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shrug as she was
speaking. Nicholas stared at her for a few moments before
continuing.
    “So when do I
meet him? ”
    “Soon
enough, ” Megan
replied. “ First
things first. I ’ m going to teach you how to heal a simple
burn. ”
    “Has someone
been burned? ” Nicholas looked around, but there was no one else in the
area. They were alone.
    “You. ”
    “But … I ’ m not
burned. ” He
turned his head to one side and listened to a few birds chirping as
he waited for Megan to respond. She stood completely still for
several moments, then she jumped up from her sitting
position.
    “Easily
fixed, ” Megan
replied as she tossed a miniature fire lizard onto the ground in
front of Nicholas.
    “Were you
carrying that thing this whole time ? ” he asked as he quickly jumped
backward . He had seen pictures of fire
lizards before, but he’d never seen a live one up close, and he was
wondering if everything he’d read about them was true. For example,
he’d read that a single fire lizard could burn down an entire tree
in less than 10 minutes.
    “I make it a
point to always be prepared, ” Megan answered offhandedly. “ Now, don ’ t be afraid. ” As she said the last sentence she slapped her massive paw
down on the fire lizard ’ s
tail , and the animal shot forth a burst of angry
flames as it opened its mouth to scream .
    “Ouch! ” Nicholas shouted abruptly. He scrunched up his
brow and stared back at Megan as he held his shin where the lizard
had scorched him. His leg was in pain, and he could feel the hot
melted flesh underneath his palm. His eyes watered from both the
smell of the burn as well as the pain. Then, to his surprise, the
lizard turned around and spoke to Megan as if they’d just had
lunch .
    “Am I done
here? ” the
lizard asked. “ Can I go?
I ’ ve got a marshmallow
roast I ’ m
expected to start in half an hour, and I ’ m hoping they ’ re going to have
marshmallows. ”
    “You ’ re done , ” Megan replied with a nod of her head. “ Nice job. ” She handed him a tiny bag of jelly beans, and the lizard
rapidly took the bag, flipping it over his
shoulder.
    “Please, ” the lizard replied as he looked down his nose at
Megan. “ I ’ m a
professional. ” He scurried off toward the forest and was gone before
Nicholas could ask any questions of him. Nicholas looked around as
he felt the excruciating pain in his leg. It felt as if it was
still on fire.
    “You planned
that! ” Nicholas
shouted as he held his hand tightly over his stinging
shin.
    “And? ” Megan asked casually. Nicholas held his breath
in anger. “So? ”
    “You planned to
hurt me! ” he
blurted out.
    “I
didn ’ t plan to
hurt you. I only planned to damage you a little because
it ’ s important
for the lesson. If I had wanted to hurt you, there would be much
more damage. And probably blood, too. But as you can see, there’s
no blood at all . ” Nicholas winced from the pain.
    “You are an odd
healer, ” he
said. “Kelsey warned me about you.”
    “And you are an
odd boy, ” Megan
retorted.
    “No, I ’ m
not. ” Nicholas pressed
his palm firmly against his leg, but the pain continued despite the
pressure.
    “ Let ’ s
get to work, ” Megan said with enthusiasm. “ Good job on putting your hand
over the wound. Physical contact is important. However,
you ’ ll need to
channel your anger elsewhere because it doesn ’ t help at all with healing, and
it ’ s especially
detrimental to healing yourself. Instead, think about something
positive. ”
    Nicholas felt
the uncomfortable stinging on his shin as he continued to press his
palm against the burn. His first instinct was to lash out at Megan
in retaliation, but the leopard was much larger, and it
wouldn ’ t be
wise to pick a fight. He was still in shock over the way Megan had casually and unexpectedly inflicted
the wound upon him, but he did his best to push those thoughts
aside. He did as Megan instructed and thought about