The Chronicles of Sindee
Volume 6: Sindee reveals her secret
By Su Shafer
The moon was waxing, getting near to full. She could feel it growing in the night sky. The soft fluttering of wings inside, near her heart. Every night they grew more insistent and she knew that tomorrow night or maybe the next, they would take over: she would change.
The fluttering inside made it hard to sleep. Sindee lay awake in her crib, staring at the patterns in the lace canopy. Stuffy was quiet beside her, but she didn’t think he was asleep.
“Stuffy, are you asleep?”
“No. Are you?”
“Obviously not,” Sindee replied, annoyed. She sighed. Stuffy wasn’t the brightest sometimes, but given his tiny dinosaur brain, what could she expect?
“I guess I should tell you something,” Sindee went on. “Something important, that I’ve been keeping secret.”
“Oh boy, a secret!” Stuffy chirped, flapping his little flipperesque T-rex arms.
They both turned on their sides to face each other in the crib. “I want to know all your secrets!” Stuffy said breathlessly. He was very excited.
“I guess you will since you live here now,” Sindee said. “I hope you won’t be scared.”
“I’m a T-rex, King of the dinosaurs! Nothing scares me!” Stuffy replied indignantly.
“Good. Because tomorrow night, when the moon gets full, I’m going to change into something …” She paused for dramatic effect, “else.”
“YOU’RE A WEREWOLF!?” Stuffy cried.
“Certainly not!” Sindee huffed. “I’m a were-moth.”
“Oh,” Stuffy said, frowning. “What’s that?”
“I’m not sure. I think I’m the only one. One night, when the moon was full, I started feeling really funny. Then I noticed I was getting fuzzy all over and these beautiful green wings popped out and well, I just started flying! I thought it was a dream at first, but it’s happened a few times now, and it’s no dream.”
Stuffy stared at her gravely. “Gosh. That sounds kind of painful, but also pretty neat.”
“It is. Not painful, I mean. It happens so fast! One minute I’m just lying here, the next minute I’m flying around.”
They both fell silent for a moment while Stuffy processed the information. “And this happens every full moon?”
“Yes. And I can feel it’s going to happen again tomorrow, so I thought I’d better warn you.”
“Oh.” Stuffy’s eyes went wide as a thought struck his tiny brain. “Do were-moths eat baby dinosaurs!?” he squeaked.
“Don’t be silly! Moths don’t eat dinosaurs!” she admonished. “Mostly they just seem to flutter about.”
“Whew!” Stuffy sighed. “Sounds cool. Can I do it too?”
“No, you’re a dinosaur. You have to stay here. And be fierce,” she added, seeing Stuffy deflate with disappointment. “And guard the crib.”
Stuffy perked up again. “OK. I’ll be good at that.”
Sindee looked at her chubby friend with his stubby arm flippers and plush fabric teeth. “You are very fierce,” she said. “Wanna cuddle?”
“Always!”
Su Shafer is a creative writer and sometime poet who lives in the Pacific Northwest, where flannel shirts are acceptable as formal wear and strong coffee is a way of life. There, in a small Baba Yaga house perched near the entrance to The Hidden Forest, odd characters are brewing with the morning cup, and a strange new world is beginning to take shape . . .
