The week flew by. It turns out that the assessment was just a check to make sure we were within the expected mental stability levels of the majority of the population. I was disappointed by that. I don’t know what I had been expecting, but I had hoped that it would provide a clearer picture of how dangerous we would be to ourselves and others. We all passed with flying colours.

Now we are all in the big hall one last time, meeting up with the people who had come to take us home. Not that I needed to go somewhere specific to meet Cellum; they worked here after all. But we are here anyway, Cellum beaming at everyone as I hover at the edge of the room. Equinox is happily chatting with her family, who are seemingly unphased by their daughter being a giant bird-person. I guess that’s the best outcome then. Everyone else seems happy to meet their long-lost friends and family again, despite their newfound furs and feathers and fears. Oh, we all have fears, anything else would be out of the question. Turns out being trapped in an infinite forest and slowly and painfully transformed into a human-animal hybrid is rather mentally scarring - who would’ve thought? I note with sarcasm. But hey, we move onward and upward now, right?

Equinox catches my eye, and jerks their head to call me over. I leave my post by the wall, carefully threading my way through the mass of tiny humans until I reach her.

“This is Ben.”

“Hi.”

“Thank you for looking out for Equinox, Ben,” her dad says, grasping my paw in his hands and shaking it, “it was a real comfort to us knowing that she had a friend in here, someone who knew what they were going through.”

“Well, we’re all in the same boat, we may as well paddle together. And she’s looked out for me just as much, believe me. Wise beyond their years, that one.”

Equinox lets out a rough approximation of a chuckle as her parents smile.

“Yes, that’s our Equinox, alright.” Her mum pats their wing.

“Say, Ben, if you ever need a place to crash, or just someone to chat to, you can always call us. We’d be happy to help with whatever you need.”

“Thanks. I have a place lined up, but I’ll let you know if I need a holiday. Probably not many places designed to cater for someone as big as me. I’m sure Cellum would gladly return the offer too.”

Equinox’ dad laughs and I look around to see if I can spot Cellum. All the people here, all the noise and smells, I’m getting quite overwhelmed, and it’s difficult to pick out any particular individual. Equinox flaps a wing in my direction, to get my attention. Her dad is holding out a piece of paper towards me, with an address and phone number on it. I nod thanks as I take it, tucking it carefully in my tablet case. “I don’t actually know my address yet.” I tap out, still looking around for Cellum.

“Ah, that’s alright. Where’s your person? We can ask them.”

“I don’t know where Cellum is. Bit busy in here.” The overload is starting to take its toll. I’m struggling to think straight. To my relief, Cellum walks in through the door and heads over to us.

“Hi guys. Equinox’ family I assume? Good to meet you. I’m Cellum, they/them.”

“We were just swapping addresses.” Equinox tells him. They seem less affected by the crowd, though I guess birds can’t really smell much, so that’s one less sense to worry about.

Cellum pats my arm. “Shall we go? It looks like it’s getting a bit much for you.”

“You can tell?”

They nod. I sigh, and pull myself together enough to type out a goodbye to Equinox.

“I will keep in touch. Goodbye, Ben.” She waves with her wing and clicks her beak, and I wave back, tail wafting from side to side. Then Cellum leads me out to the cool and relatively quiet corridor.

“Well that was fun. Shall we get you packed up, or have you done that?”

“I already did it. Not that there’s much.” Only what I came in with, pretty much, and the clothes they made for me.

“Well then, shall we head home?”

I nod and follow them down the corridor, still exhausted from the business of the room. We stop by my room - my old room, I should say - to grab my bag, then head towards the front desk.

“Signing out, for the last time, can you believe it?” Cellum chatters to the person behind the desk. “Signing Ben out too, for the first and only time. What a day - the end of an era, and the beginning of the next,” they continue to me as we walk towards the door. “Are you ready Ben? This is the first day of the rest of your life.”

They’re right. It’s scary, but they’re by my side. I take a deep breath, and step out of the door.