Page 140 of Tiger's Dream
“Yes, well, in their case, I wiped their memories.”
“Oh. Bet they regret that,” I said petulantly. “Surprised you didn’t wipe mine.”
She gave me a curious look and said, “I told you I would never take your memory.” She blinked rapidly, then asked softly, “Do you wish to forget what passed between us?”
“No,” I answered immediately. “Do you?”
“I do not.”
The relief I felt surprised me. The shock of finding Ana in my arms in the Grove of Dreams had worn off. My dream woman, the one who’d haunted my mind for years, had been replaced by a very real girl. I’d always assumed Kells was the one I’d chased through the woods, kissed, and declared my love to. But now I suspected it had been Ana all along. It made sense. Ana was the only one who had the power to both blind me and hide our scent. Her hair was much longer than Kelsey’s and she was much taller.
“That leaves one last thing,” Ana said, thankfully interrupting my thoughts before they went much further.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“The ravens.”
“Right. Are you going to summon them?”
“Not exactly.”
We stopped on a tree branch high above the ground. The air around us blurred as Ana moved time forward. My stomach lurched and I grunted as my muscles trembled. Two people came into view—me and Kells. Ana whispered, “Now, whatever you do, don’t come in contact with yourself.”
She snapped her fingers, and the magic of the scarf wrapped around us despite the fact that we’d just left the Divine Scarf at the top of the tree. It transformed us into ravens. I flapped my wings with irritation, cawing at Ana, who gave me a bird wink, but she leapt off the branch. Flying came as naturally to her as everything else she did. Her feathers were the color of her hair and they shone in the light as we trailed the people below.
I nearly fell as I flapped awkwardly and beat my wings hard to avoid coming in contact with myself. “Caw!” I said, when I meant to say, “Look out!” Luckily, I landed in an upright position, and then immediately took off, trying to put distance between me and my former self.
Time sped forward in spurts and I used my connection to Ana to find her in the little tree house. She was sitting in a nest there, pecking at some honey cakes. Kelsey’s bracelet and the camera were lying beside her.
What have you been up to? I asked.
Stealing things.It feels gratifying for some reason.Don’t worry, I’ll give them back.They don’t need them right now.What does that box do anyway?
It’s a camera.You take images with it.Remember when I explained them at the circus?
How does it work? she asked as she pecked at the cakes.
Here, I’ll show you. I managed to take an image or two with my tiny bird tongue, which was harder to do than I thought it would be, and showed her the images.
Just then, I heard noise. We peeped down over the edge of the nest. It was surreal watching me and Kelsey scramble into the tree house. If I could have rolled my eyes at the idiot I was making of myself as I swung into the tree house like a monkey, I would have. It was a pretty pathetic show I was putting on. At least Kelsey called me on it.
“Stop showing off, for heaven’s sake. Do you realize how far up we are and that you could fall to a grisly death at any moment? You’re acting like this is a great, fun adventure,” Kelsey said.
I tried to tune the rest out. Clearly, I was making moves on Kelsey, and it was embarrassing to know Ana was right next to me watching it. Unfortunately, it was also eye-opening to see how Kells wasn’t really responding in the way I’d thought she was. Sure, she liked me, but as I studied her from a new perspective, I could see how me being hands-on made her uncomfortable.
Ana was fixated on the show below. If I could have groaned I would.
How did you do this? I asked in an attempt to distract her from the scene below.
Do what? she replied, her eyes fixed on the other me.
How did you change us into Hugin and Munin.I wrote off the orange tiger version of myself as a simple rearranging of color, but the birds?I didn’t think it was possible.
You forget how we changed the young silk maker into a horse.Perhaps you should redefine your parameters for what is possible and what is not.Now shush, Sohan.I want to listen.
I puffed out my feathers, irritated that my not-too-subtle attempt at diversion had failed.
“…I like being a man all the time,” the other me said, “and I like being with you.”
