"Narwakwesse, time to get up!!" The owner of the two, bony, taloned hands was saying as they shook me.
"All right, all right." I said, finding I had no trouble responding to the name I'd just been called. That scared me, and I sat straight up in bed hitting my head on the beamed ceiling. "Ouch!" I opened my eyes. Where was I, I wondered, where had I been? I couldn't remember anything. I rubbed my aching head and nearly sliced my scalp off. "Ahhh!!" My hands were now taloned bird feet. I laid back down and closed my eyes, maybe this was a dream, but how could this be a dream when I hit my head on the ceiling it hurt. I sat up straight again and got the same result: pain, now it had been proven that this wasn't a dream. Shit, I thought, the same questions came back to me: where was I, where had I been, had I just been called Narwakwesse? I looked around the room. There was a small oil lamp on a small four drawered dresser, the walls were exposed wood beams, and the ceiling was thatched supported by wood beams. All the wall space was covered with tapestries, weavings, full shelves, and anything else that took up space. Not a bare spot to be found. I almost smiled, it reminded me of someplace I had been before, and it gave me comfort. I got out of bed, I slept on the top of a bunk bed, and went over to the dresser. The floor was dirt, but I didn't seem to mind. There was a mirror on the wall to the left of the dresser, and I caught a glimpse of myself in it. I did a double take and almost fell over. I had wings!! They were a bright fiery red sprinkled with darker red speckles. I fluttered them and then reached out and stroked one of the feathers. It was soft, and very real. I had a beak!! It was hanging wide open in surprise right now so I shut it and then reached up and touched it to make sure it was real, it was. I had a tail!! It was of the same fiery red as my wings with golden spots encircled by darker red. the fur on it was very thick, fluffy, and soft when I touched it. I had fur!! It was red and spotted like my tail, not quite as fluffy but just as thick and soft as it. My hair was long and fiery red as usual. Also my arms and hands were those of a bird of prey and my legs and feet were those of a cat.
Suddenly realization came crashing down on top of me and I felt myself collapse onto my knees. I was in the book. I was inside the book I had bought at Borders. I was the main character Narwakwesse. I was in the small village the Gryphons had established at the base of Mount Gundabad. And I was a Gryphon.
I must've fainted because someone was standing over me and yelling my name when I awoke.
"Narwakwesse are you all right?!?" an older looking dark brown Gryphon said worriedly.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I just must've fell out of bed. Didn't sleep well last night; still tired." I mumbled.
"All right if you're sure." she said. I don't know how I figured it was a she, it just seemed fitting.
"Yes. I'm sure I'm fine. I need to get dressed." I said trying to get her to leave.
"All right hurry up. You've got things to do." Really, I wondered to myself, what kinds of things?
I took another look in the mirror and congratulated myself for not fainting. Then I opened up the dresser.
There wasn't a big selection of clothes in the top drawer so I closed it and opened the next one down. This one had more in it, but just to make sure I didn't miss anything I opened and looked through the bottom two drawers too. The second to bottom drawer had the same type of clothing as the first, and the bottom one the same as the second, only the clothes were smaller in the bottom two drawers than the two top ones.
Well having read the book I remembered that the main character had a younger sister so that meant that the clothes in the two bottom drawers were hers and the ones in the top two were mine. That also solved the mystery of who slept on the bottom bunk.
Now what to wear? I looked out the small, stained glass window, as was my habit, to figure out what I was going to wear. I always looked out side to see what the weather was like so I wouldn't be over or underdressed. Due to the stained glass; though, it was hard to tell, and since there was no thermometer or news announcer on the radio I had no idea what the weather was like, plus I think it was still dark outside.
I started looking through the dresser trying to get an idea of what I should wear. Let's see, the weather back home was a Coloradan spring, which meant that it could snow one day and be summer-like the next. Wow, that helped a lot, not!
I decided to give it up and just go have breakfast. I walked out the door realizing I had no idea where the kitchen was. Fortunately my door opened up right into it. Well actually it opened up into the main room which was used as everything, living room, dining room, kitchen, and anything else that couldn't be in the bedrooms, save the bathroom which I think was in an outhouse outside.
The dark brown Gryphon that had been there when I awoke from my faint was sitting at the rickety, wooden, table in the center of the room.
"Hi!" I said hi to everyone. "I couldn't deiced what to wear." I said hoping she would give me a clue on what to wear.
"Well, today looks like it's going to be warm, and you have hunting, and flying lessons all day so I'd dress accordingly." She said. So that's what the "things" were that I had to do today.
"Thanks. I'll go get dressed now." I turned around to go back into the room I'd just come out of, but stopped short, "What year is it?" I slipped in casually.
"It's 3441 of the second age. Why?" she asked.
"Oh, no reason." I lied, and turned back around and went back into my room.
Inside my brain was screaming that this wasn't possible. After I got over the denial phase I tried to remember from what I had read out of the appendixes of the "Lord of the Rings" book what had happened in that year. All I could remember was that something ended, I had read it so long ago.
Back in present times. What was I supposed to wear to go hunting and flying? I looked through the top two drawers again. Everything was so skimpy, like bikinis, I guess so it wouldn't weigh me down when I was flying, or make noise when I was hunting, or maybe I didn't need much clothing since my fur would keep me warm enough.
I pulled out some comfy, slightly old looking clothes from the top drawer, because the clothes in the top drawer looked like the type for warm weather, and tried to put them on. At first, I forgot I had a tail and wings and almost ripped them. Finally, I figured out how to put my clothes on, and I walked back into the main room.
"What's for breakfast?" I asked.
The older, dark haired Gryphon laughed, and said, "I don't know! Depends on what you catch."
That surprised me, of course, but I guess it made sense, a little. I closed my beak which had fallen open in surprise, grumbled, "Of course.", and walked out what I assumed was the front door. Not watching where I was going I ran head on into a blonde Gryphon about to knock on the door.
"Hi, Narwakwesse." The Gryphon said cheerily, despite being bowled over. "Ready for today's lessons?"
"Umm... Sure." I said, completely lying.
"All right then let's go!" She started walking off, "Well, come on." I jogged a little to catch up and then followed her out of town a little ways, and into a pine forest. All the while I was thinking that I was starting to like this place. I was who I always wanted to be, doing what I always wanted to do. I liked this. I decided I'd stay for a while, plus I really had no choice. How was I supposed to get back to wherever I was before anyway?
"All right, all right." I said, finding I had no trouble responding to the name I'd just been called. That scared me, and I sat straight up in bed hitting my head on the beamed ceiling. "Ouch!" I opened my eyes. Where was I, I wondered, where had I been? I couldn't remember anything. I rubbed my aching head and nearly sliced my scalp off. "Ahhh!!" My hands were now taloned bird feet. I laid back down and closed my eyes, maybe this was a dream, but how could this be a dream when I hit my head on the ceiling it hurt. I sat up straight again and got the same result: pain, now it had been proven that this wasn't a dream. Shit, I thought, the same questions came back to me: where was I, where had I been, had I just been called Narwakwesse? I looked around the room. There was a small oil lamp on a small four drawered dresser, the walls were exposed wood beams, and the ceiling was thatched supported by wood beams. All the wall space was covered with tapestries, weavings, full shelves, and anything else that took up space. Not a bare spot to be found. I almost smiled, it reminded me of someplace I had been before, and it gave me comfort. I got out of bed, I slept on the top of a bunk bed, and went over to the dresser. The floor was dirt, but I didn't seem to mind. There was a mirror on the wall to the left of the dresser, and I caught a glimpse of myself in it. I did a double take and almost fell over. I had wings!! They were a bright fiery red sprinkled with darker red speckles. I fluttered them and then reached out and stroked one of the feathers. It was soft, and very real. I had a beak!! It was hanging wide open in surprise right now so I shut it and then reached up and touched it to make sure it was real, it was. I had a tail!! It was of the same fiery red as my wings with golden spots encircled by darker red. the fur on it was very thick, fluffy, and soft when I touched it. I had fur!! It was red and spotted like my tail, not quite as fluffy but just as thick and soft as it. My hair was long and fiery red as usual. Also my arms and hands were those of a bird of prey and my legs and feet were those of a cat.
Suddenly realization came crashing down on top of me and I felt myself collapse onto my knees. I was in the book. I was inside the book I had bought at Borders. I was the main character Narwakwesse. I was in the small village the Gryphons had established at the base of Mount Gundabad. And I was a Gryphon.
I must've fainted because someone was standing over me and yelling my name when I awoke.
"Narwakwesse are you all right?!?" an older looking dark brown Gryphon said worriedly.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I just must've fell out of bed. Didn't sleep well last night; still tired." I mumbled.
"All right if you're sure." she said. I don't know how I figured it was a she, it just seemed fitting.
"Yes. I'm sure I'm fine. I need to get dressed." I said trying to get her to leave.
"All right hurry up. You've got things to do." Really, I wondered to myself, what kinds of things?
I took another look in the mirror and congratulated myself for not fainting. Then I opened up the dresser.
There wasn't a big selection of clothes in the top drawer so I closed it and opened the next one down. This one had more in it, but just to make sure I didn't miss anything I opened and looked through the bottom two drawers too. The second to bottom drawer had the same type of clothing as the first, and the bottom one the same as the second, only the clothes were smaller in the bottom two drawers than the two top ones.
Well having read the book I remembered that the main character had a younger sister so that meant that the clothes in the two bottom drawers were hers and the ones in the top two were mine. That also solved the mystery of who slept on the bottom bunk.
Now what to wear? I looked out the small, stained glass window, as was my habit, to figure out what I was going to wear. I always looked out side to see what the weather was like so I wouldn't be over or underdressed. Due to the stained glass; though, it was hard to tell, and since there was no thermometer or news announcer on the radio I had no idea what the weather was like, plus I think it was still dark outside.
I started looking through the dresser trying to get an idea of what I should wear. Let's see, the weather back home was a Coloradan spring, which meant that it could snow one day and be summer-like the next. Wow, that helped a lot, not!
I decided to give it up and just go have breakfast. I walked out the door realizing I had no idea where the kitchen was. Fortunately my door opened up right into it. Well actually it opened up into the main room which was used as everything, living room, dining room, kitchen, and anything else that couldn't be in the bedrooms, save the bathroom which I think was in an outhouse outside.
The dark brown Gryphon that had been there when I awoke from my faint was sitting at the rickety, wooden, table in the center of the room.
"Hi!" I said hi to everyone. "I couldn't deiced what to wear." I said hoping she would give me a clue on what to wear.
"Well, today looks like it's going to be warm, and you have hunting, and flying lessons all day so I'd dress accordingly." She said. So that's what the "things" were that I had to do today.
"Thanks. I'll go get dressed now." I turned around to go back into the room I'd just come out of, but stopped short, "What year is it?" I slipped in casually.
"It's 3441 of the second age. Why?" she asked.
"Oh, no reason." I lied, and turned back around and went back into my room.
Inside my brain was screaming that this wasn't possible. After I got over the denial phase I tried to remember from what I had read out of the appendixes of the "Lord of the Rings" book what had happened in that year. All I could remember was that something ended, I had read it so long ago.
Back in present times. What was I supposed to wear to go hunting and flying? I looked through the top two drawers again. Everything was so skimpy, like bikinis, I guess so it wouldn't weigh me down when I was flying, or make noise when I was hunting, or maybe I didn't need much clothing since my fur would keep me warm enough.
I pulled out some comfy, slightly old looking clothes from the top drawer, because the clothes in the top drawer looked like the type for warm weather, and tried to put them on. At first, I forgot I had a tail and wings and almost ripped them. Finally, I figured out how to put my clothes on, and I walked back into the main room.
"What's for breakfast?" I asked.
The older, dark haired Gryphon laughed, and said, "I don't know! Depends on what you catch."
That surprised me, of course, but I guess it made sense, a little. I closed my beak which had fallen open in surprise, grumbled, "Of course.", and walked out what I assumed was the front door. Not watching where I was going I ran head on into a blonde Gryphon about to knock on the door.
"Hi, Narwakwesse." The Gryphon said cheerily, despite being bowled over. "Ready for today's lessons?"
"Umm... Sure." I said, completely lying.
"All right then let's go!" She started walking off, "Well, come on." I jogged a little to catch up and then followed her out of town a little ways, and into a pine forest. All the while I was thinking that I was starting to like this place. I was who I always wanted to be, doing what I always wanted to do. I liked this. I decided I'd stay for a while, plus I really had no choice. How was I supposed to get back to wherever I was before anyway?