She was momentarily distracted by the tree that seemed to sprout up from the ground, looking from it to him and back again incredulously. She grabs his hand and pulls it down to make him feel the ice flowing up around his ankles. "Look, that's real. That's important. You need to get out of these shoes before- ahhhh!" She said, hurriedly ripping her feet off the floor and scattering the ice that had started to flow up them into tiny flakes of crystal.
That was bad. That was bad! She alternated feet, dancing like a barefoot child on hot asphalt. "Rub that." She said. "Where I put your hands. Keep rubbing it. Don't let it go up your leg. Hold on, I'll get help." She turned to sprint off and tripped again, falling forward and knocking her forehead against the ice before scrambling back up and out the door.
Slipping and sliding out of the gym and into the wall, she ran down the hallway toward the front door. She didn't know exactly what she would find when she threw it open, but she had a good idea. The reaction was almost instant. Bird swarmed around her for a moment, tiny little tufts of yellow, brown, and red, a small flock that swarmed down the hallway. What followed were four bigger birds, red head plumage displayed proudly, and then Alfie herself. This time she took the ice just a little slower.
When she rounded the corner back into the gym she saw exactly what she expected. The little birds, snowbirds, had swarmed around Kyo's feet. You could hardly see his shoes under the swarming mass as they rapidly beat their wings around him. It was very similar to a technique used by bees to silence wasp scouts. Knowing that they couldn't fight the wasps with stingers or mandibles, the bees instead simply dog piled the invaders, baring their wings furiously as they did so. The exertion raised the bees internal body temperature, and the heat generated by so many bees moving together cooked the wasp alive.
Alfie understood none of this, only that it had saved her life more than once when faced with a long cold night. Once she'd passed out despite their efforts and awoken the next morning in a circle of birds, dead from sheer exhaustion.
She could already see water pooling around his feet and up in the rafters the four woodpeckers watched stoically, ready to chisel the boy out if need be. She walked over and placed her hands on him again. "I'm going to pull on three, try to move with me. One, two, three!"
That was bad. That was bad! She alternated feet, dancing like a barefoot child on hot asphalt. "Rub that." She said. "Where I put your hands. Keep rubbing it. Don't let it go up your leg. Hold on, I'll get help." She turned to sprint off and tripped again, falling forward and knocking her forehead against the ice before scrambling back up and out the door.
Slipping and sliding out of the gym and into the wall, she ran down the hallway toward the front door. She didn't know exactly what she would find when she threw it open, but she had a good idea. The reaction was almost instant. Bird swarmed around her for a moment, tiny little tufts of yellow, brown, and red, a small flock that swarmed down the hallway. What followed were four bigger birds, red head plumage displayed proudly, and then Alfie herself. This time she took the ice just a little slower.
When she rounded the corner back into the gym she saw exactly what she expected. The little birds, snowbirds, had swarmed around Kyo's feet. You could hardly see his shoes under the swarming mass as they rapidly beat their wings around him. It was very similar to a technique used by bees to silence wasp scouts. Knowing that they couldn't fight the wasps with stingers or mandibles, the bees instead simply dog piled the invaders, baring their wings furiously as they did so. The exertion raised the bees internal body temperature, and the heat generated by so many bees moving together cooked the wasp alive.
Alfie understood none of this, only that it had saved her life more than once when faced with a long cold night. Once she'd passed out despite their efforts and awoken the next morning in a circle of birds, dead from sheer exhaustion.
She could already see water pooling around his feet and up in the rafters the four woodpeckers watched stoically, ready to chisel the boy out if need be. She walked over and placed her hands on him again. "I'm going to pull on three, try to move with me. One, two, three!"
