A family secret

         "Mommy, what's in these books?" Seven-year-old Malia blew a few years' worth of dust off a stack of seemingly neglected books, and bent down to thumb through the one on top.
         Turning around from the kitchen sink, Malia's mother panicked. "No, Malia! Put the book down!" she commanded.
         "Oh! Okay..." Malia tried to defend herself. "I was only trying to--"
         "Never mind what you were only trying to do," her mother replied, flustered. "Go... go feed the cat! Star needs feeding." Seeing her daughter pattering off to follow directions, she breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close" she muttered. Picking up the books, she dusted them off, put them on the high shelf- just out of Malia's reach, and turned back to doing the dishes.
         "Mommy? Star's missing. I can't find her." Malia's voice trembled.
         "Well, where did you see her last?"
         "She was... napping. In her cat bed."
         "And she's not there now?"
         Malia shook her head. "Uh uh."
         "Okay, then. Why don't you just put the food in her bowl? She'll probably smell it and then come back. Did you try looking around outside the house?"
         "Oh, okay. May I go read a book afterwards?"
         "Of course! You don't have to ask to read, just stay away from my bookshelf, okay? Some books are too advanced for you."
         Malia nodded and went off to fill up the cat bowl.
         "Good girl."
         When Malia's dad came home, her mother intercepted him at the door, with hushed whispers. "She found them."
         "Found... what?" He frowned in confusion.
         "Them. The books."
         "OH! That's not good. What did you do?"
         "I put them up on the tall shelf. She shouldn't be able to reach them yet."
         "Okay, that's- Oh hi, Malia!" He crouched down and swept his daughter up in a hug.
         "Hi Daddy! What were you and Mommy talking about?" Her eyes were as large as saucers.
         "Oh, just about how Star disappeared." Malia's mother shot her father a look.
         "We were talking about how to find her." he elaborated. "Hey, I'm starving. Is dinner ready?"
         "It will be soon." Malia's mother placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'll go get it ready. Meanwhile, why don't you two set the table?"
         "Okay!" Husband and daughter chimed in union.
         Early the next morning, a scratching at Malia's bedroom door woke her up. "Hello? Who's there?" she whispered.
         The scratching continued. "Meow."
         "Star!" Malia threw off her bed covers and opened the door. "Where have you been?" she kissed the kitten and cuddled her close to her chest, stroking the soft fur.
         "Meow." Star leaped out of Malia's arms and padded over to the stairs, flicking her tail as if asking, "Are you coming?"
         "Where are we going, Star?" Malia whispered.
         The kitten padded downstairs and into the kitchen. Jumping onto the chair, she used it as a springboard to get onto the table, then the high shelf. "Meow." She pushed down the top book- the one Malia had been thumbing through earlier.
         "No, Star! Mommy says no!" Malia panicked, catching the book before it thumped onto the ground and woke up her parents. She stood on the chair and tried to put the book back onto the top shelf.
         Star pushed it back to Malia.
         "Well, I suppose...." Curiosity got the best of her. Opening it up to the first page, she realized it was full of runes. Runes she could read. Her finger skimmed across the page, her mouth whispering the runes as it did. "She who reads shall have wings, wings to try and wings to fly. A golden pair of glittery things, wings come grow and wings come slow." Glowing wings emerged from her back. Malia gasped, and Star leaped off the shelf, down onto the table, then the ground. The girl felt herself being lifted through the air by an invisible force. "Am I... flying?!" Spreading her arms out, her wings expanded, and she floated up. "So this is what it feels like to fly."
         Star meowed again, rearing up onto her hind paws, asking to be picked up for a cuddle.
         "Aww, here, kitty kitty!" She scooped up Star, descending a few inches as she did so.
         "Purrr"
         "Shh, Star! We'll wake up Mommy or Dad-"
         "What's going on here?" Malia's mother flicked on the light. "Why are you up? And WHY do you have wings?! And WHY IS THE BOOK ON THE TABLE?! Malia Elizabeth Davidson, you had better start explaining right now." Mrs. Davidson crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.
         "Well... there was a scratching at my door, and it woke me up. And it turned out to be Star- and she wanted me to follow her down the stairs into the kitchen..." Malia looked down at the gray kitten in her arms, snuggled up and asleep.
         "And?" her mother looked in disbelief at the cat.
         "And she jumped up onto the top shelf and slid off the book. I caught it before it fell, so we wouldn't wake you."
         "Why did you read it when I specifically told you not to? And don't say the cat made you."
         "But she did!"
         "Malia, what did I tell you about lying?"
         "I'm not lying!"
         "Okay, fine. What happened next, then?"
         "I tried to put the book back on the shelf- but Star pushed it back. So I opened the book. And found out I could read it."
         "Oy." Malia's mother facepalmed. "There's a reason I didn't want you reading it."
         "So you believe me? And, can you read it?" Malia asked.
         "Yes, I can." She sighed. Taking the rune book from the table, she flipped to the back of the book. "Ahh, here it is. Glowing golden wings, such beautiful things, your job here is done, the game has been won. Please shrink back small, until again we call."
Malia floated back down to the ground, and her wings shimmered one last time before disappearing.
         With another sigh, Malia's mother hugged her daughter. "I suppose I'll have to train you, now. It was inevitable, but I was hoping to delay it just a bit longer."