ONEWren
I’m pretty sure that, at any moment, blue and red lights will flash and the local sheriff will tear down the street and stop me. Again.
“Wren! Hurry up!” Lee whisper-shouts at me from the shadows.
With the hand not squeezing an entire bottle of Seventh Generation Powered by Plants dishwashing liquid into the fountain, I make what I hope is a calming gesture. “It’s fine. It’s natural. Won’t hurt the ecosystem at all. Plus, it’s not like we can actually go to prison for this.”
“Well, you can’t, but…”
I brush a hunk of white-blond hair out of my face and glance over my shoulder as Lee makes a motion that takes in his long, leanly muscled body, his deep brown skin, and his neatly braided cornrows. How did he get so grown-up looking? He’s only been gone two years? He was shorter when he moved away—short in height, short hair, short on muscles—just a kid. My prank partner. My buddy. I mean, I’ve seen him since he moved away. We’ve FaceTimed a million times and practically stalk each other’s Insta and TikTok. Rationally, I know he’s older. I’m older, too! But actually putting eyes on him in real life is something else. Something different. Something new … I feel my cheeks flush hot and know my blush is as glowing pink against my porcelain skin as the fuchsia dyed ends of my hair.
“I’ll hurry.” I quickly unscrew the cap and the rest of the dishwashing liquid glugs into the fountain. Balancing with my arms spread out, I tightrope walk around the lip of the basin that holds the three-tiered stone water feature situated in the middle of the quaint little courtyard in the heart of downtown Fern Valley. As I reach Lee, my Vans slip on the water-splashed stone, and I start to fall.
Lee’s strong hands catch me before I splat against the pavement. I look up and grin at him as I catch my balance and plant my feet firmly on the ground again. Yeah, he’s older, bigger, stronger. But he’s still my prank partner. My best friend who always has my back.
“You almost fell into…” Lee’s words trail off and I watch his eyes widen at something behind me.
I turn and do a little celebratory dance. “Yes! This is even better than I thought it was going to be, and I knew it was going to be epic.”
Lee’s head shakes back and forth, back and forth. “For the record, when I agreed to sneak out tonight, I did not know this was what you had in mind.”
“You didn’t really agree; I peer pressured you into it.”
“I think you mean coerced,” says Lee.
I grin, but not up at him. I’m too busy taking in the glorious sight of bubbles billowing from the fountain’s basin up, up, and up. The opalescent suds lift into the night sky like the sea-foam on our rough Oregon coast. “Admit it. This is magnificent.”
“It’s vandalism.”
Sure, he said the v word, but I could hear the familiar smile in his voice.
“It’s the perfect birthday present,” I say. What I don’t say out loud is that what actually makes my birthday perfect is the fact that he’s home. It’s so great to see Lee that not even knowing he’s leaving again tomorrow night can ruin my happiness. (I won’t let it ruin my happiness.)
“It’s not officially your birthday”—he takes his phone from his pocket and glances at it—“for fifteen more minutes. And I did not get you felony behavior as a gift.”
“This is a misdemeanor at best,” I correct him, and link my arm through his. “And I didn’t mean it’s my present from you. It’s my selfie birthday gift. You know, like last year my selfie gift was—”
“A wren. Tattooed on your lower back. How could I forget? I was on the phone with you for the whole thing.” Lee speaks a lot more quietly than me as he guides us into the concealing shadows the full moon casts under the pines circling the courtyard. “I also remember how you lied about your age to the sketchy tattoo artist. I’ll bet your uncles do, too.”
I don’t want to think about the semi-hysterical apoplectic meltdown Uncle Joel had last summer when he’d noticed the wren’s wingtip poking above the waistband of my shorts, so I quickly turn and face Lee as I change the subject. “But speaking of birthday gifts…” I waggle my eyebrows at him, cup my hands together, and hold them up expectantly.
“You can’t wait fifteen more minutes until it’s your actual birthday?”
“I’m sure it’s more like thirteen and a half minutes by now, but no. No, I cannot.” I give him the smile. I know it’s going to work on Lee. He can’t help it. Just like I can’t help the fact that he’s my person and has been since I moved to Fern Valley five years ago, newly orphaned, broken and lost, and not wanting to ever care about anyone again. Lee has been there for me since day one of eighth grade, and that has never changed—even when his mom got such a big promotion that their family had to relocate all the way across the country to Brooklyn. Lee and I stayed close, no matter the distance between us.
“Okay, turn around.”
I frown. “How am I going to get my present with my back turned?”
He takes my shoulders in his big hands and spins my body around so that I’m facing the fountain. For a moment I forget that he’s birthday gifting me, because the bubbles have spilled from the basin and are tumbling across the well-tended grass like they’re pouring from a dishwasher someone (perhaps me) accidentally put dish soap instead of dishwashing detergent into. Who knew that could make such a massive mess?
Then I feel something settle around my neck. I look down. The watery moonlight, speckled by the concealing boughs of the pines, catches the silver chain. I lift it and see the beautiful full moon made of a blue stone I recognize immediately. Aquamarine—the exact color of my eyes—glitters with a magick that I know I will never feel.
I turn and look up at Lee as I swallow several times and blink a lot, trying not to burst into tears. “I love it,” I finally manage to whisper.
His smile looks sad. “Mom and Dad put a little moon magick in it. It won’t last because you’re…” His words trailed off.
“Because I’m a Mundane,” I finish for him. “Lee, for the zillionth time. It’s okay. I don’t mind not having any magick, and this necklace is beautiful with or without any help from the moon.…” I pause, flash him my most mischievous smile, and add, “My sparkling personality is magickal enough all on its own.”
Lee’s Moonstruck. Like the rest of his family, he’s filled with the magick of the full moon he was born under. My mom and dad were Moonstruck, too. But not me. I wasn’t born under the right moon sign and the moon definitely hadn’t been full. So I’m just … me. And that’s okay. I made peace with being a Mundane when I was a kid. Wishing for something I could never have is a ridiculous waste of time, plus I like me just as I am.
Copyright © 2024 by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
