Chapter 20

‘I remember!’ Murielle sat up, staring wildly around as if waking from a terrible nightmare. She wildly felt around herself, touching her arms and legs as though she couldn’t really believe she was human. ‘I’m back!’

Then she remembered. Her twin had been devoured by a giant croc and had died. She remembered setting fire to both the croc and her sister, immediately dreading the thought that she might have murdered...

“Hey, you’re awake!” a cheerful voice called out from behind her. “I couldn’t believe it when I woke up and saw you lying there looking just like you used to! I was so happy...”

“You’re alive?” Murielle gasped, turning so quickly she felt her neck crackle. Miranda laughed, thinking she had recently had that very thought.

“Just what did you think you were doing?” she asked, helping her twin sister to her feet for the first time in ... at least a year, maybe longer.

“Well, whatever it was, it worked,” Murielle argued. “See? I look like you, now.”

“Your Phoenix fire must have remembered your original body shape,” Miranda mused. “At least, now I don’t have to feed you.”

“Hey! We had fun, and if I know you, you loved the thrill of being eaten!”

“Still do,” Miranda grinned. “And you probably will again, soon enough.”

“Don’t think so,” Murielle replied. “I really liked being the one that eats.”

“And you ate a lot,” Miranda teased.

“So ... how does this affect our little trip?” Murielle wanted to know. “You know, around the world in eighty years or whatever?”

“I guess we walk,” Miranda sighed. “But I really enjoyed riding on your back.”

“I bet,” Murielle smirked. “Knowing you, I’m sure you found some icky way to get off when you were riding me.”

“Are you accusing me of having sex with your backside?” Miranda cried indignantly.

“If the shoe fits...”

“I’m not wearing shoes!” Miranda yelled. “And neither are you!”

“Doesn’t do much for walking, does it?” Murielle grumbled. “Ya know, I’m really gonna miss those wings.”

“So how did you end up being a pterodactyl?” Miranda wanted to know.

“Well, as best I remember,” her twin began, “you and I were standing there and these big, friggin’ birds came down and attacked us. We were being bait for those two guys and, man, I think they let us down big time. I got carried away and eaten. I should probably thank my lucky stars that I came out as an egg instead of a pile of poop. I can just imagine flaring back to life and discovering my new body was made out of bird doo-doo...”

The girls laughed at that and hugged each other tightly. Later, as they lay in the sand and watched the waves lapping the shore, Miranda sat up and looked at her favorite sister in the whole world.

“You think you could ever recall the pterodactyl shape?” she asked, deep thought creasing her brow.

“What’d’ya mean?” Murielle wanted to know.

“You think you could change back into a pterodactyl at will?”

“Why would I want to?” Murielle still wanted to know. “I liked being able to fly, and I really liked being the biggest baddy around, but I don’t really think I have a choice as to what form I have.”

“I guess we’re just lucky you rejuvenated as my sister after you jumped on that dumb pyre you built for me, huh?” Miranda chided her sister.

“How do you know I jumped onto that burning tree?” Murielle asked, trying to decide whether to act indignant or amazed that her sister was aware of what had happened.

“I was already back, silly,” Miranda informed her. “I had to use my Phoenix fire to protect me from your tree-burning antics, so I couldn’t let you know I was okay, and you never did pull me out of that alligator’s mouth so I couldn’t even move. At least, not until you jumped on that friggin’ tree and broke us apart.”

“You were burning blue! You were alive!” Murielle yelped excitedly. “I should’ve known...”

“You burned blue, too,” Miranda informed her, “and you looked beautiful. I watched as you changed shape and became my sister again. You can’t imagine how happy I was to see that. I thought you were doing it on purpose.”

“Maybe I was,” Murielle confessed. “I wanted so bad for things to be like they were – before everything went wrong. But I don’t remember what happened after I started burning – except that I woke up and you were sitting beside me – alive and unburned. I thought maybe I’d had a horrible nightmare. But here we are, out in the middle of nowhere with nobody around for a million years in any direction.”

“I’ve been living that reality for a while, now,” Miranda told her. “It gets lonely at times, but I had you to help keep me sane.”

“Just what you needed, a dull-witted bird brain with a tremendous appetite.”

“You remember that part, huh?” Miranda asked, laughing.

“I remember trying to eat you the first time I saw you,” Murielle replied, laughing as well. “But you did something to me ... made me realize that you were my...”

“If you say, ‘Master’, I’m going to hit you,” Miranda joked. “All I did was take away your fire – like Lisa did to Tia that night when Tia got drunk and decided she should be top dog now that she didn’t need a body anymore. Lisa decided to show her just how much she depended on being able to walk and talk like normal people and sucked out all her energy. Damn near killed her.”

“You didn’t do that to me,” Murielle told her. “You drained me, but I don’t think I would have died...”

“I’m not Lisa,” Miranda bragged. “I was able to stop before I took it all. Lisa doesn’t care enough about people to exercise that kind of control. But I don’t ever want to do that again. That kind of power is too tempting.”

“Maybe that’s why Lisa is the way she is,” Murielle suggested. “There’s nobody around strong enough for her to respect.”

“You know, Tia doesn’t really need a body to continue to exist,” Miranda said thoughtfully, “and last night, you changed from a pterodactyl back to human. I’m wondering if your transformation into a pterodactyl didn’t move you up the evolutionary scale a bit as a Phoenix.”

“Turning into a pterodactyl would be a step backwards, wouldn’t it?” Murielle smirked.

“Not necessarily,” Miranda replied, trying to think this new thought through. “That might depend on your point of view and your awareness of who you used to be. I helped you to remember that you’re Murielle, and when you got the chance, you changed back into Murielle.”

“Which begs the question,” Murielle added, “Can I change back into a pterodactyl and then back to human at will?”

“We’d have to kill you to find out, I think,” Miranda guessed.

“And I’m not really ready for that, so ... I guess we’ll find out ... someday.”

“Wanna go for a swim?”

“Ha, ha. That’s what got us into trouble last time. Noooo, thank you! Did you happen to see those big crocodiles out there before you jumped in?”

Murielle and Miranda sat sucking on the bones of a small flying creature that had actually landed in Murielle’s hair. Flamed in a brief terrifying moment, it had turned out to be tender, juicy and delicious. Afterward, they lay in the afternoon sun, sleeping, dreaming and thinking.

“You know, maybe you could turn into other things besides a pterodactyl,” Miranda said wistfully.

“And if wishes were rainbows, the world would be a beautiful place.”

“Don’t be sarcastic. The world is a beautiful place.”

“It’s full of big animals that eat little animals,” Murielle countered. “How is that beautiful?”

“You can’t tell me you haven’t enjoyed the feel of sharp teeth sinking into your tender flesh...” Miranda teased.

“Not lately,” Murielle replied. “And if I have my choice, not ever again.”

“I wouldn’t mind it happening again,” Miranda sighed. “Unless I want to rub up against you, that’s the only sex we can have.”

“I knew it!” Murielle yelped, sitting up quickly. “You were getting off on riding me! You pervert! Rubbing up against my neck while I innocently hauled your hairy ass across half the planet?”

“My ass is not hairy!” Miranda yelled back, sitting up to defend herself if needed. “Besides, your feathers were really ticklish to sit on.”

“I bet they were!” Murielle sat back down in an angry funk. “Ticklish, my ass!”

“Muri, let’s not fight about it,” Miranda pleaded. “I took pleasure from riding you. It’s not like we haven’t curled up together under the covers a few times. I remember you telling me that my left thigh was your favorite part of my anatomy.”

“Hrumph! I never said that,” Murielle growled.

“Yes you did,” Miranda insisted. “And you were humping that thigh like crazy when you said it.”

“You didn’t include me,” Murielle admitted sullenly.

“What do you mean?”

“You took your pleasure for yourself. You didn’t include me.”

“You were a prehistoric bird!” Miranda exclaimed, amazed at the argument Muri was using. “I didn’t even know where your ... whatever was down there was!”

“That’s no excuse.”

“Muri, did you even have sexual urges when you were a pterodactyl?” Miranda wanted to know.

“Well, no. I don’t think so,” Murielle admitted. “But that night, when I changed back – when I was burning – I felt something that I wanted to feel more of...”

“You’re a Phoenix, dummy,” Miranda chided her sister. “Death makes you horny.”

“Well, maybe it does,” Murielle admitted as she got to her feet, “but I haven’t felt horny since before I got eaten and hatched out of an egg. So what does that make me now?”

“Confused, I’d say,” Miranda chirped as she clambered up to follow her sister.

They walked for a while, following the riverbank and looking for an easy place to cross. Then it occurred to Miranda that they could teleport across the river and save walking maybe dozens of miles.

“I can’t,” Murielle informed her.

“What do you mean – you can’t?” Miranda wanted to know.

“You’ve noticed that we don’t merge together with our thoughts anymore?” Murielle explained. “There’s other stuff I can’t do anymore, either. I can’t make a flame. I can’t heal all these scratches I’m getting like you can, and...

“You can’t teleport,” Miranda finished the sentence for her, then realized they weren’t even doing that, anymore, either.

“We’re not exactly twins anymore,” Murielle whimpered. “I’ve changed too much, and ... maybe evolution works both ways. I might have gone backwards.”

“Muri, we can figure this out...”

A deafening roar interrupted their crisis as a creature at least twice the size of the T-Rex they’d killed pounded down toward them. Miranda screamed, barely able to keep her balance as the ground trembled under the sheer weight of the toothy monster.

Realizing her sister was without her Phoenix power, Miranda knew it was up to her to keep her safe and raised one fist, trying to concentrate on creating a fireball. But before she could form one, a sizzling blast of pure fire appeared high overhead and struck the rampaging beast dead center, nearly vaporizing it completely.

Stunned, Miranda staggered to her feet. A giant pterodactyl stood towering over her. A partially vaporized skeleton of a giant, two-legged carnivore, caught in mid-stride like that freeze-frame of the cartoon roadrunner, began crumbling into ash and quickly fell into ash and embers at the great bird’s feet.