Once back home, Shiners and I land in a tree overlooking my property so I can see what my parents do. It's good to be home, I think, as Mum waves to me before going inside. Shiners lands next to me and says, <I have a feeling they will ask us about the other eagle.> I nod.
I look down, my nares turning red, <Not exactly how I thought my parents would meet my girlfriend, let alone a boy. Though does an eagle count as a boy?> I think, suddenly curious about the logistics of that. I give my head a shake. Nope, he's at best a friend, and at worst, more likely a pest. A cute pest, I think, before I quickly deny it. NOPE NOPE NADDA.
My thoughts are thankfully broken shortly afterwards as I spot my sister getting on her bike to ride off. I assume it's to one of her friends. I relax a little as soon as my dad walks around to the side of the house where the shed is and waves to us before opening a hatch on the side of the house and going under. I have a feeling of what my dad is doing but hold my breath a moment. Please let it be what I think it is.
A few minutes later he walks out with one of the longer extension cords that he uses when he's weed-eating. I get excited as he plugs it into one of the external plugs and then starts to slowly head to the shed carrying the cord until he arrives and opens the door, going in. I get so excited, <Man I can't wait to watch something,> I say, really excited.
My talons grip the bark as I clench a little excitedly while Shiners gives me a weird look, <I really don't get why you guys love those boxes. They are way too annoying, is it some kind of punishment?> he asks. I give him a soft bat with my wing at that, thinking he doesn't understand the true meaning of a good TV show or movie.
I just sigh, <Maybe it's just a human thing, maybe I can teach you the joys of TV.> Maybe I can teach him all the joys of TV and books and such. I turn my gaze back to the shed as my dad leaves and walks into the house, soon leaving with a TV and a VCR in his arms. I fluff my feathers out a little, giving a shake and practically hopping from foot to foot excitedly.
I drop down to follow my dad as I land nearby, and Shiners repeats for me, <You got it!> I say excitedly. I bounce around, giving small flaps.
My dad just shakes his head as he gives me a light nudge with his foot. ``Mike, I know you're excited, but if you don't calm down, if you're not careful, I will drop the TV, and this is the only spare one we have,'' he says, trying to carefully walk past me.
I sigh and move to the side of the shed so he can get in. FINE I will slow down, I think, but still bouncing a little. Shiners looks down at me laughing, <Mike, relax, at this rate people are going to suspect an eagle here from your permanent talon marks,> he says while I finally try to calm down as I hear my dad working inside.
I sigh and try to stand still, but my feet are still twitching slightly as I finally hear my dad say, ``Okay, come in. Not sure how this will look out here, but I brought a VCR with some of your movies to check out and we can rent more if we need to,'' he says. I quickly run into the shed, feeling weird as my wings come up slightly, like my balance is off, more swaying back and forth than a clean run, as I see the TV in all its glory ready to be turned on. Finally I can bask in its glory.
My dad finally moves over to the TV and turns it on as I turn my head to the side at the sudden brightness, ack, as it takes my eyes a moment to adjust. While I am doing that, my dad puts in the DuckTales movie and hits play. My eyes adjust in time for the music to start and finally see the movie in all its glory, and I practically trip over my own talons as I fall backwards with a startled squawk and confusion.
My dad rushes over to me the second I fall over, thinking I hurt myself, as he is unsure how to help. He finally speaks, ``Mike, Mike, what's wrong? You hurt? Did the TV zap you?'' he asks as I shake my head, feeling slightly dizzy and with a small headache, as it takes me a few moments to respond.
I shake my head, trying to clear the feeling that overwhelms me, but every time I look at the TV everything returns. I close my eyes, <It's the TV, it's broken,> I say, trying to calm myself enough to stand back up. What the heck is wrong with it.
My dad quickly moves to turn it off in confusion. ``What do you mean it's broken? It's normal, if the picture is a little off for being a backup TV. But I could still see the cartoon,'' he says to me as I just shake my head. That doesn't make any sense.
Shiners looks over to me too, tilting his head. ``It looks normal to me too, nothing wrong with it, least no more than usual,'' he says as he looks rather confused. I look at the TV, trying to understand this. It is a mess.
I look at the two of them in confusion as I try to point at the TV with a wing. <So neither of you saw the TV as flashing lights and a weird line moving across the screen? Not to mention the images looked more like a slide show.> Was it just me that was nuts?
Then Shiners speaks up. ``What do you mean? That's how TV always looks. Never understood why you would stare at something that would induce headaches,'' he says, scratching his head with his foot.
I stare at him and back at the TV as my dad speaks up. ``What are you two talking about? The TV looked normal to me beyond being old. Picture was clear, you could see what was going on, wasn't any strobing that I could see,'' he says. I stare at my dad, then at Shiners. Why is it that Shiners and I see it differently?
Shiners looks at me, then at the TV in confusion. ``So wait... you're usually not seeing a chaotic mess? I just figured you guys really liked to torture yourselves. What is it that you guys normally see?'' he asks as I can almost see the gears in his head turning. ``You guys used to see something different? What was it you saw?'' Ughhh, I'm getting a headache just trying to understand.
I think about it and motion around, <It's like normal stuff. They film actors and people doing stuff so it would look like what we're doing now, unless cartoons, then it looks more colourful and not quite real,> I say, pointing to the picture of Scrooge McDuck on the cassette case and some of the images on the back.
He looks at me, tilting his head, and then seems to think for a second, and then, like a literal light bulb forming over his head, he says, ``Ohh... you mean those big images that are put on some walls with cars and stuff?'' he asks as he grins. ``We used to hang out near those as they'd be great for food,'' he says.
Which causes me to startle, as I have only been to one once in my life years ago as a kid and think, <You've seen a drive-in?> my gears going in my head. <How did it look?> hoping that it seemed normal to him.
Shiners nods. ``It looked normal, kind of what you were talking about, but it was more like a series of images changing bit by bit. Never fully got what was going on, but did enjoy watching them sometimes while waiting for food,'' he says.
My dad is getting curious about this too as he smiles. ``This is interesting...'' he says as he wonders before adding, ``Maybe while it sounds like it's not perfect, maybe you could enjoy a drive-in. There should be one on the island you could watch,'' he says, a little nervous about me going there, but at the same time, he wants me to be happy.
I nod my head a little bit, excited though keeping my excitement tempered down after the TV. <No reason we couldn't try it out. It would be an interesting adventure,> I think about it, wondering what it's like and if it's a good thing.
My dad chuckles. ``Though you will have to do your homework before you can go. You will need to spend some time trying to turn into a wolf,'' he says. I groan. Great, even as an eagle I get homework. Even if it's something I want to do, it could take forever and I could be stuck here. Seeing this, my dad laughs. ``Hey, don't worry, you won't have to turn into a wolf, just spend some time. You'll likely be away overnight getting there, and it'd be hard to fly back at night.''
I nod my head, looking a little excited. I hadn't really had a chance to go anywhere, and my first road... well, fly trip, I guess. I smile. <I will work on it tonight and tomorrow,> I say, smiling. <Thanks... for being here, Dad. Not sure what I would have done without you and Mum. I know it must be hard on you,> I say, feeling grateful. The TV was a bust, but at least now I have something to look forward to and motivate me to get wolf. My feathers finally start to settle as I feel better.
My dad nods his head and gently leans over to touch my head, giving a small ruffle, making me fight to be annoyed. He then speaks. ``You're doing well. I can't imagine what it must be like for you. It's got to be cooler and worse than being a human, but I know you will survive. Get some rest and try to be a wolf a little, but don't stay up too late,'' he says.
Shiners nods his head. ``Well, it's not like we can stay up too late. As soon as we turn off the lights we will go to sleep,'' he says as I nod my head and take time to close my eyes and try to meditate again. A hopeful ending to a terribly horrifying discovery... least to a kid.
