A New Beginning

Chapter 27

Tessa's POV:

Soranto, Tkael, and the four guards walked all the way to Taureen's house with us. The guards went their separate ways, already having plans for the evening. Tkael and Soranto came inside for their usual visit.

They had stopped to buy some pre-cooked food on the way home, so Taureen and Aeria didn't have to cook tonight. Once we were inside, Taureen and Aeria removed our harnesses while Tkael and Soranto grabbed the plates and utensils.

It wasn't uncommon for them to eat in the living room as they visited. As they settled down to enjoy their dinner, I went out the access flap and into the backyard.

My scales were still itchy from that mud. I rolled around in the damp sand on the edge of the pond and scrubbed my scales some more. It took a lot of work, but my arms, legs, chest, tail, and neck finally didn't feel gritty when I shook myself. I couldn't say the same for my back or wings, though.

I went back inside and curled up beside Dirk under the heat lamp, waiting impatiently for Taureen or Aeria to bring out the cleaning kit. They were barely halfway done eating, so I was going to have a wait a while.

I had made it this long though, so I wasn't about to be so rude as to ask them to stop eating just to clean my scales. I rolled upside down on the warm sand with a long-suffering sigh. My impatience was somehow managing to even annoy me; possibly moreso than my restless shifting was bothering my brother as he attempted to nap.

Mom got up and shook herself off, filling the air with the musical chiming of her scales. With a single beat of her wings, she jumped to the center table and landed beside Taureen's plate. After a few sniffs, she grabbed a small piece of greyish stringy stuff.

She returned to her previous spot under the heat lamp. As she laid down, she pulled off strands and nibbled on them. My nostrils flared, and I snorted as I shook my head.

"That isn't fruit," I informed her, completely clueless as to how she had managed to mistake it for something edible.

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye before tearing off a larger chunk and tossing it at me. I recoiled from the foreign object. She gave a feeding croon and watched.

I eyed it up uncertainly. "What is it?"

"Something I enjoy occasionally. You might also like it."

I sniffed it and shook my head, still convinced that she was crazy. It clearly wasn't fruit.

Mom narrowed her eyes and gave a faint snort, still watching. I now had a pretty good idea of how Soranto had felt when I had tormented him earlier. The only difference was that Mom was eating this stringy thing, and I was smart enough to never try that yellow fruit again.

I gave it a tentative lick, unwilling to put it in my mouth right away. It was... strange. It wasn't sweet or sour, nor did it have the heavy taste that a cantaloupe or mango had.

After a second lick of the completely foreign tasting thing, I decided that it wasn't bad. Just different. I picked it up and took a careful bite, discovering the reason Mom was tearing off small shreds. It was much harder to bite through than fruit.

I managed to tear a tiny piece off and chewed it cautiously. The texture was so strange... kind of like the thick pulp of an orange, but not quite.

It was good enough that I finished the entire piece Mom had given me, but it wasn't something I would want every day.

"So, exactly what was it?"

"I'm not too sure. Some sort of bird probably."

Images of the little pretty songbirds from the park immediately plagued me, and I sent them to Mom.