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Phoenix, Miles and Larry were all very excited. Gregory had allowed them to hold a sleepover at Miles’ house! First the three of them got some money to go out and buy snacks for their sleepover.
“I can’t believe we can finally hold a sleepover again! And finally at your house, Miles!” Phoenix said excitedly as they walked through the neighbourhood to go to the store.
“Yeah! And we even got money to buy our own snacks!” Larry said with a big grin on his face.
Miles smiled along with the other two, feeling a bit shy about it all. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s going to be fun.”
They all chatted together while they made it to the store. Everyone was picking out their favourite snack before paying and going back. Once they made it back to Miles’ house, Gregory greeted them with a friendly smile.
“I see you all got some good snacks. Come head inside. You can play some games or watch a movie if you want. Just be mindful of the fireplace, wouldn’t want you guys getting hurt now.” Gregory said with a smile as he let the boys inside.
They all ran for the living room where their sleeping bags and matts had been set up. They laid down their snacks and all sat down in a circle on the floor.
“What should we do now? Do we play a game or watch a movie or something?” Miles said.
The other two thought about it for a moment before Larry spoke up. “We should watch the Signal Samurai! Miles, you said your dad got you the DVDs right?”
“Oh! That would be so much fun! Do you think we can?” Phoenix asked.
“I did get the DVDs, yes. I’ll ask father to put them on.’’ Miles said as he got up to get Gregory. A moment later Miles and Gregory came back as Miles got out the Signal Samurai DVDs he had gotten for Gregory to put them on. Once the show was running Gregory left the boys to it again.
While the boys were excitedly watching the Signal Samurai and commenting about it, Phoenix’s mind seemed to wander to the fireplace. It seemed to enchant him and pull him in, beckoning him to come closer, and closer and closer. Phoenix got up from his spot to move towards the fireplace. Larry and Miles were too preoccupied on the show to notice Phoenix getting up until he touched the fire, which resulted in his hand lighting up in blue flames. To his panic and confusion Phoenix started to scream, alerting Miles, Larry and Gregory who came running into the room upon hearing the scream.
The boys all started to panic as the fire started to spread over Phoenix’s arm. It didn’t hurt but the confusion and panic from everyone else made him panic too. Miles and Larry stared on in fear and bewilderment while Gregory went to grab the fire blanket and put it over Phoenix, trying to douse out the fire. But it didn’t seem to work as the fire kept spreading over Phoenix’s body, eventually and completely engulfing him in the flames, making Miles and Larry scream and cry on in horror as their friend seemed to disappear in the flames. Once the flames died down Gregory removed the fire blanket, where he found a pile of ashes with a blue bird sitting in them.
“What happened?! Where is Phoenix?! Where did the bird come from?!” Miles and Larry asked Gregory who had sat down on his knees to look at the small blue bird.
He thought of the fairy tales he used to tell Miles before bed and the legend of the Phoenix. The magical fire bird that could be reborn from its ashes.
“Phoenix?” Gregory gently asked. The bird chirped in reply.
“I think this little fellow is your friend.” Gregory said as he pointed at the bird while looking at Miles and Larry.
“Phoenix?” Miles and Larry asked in unison upon which the bird once again chirped in reply.
“I’m going to call Phoenix parents. Please wait here and keep an eye out for him. I’ll be right back.” Gregory said as he got up and walked over to the phone, calling up Phoenix’s parents to inform and ask about what happened. Phoenix’s parents said they would be over shortly and explain the whole situation to everyone. Gregory hung up the phone after and went back over to the boys, who were gently patting the bird.
After a while Phoenix turned back to a human, clearly confused about what happened and about how he did it.
“Phoenix! You’re back!” Miles said with a smile as he went to hug Phoenix.
“You’re back!” Larry said as he went in for the group hug as well.
“What happened? How did you turn back? What was that?” Larry started to shoot out questions at the confused Phoenix.
“I don’t know.” Phoenix answered, being confused as well.
“Let’s not overwhelm him with questions now. His parents are on the way. I’m sure they’ll explain what happened.” Gregory said, trying to help Phoenix from getting even more overwhelmed.
After a while Phoenix’s parents showed up. They started apologizing profusely for the commotion once they stepped inside.
“Oh, thank goodness you turned back already. You did well for doing so but I’m sure you are confused about it all.” Phoenix’s mom said as she gave him a hug.
“We’ll explain to all of you what happened.” Phoenix’s dad said as he gave him a hug as well.
“You see, our family has been blessed with a gift for centuries.” Phoenix’s mom started to explain. “We’re all phoenixes. You got that from me. Your father is a normal human. We knew it would eventually come that your wings would start to spread but normally it doesn’t happen this early on. Otherwise, we would have already started talking about it.”
“We wanted you to live a normal life for as long as possible Phoenix. That’s why we didn’t talk about it yet.” Phoenix’s dad explained.
“Now Phoenix once you get home, we’ll start teaching you how to use and control your powers. We wouldn’t want you or anyone else to get hurt now.” Phoenix’s mom said gently.
“We’ll let you enjoy the rest of your sleepover now. Just stay away from fire and it should all be good.” Phoenix’s dad said with a smile before turning to everyone.
“We’re sorry that you all had to see this happen with no explanation. It must have been scary and confusing. But we promise you there is nothing wrong with Phoenix and he is not hurt.” Phoenix’s dad said with a gentle smile.
Phoenix’s mom gave Phoenix a quick kiss on the forehead. “I promise you it’s all going to be okay.”
After that Phoenix’s parents took their leave, letting the boys get back to their sleepover. They happily continued while Miles and Larry would occasionally comment on that Phoenix was really cool for having powers and that they were happy he was alright.