Tessa's POV:
I tugged at the mat again, but it didn't move. It was even heavier than the cantaloupe.
I tried getting help from the Blood Memories again, but they only provided information about things – they couldn't come up with ideas or plans. I was on my own.
My head turned towards the window, checking to make sure that I wouldn't miss the Morning Song, but I still had time before the sun rose. Dirk continued to sleep, and I didn't see Mom, Dad, Taureen, or Aeria.
Taking to the air again, I glided around the room. This time, I focused on objects in the room as I searched for soft things I could move. Everything I saw was just too big or too hard.
Maybe there was something in one of the other rooms.
Altering my glide, I banked towards the hallway, this time going towards the other rooms. Three doors were closed, leaving two open. My wings were getting tired, so I landed on the floor to continue my exploration.
The hidden memories identified the first room as a bathroom. I entered the dimly lit area, hoping to find soft things. A basket had some sort of cloth inside, and I trotted over to it. With a big jump and a wingbeat, I landed on the neatly-folded material.
It would be soft enough! My ear tufts drooped as I realized just how big the basket was. There was no way I could move it. With a sigh, I jumped back down to the floor.
The basket rolled away from the force of my jump.
I spun around in shock, unable to comprehend how something so big moved so easily. Sniffing the bottom, I pushed my shoulder against the basket, and it rolled away. There was a gap under the basket, so I wasn't sure what was holding it up.
That didn't matter though – I could use the basket to get the cantaloupe down! Bouncing behind the basket, I began pushing it out of the room. I walked to the side, intending to push it down the hallway, but it kept rolling!
With a quiet thump, it bounced off the wall and came to a stop. There were two corners between here and the counter, so I would have to be careful when I got to those points.
Eagerly, I began pushing the basket down the hallway. I craned my long neck around the side – it was hard to see around something this big!
It took me a bit of time, and two more wall bumps, before I had it pushed against the counter. Breathing hard, I laid down on the floor to rest for a moment. It had been hard work pushing it all the way here!
Once I caught my breath, I flew up to the counter and – very carefully – landed on the treacherous grey surface. I quickly walked over to the cantaloupe and began slowly rolling it over to the correct edge of the counter.
My feet skidded again as I brought the oversized snack to a stop. I stuck my head over the edge to make sure the basket hadn't moved. Thankfully, it was still where I left it.
This was it. I gently pushed it over the edge and watched it drop. It landed in the basket with a soft thump, but it landed along the edge, causing the basket to topple over with a louder thud.
The cantaloupe slowly rolled out as the cloth in the basket fell out behind it. I quickly glided down to the floor and trotted over the basket. A quick push didn't budge it. I took a peek at the bottom and saw round things on the bottom. Something like wheels, whatever those were, but different.
But I didn't need the basket anymore – I could roll the cantaloupe!
I went after the cantaloupe and began pushing it towards the living room. It didn't want to go in a straight line, and I spent a lot of time making it go where I wanted it to go. The basket had listened better.
I was panting by the time I got it down the hallway and into the living room. Pushing it on the carpet was harder than on the flat hallway and kitchen floor. The mats would be even worse, so I rolled the cantaloupe close to the wall and chairs where there were no mats.
Finally, I had it beside the end table and flopped down in exhaustion. I had never been so tired before...
A soft snore from above reminded me that Dirk had probably never seen a whole cantaloupe before. I sat up, suddenly eager to see his reaction.
"Dirk! Look what I found!"
A wave of sleepy annoyance came back. "I was sleeping..." His thoughts were barely coherent.
"The sun will be rising shortly, at least you will be awake for it."
He grumbled under his breath before asking, "What did you find?"
"I found cantaloupe!"
He was silent for a moment before his sleep-hazed voice responded. "That's in our dish every day. It's the stuff you always eat first."
"But this is a big one! It's bigger than me! I have it just below the table. Come look!"
A heavy sigh came from above before I heard his nails clicking against the wood as he left the sand tray. His blue head appeared over the edge, and he blinked at my prize several times, trying to make sense of the round thing beside me.
The sound of the door opening both made us turn our heads. Seconds later, Mom flew through the door and immediately backwinged midair as she stared at us in perplexity. Her wings moved in strange ways, and she didn't fall as she hung in the air.
My eyes went wide as I gazed at her, envious of her ability to remain in one spot – hovering. I would have to try hovering above the mats later. I really wanted to learn how to do that. It looked cool.
Tasha's POV:
"Thanks," I told Taureen, "I needed to get out for a bit."
He nodded as he continued walking back from the small park not far from the house. Other than the Morning Song, I hadn't even gone into the backyard for a week, and I had only left the house a handful of times over the last month while guarding the eggs. Being cooped up for so long, even if it was my own choice, was driving me crazy.
I gazed towards our house in the distance; as much as I had needed the break, the desire to return to my family was a strong pull.
"We're on our way back," I informed Keegan.
"We're in the backyard. Aeria just finished digging the hole and is setting up the tiny waterfall."
Taureen opened the front door, and I jumped off his shoulder pad to go check on the fledglings. I flew into the living room and stopped midair, staring as I hovered in place. Dirk was looking down at his scarlet sister, who had – somehow – managed to acquire a cantaloupe.
Taureen's footsteps sped up, coming to see if something was wrong. He paused behind me as he also took in the strange scene.
"Uh, Keegan, when did you last check on the children?" I also let Aeria and Taureen listen in.
"About fifteen minutes ago, when Aeria and I came outside. They were sleeping. Why?" I could tell that he was already flying back towards the access door to come inside.
"You might need to see this for yourself..."
Sideslipping to the side, I quickly looped around to land on Taureen's shoulder. My wings had barely folded when I heard our small access door flap as Keegan darted into the room like a silver bullet – he also pulled into a hover when he saw his daughter's latest acquisition.
Aeria wasn't far behind, although she took one glance at the tired fledgling and the cantaloupe before heading into the kitchen. Taureen remained where he was, simply watching and waiting.
Tessa's ear tufts perked up at us. "Look what I found!"
"So I see. What do you plan to do with it?"
"Eat it! There is even enough for me to share with Dirk! Can you ask Taureen to put it under the heat lamp for us?"
I was actually somewhat impressed that she managed to locate and move something so much bigger than herself over such a distance. Not bad for a seven-day-old fledgling. I decided to humor her and let everyone in the house hear my mindvoice.
"Well, I don't see why you can't eat it, but why don't we let Taureen or Aeria put it on a tray on the center table? The fruit won't last long if we put it under the heat lamp."
Tessa started bounding around the cantaloupe with excitement, although Dirk still looked completely baffled.
Aeria came out of the kitchen with an empty tray and walked towards the center table. "She managed to get it out of the preservation unit and close the door behind her. It looks like she took the basket of clean towels from the bathroom and used them to cushion the fruit when she pushed it off the counter. It knocked the basket over in the process, though."
Either rules were going to have to put into place, or fledgling-proof locks were going to have to be invented. After Aeria put the tray on the table, she picked up the cantaloupe and examined the tiny claw marks in the thick skin before placing it in the tray.
Taureen quietly asked me, "Should I peel it for them?"
"No, they have to learn sometime." I glanced at the window, and let them all hear me again. "Why don't we all go outside for the Morning Song? Tessa and Dirk can enjoy the cantaloupe afterwards."
The children were big enough that they wouldn't be able to get out of the fence that completely enclosed the backyard. After my time in the park this morning, I was reminded that they hadn't even touched grass yet.
It was time to start expanding their horizons, although I wasn't quite ready to show them the door flap just yet. It would still do them good to romp around in the backyard.
This was about the time the wild fledglings left their nests and followed their parents around. They wouldn't be able to manage the Morning Song on wing, but it would be much easier for us to keep an eye on them.
"Aeria, could you please take Dirk? Tessa, please fly up to Taureen's shoulder."
If she had so much energy that she managed to roll a cantaloupe across the house, then she might as well put more effort in.
The mention of the Morning Song had their immediate attention. Tessa immediately jumped into the air, and even Dirk was so excited that he flew over to Aeria, who held still as he attempted a somewhat clumsy landing on her shoulder.
Tessa managed her landing with far more grace, and I suspected that she had practiced with the wall perches a lot more than her brother.
Taureen bent down to grab the video recorder from the table before he followed Aeria into the backyard. Tessa and Dirk had looked out the windows numerous times, but both of them gawked at the greenery now that they were outside.
Tessa's nostrils flared as a gentle breeze brushed over her scales. Dirk looked a bit intimidated by the limitless sky and huge area with new sounds and smells. His sister was getting more and more excited, almost bouncing on Taureen's shoulder with her wings halfway unfurled.
I left Taureen's shoulder and began gliding over to the large piece of driftwood in the middle of the open area. I had barely taken three wingbeats before Tessa began following. Her wings had to beat five or six times to try and keep up with my slow flight.
Keegan and Dirk weren't far behind, and we all landed on the driftwood. Tessa's head never stopped moving as she eagerly looked at everything she could see. She moved towards the edge of the driftwood, almost as if she was going to jump down and go exploring.
"Morning Song first, and then you can go exploring."
She glanced at me before turning her attention to the horizon as her ear tufts perked up. I could feel the first stirrings of the song, so she should be able to as well. Satisfied that she was going to behave until the Morning Song was over, I turned my attention to the brightening sky and waited for the sun to rise once more.