I got there about five years ago. Things were getting boring in the yard, and I was about to wonder what I was still doing there when she arrived.

I felt an instant connection with Chloe once she walked through the gate. She came the same as everyone. We always become stiffened, controlled. It's torture. We follow the person, and herd them into the house, so to speak. About an hour later, they appeared on The Spot with their tag, and a week later woke up. I volunteered on being her roommate, well, more like housing her. So, I got to be the first she saw.

I waited in anticipation for when the moment came that she would wake up. When she did, it was marvelous. Oh, her eyes were beautiful. I could not put it into words, they were simply perfect. I could not forget it, so after walking her into her room, I went to mine and drew a picture of the gorgeous jewels.

I was excited to see what her Gift was, mine was boring, I guess you could call it exciting, but drawing wasn't really the best Gift one could wish for.

Her Gift was beyond extraordinary. After the first day out, she had found it. For most, it took a month, at least, before they could realize what had happened.

When Chloe transformed into a bird, I was stunned. I tried asking her what she did, and she let out a squawk. This was when she realized, causing a panic attack. I asked her to calm down, and she looked at me, her head tilted quizzically. I guessed that she couldn't understand me. But I knew where to go. I tried to explain that we needed to go somewhere, and we began walking to find Lizzie.

I had known Lizzie the entire time she had been here, which was nearing three years, and she seemed to have a better hold on this place than I did. She was talking with some other gnomes that lived nearby, so I made sure Chloe hung back so she wouldn't feel embarrassed.

"Hey Lizzie?" I approached, "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

She turned around, "Hi, Barry! Sure, what's up?"

"Well, this is Chloe. The new resident." I pointed to the bird that was standing a fair distance away.

"Barry, I hate to break it to you, but that's a bird."

"I know. But it's Chloe. Just trust me on this."

"What happened?" She asked, her brow furrowed.

"I have no idea, she can't talk. Could you do your thing with her?" Lizzie nodded as we approached Chloe. I brought out stone walls to surround us.

I could tell that Lizzie was making contact, because Chloe opened her wings with a small screech.

She tucked in her wings and walked over to me, and nestled her head against my leg. I brushed my hand on her neck, which was extremely smooth.

Lizzie shared her findings, "Well she has no idea either. Could this possibly be her Gift?"

"She's only been here a week, how could she have found it alrea-" I started, but Lizzie was already talking to Chloe with a hand in my face to stop me.

She paused and turned to me, "How else could she possibly be a macaw, otherwise?"

She continued to speak with Chloe before I could respond, much to my annoyance.

She sat down and the Lizzie spoke to me as her eyes widened, "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot that I could link you to her."

"It's okay, I didn't remember either," I lied. I didn't like to be a pest, but sometimes Lizzie forgot a lot of things. Once I was able to connect with Chloe I nearly shouted, "Are you okay?"

I continued to try and calm her down, but she was still a little hyped up. This was not what I wanted her to experience in the first day with everyone. She stopped chirping, and in that moment, her feathers retracted, her hair grew back, and she was kneeling beside me once again.

I wrapped my arms around her, and soon she came to the realization that she was normal once again. She remained still as I continued to hold her, clearly not enjoying it. I let go as I realized the stupidity and awkwardness of the situation. She got up with a small nod towards Lizzie, and walked away.

I ran to catch up with her, and followed to where she was going. She chose to go back to the spot we were at earlier. We talked a bit about what to do with her Gift, and then we began.

I rebuilt the walls, and almost immediately, she shifted into a fox. I stared down at her, and eventually she put her paws on my chest as I knelt down. The little points of contact sent an electric feeling rippling through me.

Chloe dropped down and stared at me expectantly. I knew I was supposed to say something, but my voice seemed to stop working. She nudged my shoulder, which was now at her level. I followed the movement to see that I now had orange fur. I stared back at her with wide eyes.

"How'd you do that?" I mumbled, which came out as a strange yip. I now turned in circles, trying to get a good look at myself and my new tail. I sat on my haunches, and observed my paws.

"I don't know," Is what I heard through a return bark. I jerked my head up; I understood Chloe.

I got closer to Chloe, and started to circle her, I wasn't sure exactly why, possibly to better see what I looked like. She rubbed her head against my side, and I felt relaxed.

Suddenly Chloe bolted off, not as graceful as I had expected. I started to run after her, but found I was also having trouble. Once I was accustomed to it, I started gaining on her. Soon she was in reach, and I jumped, taking her down. She let out surprised yelp, and I pinned her down easily. She was small, and I was much stronger than she was. I lightened my pressure, and allowed her to break free, and now I was the one being chased.

I slowed down at points to allow her to pounce upon me as well. She was so cute; each time she stuck the landing on me, she was lighter than a feather. So I would shake her off and pick up speed.

After a time, we grew tired, which didn't happen easily for gnomes. I slowed down, and watched Chloe from across the open area. She shifted to a sparrow, and I knew what was going to happen, I started running to her, she was definitely not ready for flying yet.

I was too late when she jumped into the air at the moment I shouted to her. She actually caught some air, but was soon falling. I reached her as she hit the ground with a thud, and I let out a wimper. She got up quite quickly, and ruffled her feathers out. I nudged her small form, and she shifted back to herself. I climbed into her lap, making sure to check for scrapes. Gnomes couldn't get hurt, they could feel pain, but shapeshifting into animals could bring weakness in this. It didn't seem like her shifted animals were made of the same stuff the gnomes were. They seemed real.

Chloe seemed fine, but her face was covered with dirt, so I stood up, and started licking it off her face. She started giggling, and I smiled. I spat the mud in my mouth out to the side, and Chloe started stroking my fur. She also scratched me behind the ears, which felt much better than I expected. She held me close, and I enjoyed it.

After a while, I looked up at Chloe. She stared back with her hazel eyes, pools of never ending beauty. They almost seemed to change the more I looked at them. I didn't want to look away, but I knew that I had to. I wanted to tell her everything. But I just couldn't. I let out a soft whimper at the thought of not being able to, and she put me down, and began stroking my cheek. I leaned into her touch, and I slowly felt the electric feeling once again.

I must have known her from somewhere.