Joni

Part 2

A few days passed by and Joni grew so fast that it seemed as if she got three years older each day. The wounds healed nicely, there wasn't a mark left to reveal the fairly terrifying experience she'd had as a baby. Now, a young girl, she was starting to show some distinct but fine features. She was a beautiful little creature, with an innocent face, and eyes I couldn't tell the colour of. Her silky-soft hair was golden blonde and long, and she was proud of it. But she was even prouder of the tiny dress of cotton (I think) that I managed to sew with the many 'mistakes' on my poor fingers (I'm lousy with the needle). She was, after all, a girl.

I had some problems in keeping her, though. I didn't dare to leave her anywhere in fear of her being discovered, so therefore I'd carry her wherever I went, whenever I went out. As for food, it wasn't too bad. She didn't eat much: a grain of rice was almost like a banana to her. But what I was doing was saving the crumbs from my meals, and Mom seemed to have eyes everywhere. My plates had never been so clean before! Luckily enough, she believed the first best excuse I could think of: the budgies needed some variation in their diet.

The main problem, though, wasn't mine. It was Joni's, but it bothered me too. One could really see that she felt sad sometimes, that she couldn't talk with me like I talked to her. She understood every word I said, but she could never reply in speech. All she could do was hum – and sing like a bird. But although she couldn't converse, she could communicate, like when I had difficulties with my homework – especially maths. She'd always, one way or another, get the answer across to me. Then I'd look at her with a grateful smile, and she'd be happy.

She couldn't stand it when I was angry or miserable in any way. If I was, she'd be gone for an hour or two. Where she went to, I don't know. Those times made me really afraid, afraid of losing her – I had no idea then, how attached I'd become to her – and I wondered who she really was and how she'd managed to be born out of a bird's egg in the first place. But when she returned, I'd be so glad to see her again that I'd forget all about those nagging questions.

She seemed to have some kind of supernatural power too, from how she'd suddenly vanish and appear elsewhere at times. Like one night when I woke up at about one for no apparent reason. I turned and twisted to get into a position in which I could fall asleep again, and noticed she wasn't in her little box-bed. There would be a haze of light surrounding her where she lay, but now it wasn't there. I sat up hastily but didn't turn on the lamp because I saw the light in the cage and heard the sound of Joni's sweet little voice. But now she wasn't humming, she was singing a song in a language I didn't understand or recognize. There she was sitting, making something out of feathers. She was so mystically beautiful and distant that my breath escaped me. She looked up in fright and vanished before I could say a word. Where had she gone to? I looked around worriedly; but there she was, sleeping in her bed as if nothing had happened. Or had I been dreaming?

I never saw her in the cage again – Micky and Nickie scared her still (but not, apparently, when they were sleeping) – but the day after she was wearing a short dress of light green and yellow and striped feathers, with a borderline of blue that came from the budgies' cheek feathers. She had already grown out of the one I'd made for her, but she kept it as a dear pillow. This one fitted her much better; it was really dainty.

At school, Joni would sit between my neck and collar, in my shirt pocket or plainly in view on my desk. But none of my classmates seemed to notice her; she was like empty air to them. They did notice, however, that I kept more to myself, and they couldn't figure out why. Not until the day when Rose, a girl in my class, lost an earring in the grass at break time. No matter how she and her friends searched, they couldn't find it.

Joni saw the distress, pointed in that direction and vanished. All I could do was to go to the girls and pretend to try to help. Now, where was she? Before I could think any further, Joni was in front of my feet, holding up a ridiculously large gold earring.

"Why, Joni, you found it!" I exclaimed and stooped to pick her up.

That's when Rose turned and saw her. "My goodness, what is that?"

At the sound of her voice, Joni vanished in front of all of us and found herself at the back of my neck.

"Here," I said, returning the earring to the owner but Rose was too... by what she'd glimpsed that she didn't even pay it any attention.

"What did you have in your hand just now, Steve?"

"Nothing."

Now the other two girls were crowding around.

"Come on, you've got something there. I saw it! Have you started playing with dollies, eh?"

Oh no. Me, playing with dolls? This was getting out of hand. I didn't want to be labeled a sissy. My life would be hell! What could I do? "If you promise not to tell anyone else about it, I'll show you. Okay?"

"Sure." Of course, they were ready to agree to anything, but I wasn't convinced.

"Promise."

"We promise."

I sighed. "Come, Joni. Don't be afraid," and I took her out in my hand.

The girls were just gaping at her. It was alive! "Where... did you get it from?"

I couldn't give them an answer. "That's enough," I said eventually and saved Joni from being poked at. She returned to her spot at my nape. "Now remember what you promised," I added.

"Promised?" Rose echoed. The other two girls look clueless.

"Yes! That you won't tell anybody about this!"

"About what? I don't know what you're talking about!"

Funny, they were acting as if nothing had ever happened. I couldn't understand it. But Joni, in her discreet way, assured me that I didn't need to worry.

Up to this day, neither Rose nor her friends have ever questioned me about that incident.

...Continued...

Credits:
Fabulous cover art by FayLane
Thumbelina image courtesy of RealFlamefire @DeviantArt http://www.deviantart.com/art/Thumbelina-5-167548355

Thank you both!