Crow - The Awakening by Michael J. Vanecek

be taking forever to draw him.
    "How long did it take you to draw me?" Asherah asked as she kept drawing.
    "A while, I guess." He hadn't really timed himself. She grinned as she drew.
    "It looks like you took a while," she said as she concentrated, looking up at Steven frequently and intently as she drew his features. "Okay, just a little more." Asherah flipped the page and started another drawing.
    "What are you doing?" Steven looked at her, wondering if she was going to fill up his sketchpad before he had a chance to draw any more.
    "Well, I want a drawing too, Steven." She looked up at Steven and squinted and returned to her work.
    "Why?" Steven couldn't imagine what she would want with a drawing.
    "Because I want a drawing of my new friend, too." Her hands moved quickly and Steven could tell she was working as fast as he ever had, and she continued singing and humming as she drew.
    "New friend, huh?" Steven blushed. She was a lot more comfortable around him after just meeting him than he would have imagined.
    Asherah chortled, amused, and reached for the colored pencils to capture his blush. "Well, I think you're cute, and funny, and a very good artist. You draw me very well, so you must like me. So we're friends." She waggled a pencil at him and was very matter of fact as she continued to work. Steven couldn't argue with that logic.
    "Hmph. Fair enough. You almost done... friend?" Steven wiggled, not comfortable sitting in the same position for so long.
    "Mmm." Asherah held the drawing away from her, eyeballing it and Steven. "Yeah. I think I'm done." She deftly ripped that drawing out of the sketch pad and handed the pad back to Steven.
    He took the pad, looking warily at her as she grinned, then turned the page back to what she had drawn. He was absolutely shocked at what he saw. Not just a drawing of him, but her as well, right next to him. And a woman who looked just like her behind them. And a man on the other side behind them. "Wow." He looked closely at the drawing. It was hard to discern the pencil strokes. "This is almost like a picture."
    Asherah giggled, looking away.
    "No, really. This is really good." Steven looked at her and back at the drawing. She had captured details that he had missed. "Who are they?" He pointed at the man and woman she drew. They both looked like her. She captured their fur with its faint, bark-like pattern, their wild hair and the tufts on the tips of their ears.
    "My mother. Her name is Penipe. And that's my father, Tor'eng." She scooted over next to him and pointed.
    Steven shook his head, amazed. "You must draw a lot."
    Asherah shrugged. "A little."
    Steven laughed as she suddenly looked sheepish. "Yeah, I draw... a little... too." He flipped through his sketchbook that was almost completely filled with his drawings.
    He turned the page and started another drawing. They got quiet as he started drawing seriously again. He focused on the plants of the meadow they were sitting in. She leaned against him as he drew, watching him work. He drew his tree house, his new friend, albeit imaginary but real enough for him, the meadow and snag that was now a lush sort of coniferous tree. He still couldn't put his finger on that one, and was a little perplexed how his imagination had gotten so quirky. It was fine enough with the imaginary animals, though it was a little out there with the trolls and dragons. He put that thought aside. It was very nice at the meadow now, weird plants and girl notwithstanding. And as weird as it was, the longer he stayed in that fantasy the more real it became to him, and the more natural. She started singing again as she watched him draw and he was pulled into the music as he drew and found that his drawings ended up even more vibrant than before.
    He reached a stopping point in his sketching and put his pad down on the grass and looked around. The plants were decidedly exotic and beautiful and almost glowing in the sunlight. It was warmer there too with a heavy