I felt sick and nauseous, today would be my first day back in school. Mom had called Principal Lassiter, and explained my current situation. He had promised to keep an eye out for trouble. Though I doubted that would do me any good. At least I would have Marjorie to keep me company. We had more talks in the days leading up to going back to school and had decided to keep as close to each other as we could manage.

Forcing the bile that threatened to creep upwards from my stomach back down, I looked at Marjorie standing next to me. She was probably equally scared and unsure. She looked back at me and nodded, “Let’s get this over with.”

Together we walked into the building and as soon as the first students saw us, the comments started.

A boy with pimples said to his friend, “Phiew, it starting to stink in here. Oh I see it, the skunk has returned, with a friend this time.”

Someone else, whom I couldn’t see, said quite loud, “It’s the invasion of the animal mutants. Someone should get an exterminator or animal control here.”

A stuck up girl I recognized as Sheila said, “I can’t understand why they let animals into school. You know that my mom tried to have them expelled? The school overruled her and said that they have a right to education. Well, I think they should be locked up in a zoo.”

We just kept walking on, like they didn’t exist until someone tried to make me trip on a sudden extended leg. But being a squirrel hybrid made me have fast reflexes. I simply hopped over it and continued my way as if nothing happened. Though the people were quite hostile with their looks and downright verbal abuse, they didn’t try anything physical. There had been a formal warning by the school and county that it would be regarded as a premeditated attack and would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The school had added that any physical abuse on a hybrid MORFS victim would be grounds for expulsion and persecution by law.

So, we were free from any direct attack. However I knew that it would mean that once we got out into the open without witnesses, meaning without people around that didn’t want to see hybrids getting hurt, we would get jumped, beaten and worse.

After classes I had to go back to my locker and get a book I needed. Marjorie offered to go with me, but I said to her, “No need, I’ll be back here in a moment.” Stupid me, I hadn’t counted on some people waiting for a chance like this.

As I closed my locker with my free hand, the book I had needed was knocked from my other hand. Angrily I turned to the one who did that and started, “What the hell do you …”

My voice trailed off as I saw Gary Fields and Phil Bondi with Sheila Tarkin behind them glowering at me. Phil growled, “Not such a big mouth anymore do you, Wally? Oh yes, we found out who you are. I always thought you were a sissy, now you’ve gone and proved it.”

Gary added, “And you had to report us to the Police for the rape of that skunk girl, didn’t you?”

“She’s a badger,” I protested involuntary.

“Whatever,” said Sheila. “Just beat this freak up and move on to the other one.

I backed up against the lockers while Gary and Phil moved in on me. Phil launched his fist at my head and I barely managed to duck under it. I kicked his leg, but didn’t manage to drop him. He did flinch and it offered me a gap to slip past them. I ran as fast as I could towards the doors at the end of the hall. Which with my powerful legs I outran them easy enough. I hit the doors quite hard, but they opened inwards, not outwards, and I bounced back into the hall. My three assailants were on me before I could pick myself up from the floor and Sheila smirked, “We got you now, bitch.”

I backed up against the doors that resisted my pushing and I feared the beating that I would get now. Maybe I could scratch them or kick them hard enough to make some room for me and escape, but I feared that it wouldn’t be so easy.

Things got worse as I saw Gary pull a baseball bat from behind his back. ‘He’s going to beat me up with that? I’m so screwed!’

Something inside me felt odd and a rush of energy flowed through me. I didn’t know what to make of it, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Then the doors behind me pushed back at me and I got pushed towards my attackers. ‘Is someone there trying to get in? Is there someone to help me?’ My hopes went up even more, but then the doors blew open throwing me into the swing of Gary’s bat. I had the wind knocked out of me, but I still hoped that whoever pushed the doors open, would save me from them. I looked back at the door and was so disappointed. There was no one there!

Sheila screeched, “Hit her again, before she can escape.”

I more felt than saw Gary swinging his bat again, when a hard cold wind blew from the doors knocking all three attackers from their feet. I had trouble staying put as well, but my nails bit into the linoleum floor and held me stay put. Phil was the first to get up again. He looked at the empty hall behind me and said, “There is nothing there! Where did that gust come from?”

I had no idea myself, but I counted myself lucky that the wind was there. I got up on all fours and clambered through the doors up the empty hall to escape them. The wind kept buffeting me and the others till I managed to round a corner. The air rushing past was much less there and I ran as fast as I could towards where Marjorie was waiting for me.

Nearly out of breath I arrived at Marjorie and she asked worried, “What happened? Why are you breathing so hard?”

I had to catch my breath first and it doesn’t help that I don’t sweat anymore, I have to pant to dissipate the extra heat from exercising. Finally I could utter, “I got ambushed by Gary, Phil and Sheila. They were going to pound me to pulp. I barely managed to get away from them.”

“Let’s go to the police and report them, or tell the Principal to take measures.” Marjorie said to me with worry in her voice.

“Tell them what?” I asked Marjorie. “It will be my word against theirs. There isn’t any proof they did anything. I got away before I got injured, thank god. We’ll just have to watch out for them trying to hurt us. Gary did say that he suspects I told on them to the police, so they’ll be double as eager to hurt me.”

Marjorie just looked at me and hugged me for support. I shuddered thinking how close I had come to being beaten to a pulp. I had been really lucky with that sudden wind out of nowhere, blowing my attackers away like that. Marjorie asked, “So how did you get away?”

I hesitated a little, “Well, I don’t really know how it happened, but suddenly there was a hard gust of wind that blew them from their feet and down the hall. Thanks to my hardened nails I managed to stay in place, else I would’ve been blown through the hall with them.”

Marjorie looked at me, “A sudden gust of wind? You mean that there was wind inside the school? How is that possible? Was there a door open to the outside? No, that wouldn’t explain it, there’s hardly is any wind today. Are you sure that you didn’t see anyone? Maybe someone with a superpower from MORFS was there.”

She fired her questions so fast at me that I reeled from the intensity. I thought back to my situation in the hall. I hadn’t seen anyone there. Nor did I know anyone with powers in my school. And even if someone had powers, why rescue me, but hide from me at the same time. It all didn’t make sense.

All the way back home, I kept thinking about the strange wind that had saved me. I was almost home when I got a light whack on my back and a cheerful Remo said, “Tag, you’re it.” He raced past me to our home, like we always raced home, but this time I had the advantage.

With my powerful legs I jumped much higher and further then he could and within moments I overtook him, tagging him lightly on his head in mid-jump. “Tag, now you’re it.” I didn’t stop, but raced on towards home.

At the door we both panted from the exercise, till Remo said, “Not fair anymore. You can run faster and jump higher than me now.”

I was a bit peeved with his comment, “You want to talk fair? You didn’t almost get beaten to a pulp in school just because you had the misfortune to change gender and become a hybrid.”

Unfortunately for me, Mom heard that last remark, she yelled, “What? Who tried to beat you up? Did you report it already?” as she opened the door.

Looking up at her I stammered, “I umh… well… you see…”

She interrupted me, “Never mind! Remo, where were you when this happened? Did you see who it was?”

Remo was clearly embarrassed as he hadn’t witnessed it. “I can’t be with her all the time! This is the first I’ve heard about it myself.”

Mom was very upset, I could tell. She pointed inside and both Remo and I quickly went inside. After taking off our winter-coats, mine looked more like a summer coat now, and put our bags down, Mom made us sit in the living room.

“Spill it,” Mom said gravely to me.

I hesitated, which earned me an even sterner look from her. “Fine, I’ll tell you.” I sighed. “I was with Marjorie most of the day, but I forgot a book in my locker and went to get it, all by myself. As I closed my locker I was confronted by Gary Fields, Phil Bondi and Sheila Tarkin. They were going to kick my ass for being a freak and because I reported them to the police.”

“You’re not a freak.” growled Mom. “Did you report the incident to the police or the school?”

I looked down, “I can’t, there were no witnesses, it would be my word against theirs. It would look like I was going to have them expelled for no reason.”

“There has to be something we can do,” said Mom exasperated. “They will try it again if they’re not stopped.”

“They won’t get away with it next time, I’ll be watching you’re back, sis.” Said an otherwise quiet Remo.

“You’d better watch her back, I’m disappointed that you weren’t there today for her.” Mom was really upset about it all.”

I decided not to tell her about the wind incident. I had some thinking to do about that. I asked her, “Can I be excused now? I want to get to my room now.”

Mom dismissed us with a hand wave and we both quickly went upstairs. Remo said as we reached the top of the stairs, “I really mean it, if I had been there I would have taken them on. I’m going to look out for you now.”

I smiled, “Thanks Remo, I hope I don’t need it. Besides I always had to bail you out of trouble remember?”

“Yeah, but you can’t do that anymore little girl.” Remo teased me.

Angrily I turned towards him, but he laughed and disappeared into his room. “I’ll get you for that,” I said mockingly.

~-~-~-~-~-

Finally Spring had arrived, the weather was getting warmer and the snow was almost all gone. In my free time I enjoyed walking in the woods even more now. Sometimes I just couldn’t resist and jump into trees and climb all the way to the tops. If I lived in a city, though I shuddered at the thought, I probably would be good at parkour. I really had the body, muscles, and dexterity for that kind of sport.

Marjorie sometimes went with me on my hikes through the woods, but she wasn’t as quick in the trees as I was. We still did lots of things together and helped each other out with homework and talking about school and such. I really liked having her as a friend again, though now she would just be my best friend as opposed to my girlfriend. Sometimes she teased me about finding a boyfriend, and that made me start thinking about my sexuality. ‘Am I still attracted to girls? Does that make me a lesbian? Or should I be looking a boys now. It doesn’t appeal to me, yet!’ But sometimes my mind wandered and I looked at girls as friends or competition. I hadn’t caught myself looking at boys yet, but I feared that it was just a matter of time. ‘Am I gay if I date guys, since I used to be one? Or am I gay if I date girls, because I am one? This is confusing the hell out of me!’

I hadn’t encountered that strange wind again, so I thought it was unlikely that I had a power of my own. Believe me, I tried my best to see if I did have a power. I tried meditating, relaxing, focusing, and just plain doing all those things they show on TV. I still hadn’t seen so much as a breeze of wind that was unusual.

Things got progressively worse at school, though there were no open hostilities that could be reported, just the small irritations that were getting common. Rumors were flying around at warp speed though, I had heard that some considered Marjorie and me lesbians, since we hung out together most of the time. They didn’t consider the boys hanging out together as being gay though, which was essentially the same thing.

People still tried to trip me up when I was walking with my lunch tray, but each time I managed to avoid it and balanced my tray well enough that I didn’t even spill a drop of my drink. Marjorie just stomped on any foot in her way, and apologized immediately sarcastically. A few jocks tried to goat her into a fight, but it was always quickly nipped in the bud by teachers. The worst things were when they pinched or stabbed my tail. It really hurt, but I couldn’t show any proof, so I just tried to be quicker getting out of the way and avoid those who would do it as much as I could.

Then one afternoon everything changed, my whole life got turned into a new direction. It didn’t all happen at once though, but that afternoon was the pivotal point of it all. I was alone in the woods, just enjoying myself and climbing some trees.

One tree that I was climbing started to creak ominously. I was usually much better in determining the state of branches. Just to be on the safe side I jumped to a bigger nearby tree, only to find the branch I was about to grab was in even worse condition than the ones before.

The branch disintegrated when I grabbed it and with a scream of fear I fell down to the ground.

As I plunged downwards, I saw to my horror that there was a bunch of small trees and other hard sharp plants waiting for me to crash into. Again I screamed and then it was like something clicked inside my head. I felt a headache coming up, but not like I had ever experienced before. It was like I had been blind and now I could suddenly see. It was overwhelming, exhilarating and frightening all at the same time.

A pressure was building up inside of me and I screamed out. At the same time I felt something push very hard against me. It was even hurting me and it was coming from below. It lurched me back to where I came from and I grayed out from the G-forces.

As I gathered my wits and looked what was happening, I noticed that I was sailing through the air at quite a height and a lot of speed. With my tail as rudder I tried to steer myself towards the pond that I could see from up here and it did work somehow. I managed to make a hard but safe landing into the water. The splash was so hard that I got the wind knocked out of me and I fought to get back up to the surface before I drowned.

I made it to the surface just in time to get fresh air into my lungs and then groaned as I noticed how far I had to swim back to the shore. It wasn’t helping any that the water was still frigid and sucking all the heat out of me despite my fur protecting me somewhat.

It took me a long time to reach the shore and I was shivering of the cold and barely made it out the water. I laid down on the ground to catch my breath. But suddenly I started giggling which went to laughing out loud from joy, now I knew that I had a power. It had been me that had caused the winds to appear.

I shivered from the cold and quickly went home to change clothes. Mom wasn’t too happy with my wet clothes, but fortunately she was more worried about me getting sick than why I was wet. I took a hot shower and used the industrial blow dryer and the big brush to get my fur back into shape.

I wanted to go out again to tell Marjorie about my new discovery, but Mom had other ideas and made me stay in to help with dinner before doing my other chores. I wanted to tell my family about my power, but I couldn’t find an opening to start the topic and before I knew it I had to do my homework before going to bed.

The next day I went over to Marjorie to tell her my news. However when I found her sitting glumly on the porch, I wanted to ask her first why she was brooding. “Hi Marjorie, what’s eating you?”

“Can you believe it? Biff morphed and he got a power. He can do stuff with water! Why couldn’t we get any powers?”

I sat down next to her and felt like I should tell her that I had found my power. I feared that if I did now, I would lose her friendship. Her friendship had started to mean so much to me that I never wanted to lose it. So, I just sat next to her and offered her some support. “Did he change in his appearance?”

Marjorie sighed in frustration, “That’s the kicker, he is still the same as always. The only positive on it is that he’s very weak with his power. Well, enough brooding, why did you come over? Want to see my new eCom? It finally arrived yesterday.”

I smiled at her, “Sure let’s go see.” But silently I was thinking, ‘Better keep my news from her for now. I don’t want to upset her with my newfound power. She’ll feel even more left out.’

During the next weeks I experimented with my power and discovered that I sort of could see currents in the air and sort of feel how much pressure there was. It was like there was a whole other world waiting for me to explore and to play with. Alone in the woods I played with the winds and sometimes let them carry me through the air, kind of like flying. My tail was a nice rudder during this and I really enjoyed my time there.

However I think Marjorie started to suspect something as she became a bit more reserved towards me and sometimes asked if I ever thought about having a power from my change. I managed to change the topic mostly and kept her from finding out anything.

Back at school I walked with more confidence, once I knew that my new found power could bail me out of trouble. Marjorie surely noticed because she asked me, “What has gotten into you?”

“Oh nothing, I’m just not going to let people get to me anymore. I am who I am and they can screw themselves.” I replied with a smile.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my friend Sinthia?” Marjorie asked jokingly but with a serious undertone.

“I’m an evil twin come back from the future to make sure I take over the world!” I said with a giggle and a smile.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Marjorie responded, but couldn’t ask more as we had to get into class.

She had forgotten about it later that day, but I knew she would come back on the issue. I would have to think of something and soon.

I avoided Marjorie the next morning because I still hadn’t come up with anything to say to her. Matters were taken out of my hands that day. I felt a bit off and like something wasn’t right. It turned out that my feeling was right on the money, but not how I would have thought.

During our history class, the big TV screen started smoking and started to burn. The girl who was operating it, managed to get clear of the device and looked around. Then she pointed at me, “She’s the one that did it. She resents us normal people and wants to hurt us.”

Sheila jumped right on this and yelled, “Kill the rodent, she’s a menace.”

I rose from my chair and felt the hatred roll in waves from my classmates towards me. Well, not physically, but mentally. It must be from my animal side that detects danger. The teacher Mr. Buttings tried to restore order, but his small stature and soft voice was no match for the yelling and shouting voices of the students out for blood, in particular my blood.

I tried to get to the door and towards safety, but Phil was blocking it with a cruel smile on his face. I realized that I was trapped and had been set up into the trap.

Frantically I looked around for a way out, but there didn’t seem to be one. Then my eye caught the small window above the door, it was very high up and very small. I knew though that squirrels can get through a very small hole if they need to. I had seen it first hand with the squirrel that had bitten me and made me what I am today.

Thought sprung into action and I jumped towards a wall, bouncing off it to the adjacent wall to the cupboard that I used to jump to the window. There I wrung myself through the small window above the door. It was tight, but I managed to wring myself through before any angry student could reach up to prevent me from escaping.

Soon I was running through the empty hall way and heard the door open behind me, with angry voices shouting, “Get that filthy rodent.” Or: “Kill her, she blew up a TV and is trying to hurt us.”

Other class room doors opened at the ruckus and soon other students got out and were about to block my way. Just as was about to be blocked by several students, with some of them intending to grab me and hold me to get me punished for something I didn’t do, Remo stepped forward and turned to them. “Nobody grabs my sister.”

I skidded to a halt as my way was blocked now, and my pursuers were starting to get near. I was pleasantly surprised to see my brother and that he was stepping up to defend me, though I doubted that it was such a good idea. Especially when a few of the line backers started to move in on him. One growled, “Get out of the way or you’ll get a beating too, boy.”

Marjorie was pushed forward through the crowd towards us and almost fell down had I not caught her. She scrambled to her feet and watched with me in fear at the gathering crowd. Some teachers were trying to get to us, but couldn’t get through the assembled students.

Sheila yelled at the people next to her, “Get those freaks, they are a menace to society. They blew up a TV with their freakish powers.”

With a new found confidence, backed up with my wind power, unknown to anyone but me, I faced Sheila. “You mean you sabotaged the TV, just so you could blame me.”

Sheila was flabbergasted at my sudden comeback. “What? No, I don’t know anything about electronic things.” She looked to her side at Neville, a computer and science nerd.

Sheila turned to look at us almost immediately, but I had caught her involuntary look at her accomplice. “So, you had Neville do it? What did you promise to do for him in return? Be his girlfriend?”

Sheila exploded, “NO, of course not. Like I would be with someone like him.”

Now Neville screamed in anger, “What? You promised to go out with me and be my girlfriend for at least a month.”

Sheila slapped him, “Quiet, you moron. And you freak, don’t make this about me! You are the menace and a freak.” She turned slightly and yelled, “Get her, she’s using her powers to confuse us.”

Several guys, with Gary and Phil in front, started moving towards us, with some big football jocks spreading out. They were making sure we wouldn’t get out of here without getting hurt. Remo stepped up and got slapped out of the way by Corin Haskell. He was easily the biggest guy in school, he wasn’t too bright and already doubled a class two times.

As I saw Remo getting knocked to the floor and people advancing at us, I started to panic. I reached down deep inside me and felt my wind power starting to respond. With an unnecessary wave of my hand I willed the air to form a gust of wind and blew the first line of people backwards.

Now I got everyone’s attention, “Stay back! This has gone far enough! I will not let anyone get hurt today just because a few bigots want to hurt a few MORFS people.”

Marjorie was staring at me with wide open eyes at my display of my power. I really felt like shit, not telling her about it beforehand. I had betrayed our trust by not telling her the truth. I was about to apologize to her, when a second line of people broke through the first line that had been blown back. They rushed us and where about to hit or kick us where they could.

I grabbed Marjorie and she picked up Remo with her considerable strength. The three of us stormed through the crowd on the other side and went outside the school, trying to get to safety before we were lynched.

Once we were on the grass outside of school, a tiny spout of water rose from the pond and splashed on me. I was wet and totally caught off guard. The hesitation to run onwards was my undoing as it was enough for people to rush us. Moments later we were surrounded and bricks and stones were flying through the air at us. Marjorie got hit with a stone on her head and fell down with a cry of pain. I knelt at her side and got hit with a brick in my back. Rising up again, I wanted to start using my power in earnest, but then a siren started blaring.

Everyone knew this siren, it triggered an immediate response to seek shelter. It was the siren for a tornado alert.

We all looked up at the sky which had darkened with clouds. The tornado had already formed and though it was some distance away, it looked like it was headed straight for downtown. The wind was picking up now and we all knew that there wasn’t enough time to get into a shelter.

Sheila tried one more time, “She’s doing it, kill her before she kills us all.”

Corin standing next to her, growled angrily, “Shut up!” and slapped her aside.

I looked at the tornado coming towards us and not only saw it heading for us, I also saw with my enhanced sense of my power what the winds of the tornado were doing. I knew it was heading straight for us and wanted desperately to avoid it. I knew the air currents obeyed my mental commands, but I didn’t know if I could control something that big.

Then I remembered an old movie, ‘Size matters not.’ An old, very small alien guy had said it. So I visualized the winds inside the tornado and willed them to change directions ever so slightly.

They responded to it and I screamed out from exhilaration. I was going to do this. I willed the winds more and more to go where I wanted them to go and soon the tornado was passing by the town all together.

Remo suddenly appeared next to me, “Sinthia, I think the tornado is going straight for our house now.”

‘Oh no, I forgot to check where I send the tornado to.’ Quickly I tried to steer the winds again, but this time they were resisting me. I don’t know how or why, but they continued onwards towards our house. ‘Mom and Dad don’t know about it. All the animals and everything will be gone if the tornado goes there. I need to do something.’

I sank down on my knees and concentrated while closing my eyes. I saw in my mind the winds and how they all interconnected and kept themselves going. Slowly I willed them to untangle and die down. It took up everything that I had to do this and my head started pounding with a massive headache. I even felt something trickle out of my nose, but I still kept it up till the winds died down enough that they weren’t a danger anymore.

Remo shouted, “Yes, you did it. We’re all safe!”

I opened my eyes and looked up at him before collapsing into darkness as I lost my consciousness.

~-~-~-~-~-

I came to in the school’s nurse station. I had been there before with a nose bleed, a lifetime ago. I wanted to get up, but my head was pounding and I had something shoved in my nose. I lifted my hand to it wanting to get it out, but someone held my arm. “Careful, if it hasn’t clotted yet, you’ll start bleeding again. It’s very hard to get blood out of fur.”

I turned to the nurse, “What happened? Why am I here?”

“Good question, why don’t you tell us.” Detective Meshinger said from the door to the nurse station.

I got frightened seeing him, “Am I in trouble?”

He approached the bed, “Not yet, but why don’t you tell me everything that happened today. Starting with your powers?”

“Well, that didn’t happen today. I discovered my power a few weeks ago. I’ve been practicing it in secret and away from anyone that I might hurt. I’ve never used it before till… no that isn’t correct. I did use it once with my pursuers, but I didn’t know that it was coming from me then.” I rambled along.

“Why don’t you tell me from the start what happened to you.”

So, I started telling him about the time I got ambushed by Gary, Phil and Sheila. He listened without saying a word and I continued with how I almost fell to a world of hurt and found my power instead. I also told him about my worries about my friendship with Marjorie since I hadn’t told her about my power. Finally I got to today’s events. I told him that I was getting led into a trap and how I escaped the classroom.

When I told him that I used my wind power to keep the first line of people away from me before fleeing outside, I got a frightening thought. “I didn’t cause the tornado by accident did I?”

Meshinger smiled mysteriously, “That was why I came here to talk to you. After hearing what happened here, I wanted to know if you did. You said you only used your power in the hallway to keep the people away, right?”

I nodded in a building panic that I might be held responsible for the destruction of the tornado, though I had made it go away.

“You didn’t use it before that, in the classroom or earlier?” Meshinger kept asking me.

“I’m positive. I can feel it when I’m using it. So, I know that I didn’t use it unawares.”

“Good,” Meshinger smiled at me. “I talked to the teacher, Mr. Buttings. He told me the exact time that you fled out of the classroom. The tornado started already about ten minutes before. That’s why I think you didn’t have anything to do with it.”

I sighed from relief. I wasn’t to blame for that. Then my face fell again. “Try telling that to the people outside. They’ll never believe it, and they’ll want to lynch me for being a menace.”

“It won’t come to that, I’m going to go with you to a press conference. Everything will be said and done there.”

“Not without me, you don’t!” Came the voice of Mom from the door.

“Mom!” I yelled and almost flew to her for a big hug.

A few hours later I was at a press conference in the gym at school. They asked questions about the tornado and what I had to do with it. With the help of detective Meshinger and a local weatherman I got cleared of any wrong doing and even got praised for keeping damage to a minimum. A man in a suit came up to us at the table and said in a clear voice that he was deputy director of the national weather institute. He wanted to offer me a scholarship and a position at the national weather institute. Stunned I looked at my family and detective Meshinger. He whispered to me, “You can think about it a while.”

“Thank you, I’ll seriously consider it.” I said to the man in the suit.

After the press conference came the hard part, facing my best friend Marjorie. She stood in the dean’s room looking at me. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or happy or disappointed. I hesitantly started, “Marjorie, I’m sorry that…”

She interrupted, “You should’ve told me.”

I looked down at the floor. “I know, but you were so upset with Biff and his powers, that I didn’t dare tell you that I found my power. I never found a good time to tell you. I was afraid that it would end our friendship.”

“And you think me finding out this way wouldn’t?”

I was almost crying now, “I’m really, really sorry. Please forgive me, I never meant to hurt you. I still owe you from the last time I hurt your feelings. I can never repay you for our friendship.”

Marjorie went over to me and I expected her to hit me. Instead she hugged me tightly, to the extent that I couldn’t breathe much. “Oh, I forgive you, my friend the tornado basher.”

I gurgled, “Too tight!”

“Sorry, I forgot my own strength,” and she released her grip.

I took a fresh breath of air, “Thanks for being my friend Marjorie. I’ll always be there for you, but I think I should take the scholarship from the meteorological Institute.”

“Of course you need to accept that. I would be very mad at you if you didn’t.”

I sighed, “But it will take me far away from here. In essence I’ll be gone with the wind. We won’t be seeing each other as much anymore.”

Marjorie smiled at me, “I know that, but we have eComs and can talk to each other all the time. Just don’t hold out on me ever again. And I want to know everything about a boyfriend if you find one.”

That got me thinking again, I still wasn’t sure whether I liked boys now. But girls didn’t get me hot either, so who knows. At least I hadn’t lost my best friend. Together with her I went in search of my family to tell them about my future plans and what they thought of it.

As we walked, Marjorie said, “You know that it was Biff that splashed you with that spout of water outside, right?”

I hadn’t thought of that, but it made sense. He would help those bastards. Well, they were probably on their way to get expelled for attacking me, and maybe I could take my own little revenge if Biff happened to be standing in front of water sometime in the future where I was nearby. I told Marjorie about that plan and she started snickering. It was infectious and soon we were both laughing. We still were when I rejoined my family.

The entire MORFS Universe can be found at http://morfs.nowhere2go.org/