“Sometimes moving on just takes a little bit of courage.” That was the second time Feya said that. What did she hope to gain from those words? Courage was non-existent in Maisie’s mind. Not only that, but when did she buy the stuffed banshee, and why on Earth did she stand in Flight of Passage’s line? It was as if Feya the fairy had drawn her wand and teleported her out of Pixie Hollow.
Maisie wasn’t a huge fan of Avatar, but she enjoyed the walk to the attraction: the never-ending rainforest, music, and lab inside the tree near the end of the line. She read a sign about the banshee and studied the lab’s Avatar setup. Everything felt real, and she wasn’t even on the ride yet.
The most impressive part of the lab was when Maisie passed an animatronic Na’vi floating in a tank with an attached umbilical cord. She snapped a picture and set the banshee on her shoulder.
Just beyond the animatronic were the gates for the ride.
“How many?” the Cast Member watching them inquired.
Too nervous to speak, Maisie held up one finger.
“Number 16,” the Cast Member explained, gesturing at the numbers on the floor. “Enjoy your flight.”
A preshow came before it. Maisie and a few other Guests waited patiently on their numbers in a confined, spaceship-like room, listening to the scientist on the TV who linked them to an Avatar. Maisie’s was a tall female with big eyes and a small mouth.
The doors opened after the show, revealing a line of chairs with a screen in front of them and cubbies behind. Maisie shivered with the AC and slipped her banshee and Custodial shirt into one cubby. She approached the Number 16 chair and climbed on. It was like she had mounted a futuristic motorcycle, and boy, was it uncomfortable! The wait had better been worth it!
Restraints were lifted from the back and front of the chair. They strapped Maisie in. She clutched the handles when the floor moved under her. The lights dimmed soon after, and Flight of Passage officially began.
It was one of the most magical things Maisie ever experienced, and so worth the wait! How did Disney do it? She was there, in Pandora, flying on a banshee over the rainforest, ocean, and waterfalls. Mist sprayed down from the room’s ceiling whenever she approached the water. The drops were sudden, but instead of screaming, Maisie cheered. She felt like Jack and Rose on Titanic’s bow and yelled the iconic line:
“I’m flying!”
The ride lasted four and a half minutes, but Maisie wanted to stay there forever. She needed it for her version of “Hakuna Matata.”
Well done, Feya. She did more than enough, so Maisie let her sleep a little on the way home.
Her head dropped onto Maisie’s shoulder. She smiled and cuddled close.
Maisie removed one arm from her banshee and wrapped it around her. She stared out the window at each All-Star Resort and wondered what Natacha had in store for her tomorrow—especially with those in-coming storms.
***
Maisie had gotten so close to Feya in the past two weeks that Milo swore there was more than friendship between them. He felt like she had stolen her five years’ worth of loving him and moved them to the White Witch. He hated it and tried to grab her attention that night.
Milo meowed, showed off his belly, and pushed his laser pointer between Maisie’s feet while she and Feya watched James Cameron’s Avatar.
Maisie got up to feed him, but that was it. She returned to Feya, and they practiced Feya’s roar.
“I, Feya, solemnly swear to ski again and aim for the Olympics!”
They sat at the bar after the movie and played a game of Battle.
Milo felt like he was at war, and Maisie was slowly becoming the enemy.
She slapped the bar’s counter and shouted, “Dang it, Feya!”
“Ha!” she giggled, sliding the pile of cards toward her. “Thank you for the Kings and Queens, Maisie!”
Daisy whined under her and slapped Feya’s leg. She kept her cool more than Milo and finally lay down.
When Milo thought the night couldn’t get any worse, Maisie FaceTimed her mom. “Hey, Mom!”
“Hey, sweetie,” she returned. “What are you doing calling this late?”
Feya slid her chair to Maisie and sat with her in front of the screen, blushing slightly.
Milo’s claws dug into the kitchen floor, and he arched his back.
Maisie touched Feya’s shoulder and grinned. “Sorry, Mom, but I wanted to introduce you to Feya, my suitemate.”
“Oh, Feya!” Milo couldn’t see Mrs. Foster’s face, but her tone suggested excitement, not jealousy. “Maisie’s told me about you. Wow, you’re a pretty one! It looks like my daughter made a good choice.”
“Mom!” Maisie embarrassingly hollered.
There was a chuckle from her mom’s end. “Well, she does.”
Okay, Milo had enough. Even Mrs. Foster liked Feya more than him. In two weeks, he had lost the two female humans he loved.
He pranced into Maisie’s room and slipped into his cage with his mouse, pulling the door shut. For the next half-hour, he listened to the poisonous laughs of Maisie and Feya while they talked with Mrs. Foster.
Milo attempted to picture his sibling beside him, but all he saw was the endless void. Daisy was a Service Dog, so she wanted nothing to do with him, and Maisie had fallen hard for Feya. What was Milo’s purpose now—succumb to his emotions?
He wanted to clear the pre-Matthew memories of him and Maisie from his head, but they came back with more ammunition and bombed him. If this was what grief felt like, then it hurt.
Milo didn’t sleep with Maisie that night and wondered if he would ever again. His warring emotions threatened to drag him out of the trench onto No Man’s Land, where he would run and never see Maisie again.
Now thinking about it, that didn’t sound like a bad idea.
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