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“but I wanted to talk to you first. I never thanked you.”
    “Thanked me? For what?”
    “For saving me, of course.”
    “From the people who held you captive?”
    “Yes. It’s a long story, and I don’t have the strength to tell it all tonight. I can, however, share some of my history.” The bird suddenly spreads her wings and flutters over to my dresser. She nods at the vacated bed as if to tell me to get in.
    I’m guessing this will be a bedtime story I’ll never forget! I quickly change into my pajamas and slip into bed. Once I’m settled, the bird flies over and nestles against me like a cat.
    “Are you glad you found me?” she asks.
    “Sure!” I exclaim. “Nothing special ever happens to me—not special in a good way.”
    “You have endured much for one so young.”
    The bird doesn’t look at me directly, but I get the feeling she’s talking about my mother. “How do you know that?” I ask.
    “I know many things about you. I can sense what is not said.”
    The only magical birds I’ve ever heard of were in books or movies. I never expected to find one in Prospect Park! And now it’s here with me.
    The bird looks up at me with her dark, sparkling eyes. “Many would have walked away—or tried to expose me for profit. But I knew you were different.”
    “Different how?”
    “You have a tender heart.”
    I stiffen for just a moment, then relax as I realize the bird isn’t calling me a wimp. She burrows against my neck, and I feel her tiny heart beating steadily.
    “You should rest now. You’ll need your strength for the task we must undertake.”
    “What task?” I ask with a yawn. I wasn’t tired a moment ago, but now I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open.
    “When it is time, all will be revealed.” The bird’s voice sounds like a soothing lullaby. She reaches out a wing and strokes my cheek with the tips of her feathers.
    I feel my eyes starting to close but manage to drowsily ask another question. “Why did you choose me?”
    “You have nothing to lose,” she croons.
    Suddenly alert, I snap my head back and stare at the enchanting bird. “What?”
    “No one to lose, I mean. I had to choose someone whose heart was free.”
    I want to object, to insist that I do have something—someone—to lose. But the bird is right. I like Mrs. Martin, and I appreciate her taking care of me and everything, but I’m not getting attached to her. And Mercy—well, even the visiting nurse said she can’t form a bond with anyone because of the chemicals in her system. Poor kid. She came into this world with her heart already broken.
    I let my head fall back onto the pillow. “So you picked me ’cause you thought I’d be more loyal?”
    “Precisely. You’re wise for your years, Dmitri.”
    “Call me D,” I say.
    “Why?”
    “No one calls me Dmitri.”
    “Someone did…once.”
    My face heats up, and for just a moment I find myself wanting to crush this nosy bird. How could it know that my mother used to call me Dmitri?
    “Great care was taken with your preparation,” she says.
    “Preparation?”
    “Your education.”
    “Oh, I get it. My mom homeschooled me. She didn’t trust the public schools, and we couldn’t afford a private one.”
    “You don’t belong at school.”
    “I don’t belong anywhere, really.”
    “Everyone belongs somewhere,” she says softly. “D?”
    “Yes?”
    “I am not what I appear to be.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Instead of answering, the bird moves closer to the edge of the bed and silently morphs into a glowing yellow sphere.
    I feel my tired eyes opening wide. “How’d you do that?”
    In a deep male voice, it replies, “I am made of energy, D. I can sense what is in your heart and mind. Once I know what pleases you, I can adapt to suit your preferences.”
    “Are you—I mean, are you, like, an alien?”
    “I must seem strange to you,” the sphere says in its female voice before settling back into bird form.
    “Uh—yeah!