<Chapter Five>

         Two strong arms grabbed me and dragged me down a steep, narrow, dirt hallway. I lost my footing and stumbled. The person roughly picked me up to my feet again and forced me to move at a faster pace.
         I wanted to cry out, but my throat was clenched in a knot. Tears of fright welled up in my eyes, but the wet droplets did not cascade down my burning cheeks.
         I heard cries of others, weeping and wishing for their own deaths. I saw humans like myself in cages of metal and steel, trying to free themselves.
         Then, I was dragged upon a pier, waiting in a line with other, resisting humans. At my turn, my head was thrust down, breaking the surface of the pool into small ripples, while a creature inched its way into every crevice of my brain...
 
         I bolted upright, breathing heavily. My face streaked with tears. I glanced over at my electronic clock, and the glowing green numbers read 2:27 AM.
         I lied down again, and realized that the pillow was soaked, from my tears. I flipped the pillow over and remembered the nightmare; a nightmare that could only be about the Yeerk pool.
         I didn't try to fall asleep again, for fear that the nightmare might return. So, instead, I got up and opened a window.
         And I began to do something I had only done once before. I was going to morph.
         I decided not to go around at 2:27 AM (excuse me, now it's 2:28 AM) as a tiger or a lioness...and definitely not as Rachel. So, I concentrated on the redtailed hawk.
         At first I felt a shrinking sensation, like falling and never actually hitting the ground. I tried to let out a yelp, but my mouth had already changed too much. My mouth grew out in front of me, turning hard, and wicked. I could actually see my nose and mouth transform!  My new beak became sharp at the end, perfect for ripping the flesh off of small prey... sorry! When you morph, you don't just get the body, you get the brain of the animal too. So, that's why "I" ended up thinking about eating small prey.
         I looked over at my arms, and there were feather patterns drawn on my skin, as if someone had sketched them in with a colored pencil. Immediately after I saw the patterns drawn, they became three-dimensional.
         Soon after, my morph was finished.
         I flapped my wings hard and flew toward the window I had left open. I sat on the edge of the windowsill and realized exactly how high up my apartment really is.
         I clumsily jumped outside and fell.
         <Yaaaaa haaaa!> I called, hoping no one heard me. I fell, closer and closer to the ground. Man, was I glad to have the hawk brain within my own. I no clue how to fly.  So, I slipped back and let the hawk's mind surface. I quickly pulled out of the dive and soon soared up and landed on the roof of someone's house.
         I realized that the "amazing eyes" of the bird that the others had talked about was not really true, or at least not in the dark. I decided I couldn't fly around with these eyes in the middle of night for very long. I had to acquire another morph.
         I tried to think of the direction of Cassie's barn was from my apartment.  I flapped hard in the dead air, and realized I that sooner or later I needed to rest. I fluttered to the nearest maple tree and landed on one of it's tallest branches.
         I calculated the distance and figured that about 4 or 5 miles North-west would get me to her house/barn. I took off my perch and flew-- resting every five to ten minutes.
         Finally, I reached her place.
         I shed away my feathers and my beak, and walked on my human legs as silent as I could to the barn door. I opened the door slowly. I tried to be as quiet as I could, but I felt as if you could hear my heart beat a mile away. I slipped inside. Dispite my attempt to be silent, I bumped into something and some (poor) animal's cage fell to the floor with a racket.
         I froze. I looked out the window in the barn and into a window in the house. I saw a light flick on quickly.
         Uh oh! What will I do?! I asked myself. Maybe I could morph.. would there be enough time? I decided not to ponder that question very long, I just stuck my hand into the nearest cage and tried to acquire a grey squirrel.
         I tried to concentrate, but I doubt I did. When I saw a flashlight moving around outside, I let go of the squirrel, cursed under my breath, and got into an empty horse stall. I leaned up against the door... and tried to concentrate. Nothing happened. Why am I not morphing? What's wrong? I must've pulled away from that squirrel too soon!
         Excuses raced through my mind on why I was there. Each one seemed very, very lame. I began to shake. I prayed that whomever had now entered the barn would not check this stall.
         I heard footsteps coming closer and closer to my hiding spot. I sat perfectly still... hoping they wouldn't hear me panting and check in here. I saw the flashlight move around in the stall.. then it landed on me...
         "KRISTIN!!! What are you doing here?!" I nearly jumped a mile high when she called out like that. "She"  being Cassie.
         I explained the whole thing to her, then she gave me a little lecture about sneaking around her house like that. Then, she told me she would keep it between the two of us. She also said that I could acquire an owl for the fly home.
         It was a weird experience, her lecturing me. It would normally be me lecturing some of my students, like Jake, that time he fell asleep in my class.
         She went inside, and I began to morph into the owl. The morph was almost exactly like the hawk, except the beak and the animal itself was smaller. The eyes, were so much larger... to absorb more light, I guess (hey, I teach geography, not science!). Now, these eyes were pretty amazing! I could see a mouse blink a hundred yards away-- and it was pitch black out.
         I decided not to waste any time flying for fun (I was already exhausted from just that experience!) and flew back home.
         I fluttered through the window, (thank goodness it was still open!) and demorphed. I glanced at the clock and it was already 4:17. I would be up in about an hour anyway. I just popped my new Celine Dion CD (Let's Talk About Love) into my portable CD player, shut the door for Tobias, and sat on my bed listening to Celine belt out the lyrics to "The Reason."
         I sat there "thinking great thoughts" so long that even when my favorite song, "Immortality" came on,  I hardly noticed my favorite line ("I have found a dream that must come true... every once of me must see it through...").
         I finally decided that, at 5:02 AM, I could start to get ready for work/school. I hopped into the shower and the warm water felt great on my tired body.
         When I got out, I began getting ready. I got dressed and then blew my hair dry. I pulled it back and used a "monster" clip to contain it, and realized that I was all ready before 5:38.
         I set out a couple of bucks for Tobias' hot lunch (he normally takes the bus; he doesn't like to come to school with me because I normally arrive early, and we don't like to act like we live with eachother) and woke him up.
         It was only about 5:57  AM. I think this is the first time in history that I have ever been ready this early.
         I hung out a bit, while Tobias was getting ready, killing time.
         I sat on the couch.. flipping through the channels. I must've fallen asleep, though, because the next thing I knew, Tobias was shaking my shoulder, and he told me it was 6:31. He had to leave for the busstop, and I had to leave for work.
         I got into my beetle and drove toward Bonny Eagle Middle School, not knowing what was coming for the day ahead of me.