The Kitsune at School

It was a cool autumn day. I closed my book on mythical creatures, hopped off the bus, and went to my classroom. There was a new girl seated next to me. She had bright green eyes and shining golden hair that fell back in relaxed curls. For some reason, her elegant frame was perched awkwardly on her chair. Miss Jen--our homeroom teacher--introduced her to the class.

“Class, this is Orneil Erin. She’s from Tokyo Japan.”

Later, at recess, I asked her some questions. We talked for a bit and got to know each other better, although Orniel wouldn’t tell me much about her background.

The next day was fairly uneventful until recess, when I noticed Orniel had run into the forest. Thinking she might not know the rules, I ran after her. I couldn’t see Orniel anywhere. All I could see was a fleeting fox tail.

I was about to head back, when I came across a small hut that resembled a fox den, but bigger. I decided to check inside it. The hut had a very low table and several mats on the floor around it. On the other side of the room there was a nest of comfortable coiled leaves, feathers, and petals. There was another room connecting to it and I was about to go in when a fox came out of it. I screamed and ran out of the hut. But then I paused, realizing the fox had nine tails instead of one! I looked back, but the fox had disappeared. Orniel was standing where the fox had been a minute earlier.

Thinking back I remembered the awkward way Oriel had sat, the fox tail I had seen when I was chasing her, my mythical creatures book, and now this. I put together the pieces.

“Orniel, you’re a kitsune!”

From then on, I knew Orniel’s secret. But I never told anyone the truth about my foxy friend.