Calico

by Annaliese Purrington

  The bear looks in as we sit by the hay, which is not very far away from the doorway. The fire is smaller but still crackles as sparks dance into the air.

  “Turn into an owl and fly up to the loft.” I whisper, still staring at the bear. It’s a colossal grizzly with a dish-faced head the size of a hay bale practically. His nose twitches and he turns his head this way. His brown fur swaying from the motion.

  Bella slowly gets up, but I don’t turn my head an inch. All I see is a flash of blue, then a shadow of a bird flying up to the loft on the opposite wall of me. The grizzly tilts his head then walks toward me. I get up then walk towards the loft too. The bear gets closer, then I spring up to the loft and transform into a cat in mid-air. I stay on the edge of the loft, looking down at the confused bear below. He looks at me with innocent eyes, then calls out to me. He’s not so vicious. In fact, there’s a feeling about this bear that seems almost domesticated. Maybe a Morph too. But I can’t be sure just yet. There’s also a feeling in my chest that makes me feel closer to this animal.

  I pace back and forth on the beam at the edge of the loft, trying to figure out what to do. The bear looks fine, except I notice something about his back-right leg and his paw prints leading in the barn. He’s been dragging his back foot for who knows how long. His foot’s limp, hanging down to the ground, blood dried on the fur with a few large gashes. A bear trap? It doesn’t look like the injury a bear trap would give though. Suddenly, the grizzly bows his head and blue sparkly smoke and light flash and the figure that hops out of the cloud is a boy. A boy who looks older than me but not by much. Something jolts in my chest, but I ignore the feeling. This boy needs help. He looks up at me.

  “You have no idea how long I’ve looked in this forest for another Morph!” he says, hopping towards the loft. I back away. He’s a Morph. I shouldn’t be scared. But I want to look him over before I go down there in human form. He looks taller than me, but again, not by much. His hair is the same caramel brown as his fur was, and his clothes look like from the Western City, but ragged, torn, and covered in dirt from the forest. A few scratches cut across his face and hands. When he spoke, I felt a little calmer. His voice is gentle yet kind and fun sounding.

  I look at him for a few more seconds and look up at Bella, who roosts in the high corner of the barn. She looks down at me, then pushes herself back even more towards the ceiling and wall. I ignore her look of disapproval of the boy and jump down from the loft, transforming back into a girl in mid-jump. My ankle stinging a little from the landing.

  “Hi,” I say shyly. “I’m Calico.” I say before I can stop myself. Usually I wouldn’t talk in front of strangers, but this boy seems so kind and sweet and there’s something about him that makes me comfortable. The boy looks at me and smiles. I look down at his right leg. It looks worse from down here. “What happened to your leg?” I clasp my thumb in front of me. I always felt awkward and uncomfortable meeting new people, so I fidget with my hands in front of me. It seems to calm me down.

  “The Hunters got me. They threw a net of thorns on me. But I went into my Morph shape and bear-ly got away.” He smirks.

  I smile and nod. “Here, sit down by the fire.” He seems nice and funny. I gather a few twigs by the doorway and throw them onto the tiny fire.

  “I’m August,” the boy says, sitting in the same spot I was before he arrived. “Who’s that up there?”

  “Bella. She’s a friend I met out here a few days ago. I don’t know her very well, but it seems like she doesn’t like strangers very much.” I smile and look up to her. She hoots then fluffs up her feathers. August and I lock eyes, but I quickly look away because I always feel awkward locking eyes with someone. Although, with August it didn’t seem so awkward.

  “Is it possible… I mean…” August looks down as if ashamed. I try to look casual. “Can I hang with you guys for a little while? I have no clue where I am.” I look back at August and think. He seems nice and trustworthy. But he can barely walk. How are we supposed to get to the Western City tomorrow if he can’t walk? My chest jolts again and I agree in my head to help him no matter what. I have a feeling I must protect him even if it costs my life.

  “Yeah. of course,” I say, without even answering my questions or thinking it all through. “We’re heading to the Western City. It’s not very far from here. We think they will give us protection from the Hunters and a place to stay until we figure out what to do.” I reach for the brown bag to see if there’s something in it for August’s leg. Bella hoots above and I look up to her in confusion.

  “August needs help,” I mouth at her. “Come down here!” I turn back to August, hoping he didn’t see my awful way of mouthing words. My face turns bright red as I see him staring at me. He chuckles and looks away as I feel my face burning. He’s now lost in the fire. Or pain. Bella hoots loudly above, then flaps noisily down to us.

  “Hello,” August says politely. Now that I see his face in the light, I see that his eyes are a bright emerald green.

  “Why is the bear here?” Bella asks harshly, turning back into a girl. I see August’s and Bella’s eyes meet for a few seconds. To me, it looks like they are speaking in another language, but they just look at each other.

  “He needs help. Plus, he’s a Morph. All Morphs should help each other.” I interrupt their staring contest and grab the brown bag and take out the wrapping bandages. I take a clean-looking rag and dunk it in a bucket of rainwater and look up to August. “This will hurt a little, but it will get worse if you don’t clean it.” August nods, then I set the soaking rag on his injured leg. He clenches his teeth tightly together and folds his hands into fists, making his knuckles white.

  Bella sneers. I narrow my eyebrows and try to clean the wound as best as I can. Our mother would teach us lots of things about this kind of stuff. Just in case something happened when she and our father were away in the week. She taught me the most things since I was the oldest. But it wasn’t much. This was one of the more complicated things though. I also looked up a few things on the Internet.

  Once his injuries are fairly good, I see them clearer and see that they’re the same gashes that are on my ankle. When I ran away from our home, the thorny net had caught me. My wounds are almost gone now, but I can still see the punctures and even feel them a little every time I take a step.

  I wrap August’s leg in the bandages and sit back. “Feel any better?” I ask.

  “Much.” He looks down at me and we lock eyes again. “Thank you. You have pretty eyes. I don’t think I’ve known anyone who has two different colored eyes.”

  “Thanks.” I smile and feel my face blush, then go sit by Bella, who is a few feet away with a serious look upon her face. She looks at August with zoned out eyes.

  “What?” I whisper.

  “It’s him.” Bella jerks her head towards August. “He’s a bear.” She winkles her noise at the name of ‘bear’.

  “And?” I don’t see what’s so bad about it. August seems so sweet and innocent.

  “I hate bears. They’re just so big and weird. And... you wouldn’t get it.”

  “Something happened in your past. It’s not very hard to figure that out from your expression.”

  Bella looks at me. “It’s nothing... you wouldn’t get it. It’s complicated.” Somehow inside me I’m not convinced that’s all true. But I go along with it. I feel I shouldn’t ask her anymore questions about August. I don’t want to pry on her personal life.

  “It’s okay to be scared by bears, but August seems nice and trustworthy. Just give him a chance.”

  “Yeah, but he will also slow us down! Look at his leg. May as well call it broken.” She crosses her arms.

  “We’ll get there soon.” I pat her back then walk over to August again. “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving, but I’ve gone two days with nothing. I can wait until we get to the city.”

  “No, you can’t! I’ll go get something for us. I’m hungry too.” I get up and grab my spea
r, then walk out into the night. I stand here for a bit, wondering about something. Why am I even helping this boy? Why am I going out into the night to help him? Then the other half of my mind barges in and replies with, I’m helping him because he’s a Morph, and the entire Morph generation is about to be extinct forever. I’m helping him because he’s also human, and he needs help. He would have died out here if we weren’t here to help him. Plus, Cali, don’t you feel this special connection with him? Well, I do. I feel like we’re meant to be together or something. But this feeling in my stomach is probably fake and will go away in no time at all. But could it be love at first sight? It’s possible. I take a step trying to pry August out of my mind, but he won’t budge.

  I look around in the twilight. What could I get at night? It’s not dark because of the moonlight. I don’t dare hunt animals for fear of catching a Morph. I’m a vegetarian, anyway. All Morphs are. I think. We don’t want to accidently catch a Morph or something, and we love animals. It’s in our blood, literally. Although, if you are a Morph who is a carnivore, you can tell if an animal is a Morph or not, so I guess not all Morphs are Vegetarians.

  I rummage around cautiously and find a few champignons mushrooms, a handful of red currents, a bundle of cauliflower mushrooms, a few dandelions leaves, and a few crowberries left over from last season.

  Chapter 16

  When I get back, Bella is back in her little corner by the roof. I shake my head then get our food ready. August and I steal glances at each other occasionally. I cook the mushrooms and split the berries and leaves between the three of us.

  Once the food is cooked, I immediately put the fire out. The barn immediately gets black from no light. Only a small amount of moonlight crawls in from the entrance. We eat as much as we can but don’t talk to one another. Only August stares at me most of the time, but that’s the only connection we have during dinner.

  After we eat, we’re all exhausted. There’s some food left.

   “I’ll keep watch.” I say, standing by the doorway.

  “No, you haven’t slept in days. Get some rest. I’ll watch out for the Hunters.” Bella insists and walks past me. I shrug my shoulders and walk back into the barn. It’s no use arguing with Bella. I jump up to the loft and turn into a cat again.

  “Good night! Sleep well!” August says happily.

  Should I say something back? I don’t know what to say though. Just ‘good night’? I’d feel rude if I didn’t say it back.

  I mew and curl up in the hay and fall asleep without even thinking of anything else.

  It doesn’t take long for me to wake up again. When I open my eyes, I hear a crackling sound. I look below and see August sitting in front of the fire, making the last of our dinner. I casually jump down from the loft and transform in mid-air.

  “Morning!” he says, looking up from the flames.

  “Hi,” I reply, unsure what else to say. I sit down on the opposite side of August and look around for Bella. I see a dark owl figure in the highest corner by the ceiling.

  “I woke up two hours ago, and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I took her place as the guard. Although she didn’t trust me until an hour ago.”

  “I’m sorry.” I say. Sorry for the way my friend is acting.

  August shrugs his shoulders. “So,” he says. “You guys are heading to the Western City? I used to live there. My mom kicked me out a few days ago. Said that I was old enough to get my own place and live my own life.”

  “Really?” I say, looking shocked. “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, but my family has so many kids, that my parents said I was old enough to fend for myself. They also told me they didn’t want the Hunters to come to their house.”

  “How Old Are You?”

  “Seventeen. You?”

  “Sixteen. You’re still in school?”

  “Yeah, but that’s just the way my family works.”

  I look away. I feel sorry for August. Living in that kind of life must have been rough. Then with the Morph Hunters. I look back at the fire and smell the strong sent of the mushrooms.

  “I made breakfast.” August says casually.

  “Obviously! Thank you!” I smile then he takes the food off the fire. He smirks. His upbeat casual attitude makes me smile, but I thought I just smiled in my head. He looks at me with beaming green eyes.

  We let Bella sleep. Since she only went to sleep an hour ago. We eat though, and when we’re done, we just sit and watch the fire crackle. I would save the little food we have, but we will get to the city today. They’ll have plenty of food for us. If they trust us. Besides, there are plenty more plants outside in the forest, anyway. If we get hungry, we can just grab something as we walk.

  “So,” August begins. My heart speeds up a tad bit, just enough for me to notice. “What city did you live in?”

  “I lived in the forest.”

  “Really? I love the forest. Was it nice living there? I mean, I’m sure it’s not nice anymore after this Southern City business.”

  “Yeah, it was nice then.” I answer back awkwardly. August smirks.

  “Did you have any siblings?”

  “Two brothers and one sister. All of them were younger than me.” I nod, probably making this situation more awkward for my mind.

  “My favorite color is forest green. What’s yours?” August asks randomly.

  I look at him for a moment in amazement. That’s my favorite color, too! “Um. Same actually. That and burnt orange.”

  August looks at me with a sweet expression, making my heart speed up again. Ugh, why Calico? Why aren’t you saying anything about your special connection with this boy? It’s so obvious he likes you! Say something back!

  “Um. Are you able to walk today? We can stay as long as you want here if you’d like.” Except that Cali! That’s too weird to ask. I meant something about your connection! I yell at myself in my mind.

  “I don’t think I can walk. At least not well. It might hurt a lot. But you two can go. I don’t want to slow you down.”

  NO! Don’t leave me! My mind startles me as I shout at myself not to leave August behind. “No, we’ll wait for you to heal.”

  The sun rises, and its orange fire-like glow illuminates the forest and entrance of the barn.

  “We should get to walking now,” Bella says. She nearly scars me half to death. She’s so quiet. “Can you walk bear? Actually, it doesn’t matter. We’re going today no matter what. Let’s go.” Bella walks out of the barn, rummaging in her bag as she moves.

  “No, I can’t walk. I mean I can, but my leg still hurts. I can’t exactly heal overnight.” August looks at Bella, then looks back down at the ground.

  “So? You can either come or you can stay. I’m going to the city. Calico let’s go.” She doesn’t order me to go. In fact, she calls my name in a friendly tone. Way better than she calls August.

  “I think we should stay with August. At least for a day or two longer. Until he heals a little more.” I look at August. I could never leave a fellow Morph out here alone and wounded. I would feel awful for the rest of my life. Plus, to be honest, I feel a little scared to leave him out here all alone. I don’t want to go without him. It feels like if I leave him, I might go crazy.

  Bella rolls her eyes and yanks the bag close. “Fine,” she moans. So loud I feel that someone might have heard. But nothing happens. “We’ll stay until tomorrow. But at the crack of dawn, we’re leaving. No exceptions to the bear!” Bella drops her bag by the fire and flaps up to her corner. I feel I should do something. But what? Say something? Talk to August? Walk around just to get some movement in me? I don’t know.

  “How long have you been out here?” August asks.

  “A few days. It all blurs together for me. I can’t tell you the exact number of days.”

  “Same. I’ve probably been out here at least three days, if not more. I ran out of food on the second day and was dying of thirst the rest of the days. But right before I met you guys, I found the r
iver.”

  “That’s good.” I’m so weird in conversations.

  “So, you turn into a cat.”

  “Yeah. And you a bear.” I smile an awkward smile and look into the forest. A few Meadowlarks play about above.

  “So, you like the woods, huh?” I say, just because I’m bored.

  “It’s my favorite place to be. That and the mountains. The Southern City kind of ruined the forest for me, but I still like it. When I’m alone without being hunted, you know. But even with you in it, I like it.” I take a moment to take in his words.

  “Yeah. I used to love the forest and everything in it but being in it just for a few days being hunted just changed my whole perspective on it.” I run my hand over the dry dirt on the barn floor. I feel better now that we have helped August. Well, now that I have helped August. I know there’s another reason Bella hates him so much, but I guess I’ll find out later. Or possibly never. Either way, I’m glad we haven’t left him to die here alone.

  Chapter 17

  I wake for an unknown reason. Something inside me is telling me something is wrong. I lift my head and look at Bella, who is sound asleep a few feet away from me. I only see the silhouette of her sides moving up and down from her breathing. The feeling inside me jerks and punches me in the stomach as I look around for August. I panic until I see him by the barn doors, looking out at the forest. Something’s wrong. I feel it. I get up and walk over to him, and sit down beside him, shaking a little.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “How do you know something’s wrong with me?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. I just feel it I guess.” August shrugs his shoulders. I don’t look his way. I barely even heard him. I’m too focused on looking in the forest. Something’s out there. “Calico, what’s wrong?”

  “What?” I ask, coming back to reality. “I don’t know. I woke up feeling that something was wrong. There’s something out here. I feel it. My cat instincts are going crazy.” I breathe a little faster than normal. There’s probably nothing out here. Except the dark sun rising behind the trees. But then again, the feeling inside me isn’t leaving.