Pinja landed safely on the moss and the vulture landed next to her.
The bird boy started to craw and Pinja noticed to her great amazement that she could understand it.
"Well, are you still afraid of me?" the bird asked.
"How do you know that I was afraid of you?" Pinja asked the vulture.
"Did you think that birds can't read minds?"
"Whoa? All birds... can read minds? No, I did not know."
"Don't you even know what you are? What just happened? Won't you say it?"
"A while ago... I did nothing but thinking. I thought and it happened. I came safely on the ground. You're asking what I am? I guess I'm just a human, after all."
A strong doubt struck into her mind and she glanced her "hands".
"What?! Wings! What am I?!"
"You're like me", the vulture answered. "A vulture. You were born as a vulture, you still are a vulture. I'll tell you later. Let's fly to my cottage now!"
They flew through the air, Pinja much lower and winding. There was a small hut under some low frosty spruce branches. Pinja followed the bird boy. Into the cottage they flew, right through the window hole. They flew couple of times around the room and then they landed on a table. The vulture jumped on the floor and changed form into a boy and then back into a vulture. He asked Pinja to do that, too.
It wasn't easy to change shape. Pinja had to try many times until it was succeed. After that, she could transform into a bird much faster. They slept the rest of the day on hay mattress in the hut.
When Pinja woke up next morning the mattress next to her was empty. The girl had time to look around while the boy had now gone. She could see nothing except some spruce trees through the window and she couldn't get out of the room when she was a human. Pinja decided to go out.
She transformed into a vulture and flew away through the window with a scream. She wanted to try her flying skills by flying around the hut a couple of times.
In the beginning, it felt a little clumsy to wave one's wings and directing with a tail was so-so. Pinja flew almost against a tree when her long neck bent. At the last moment she got her neck back headed forwards, as luck would have it.
At first, the speed was anguishly slow but by experience it speeded up to enjoyable and lovely, little by little. Pinja couldn't help doing so much loops and hazardous accelerations. It was just so much fun.
Pinja had no idea of for how long the bird boy had been sitting on a branch of a tree nearby, watching her flying. He appeared to praise Pinja's advancement.
"Those loops and diving things look great. Without denying, you could push a little more forwards with your wings. You see, you climb a bit too much with every slap of your wings. Otherwise, good", the boy said.
"Good to know", Pinja said, landing.
After a little silence, Pinja continued: "But I don't know your name, do I!"
"I'm Kriik. I have no human name because when I was little I spoke things that had no sense, and people were afraid of the way that I walked." The boy showed how he had walked, his hands strangely against his sides, when he was younger. His legs were bent and he moved staggering wildly. Pinja jumped at least a meter backwards. Kriik transformed into a bird again.
"You saw it. You were scared yourself. Of course, I learned to walk properly when time went by, but at the same time I got used to live here in the middle of the woods as a hermit."
"Whereas you", the boy continued, "you were different. You could walk well, just like you had been a human for your entire life. You learned to talk very easily, too. People thought you were a poor little orphan who had been chased away from her home. Since then I've been watching you growing up as a human. I haven't talked to you 'cause I thought that education could be a big advantage for you. Now, when your schooling is almost over, I've decided to tell you the right side of the story."
Pinja was totally speechless hearing her real past this rawly. The story of a little orphan, of the girl that had come so far, was a lie. Her whole life was a great big joke... She herself was the main joke. The vulture girl. Ugly and beautiful. Charming and terrifying. A freak.
Kriik continued speaking after a long, long silence, again: "Of course I understand if you want to continue living your life. I shouldn't have bothered you such idle talk like this. This kind of little, revolting, ugly, disgusting vulture, an old stinky vulture, comes to a beautiful and popular human girl just to tell her repulsive things. Things that the human girl would never like to hear, no way. Of course I understand if you don't like me and you miss your mum and dad who surely are much nicer than my dead vultu..." Kriik's voice faded silent with sobbing. Pinja had pity and compassion for that little lonely and kind of pleasant vulture boy.
"Now then, won't you care", Pinja said with compassion and and she twined her arms around the vulture boy who was stuttering in a weird position. "You're not as awful as you claim..."
"But still awful!" Kriik interrupted, "I knew you wouldn't like me! I knew I shouldn't come to tell it to you! I knew I should live the rest of my life in this little hut of mine!" Kriik started sobbing, again.
"Oh, I do like you. But I just think I won't ever learn to live as a vulture. I've got a family, friends and almost a boyfriend", Pinja lied, "I can't leave them, even if I wanted so. And no doubt I'd wish you to come with me, I could even feed you every day and chat with you. You could live in a bird cage in my roo..."
"In a cage? NO! Never. It's more pleasant to me to be alone than as a prisoner!" Kriik flew into a rage.
"OK then. I'll go back to my home and I'll continue as in the past. Can you show me the way there?" Pinja asked, relieved at not taking a bird into her room.
"Good. Now go away. You'll get rid of me for eternity", Kriik answered angrily.
Pinja and Kriik flew high up in the air. Pinja enjoyed the last moments of being a bird, gliding by warm thermics.? (writer's note: I mean those warm ariwaves that go up on a sunny day.) Not before the sun was setting down they got to Pinja's house. Lights weren't on.
Pinja kind of felt good about it because it showed that her mum and dad hadn't been awake, worried about Pinja. On the other hand, she was irritated at it because it was a signal that showed that her parents didn't care about her.