The Big Dipper

The Internship: Part One

"Welcome, all of you, to the 1994 Arizona Thunderbird Sanctuary Internship Program," said Amelia Kelley. "I am Amelia Kelley, the director of the program. You can call me Amelia. Over the next four weeks, we at the sanctuary hope to give you meaningful, hands-on experience dealing with some of wizardkind's most beautiful creatures."

Ursula and the other interns stood under the awning of a wide building that housed everything from the paperwork side of the sanctuary to extra tools. Their suitcases sat at their feet as they listened to Amelia talk, and all six fanned themselves with the brochure they had been given as a way to fight the sweltering heat.

It being the third of July and all, it was Ken and Tony's one year anniversary, and Ursula had gotten to have breakfast with them at Tony's house. Well, they both lived there, so it wasn't just Tony's house. She wished she could've stayed to see them longer, but she had an internship to get to.

Aside from Ursula, there were two other girls. One was short, bubbly, and reminded her strongly of Blossom, the image aided by the way she rocked back and forth on her heels and smiled from ear to ear. The other was slender, proud, about Ursula's height, and looked excited to be there, although she had cast Ursula a dark glare when they first arrived. Then there were three boys, two of whom seemed to be becoming friends with one another already. She was, of course, the only non-American there.

"In this internship you will be taught and tested on how to house, feed, nurse, interact with, and approach a thunderbird," continued Amelia. "We don't expect you to know everything or be good at everything right away, however we do expect you to work hard and learn from your mistakes. You have all received the information packets about the program. Are there any immediate questions?"

None of them had any. The information packet was a thick and informative stack of papers, and mostly they were all just excited to get started.

"Very well," said Amelia. "Then if you'll all follow me, I will show you where you'll be sleeping and then we can get started on the tour."

The long, low building that housed the interns was at the opposite end of the line of cabins from the director of the northwest quadrant's house. Unlike the rest of the short, single story cabins, the director's cabin was two stories tall, much like her father's. Amelia led them inside, pointing out that in addition to the two rooms — one for the boys and one for the girls, each with their own bathroom — there was a communal sitting room, with round wooden tables and chairs, and a small kitchen.

"We tend to eat breakfast alone in our own cabins," said Amelia. "Lunch and dinner will be served in the cafeteria, which is in the northwest offices, back where we began our tour. On days when you're working through meals, as those do happen, a bagged lunch will be brought to you. Take about an hour and settle into your rooms, and then we will begin the tour, okay?"

Amelia left, and the six interns headed into their respective rooms. The girls' room was about the size of Ursula's dorm at Hogwarts, with three beds and a chest of drawers, and a table in one corner. The bubbly girl immediately claimed the nearest bed, so Ursula took the middle bed.

"I'm Isabella Rutlidge," said the bubbly girl, holding out her hand to Ursula.

"I'm Ursula," said Ursula, shaking her hand and giving her a smile. "Ursula Black. How do you do?"

"Ooh, are you British?" said Isabella excitedly. "That's so cool. I'm from Colorado."

"I'm Olivia, Olivia Finch," said the other girl. "I'm from Massachusetts. How did you find out about this internship?"

"Well, I've been interested in magical creatures for, like, forever," said Isabella at once. "Especially things like Unicorns, Demiguises, Bigfoot — the Wampus cat is my favorite. Anyway, one day my Magical Beasts and Beings teacher was like 'Isabella' and I was like 'What?' and she was like 'Check out this internship' and so I did and here I am!"