The words come out of me like a prayer and a plea, born from something deep, buried underneath the rest of my magic: “Fly. Fly away.” His body shifts beneath my fingers. Skin grows feathers, arms shrink to wings, and then I’m careening down the river, hands held aloft, cradling a tiny bird. Fear overtakes reason as I toss the bird into the air. It beats its wings above me. The eyes… The eyes are the same.
