After class was dismissed, Red, Chuck, and Bomb headed down the street, all of them still covered in ash.
“I don't know what happened," Bomb said, embarrassed. “I was doing the poses, I was feeling all Zen, Matilda was digging it! Then I lost my grip on it. I let it slip and it just squeaked out."
Chuck decided to change the subject.
“Hey, so where are we going?" he asked Red.
“I'm sorry, ‘we?'" she asked in return, confused.
“Yes, ‘we!'" Chuck replied. “There's a new happiness exhibit at the Museum of Happiness that I'm dying to see!"
Red suddenly got very nervous. She's never been asked to hang out with anyone before!
“Uh, you know what? I mean, I got a, uh..." she said nervously. “I got a thing."
“A thing?" Chuck gasped. “Like a disease? Is it bird flu? Chicken pox? Cardinal sin?!"
“No, by ‘thing' I mean a... a desire not to hang out... with you."
“Oh," Chuck said. He was quite hurt. But he pretended not to be. “Oh yeah? Well, maybe it's for the best, you know? Because I got something, too. How did I forget? Even if you said yes, I probably couldn't have gone."
“I'm... busy, too," Bomb joined in. “I have... a... business offer... deal that is, uh..."
“Bomb," Red cut him off. “You're not good at this, buddy. It's charming up to a point, and now it's just sad."
“It's a guy I know!" Bomb continued. Red just rolled her eyes. “And he's opening up a brand new... luxury... class reunion."
“Okay," said Red. “Good. Good, good, good." With that, she left Chuck and Bomb in the middle of the street and headed back home.
“Looks like it's just us," Bomb sighed. “Wanna go get a bite?"
“Oh, but what about your ‘class reunion' where everybody brings a ‘business offer?'" Chuck asked sarcastically. He was still upset about Red not wanting to hang out with him.
Bomb failed to understand and chuckled. “No, no. Chuck, I was lying. Sorry if I fooled you."

🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻

As Red made her way home, she couldn't help but notice that everyone was having fun together. Two birds, Kyle and Gale, were on a date. A group of friends were hanging out together. And the Blues, Olive and Greg, were feeling the soft pecks from their egg. Red was beginning to regret saying no to Chuck's proposal.
Soon enough, Red made it to her house. It was far from the village, all alone on the beach, but it was home. As she made it inside, she saw her poster of Mighty Eagle on the wall.

14 years ago...

“This is the legendary Mighty Eagle, our protector and hero" the teacher said to his class. “But nobody has seen him for years. Mighty Eagle is missing."
“When's Mighty Eagle gonna come back?" an eight year old Red asked. An older girl turned around to face her.
“Eyebrows, didn't your parents ever tell you Mighty Eagle isn't real?" she asked coldly. Red was confused.
“She doesn't know that!" another girl said. “She doesn't have parents!"
“Yeah, or even friends."

It was moments like that where Red wanted to cry. Her childhood was full of those moments. As she entered adolescence, she saw how the other girls were becoming more beautiful. Even the ugliest duckling became a beautiful swan. But Red stayed the same. Her eyebrows were still thick and her feathers became more ruffled. And makeup just made her eyes watery, but not as much as the pain she felt everyday. That's why Red felt she was better off alone.
Red took a bath to clean off the ashes. She thought about pulling her head feathers back, but she knew it wouldn't change anything. No one would ever think she was beautiful.
After her bath, Red built a tiny version of her house and held it up. She thought about how good it looked by the distant village. But she was fooling herself. She didn't belong with them. She put the tiny house on the other side of her windowsill, all alone on the beach. Just like her real house.
If only...

I don't know who's more upset: Red or Chuck. Chuck asked her out, but she turned him down. Now Red's starting to regret saying no.

Please leave a vote! 💖