Where am I?! Confusion jolts me fully awake. Clammy and tired, I feel like something is off, as if my body isn’t quite my own. The cold air makes me shiver even in my PJ’s, as if I’m not wearing my full set of clothes. Well, of course I’m not. Who sleeps in clothes? A flick of the dream comes back, a sensation of falling but the wrong way.

  It takes a few moments for my stupid brain to reset as I look around my room. The morning light makes me groan. I barely got any sleep. I really need to stop playing games so late. Well, who am I kidding?

  Yawning again, man... I hate school. At least it's going to be the weekend. Rushing over to grab my backpack, I almost trip over my NES cord. Glaring at it, I yell in my head, “Stupid thing.” Looking at the clock, my heart skips a beat. Dang it, I’m going to be late if I don’t hurry, leaving all thoughts of the dream for the moment.

  Grabbing my backpack, I rush downstairs. “Yeah yeah, I’m late,” I yell while grabbing some food. Seeing Mom and I are the only ones here, I wonder out loud, “Where’s sis? Is she sleeping in?” I give another yawn.

  Stuffing my mouth with cereal as if afraid someone would steal it from me, I pull the bowl closer. My mom says, “She is, Mike, it’s in-service day, so she gets to sleep in,” and pokes me in the chest, making a small laugh slip out. “Now get to school. I’m not driving you, so catch your bus.”

  Groaning and shaking my head, I mutter, “Yes, Mommy.” I grab a donut and run out the door, again feeling that everything is colder than it should be. A shiver runs through me, making me wonder if it will snow.

  Running up the hill, I hear a kaw from above and spot a crow or raven, making me sigh. It really would be handy to be able to fly right now. I could fly to the bus or just skip it entirely and fly to school. I remember some of the silly dreams I had about being an eagle when I grew up someday.

  Seeing the bus come down the hill, I groan and pick up speed as I wave at it. I reach the bus stop, exhausted and out of breath, just as it pulls over and opens the doors. The driver chuckles. “Late again, are you?” I nod at him. Okay, next day I will make it in time. I know I will, even though I think that every week.

  I find a seat. My lungs still ache as I shake my head. I always hate running on a cold morning; my chest feels so cold. Once I gather my thoughts, I look out the window at the scenery passing by.

  Another raven flies by, making me wonder how much easier life would be out there, going wherever I wanted. Hunting when hungry. Sleeping when tired. Wait, did that raven just wink and give a little wing wiggle? Nahhh, it’s probably just my tired, confused mind as I give it a wave

  Did I just imagine that, or is that what happened? I’m not sure what was real. The part of me that longs for the sky hopes it’s real, but the pragmatic side of me dismisses it as wistful thinking. I’m still puzzling it out when I realize we’ve already arrived at school. I quickly get out.

  Heading toward the lockers, I see my, Frank, John, and Charlie hanging out. Ohhh, they haven’t seen me yet. I sneak up behind Frank and thwap the hat he’s wearing off his head. “BOO!” I yell.

  Frank yells and jumps as he grabs his hat, glaring at me, which just makes me laugh harder. “Har har, very funny. So we’re on for some games of Netrek during lunch?” he asks, and we nod. He smiles. “Kay, see you then.” We all head to our classes.

  I walk toward math class with heavy nervousness. This is the third time this week I’m late on homework, which wouldn’t be so bad if I only had three classes. I head in, and the teacher just gives me a look. “Again? Good thing it’s the weekend. You have plenty of time to finish it.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Grumbling, “Thank you,” I say as I turn to head to my desk. It’s an uneventful class as I head next to biology, one of my favorite classes since I’ve always loved learning about animals, birds in particular. As soon as I sit down, I notice the teacher has a slide up of an eagle and give a quick mental YES! in excitement.

  I can barely hold my excitement as the teacher walks in. All I can think about is staring at the slide and how beautiful it looks. I’m ninety percent sure it’s a golden eagle from the coloring. Shortly, he asks for our attention and begins explaining the biology of the golden eagle. My heart races as I imagine myself being one. Maybe even in front of the class as the teacher describes me. Though then again, would I really be comfortable being in front of everyone effectively naked?

  The hour of class flies by so quickly that I barely notice it. Before I know it, I’m off to my next class and then on to lunch, meeting my friends in the computer lab.

  FINALLY!!! I’m so glad to be out of classes and actually have some fun. Barely taking time to grab a sandwich from my locker, I rush to the computer lab and wave to the others. “Hey guys,” I grunt as I plop down into a seat and load up Netrek. I wince slightly; the buzz from the computers is a little annoying for some reason.

  As I start playing, I ask them, “So you want to go see the new Rescuers Down Under movie? I’ve been dying to see it ever since the trailer.” Which is true. It grabbed me the second I saw the eagle.

  Frank and John just groan, making me roll my eyes as John says, “Really? A kids’ cartoon? Where’s Predator 2?”

  I let out a small sigh. “That’s next week. We can see it too, but I really want to see this one,” I say, remembering the weird burst of excitement the trailer gave me. My whole body had felt energetic.

  Charlie punches me in the arm playfully. “You just want to see it because it’s got a cute eagle in it,” he says.

  Okay, kinda, I think, eyes rolling as muttering slips out, “Not just… I liked the original too.”

  They all laugh, shaking their heads as I jump slightly when the bell rings. I jerk forward again, feeling like something is suddenly right behind me. Gahhhh, that sucked. What is it with me today? After waving to them, I head to class and manage to make it through the rest of the day while only losing a couple of brain cells to boring classes.

  I wave and hurry onto the bus. The others are already there. We decide to head to the arcade before going home. I always enjoy it, even if I’m pretty bad at most games. As soon as we arrive, Charlie motions toward the Smash TV cabinet. “Let’s play this one, it isn’t too bad,” he says. Yeah right, five dollars gets you about five minutes if you’re really good and lucky.

  Shrugging and joining the game, I think, Might as well play. In theory, we could survive longer. The game starts, and a grin spreads across my face. That’s it, die already! I run around the arena, watching with rapt attention. The whole world shrinks to the screen, the bad guys darting around like mice. Wait, mice? Why did that comparison even pop into my head?

  Maybe I am tired as I focus on the game, hitting the buttons faster than I normally would, as if I am reacting more than playing.

  Charlie looks over to me and laughs. “I think someone’s been cheating on us and practicing,” he says, making me blush as I shake my head in denial and laugh.

  “No, I haven’t,” is my immediate defensive response. I haven’t been playing at all since last time. But something is definitely odd. I am playing better than I usually do.

  John laughs and I shake my head, groaning. “Maybe I am just finally good at video games.” We soon finish the game and head off so they can catch the bus. Waving as they drive off, I relax for a moment. Ughh, I’ve been feeling so weird all day and am starting to be afraid they might notice something. A walk home should help me relax, and maybe whatever is up will be gone by the time I get home.

  “Kaw!” Again I hear a raven, or maybe a crow. Glancing up I spot a black bird flying overhead. I give it a wave again. Gee, so many of these things around… or is it the same one? I doubt it, unless I’ve somehow picked up a stalker raven. Or maybe he just thinks I’m a giant shiny thing.

  To my surprise, I see its wing wiggle again, just like earlier. Wait… was that supposed to be a wave or not? I’m still confused, wondering about it even as it flies off in another direction. Now I’m left alone with my thoughts. I just hope this is better in the morning and all of this is just from lack of sleep.