Clara woke up to the sun blaring into her bedroom window. Every joint in her body was locked in place. Her clock read 1:00 pm. She shut her eyes again. Clocks have been wrong before. The smell of fresh coffee coming from the kitchen let her know it just might be worth it to get out of bed today. The trudge to the bathroom was harder than expected. Even worse was looking in the mirror. Her feathers were ruffled and her hair resembled something she might find while cleaning out the gutter. At first glance, her cloths looked as if she had been digging a hole.
Clara threw her cloths into the hamper and stepped into a hot shower. Twenty minutes and half a bar of soap later she resembled herself again, rather than a confused chicken. She still felt as if the kitchen should be empty and the couch tidy with no one on its cushions. She turned the brass knob of her bedroom door and walked out into the kitchen. Clara was stunned. Kurt was frying eggs, making toast and orange juice all at the same time. With his left hand he buttered toast while he flipped eggs with his right and his tail stirred a pitcher with a long wooden spoon.
"Is there anything you can't do?" said Clara with her mouth hanging open.
Kurt looked up from his cooking and dropped a piece of toast on the floor. "You're up. I didn't know what you wanted for breakfast so I just made my favorite. How do you feel?"
"Like a tree made a very strong impact with my head, but otherwise okay. How are you? It wasn't that long ago I brought you here bruised."
"My sides are still sore but I find its best to focus my mind on something more productive than feeling sorry for myself."
"I agree and on that note I'll set the table."
Kurt stopped what he was doing and helped Clara to a chair at the kitchen table. "Just rest, you need it after last night."
She started to protest but decided to save her energy for later. She looked down at her tempting breakfast and broke the yolk on one of the eggs then stopped. Clara pulled a small leather book out of her pocket. She held up the book and said, "Do you mind?"
"Not at all a little prayer before a meal is good for reflection."
Clara cleared her throat and began, "Come, Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen."
Kurt continued with, "Komm, Herr Jesus sei unser Gast und segne alles was Du uns besheret hast. Amen." Just as he finished a loud clanging noise came from outside. He turned just in time to see a stout and balding man running away from Clara's mail box frantically scrubbing his hands with a wet cloth.
Clara groaned and stared down at her breakfast. She shoved a mouthful of eggs into her mouth. Kurt waited for an explanation.
"That was my landlord, he's afraid of me like everyone else I've ever met."
"But why was he scrubbing his hands with such intensity."
"Like a lot of people here they believe my mutation is some sort of disease and they'll catch it if they get to close to me or anything I touch."
Kurt sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say next. "I'm sitting right across from you and haven't caught anything. And as for fear, well I'd be a fool to runaway from someone who was kind enough to save my life with no knowledge of me other than my name and the color of my eyes."
Clara dropped her fork and sighed. "I'm sorry. I haven't even been out of bed for an hour and I'm already complaining. I'm just not used to having someone to complain to."
Kurt laughed under his breath, "I can tell, but I'm happy to listen. I've gotten pretty good at it over the years."
Clara just sat back and stared for a moment with her forehead creased. "I used to be so afraid of talking about my mutation, and at the same time doing everything I could to hide it from other people, even my parents. With you I don't feel the need to hide anything."
More time passed in a comfortable silence. Breakfast was finished and the table cleaned without a sound. With some reluctance Clara sat on the couch the entire time. After the dishes were finished Kurt teleported in a waft of blue smoke just a cushion away.
Clara looked over in astonishment. "You can teleport, climb walls, and make breakfast. Is there anything else you can do?"
Kurt looked over at her with a widening smile, "I do have another more special ability."
"And what's that?"
"If you rub my stomach my leg shakes uncontrollably and I can't stop laughing."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"No really try it, it might cheer you up."
Clara reached over cautiously and gently rubbed the belly of her strange visitor. Sure enough Kurt's foot tapped the floor with increasing intensity as Clara sped up her movements. Kurt's laughter grew so loud Clara had to laugh as well.
"See there's the smile I knew was buried under all that hostility."
"You're the blue puppy I never had. Do I get to keep you?"
"Keep me?"
"It's something little kids say when they find a stray dog or cat on the road and ask if it can stay in the house."
Kurt paused for a moment as if thinking whether his status as stray was a good thing or a bad thing. "Well I suppose you are like a child."
Clara stopped smiling, "Oh really how's that?"
"I meant it as a compliment. Let's see how I can explain… you must have liked the look of me to have trusted me… too many people don't trust each other… I don't know if I'm making any sense."
"I'm not sure if you are either, but it sounded nice."
The two continued talking late into the evening. Some stars were beginning to appear in the sky. The night air was cool again and Clara had a large blanket wrapped around her dirty wings. She looked at the clock on the wall.
"Its nine o'clock, most people will be at home now and the chapel will be empty. I'd like to have some prayer time if you don't mind."
"Of course, would you mind if I came with you?"
Clara shook her head and Kurt helped her toward the door. The road to the chapel was indeed deserted, as they made their way toward the old stone building. The colorful windows were bright in the moonlight. The window that Clara normally flew through was repaired and locked tightly. Clara sighed it wasn't like she could fly right now anyway.
Kurt grabbed her hand and walked her up to the door. "Do you trust me?"
Clara took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around Kurt and they both were transported into the tranquil boundaries of the church.