All I could do was watch them for a few moments before my dad finally spoke up, “Is this some kind of joke?”

My mom stared at me trying to figure out what was going on and looked to Charlie. “Where is our son, and why did you bring an eagle here?”

Both didn’t believe us. And I felt my heart race in panic.

I was about to attempt something when Shiners asked, “How many eagles have you seen get this close to humans?” he asked.

The complete and utter shock on their faces would have been comical in any other situation as they stared with open mouths at him. After a moment to recover my dad finally said, “Great..now a talking raven, what kind of trick are you trying to pull?”

He looked seemed to try to spot the source of the talking as my mom glanced between Shiners and me.

I finally stepped into the moonlight wrote my name in the snow. I kept looking up to them for a reaction, or recognition. Anything to show my parents believed it was me. A glimmer would have been fine.

It looked to me as legible as Mike. And it seemed, my mom thought the same thing as she gasped. “Hon, that eagle just made the word Mike in the snow with it's beak.”

He looked over at the snow and stared. “That’s ridiculous. An eagle can’t write. It must have been there to begin with.”

Charlie spoke up, “Why play a practical joke like this, and how would I get an eagle and a raven to be so well trained?”

I sighed, looking between them. I knew it would be tough. After all, how could I expect them to accept such a strange thing? Was there a easier way to convince them.

I gave Shiners a shrug. What can we do? Maybe I can tell them something that only I would know?”

Shiners seemed to think about that. It might be a good idea, let me ask. “What if I told you something that only Mike knows? Would that help convince you?” he asked.

My dad scowled a bit, probably still appearing not sure he trusted him. “Well that would be a good start, but what could he possibly tell you?”

My mom looked at me, hopeful. She seemed to be more willing to hear what we were saying. “Yes, anything. This is so..impossible. But then, so is a fully talking raven. Or an eagle that writes.”

I glanced over to Shiners before nodding and thinking, When we were on holiday when I was a kid, I really wanted a comic book. Dad said he would get it for me. And mom went to pay for it, so I took it and walked out of the store not realizing that she needed the comic to pay for it.

Shiners repeated this to my parents. My dad's eyes narrowed, but my mom said, “Wait I know that time he looked so worried that he would get in trouble. Is that you, Mike?” she asked.

My father still didn’t look convinced. “He could have told someone,” he said.

My mom shook her head. “Maybe, but that wouldn’t make sense right now..maybe there is some truth to all of this. If he is our son, then we should take care of him. He must be cold out here in the snow.”

I looked between everyone and then fly-hopped on top of the picnic table so I could see them more clearly. It really is me, I know that this whole thing is insane. It’s insane to me too. My heart was racing again being afraid that they would abandon me, and lose my chance.

Shiners repeated this to my parents before adding, “He doesn’t know how or why this happened, just that it did.”

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My dad glared at Shiners and Charlie. “This is a sick joke. I know something weird is going on, but I will not for a moment believe Thats my son. Come on hon, we're going home.”

My mom looked to me and then my father desperately. “What if it’s real? Wer'e just abandoning our son here.”

“We can talk about this tomorrow. I’m sure he’s just playing a joke and will come home later. On the off chance you are my son, I’m sorry…but I just can’t accept this right now.” and he turned to walk back to the car.

It looked like my mom was going to say something more but stopped moved forward to lean close and whispered so that only I can hear, “If you really are my son, and can understand, meet me at the backdoor of our house after your father goes to bed.”

I blinked but nodded as she ran off. I gave an exasperated mental sigh. Well, that went better than I thought…but still bad. Dad doesn’t believe me, but my mom told me to show up after he goes to bed. So maybe she believes or at least is willing to believe. If I show up, that should hopefully prove it to her.”

Charlie and Shiners looked after my parents before Charlie said, “I wish I could go back to your place, unlike you, I can’t skip school,” he half-joked . “If you're able to, meet me at the fort at lunch. If not I will come to your place after school and see what happened.” he pulled out a hamburger patty. “Here eat this, it’s better than nothing.”

I nodded and gave a weak smile. Thanks for being here, I’m not sure how we would have gotten through all this without your help.

Charlie shrugged. “What are best friends for?” he said before giving my head a light pat and turned to leave.

We watched him wander off. Shiners says. Eat that up and let’s head over to your house. Better to not fly too much in the dark.

I nodded and used my talons to pin the patty on the ground while tearing off bits of it. It was so much easier than the softer ground beef had been. You're welcome to have some too if you want.

Shiners leaned down and took a bite out of it and we quickly finished it off. When we were both done Shiners said, Okay let's head back to your place.

With that, we both took to the air and were soon following the road. It was the easiest landmark. It took me a while to find my place from the air at night. Even Shiners wasn’t completely sure where it was. But in the end, it was the tiny mall near my house that helped me find it, and then the large tree in our backyard.

I thought about the conversation, playing it over and over in my head trying to figure out how I could have convinced them more.

Once there, we flew to the backyard to an old swing set and landed upon it while waiting for my mom to show up. It was within a few feet of the backdoor. What surprised me and was something I hadn’t fully noticed till now, was just…how little the cold bothered my feet. If I had gripped that metal bar as a human I might have gotten frostbite. But as a bird, just a bit of lowering myself down, and my feet were not bothered by it.

We didn’t have to wait too long until my parent's bedroom light went out; my sister's bedroom had been dark for a while. It was shortly after that when the basement door opened up and my mom glanced out and spotted me and shiners. She walked over towards us. I gave a small dip of my head and a very quiet call, almost more of a chirp.

My mom blinked as she whispered, “So you are Mike? I can’t believe I’m entertaining this idea, but you are certainly not a normal eagle. And Shiners, was it?” she asked him.

Shiners nodded, “It is, chose it myself. I’m here to help Mike.”

My mom nodded. “Well, You can use the spare bedroom in the basement to stay in tonight. I will try to speak to Mike’s, I mean your father into letting you stay."

"One thing, are you now an eagle for good?” She asks.

I looked at Shiners and shrugged. We don’t know, supposedly I can turn back human in time, but we don’t know how. But I should be able to turn into a wolf. I leave out the others, for now, That would let me pass off as your pet dog until I can figure out how to turn human.

“Well, that's insane. " She said. " I had hoped this was a short-term thing, though I suppose a wolf is much better than an eagle. I’m not even sure if having an eagle is legal to have as a pet without a license. Though I suppose we could say we were taking care of you for a while.” she says.

Is it okay if Shiners stays with me, at least for tonight? He’s been the one beacon of hope in all of this? Charlie has helped. But he has school and a home to go to. I gave her the best puppy dog eyes an eagle could give, which was probably a bit disturbing.

She blinked and nodded. “Well, I had hoped that You would stay. I’m not sure how my husband will feel, but it’s obvious that you’ve helped my son, and that is something I have gratitude for. Have you two had anything to eat?”

Shiner speaks for himself, “Charlie gave us a hamburger patty before we left. I’m good, though I can’t speak for Mike.”

I thought for a moment and felt the familiar feeling of emptiness in my stomach, even if I had eaten. I could use a little bit of meat. I’ve been eating a fair bit of beef, but don’t know if something is missing in my diet. We will definitely have to figure out what kind of eagle I am and what I need to eat. I know it’s meat, but don’t know if all kinds of meat are good.

“Well, I can get you something; chicken, or beef maybe. Let’s head inside and get you a snack before you sleep,” she said.

Shiners and me dropped to the ground and walked over to the basement door.. It wasn’t too far of a walk to head to the bedroom. Once inside, we found the closet filled with newspapers and the clothes that had been on the hanger bar were removed to give us a place to sleep.

This made me smile. My mom had thought about our sleeping.

My mom held up a finger to her lips as she whispered, “I will get you food, but try not to talk in case you wake up your sister and your dad." she left.

It felt so great to have a warm place to sleep. Even if the basement was often the coldest part of the house, it was still leagues warmer than outside. Well, so far step one is nice. Now just to hope that my dad doesn’t flip out.

The fact that you came here on your own and if your mom assures him about it, maybe he will accept it.

Shiners was about to say more when my mom returned with a plate of cooked chicken, Though there was no sauce on it. “I know cooking ruins food for animals but didn’t want to risk Salmonella poisoning so here you go. Get a good night's sleep.” She set the light to its lowest level, giving enough to see by.

I gave a small wave with my wings to her as she left. I looked at the chicken and began to eat. It’s been a long day. I think I will sleep as soon as we're done eating.

Yeah, I’m pretty sleepy myself. I’m glad this worked out for you, though you still have some work ahead of you to turn into a wolf or learn to hunt.

Shiners dug into the chicken himself and soon we finished it off and flew up to the bar to roost for the night.

My last thoughts as I went to sleep was about finally being home. Maybe as strange as it all was, I might be able to get back to some semblance of normality. The next step was to convince my father and meeting my sister as I am now. And then becoming a wolf.