie from an open glass jar. (After the fifth one, Ms. Cormier started slapping her wrist with a wooden spoon every time she tried.)

Eventually Ms. Cormier poured a spoonful of the potion on an off-white saucer. It probably looked different to humans, but I saw it as a purple-ish colour. Elvira sniffed it suspiciously. "What's in it?" she asked.

"You don't want to know," Ms. Cormier said. I had a feeling she meant: He won't drink it if he knows. "There are some clothes in your old room. They should fit. And here... is something for the scratch."

Ms. Cormier scooped up a spoonful of another potion. This one had turned into a thick paste that smelled like the herbs in Fiona's garden. She put some on another saucer and gave it to Elvira.

"Alright. Come on, crow," Elvira said. I flew clumsily onto her shoulder again, and we headed upstairs.

When we got to Elvira's old bedroom, she let me hop on the bed next to some neatly folded clothes. She put the saucer down as well and before she left, she said: "I'll be waiting outside. Let's hope it works."

Yeah, I hope so too, I wanted to answer. I didn't want to doubt Ms. Cormier's potion brewing skills, but a part of me worried that I was stuck as a bird for the rest of my life. Flying was cool and all, but I had more important things to do. My family and friends were on the line. I didn't want to think about what was happening at the Tribune Tower while I was on the other side of the city, a boy in the form of a bird.

Drinking as a bird was harder than one would imagine, but once I got the hang of it I managed to get a few drops in. At first, nothing happened. Then there was an odd bubbling sensation in my throat and stomach, like I imagine a can of coke would feel when it gets opened. (If a can of coke was sentient, I guess.) I felt hot, and then incredibly cold. Freezing cold, like I was going to become an icicle and never move a finger (or a claw) again.

Out of the blue, I started growing. It's hard to describe how it felt. Do you remember when you used to get growing pains in your legs at night, and nothing helped and you just cried against your pillow until you fell asleep? Yeah, it was like that, except with my whole body and a hundred times worse.

The room was quickly filled with black feather rain, so much of it that I could not see anything else. And once they settled, I was back to normal, buck naked and sitting on the bed with my bare feet against the cold floor. My head spun a little and the world looked dull, but other than that, I didn't feel bad.

I took the other potion and rubbed it on the wound that had ripped open during my transformation back to human. It was deeper than I had thought. It stung at first, but felt nice and cool after a few seconds. The pain didn't go away, exactly, but became so dull it was easier to ignore. I made a mental note to treat it better once I had time.

I dressed up. The clothes had likely belonged to Elvira once, and they fit just fine though I had to roll up the pant legs a little. They were black ripped jeans with a chain attached. The top was a faded Black Sabbath shirt with its sleeves messily cut off. It made me feel very insecure about my skinny arms, so I was happy there was a black zip-up hoodie as well.

The underwear and socks were just some cheap store-brand ones and a little bit too big. Next to the bed were a pair of black leather boots, a lot like the ones that Amelia wore a lot of the time. I preferred Converse, but I wasn't going to complain.