Heavenly Creatures

The next day, I was surprised by a wet tongue licking my face. Then the barking started.

“Sun?” I asked, walking out of my room carrying a dog with curly white hair.

“Huh,” Sun said. “That’s really strange. It took me years to evolve from a monkey into a man. It’s taking this one days.”

“Hold up,” I said. “You lost me at evolving from a monkey into a man.”

“I mean, I was actually a rock before I was a monkey. And I was obviously a special monkey even before the transformation,” Sun said. “I could always talk and walk on two legs.”

I shook my head at him. “Do you realize how crazy that sounds? What are you?”

Sun tilted his head. “You know, I’m not sure,” he said. “Remind me to find out more when this is over. Anyway, it’s not that unusual. Historically, Koreans believed that the first demigod who founded their nation married a woman who had evolved from a bear.”

“Weirder and weirder,” I said.

My sister suggested that we take the dog on a walk outside, so Sun brought out a leash, and we all piled out. It was spring, and the flowers were in full bloom. The dog seemed to enjoy yapping and tugging at the leash. It scared a few children that way until we took it onto an isolated stairway up a mountain.

“This dog is a handful,” Sun commented.

My sister and I sighed in frustration. We had taken turns holding the leash, but there were red marks all over our hands.

“Tell me about it,” I said drily.

“Want to head back inside?” Sun asked.

I looked at my sister, and she nodded. She had been unusually silent during our walk, which was saying something.

We ate some black noodles on the way back, with the dog sulkily watching us from the corner of the restaurant.

“That dog is too intelligent already,” Sun said. “It’ll be a child before you know it.”

I shook my head in disbelief. What had my life come to?

When we got back inside, the dog sprawled out on its bed with its tongue lolling out. The three of us felt similarly pooped, so we headed into our rooms for a nap. When we woke up, we came out to discover a toddler sleeping on the dog bed.

“Oh my—” I gasped, holding my hands up to my face.

The little girl blearily sat up, rubbing her eyes. “I’m hungry,” she complained.

“Geez!” Sun yelled as he came out. “That scared me. I thought she was a ghost.”

“Does the Monkey King get scared?” I teased.

“Very rarely,” Sun said. “But miracles do happen.”

“What’s all the noise about?” My sister came out, looking as poised as ever, even though she had just woken up. “Oh, what a cute baby,” she gushed, rushing over to the girl and picking her up.

“Oh great,” I said. “You can take care of her then.”

“That’s fine,” my sister said mildly. “I don’t have much time anyway.”

I brushed off her comment. “She’ll probably grow quickly.”

“Hungry!” the girl yelled, throwing her hands in the air and hitting my sister in the face.

“I guess it’s hungry,” Sun noted.

“Well, let’s get her some baby food, Sun,” my sister said.

He bowed, a little too low to be sincere. “As you wish, O mighty dragon,” he said. He snapped his fingers, and an assortment of jars appeared on the table. He walked over and pointed at them like a connoisseur. “Carrots, peas, and apples, milady.”

“Peas! Peas!” The girl clapped enthusiastically.

“Oh, she already knows what she would like,” my sister laughed. She sat her on her lap and spooned little bits of peas into the girl’s mouth. Thankfully, she was a clean toddler and didn’t spill more than a few drops.

“Yummy!” she said.

“I’m glad you like it,” my sister said, kissing the girl’s forehead.

“Yuck,” Sun said. “Too saccharine for my taste.” He disappeared back into his room. A few moments later, I could hear the sound of the television in his room blaring.

“Don’t be such a typical boy!” I yelled.

Sun rushed back out. “What’s that? You dare accuse me of being average?” He held out his hands. “Look, I can hold the toddler and burp her.”

“I wouldn’t burp her just yet,” my sister said.

“Try me,” Sun said.

“Okay,” my sister said. “It’s your funeral.”

He took the toddler and patted her back. “There, there. There, there.”

“Aw, Sun has a soft spot for children,” I said, sitting down to watch them.

The baby semi-threw-up onto Sun’s shoulder, but it disappeared in a second. He smiled triumphantly at me, as if to say, ‘I told you so,’ and I rolled my eyes.

“Medal of Honor,” I said, clapping my hands slowly. “That’s just cheating. You can’t use your powers to take care of her.”

“You’ve got to use what your momma gives you,” Sun sniffed.

I laughed, and my sister looked between Sun and me. “If you two are done, I’ll take her back now.”

“What do you mean?” I asked innocently. “Sun, do you know what she means?” I batted my eyes at him, but instead of joking back, he stared at me a little too long, making me laugh and slide my gaze back onto my sister.

“Mmhm. Sun, stop flirting with my sister and get us some food,” my sister commanded.

Sun cleared his throat and snapped his fingers. “Tara,” he said, pulling out my chair. I couldn’t help it. I blushed.

My sister made a face. “Do I have to watch this the whole time I eat?”

“No,” I said. “We’ll stop, right?” I looked meaningfully at Sun, telling him to cut it out with my eyes. Unfortunately, he still had the baby on his lap, which made me melt just a little.

He looked back at me with a perfectly innocent face. “Of course,” he said. Then he started eating his ramen.

“Oh no,” I said. “Ramen? That’s so not healthy.”

Sun snapped his fingers, and my ramen was replaced by a salad. “Happy?”

“Better,” I said. “Ooh, it has cheese in it!”

Sun hid his smile in his bowl of ramen.

My sister shook her head. “Cheese is not really healthy.”