Panic was my first reaction as I fell. My stomach was doing flips as the ground came towards me. The only thing that managed to save me from serious injury was me flailing my arms about.

I managed to slow my plummeting with my confused arm flaps enough that when I hit the snowbank the wind got knocked out of me and put an end to my squawking. Gasping for air, I saw that none of the areas around me looked familiar. I lay in a small, open field near a couple of trees. Once I managed to recuperate my breath, I was on the verge of panicking from the strangeness of it all. While I knew it wasn't a dream, the more rational part of me still doubted it. I remembered the dream, and how it went from a dream to what seemed to be reality.

Getting up, I Looked closer at myself. I finally noticed something that didn't feel right about my nose, like something was stuck on it. I could see past it, but it was definitely distracting. When I tried to touch it with my hands, I realized my arms didn’t bend right and were somehow against my back. With a bit of effort, I brought my arms forward and was shocked to see feathers sticking out of what appeared to be wings.

I jumped back in shock at the sight. What was going on? My confusion slowly gave way to fear and concern. That would certainly explain being in the sky a few moments ago, but how….why? It was all confusing me as I tried to shake myself awake, even trying my trick of thinking hard to wake up, but that failed. I started to remember more of the dream, including meeting the eagle. Was I now like her, or some other kind of bird? The limited view of my wings didn’t tell me much. I was able to spot some feathery legs that disappeared from view into the snow. After partly pulling one of my legs out, to my surprise at the end of my foot were sharp talons, similar to the ones that had cut me in my dream.

My concern grew. It was still light, but I could see the brightening of orange in the sky. I looked down at my wings and up at a tree nearby and thought, okay, just how hard can this be to get into a tree? With a test of my wings, they seemed to work fine despite the fall. I gave them a hard flap and managed to get about half a foot into the air before falling. I tried a few more times but couldn’t get much higher.

I heard a familiar voice call out from behind, “Try running.”

I instinctively ran and flapped my wings in fear. This sounded much easier than it was when in snow, but I managed to take off after a few flaps. I soon found myself flying in the direction of the tree I had wanted, and reached out to grasp the branch only to grsp it and kept moving forward. This of course caused me to fall forward while holding onto the branch until I was upside down. I finally let go, dropping the last few feet to the ground.

I groaned and looked up in confusion as a raven swayed into view. It looked down at me as it spoke, “Better…but not a very good first try.”

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I just stared at it as if it was an animal talking to me…which coincidentally was exactly what it was. I groaned, ‘you can talk?’ Well that's what I tried, but it came out more like, "Squawk!” This caused my nares to heat up in embarrassment.

The raven shook its head as I heard it again, this time more like how I heard the voices in my dreams. You don’t have the means to speak as you used too, try thinking something and direct it towards me, it said.

Sighing, I picked myself up and tried again. Do you mean like this? I asked him as my head started to swim and I wondered just how much weirder this day could get.

With a few clicks of his beak he noded. That's it, you’re a bit hard to hear but I can get the gist, just keep practicing. He walked around me curiously. You are an eagle, but I’m not sure what kind.

I just shrugged, I’m not even sure why I’m like this, let alone what kind of eagle I am, I went to sleep this afternoon…dreamed of becoming an eagle, and next thing I know I’m falling out of the sky. The absurdity of what was going on was not lost upon me. But what else could I do? I expected to become an animal maybe, but an eagle? Not that I was entirely complaining, the idea of being an animal especially an eagle had always appealed to me, just never expected it to happen. I finally tried again after a few moments, So….why am I an eagle, and how come you can talk? Are you like me?

The raven shook its head. No, I’m not a human that ended up a bird. I’ve always been a bird, just somehow smarter than other birds. Though I did encounter one like yourself a few years ago as it was passing through. Taught me a few things. You are what he called a shape-shifter. You can take on animal forms…but the human form is something you will have to rediscover in time.

Musing this over in my head, I finally nodded. But I’m just a boy…I was asleep, I didn’t do anything. I did dream of an eagle calling me her son and then telling me to become this. It took a second to realize the implications of what he said. Wait, I can’t turn human again?

The raven shrugged. Well, that’s what I was told by someone I met years ago. But I’m here to help you. I’ve sensed you for a while and wanted to help.

Remembering the feeling of something being close the last few nights, it took me a few moments to realize that it was likely him. Our meeting wasn’t random, but something important. Maybe my ‘mom’ had set this up. I nodded. Well I’ve been feeling like something was out there, maybe that was you. Thinking about being called son had made me start to worry again. If this wasn’t something that would be fixed quickly then what was I supposed to do? Should I go home and tell my parents and hope they understand,? Or live out here? It all felt like a dream. But too many of the things that I was feeling seemed real. Whether it was a reality or a dream, I should treat it as real.

Seemingly knowing what I was thinking, the raven clicked his beak again. I can maybe help you go home if you think your parents would accept what happened. I have learned to speak human, and can probably convince them who you are.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. It’s probably a good idea, after all. If I take too long to get home, they will be worried. And worst that could happen, they don’t accept me until I can turn human again. This made me a little bit scared. Sure I could return. maybe in time if I got my human form, but how long will that take? And what could happen in that amount of time?

He nodded. Well, before that happens, you first have to learn to fly and be like an eagle, Which hopefully shouldn't take too long to do. The next thing will be how to land in a tree. Oh and my name is Shiners. Picked it out myself.

I groaned and hoped that this was going to go better than before. I couldn’t help but laugh at his name, so typically raven. My name is Mike, and hope we will be friends.