I curled up in a different position, but even though I was tired, I couldn’t fall back to sleep. Something kept nagging at me like an itch I couldn’t scratch… My eyes flew open. The sunrise! My head swung to face the window even though I knew the sun would soon peek over the horizon. The faintest beginnings of the Morning Song had woken me.

I wasn’t going to miss it! I staggered to my feet. Aeria was sitting beside the end table, waiting to carry me to the windowsill since I was too young to fly. I took several steps before pausing and turning my head to regard my still-sleeping brother. He had never seen a sunrise. I couldn’t let him miss this!

I pounced on him. “Dirk! Wake up!”

The blue dragonet growled and tried to swat me with his wing, grumbling, “I was sleeping, Tessa.”

“The sun is rising! Hurry or we’ll miss it!” I said as I ran toward Aeria.

She held out her hands, and I scrambled onto one. My red wings half unfurled as I stared impatiently at the window while Dirk finally caught up and clambered onto her other hand.

Aeria carried us to the windowsill and let us hop onto the wood ledge. The Morning Song was just about to start! I couldn’t wait! I had practiced beating my wings a lot yesterday, so I was hoping I could flap the entire time. Outside, I could see Mom’s and Dad’s still forms sitting on a piece of driftwood, almost as motionless as statues.

The sun shimmered as the call suddenly got stronger. I trilled and started flapping my wings right as Mom and Dad leapt into the air to start their dance. My wing hit Dirk’s, and I shuffled to the side since I was kind of standing in the middle.

I lost track of time as the Morning Song wove through my heart and mind. When the call faded, I was breathing hard and my wings were trembling, but I had done it! I had flapped the whole time! Dirk flopped down, too tired to keep trying. He kept staring at the sunrise as if he couldn’t bear to look away.

The sun cleared the horizon. The Song was over. My heart still felt like it was ringing even though my chest heaved for breath. I really needed to practice more. With a groan, Dirk folded his wings. He looked more tired than I felt.

Aeria cradled him in both hands as she carried him to the end table and placed him under the heat lamp. I tilted my head as I examined the couches and chairs against every wall, but all of them were too far to jump to. The coffee table in front of the couch wasn’t close enough either.

It didn’t take long for Aeria to return, and I whistled a thank-you as she let me climb onto her hand and carried me to the heat lamp. Even though I was tired, I wasn’t ready for a nap. I wanted to practice beating my wings, but the end table was too small. Dirk would object if I accidentally hit him with my wing again.

A thought occurred to me, and I walked to the edge of the end table and peered at the fluffy-looking stuff on the floor. There was lots of room down there. Was I allowed on the floor? I couldn’t recall seeing Mom or Dad on the floor before.

Well, the easiest way to find out was to ask. I couldn’t mindspeak with Aeria or Taureen yet since we weren’t related, but there were other ways of communicating. Lifting my head, I whistled at Aeria before pointedly looking down.

She paused before asking, “You want to go on the floor?”

I trilled an affirmative as my ear tufts perked up in growing excitement. She offered her hand, and I quickly climbed on. When she lowered me to the ground, I jumped off. I squawked and did the hot-potato paw dance as my feet sunk into the weird spongey stuff. This did not feel like sand!

A stifled sound from behind had me glancing back as Aeria raised a hand to her lips to smother a laugh. I also realized I wasn’t completely sinking into the soft stuff. There was something harder under it. I half-unfurled my wings as I tiptoed across the bizarre floor.

I sniffed the fuzzy stuff and snorted at the vaguely dusty smell. Tilting my head, I dug into my mind and examined the hidden memories for their insight. Carpet. What strange stuff. I simply couldn’t fathom why Kymari would cut up bits of string and tie them together just to walk on. Sand was much better.

My steps were tentative as I slowly got used to this odd carpet stuff under my feet. Aeria sat on the floor to keep me company. I couldn’t see Dirk from down here, but I was pretty sure he would be sleeping by now.

The room looked very different from down here. There was so much space, and I didn’t have to worry about falling off the edge! With a warbling chirp, I hopped forward to see how far I could jump. The fuzzy floor was kind of bouncy.

It was fun. I kept bouncing around, seeing how far I could jump. I stumbled a few times as my claws caught on the carpet, but I soon got the hang of it. I could jump much farther than I thought! Just to see how far I could go, I crouched down before leaping with all my strength. My wings popped open and beat down—pushing me farther than what I had managed so far.

My head came up with my new discovery. I bounced around a few more times, each time letting my wings open and push me farther.

Pausing to catch my breath, I examined the coffee table beside me. Could my wings help me get on top of it? I backed up a few steps and took a closer look at how high the table was. The distance roughly matched my last jump.

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I crouched down and readied myself. I had never tried to jump up before. Aeria shifted closer, although I wasn’t sure why. She was more than tall enough to see on top of the coffee table while sitting on the floor.

I took a deep breath before jumping as high as I could. My wings unfurled and beat down as I tried to propel myself upward. The table seemed to be approaching really fast, but I wasn’t quite there yet.

One wingbeat wasn’t going to be enough.

I struggled to get my wings back up before I started to fall. My wings bit into the air once more, sending me closer to the top of the table. I made it! I felt a jolt run through my arms as I grabbed onto the tabletop with my hands—but my feet had nothing but air underneath them!

I squealed in alarm as I started sliding backward. Aeria swiftly moved her hand under my scrambling back legs, letting me scamper onto the coffee table where I lay down and panted.

Apparently, jumping up needed more wingbeats than jumping across the floor.

Aeria got to her feet and picked me up. “I think that’s enough for now. You should have some breakfast and take a nap.”

Food and a nap sounded really good right about now. After my nap, I might have to see if I could sneak over and check if the couch felt like the carpet did…

***

I chased Dirk across the floor and swatted his tail before immediately changing directions.

“Caught you! You’re it!”

“Not again!”

I slowed down as I trotted around Taureen, who was sitting on the floor. Where did Mom go? Was she going to ambush me agai—

I squealed as a gold blur darted around Taureen’s legs, but I didn’t even have time to scramble in a different direction before she jumped on me. Mom grinned down at me.

“Caught you,” she said smugly.

Her ear tufts twitched before she shot into the air. A silver flash followed as Dad used her distraction to his advantage. My game with Dirk forgotten, I stared at them as they zoomed around the room in a spiraling dance. I didn’t know it was even possible to fly that fast!

I was tackled by a blue blob and squawked as I was flattened against the carpet. Good thing it was soft! He scampered away while I tried to get back on my feet. I shook myself and was just about to follow when an odd chiming sound echoed through the air.

Mom and Dad broke off their game. With a hiss, Mom dove down to the end table. Dad landed on a wall perch, craning his neck around the corner.

“Come in,” Taureen called, somehow scooping me and Dirk up at the same time and setting us under the heat lamp.

We had visitors? Despite my disappointment at playtime ending so abruptly, I stood at the end of the table to see who it was. Two Kymari walked in. I vaguely recognized them from yesterday, although I had been dozing most of the time. My view was blocked by a gold wing dropping on top of me.

“Hey!” I protested.

Her wing was too heavy to lift, so I squirmed toward Mom’s side and popped my head out of the gap between her wing and body. She continued glaring at them. The Kymari, on the other hand, were sitting in chairs on the other side of the room and grinning as if something was funny.

Dad glided down and landed beside Dirk, who was already curling up for a nap under the heat lamp. I wiggled out from under Mom’s wing and peeked over the edge of the end table, only for something to grab my leg and drag me back. Mom nuzzled me before hissing at the guests. I gave her a strange look. Why was she hissing at them? She had done that yesterday too.

“I didn’t realize how small they were,” one commented.

“They’ve more than doubled in size since they hatched six days ago,” Taureen replied.

“I presume you’re getting more sleep now that they’re feeding themselves and the begging is easing up?”

“They actually haven’t begged for food today. Now that they’re mobile, they’ve figured out that it’s faster to eat from the food dish than to wait.”

I grew bored with the discussion and scampered past Mom. A wing dropped on top of me again, but I squirmed out from under it. With a laughing whistle, I ran toward the couch where Taureen was sitting. I wondered if it was as soft as the carpet.

The couch was right against the end table, so I clambered across the tiny gap and onto Taureen’s lap before jumping onto the empty cushion beside him. It wasn’t quite as soft as the carpet, but it was much bouncier!

I kept jumping off Taureen’s leg, occasionally flapping my wings. It soon became boring. I walked to the front of the couch and examined the floor. I shifted forward, remembering how I had seen Mom drop down earlier and how she had just spread her wings to slow her descent. Taureen picked me up and deposited me on his lap.

I jumped down onto the cushion, trying to slow my fall with my wings. It kind of worked, but I wasn’t high enough to tell how effective it was. With the floor apparently off limits for now, I lifted my head and took a better look at the back of the couch.

Could I climb up? The fabric was easy to grab onto, unlike the walls or end table legs. I reached up and was delighted with how my claws hooked into it. I began climbing, but before I was halfway up, Taureen picked me up and set me on the cushion again.

Mom flew over and landed on Taureen’s shoulder. After giving our guests a glare, she glanced down at me and tilted her head. I trilled at her, opened my wings, and hopped off Taureen’s legs onto the cushion again.

The Kymari across the room spoke in an amused voice. “You seem to have your hands full there, Taureen. I think someone got into the sugar.”

Taureen replied, “I’m beginning to think so. Food seems to give them energy now, as opposed to making them want to sleep.”

Walking forward, I looked down at the floor once more. With what seemed like endless patience, Taureen picked me up and set me on his lap. He pulled something out of a pocket, and I sat up with a trill of happiness when I saw the small vial of massage oil. I spread my wings pleadingly, hoping that since I was already on his lap, he would oil me first.

He put a drop on his finger and started massaging my shoulders. I sighed happily as I lay down to enjoy the massage.

“They must be going through quite a growth spurt. I assume the oil helps keep their skin from itching?” one of the guests asked.

Taureen nodded absently. “I’m oiling them several times a day, and it has eliminated most of the scratching.”

“I wonder how the wild ones manage. They certainly don’t have access to thrice distilled hydrating oils.”

“I’m not sure. Nor has anyone documented any behavior that might explain it. Their behavior is mostly unknown since the wild ones are so elusive.”

Huh? Why did Taureen sound like he didn’t know? All he had to do was ask Mom. If I wasn’t so close to falling asleep, I could have even looked in my hidden memories and found the answer.

After he finished oiling my scales, Taureen set me under the heat lamp. I snuggled against Mom as she draped her wing over me.

* * *

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