Chapter 14

New York City was just how I imagined it. The spectacle, the excitement, the rush of Manhattan, a pace of life on a level I'd never experienced! All around us, the lights, the sounds, the smells were almost too much to take in. It was just like I'd seen in all the movies, only now we were here, for real! Everywhere, flashing signs and billboards bombarded us with lights and colour, overloading our brains with the very essence of Western civilisation.

--How many yellow cabs can you count?-- asked Ferdie casually. --I think I got up to at last a hundred in the last few minutes, but I've lost count now.--

--Why are you counting cabs, Flawless?-- I asked, amazed. --We're in the middle of New York and you're just completely ignoring everything interesting!--

We were raptors, of course, two falcons, one hawk and a buzzard, soaring over the streets of Manhattan. From up here, we could make out the thousands of people walking up and down the streets, the countless yellow cabs, hundreds of sky-scraping buildings forming the never-ending sprawl of concrete jungle reaching out as far as we could see. I thought I'd known what urban life was when I visited London. London, I now realised, had nothing on this city.

--Philip, do you have any idea where we are?-- asked Sam.

--Not off hand,-- he replied. --I know were we are in relation to the airport, but until we find some more obvious landmarks, I'm in the same position as you.--

I had no idea were exactly we were, although my eagle eyes could easily make out the street names (along with every other tiny detail that no human eye would ever see) these meant nothing to me as neither human nor bird. I could make out some bridges to the east, crossing the body of water between Manhattan and Brooklyn but I had no idea which road or bridge was which.

--I think that long diagonal street is Broadway,-- said Sam. She was flying up the highest of the four of us, closely followed by Ferdie, half taken in by this amazing new world, half looking out for somewhere to eat and sleep. --I can't make out any other landmarks though, everything all looks like one big jumble of buildings and roads from up here.--

--Look for Tiffany's,-- I advised, trying not to giggle. --You always know where you are, with Tiffany's. Nothing can go wrong there.--

--Always thinking about diamonds, you girls,-- grinned Ferdie, completely missing the quote. --Hope you're not looking for a rock on your finger at your age?--

There was a moment's paused, followed by Philip scoffing and Sam giggling.

--I have the distinct impression you to are talking privately to one another,-- Philip said to Sam and Ferdie.

--Yeah - this is NYC - not Paris!-- I laughed. --Commercial lights - not candlelight! And street dance - not ballroom dancing!--

--I can ballroom dance,-- said Ferdie, flapping up higher towards Sam.

There was another pause, followed by Sam bursting out laughing again.

--Good grief,-- sighed Philip. --If you two lovebirds aren't going to concentrate, I'm going to take charge.--

--You could at least share us in your conversation,-- I grumbled. -Actually, saying that, I think I'd rather not listen to a word they're saying to each other.--

--I agree with you on that one, Maggie,-- said Philip. --I guess we should try and find some money and get something to eat, since those two are rather preoccupied.

--Aye aye on that on,-- I replied, turning my laser-sharp eyes away from Sam and Ferdie and down towards the streets below us. Pretty soon, I had fixed locations on a number of coins and notes, and I guessed Philip had too. Hopefully they'd buy us a few more burgers to get us through the evening. I really fancied a proper meal though. I was getting bored of fast food - not to mention the effect it was having on my body. I wondered what happened to food when we morphed. We'd learned from crossing the Atlantic that we'd only felt hungry as humans and not whilst we were in morph. If we'd morphed a new animal, we'd be fine for the duration of that morph, but we'd be hungry when we'd demorphed. Crossing the ocean, we'd not been able to eat as humans, so demorphs and remorphs were quick and we'd stayed as animals as much as we could. But hunger led to tiredness, and tiredness follows you around whichever body you're in.

--Ok guys,-- said Philip. --Are we going to demorph now, or what?--

--Sure,-- said Sam. --That alley down below us looks pretty secure. There aren't any windows overlooking it or anything -we should be ok. We'll demorph, get the cash we've spotted, go buy some food.--

--Me and Philip spotted, more like,-- I muttered. --I seem to remember you and Flawless only had eyes for each other.--

Neither of them replied though, so I guess I must have thought-spoken too quietly or they'd been too far away, for them to hear me. I pulled back my wings and soared downwards, slipping into the eagles' mind for a minute or so in order to let it descend through the air and land neatly in the alleyway. I've never been very good at landing - zooming towards the ground at ten miles an hour or more is pretty daunting, and I've always made a mess of it when I've controlled the morph myself. So now I always let the eagle take over if I'm not feeling too confident.

--Again, my I compliment my lady on her excellent choice of location,-- said Ferdie as he landed with a crash behind a steel rubbish bin. --It's not everyday we get to explore the more glamorous side of New York City.--

--You love it really,-- said Sam, beginning her demorph. --Anywhere near me, you love.--

Ferdie laughed and began the changes back to human. I focussed on my own body and started my own transformation. The first thing to change was the feathers. This was pretty much the usually order in which my bird demorphs went, although I'd grown legs first or demorphed my head first at times. The feathers appeared to melt and flow together like chocolate left out in the sun. They became lighter and creamy coloured, forming my own human flesh and skin, until only a light pattern of feathers was left on my skin like a tattoo. Soon, the tattoo disappeared into my skin, like ink washed away under a tap. Whilst my red morphing outfit reappeared, my head and face began to change. My sharp golden eyes turned green and soft, my vision blurring. The powerful hooked beak softened and became my own nose and mouth. Ears sprung out at the side of my face and long bushy hair sprouted from my head. Hair that was even more bushy and messy than usually as it hadn't been brushed for the last week or so. I attempting to run a newly-forming hand through it, trying to brush out some of the tangles. Eventually, my feet and legs became longer and thicker, the knees changing direction, the large black talons becoming useless human toenails. I looked round at the others. Philip was already fully human, standing in the dirt in his blue and red cycling gear. Ferdie was attempting to control his morph by keeping his wings until the last second, but his hands were already appearing at the end of them and it just looked silly. Sam was almost entirely human; there was just a light dusting of feathers on her cheeks reminding us that a few minutes ago she'd been a lanner falcon.

"Lets get out of this dump and grab that money," she said, holding her nose. "I think next time, Flawless you should pick the demorphing spot. This place really is gross."