Текст книги "Animorphs - 13 - The Change"

Автор книги: Katherine Alice Applegate

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 6 страниц)

I knew the truth now. I could see it clearly. I was looking at myself.

Back when I was human. And looking at myself, I couldn't escape the truth – that wasn't me anymore.

I wasn't Tobias the human. I had become something else. Something new.

What had the Ellimist said? ". . . you are a beginning. You are a point on which an entire time line may turn."

"Tobias?" I said to the human. "You should go back to sleep."

"I am asleep, aren't I? This has to be a dream. And if it isn't a dream, I'll never get back to sleep!"

"l can help you sleep," I said. "Hold out your arm. Don't be afraid." The human Tobias held out his arm. I flapped

my wings and landed on him. I was as gentle as I could be with my talons. I didn't need to dig them in. Simple contact was enough.

Tobias's eyes began to flutter. He became dazed and passive. The way all animals do when they are acquired.

I closed my eyes and focused on him. On the human DNA that was being absorbed into my hawk's body.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my tree.

Had it been real? Or was it all just some silly dream?

don't forget, a huge voice said. two hours, tobias.

I didn't ask what the Ellimist meant. I knew. I had acquired my own human DNA. But it was just a morph. If I stayed in my old human body I would be trapped there forever. Never again to morph. Never again to be a hawk. Never again to fly.

HAVE I KEPT MY PROMISE?

"Yes," I said.

AND ARE YOU HAPPY, TOBIAS?

me next day was Monday. The day when Rachel was to receive the Packard Foundation Outstanding Student award.

There were four other kids being honored, too. They held the presentation in the school gym. Parents were there, all proud of their sons and daughters. Kids were there, having a good time, basically because the assembly got them out of last period.

I missed the early part of the ceremony. I had to be careful, you see. I had to time everything just right. There is a two-hour limit, as I know better than anyone. In that time I had to walk from the edge of the woods to the school and leave plenty of time to get back.

I was scared and nervous, sneaking into the back of the auditorium.

A teacher frowned at me, like she knew me from somewhere but couldn't quite recall where.

I hung back in the shadows. The ceiling bothered me. I don't like being where I can't see the sky. But I stood there as patiently as I could, watching the ceremony through dim human eyes, and listening to the blah, blah, blah through weak human ears.

And only at the end, as the recipients filed out, did I step from the shadows.

Rachel was last in line. She was beautiful, as always. And she had the usual Rachel swagger.

I saw Cassie give her a wink as she walked by. Rachel rolled her eyes, self-mocking, and Cassie laughed.

When she passed by where Marco was sitting, Marco made a phony bow.

You know, like he was bowing before some idol. Rachel laughed and shook her head.

And then she was right there in front of me. I saw her eyes sweep over me, indifferent, and then look past me toward the door.

She stopped walking.

She turned to me. Her eyes were wide.

"Hi, Rachel," I said with a human voice.