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Living in the mountains was hard. The Wi-Fi almost always went out, the drive to any grocery store added up to almost half an hour, and the snow piled up ridiculously during the winter.
But Josh didn’t mind. Not anymore, at least. He was eight now, he was past the age of throwing tantrums.
“Joshua,” a voice spoke behind him.
Josh turned around from his window to look at his mother. He was propped up on his windowsill with his arms crossed, sitting on his knees. The woman smiled softly and took a few steps into his room.
“What’re you looking at, baby?” She sat down next to him.
“It’s snowing,” he chirped, pointing at the snowflakes.
His mother followed his finger. She chuckled, “it sure is. School might be canceled tomorrow.”
Josh perked up. His mother laughed. “Don’t get your hopes up, though.”
“Can I go play in it?”
The falcon hummed, turning her attention back to the snow falling outside. She looked back down at him and ruffled his head.
“Maybe after dinner,” she answered. Josh settled with that.
Josh could hear his parents talking in the kitchen, his door open just a crack. They were talking about him and he knew that.
“What do you mean?” His father inquired.
Talia sighed. “He’s almost nine,” she said. “But his primary feathers haven’t sprouted at all. I’m worried they may be stuck.”
Lorell frowned and put his hands on his hips.
“You think they might be…missing?”
“Don’t talk like that!”
“Your grandfather didn’t have his primaries,” Lorell stated. “Maybe it skips a couple generations-”
“We don’t know for sure,” Talia argued back.
Lorell sighed. He put his hands on his wife’s shoulders, giving her a serious look. “We can take him in for an x-ray, he's due for a checkup anyway.”
Josh took a step away from his door, sitting back down on his bed. He bit the inside of his cheek. He lifted his arm and gently touched one of the small feathers poking out of it. They were small…and useless. He gave it a small tug, hoping that it might spread out further. It didn’t.
He’d seen older pictures of his parents when they were his age, and they both had quite large feathers. Much larger than Josh’s currently were.
He tugged a bit harder.
It didn’t get any longer.
Josh kicked his feet in the doctor’s office, one of his sneakers’ untied. He was playing on his mom’s phone to pass time. Talia sat in a chair near the examination table. She was subconsciously biting the skin around her nails.
The doctor walked in. He was a human with dark skin and a shaved head. Josh almost blurted something out about it when he first walked in before his mother stopped him. He wore his lips in a thin line.
Talia noticed his expression and let out a shaky exhale.
“Mrs. Menroe,” he started. “Do you want me to say it bluntly?”
Josh looked up from his mom’s phone. He felt an unfamiliar drop in his stomach as the words started to sink in.
The doctor sighed and handed the pictures to her.
“Josh’s wings aren’t stuck,” he said. “There are no signs of any primary or secondary follicles for them to grow.”
Talia inhaled sharply. She looked at her son, her expression filled with remorse and sorrow. Josh didn’t understand. His wings weren’t stuck, she should be happy!
“Oh, baby,” Talia cried, throwing herself around him. “I’m so sorry!”
Josh didn’t know why he felt so sad. Why was she sorry? Why did he feel like he got hit in the face?
He hesitantly held back onto his mom.
“Josh doesn’t have wings,” someone whispered behind him in class.
“I do have wings!” Josh turned around in his seat. He waved his arm around to show off his weak feathers. “See! They’re just small!”
The kids scrunch their noses. “Those barely count. You can’t even fly with them!”
That felt like a punch to the gut. Josh shrunk a little.
“I-I know…” the hawk pouted. “But chickens can’t fly! And they have wings–”
“Are you a chicken, Josh?”
Josh paused. They were making fun of him. He could tell from their tone. It made his stomach hurt and his chest ache.
“No…” his voice was shaking. “I’m a hawk-!”
“A hawk that can’t fly,” another student scoffed. “That just sounds like a chicken to me.”
Josh frowned. He hung his head low and turned back around in his chair. He crossed his arms over his desk, biting his cheek to keep from crying. He could still hear them giggling behind him.
Lorell tapped away on his laptop. He had to email his boss about the snowstorm they had over the weekend; their truck had been completely stuck in the snow. It was going to take a while to get it out.
“Dad,” Josh stood on his toes to look over the table.
Lorell glanced up from his screen. “Yes, Josh?”
“Can I go play outside?”
His dad looked at him, then out the window. It was snowing a bit and it was dark. He bit his cheek and turned back to his son.
“It’s pretty cold out there,” he argued. “And I can’t go out with you.”
“I’ll be super careful!” Josh begged. “I won’t go far!”
“Why do you want to go out there so bad?”
The boy pointed at the snowflakes again. “I wanna make a snowman.”
Lorell sighed. He rubbed the top of his beak before looking at Josh again.
Josh had a feeling he was going to say no, so he quickly added, “mom told me to ask you.”
His dad raised a brow. He huffed. “Alright. But stay by the window so I can see you.”
Josh grinned. He skipped to the front door, grabbing his boots and coat. He pulled his beanie snug over his head and his gloves tight over his hands. He bounded outside, jumping into the powdery snow.
It was cold, his dad was right about that, but Josh knew how to keep himself warm. He hopped around, grabbing a handful of snow and started piling it up.
There was a soft sound.
Josh looked up from his small snowball. He turned his head to look for the sound. There shouldn’t be any cougars around, not with the snowstorm at least.
He heard it again.
It was like a flute, or some sort of quiet instrument. But it also sounded like an animal. Like a chirp of some kind.
Josh saw something in the trees close by. Bright blue eyes were watching him. The hawk froze.
The eyes made the sound.
Looking closer, Josh could see the white and light blue swirling around it behind the trees. As he continued staring at it, the strange mist seemed to make the vague shape of a wolf. It looked ethereal. It looked magical.
Josh tilted his head. The wolf tilted its.
The boy smiled. He took a few steps towards the ghost creature. It continued watching him.
The wolf turned and bounded through the trees.
Josh looked back at the window of his house. His dad was still on his laptop, his mom was probably still upstairs. The hawk turned towards where the wolf disappeared.
He took a step forward. Then another. Then he jogged after it.
“Hello?” Josh called out. He had gotten far in the woods looking for the magical wolf. If he went much farther he wouldn’t recognize where he was anymore.
“Helloooo?” he repeated. “Wolfy? Or foxy? Whatever you are-”
Nothing. It was silent.
Josh frowned, slumping his shoulders. He didn’t feel like getting mauled by a bobcat or something equivalent looking for some ghost.
With a sigh, Josh turned on his feet and started walking home. He was getting cold anyway.
He started to hear voices as he neared his cabin. He slowed his steps. They didn’t sound like his parents.
Josh poked his head out from one of the trees. He saw the back of his house…and his heart dropped.
“LET ME GO!” Talia shrieked, trying to rip herself away from the armored characters.
“TALIA!” Lorell yelled. He was silenced with a sharp hit to his jaw.
Josh could see the people in armor. They were in all black, with some red accents throughout their outfits. Eye motifs were embroidered into the back of their uniforms. There were about eight of them in total.
One of them held a bottle with a tissue on the top. Josh had seen that in movies before. They brought a lighter up to the paper, letting it burn, before throwing it into the doorway of the cabin.
Josh couldn’t move. He just watched as his home burst into flames, the fire spreading rapidly despite the snow falling on top of it. His parents cried out, attempting to fight their captors.
“Quiet,” one of the guards snarled. She slammed Lorell’s beak against the porch railing.
Josh’s parents were tossed into the snow. They yelped as embers from the house fire landed on their backs. A soldier lifted what looked like a sword, red sparks enchanting the blade.
Talia looked up from the powder. She saw her baby boy in the trees. She gave him a soft look.
“Run,” she mouthed silently.
Josh didn’t have to see what happened to know the snow became stained with someone’s blood.
He was sobbing. His tears stung against his cheeks from the biting cold. His heart was hammering and his throat burned. He couldn’t breathe. It was getting hard to stand.
Josh didn’t know where he was. He didn’t look around. He had just ran.
He wanted his mom. He wanted his dad.
His knees felt weak. He slowed down, unable to keep up his stamina. He was cold and he was tired.
Josh’s legs grew sluggish. He was dragging his feet by now. He could barely see, his vision blurring every so often. He couldn’t feel his fingers or his beak. His eyes felt heavy. He was so tired.
The snow enveloped him as he collapsed. He tried pushing himself up, but he was too weak. He barely managed to roll onto his side.
It was snowing more heavily now. The flakes kissed the top of Josh’s beak and accentuated his fluttering eyelashes. He couldn’t feel how bad he was shivering.
He heard a faint sound. A familiar sound.
Josh turned his head just enough to see something watching him. The same glowing blue eyes slowly grew closer. It let out the same trill.
His breathing grew more labored as the spirit approached him. He couldn’t feel his limbs. He could barely stay awake.
The wolf tilted its head. Josh could see now that it really was a spirit. Its paws seemed to faze through the snow. It left no prints, as if it was the snow itself. The air around it made its form.
It leaned forward, its “snout” pressing against his beak. Josh didn’t fight back.
Before he let his eyes close, Josh saw the dark forest illuminated with a faint blue glow and he felt an abnormal shudder jolt through his body.
“Hey, bud,” a voice said. “You with me?”
Josh’s eyes fluttered open. He found a man standing over him, something in his hand. He still couldn’t move his arms, but he felt a little less delirious.
“He’s awake,” the man said over his shoulder before looking back down at Josh. He adjusted the blanket draped over the bird. “Can you hear me, kid?”
Josh parted his mouth in an attempt to speak but couldn’t make much sound. He just nodded weakly.
The nurse hummed. He stood up from his bed and walked over to another person evaluating in the corner. Josh couldn’t hear what they were saying, he just continued looking around as he regained his senses.
A monitor and an IV were standing next to him. As he became more conscious, Josh could tell now that he was in a hospital room. There was a heater propped up a little away from him, blowing gentle warm air on his body.
“Mom,” he whispered. “Dad…where are they?”
The nurses looked at him, a bit surprised to hear him talk. They exchanged glances.
“Do you know what happened to you?” one of them asked.
Josh thought for a moment. “It…was cold. I got lost. I…”
The monitor started beeping a bit faster as he recalled what happened. His eyes widened a bit.
“They…they hurt them…” he said shakily. “They destroyed my house…they–they killed my–”
Josh felt a hand on his shoulder before he could begin to panic. He looked at the male nurse.
“It’s alright, bud,” he reassured. “You don’t gotta talk about it right now. Focus on staying healthy. Can you tell us your name?”
The hawk looked up at him. He took a few slow, deep breaths. He still felt cold…but not nearly as much. He decided to keep the wolf spirit out of anything he would possibly tell them.
“Josh Menroe,” he answered.