Nine Tails

03

Without a word, I broke eye-contact with the bird. Instantly, she flapped back to her child - who, by the sound of it, was relieved - and began to feed her the measly worms she had brought back.

I looked away and decided to watch some television.

Stupid, attached creatures. Of what use was this attachment, if it only brought you pain?

*

Towards evening, when I was on my seventh movie, I received a call from Jihoon on my landline. I raced to pick it up and pursed my lips when I raised the receiver to my ear. I was going to give him yet another earful for leaving the blinds wide open.

"You septuple little twerp, I didn't raise you for twenty years only to have you to dis-"

"Seven-tailed I may be, at least I have reached my full potential and am not stuck with a stump of an eighth tail."

That put a cork on my tirade.

The tail attainment system worked differently for him than it did for me. Jihoon was a Sorcerer whereas I was an Enchantress. Sorcerers would let go of their final tails (the eighth and the ninth) at graduation, in order to pursue their interests. My father was one. I followed my mother's example and took up the Bachelor of Enchanting while Jihoon went on to pursue a Masters in Sorcery.

"How did you know?"

"You went back to your original form while I was trying to throw you on the bed and insisted on being cuddled," Jihoon said. I could practically hear the sneer in his voice.

Damn it, my original body was a curse to my entire being. However, I had better control over it; much better than whatever Jihoon described it as. A notion stirred in my being; I couldn't have transformed naturally.

"Jihoon, did you by any chance, provoke my regression into it?" I breathed heavily.

He didn't speak for a while.

"Yes," he finally said. "I apologise."

No matter how much we detested each other (as any other pair of siblings would), Jihoon was always honest with me. It was a silent agreement between us ever since we graduated and stepped into the human world. The fewer the secrets between us, the better we could keep up with our human pretences.

"Thank you for your apology," I smiled. "What did you use to trigger my regression, out of curiosity?"

"It's ... a bit complicated to explain. I might as well show it to you."

"And risk you converting me again? No thanks, Linda."

"At least you're sharper now. That's a relief."

"Excuse me-"

Noise filled my ears. Jihoon was sighing from the other line.

"This isn't why I called. Mom and Father are very upset that you didn't come for dinner yesterday so they insisted you come today."

"I thought I had made it clear that I do not enjoy their soirees and-"

"Would rather spend quality time with your girlfriends. I know, I told them that. They assigned me the job of relaying the message to you that it is only a family dinner."

I wavered the minute he said that, fingering the cord of the telephone in thought.

"Will it- will it be a meal cooked by Mom?"

"Yes, it will," he replied. Albeit he wasn't before my eyes, I could envisage his elfin mouth curve into a feline smile.

"Very well, then. Tell them I will be there," said I.