An Owl In The Road

Honestly, I hate driving to my family's house. For some reason or another I still push myself to do it every other week. Why, though? Why do I continue to push myself to go? Again, I drive down this long, entangled path that seems to go on for hours. For what reason?

The only real reason I can think of is to see the little ones. I've seen them grow all their lives. Even now though they are getting to where they have their own places to go, their own friends. I can't stop them from growing. Even if I want to.

So, there I was again. The cold wind of the night hit my car, as I drove. The stars I could see so wonderfully, made little difference to the darkness ahead. My headlights made a small foggy dent in it. If they weren't there the darkness would have consumed me.

I turned a bend in what seemed like the final stretch of my journey, I was startled. An owl?! In the road inches from my front bumper. I instantly swerved to avoid hitting the animal. I made the decision so fast that I didn't realize I swerved into the wrong lane. As I acknowledged how lucky I was that there were no other cars, I checked my rear-view mirror. The owl, it was still there. Facing away from me. Then suddenly its head spun around and its giant yellow eyes seemed to stare me down from my mirror.

I pulled into the concrete driveway of my family's house. I've never seen an owl out here. I opened the door to my car, but that bird was all I could think about. My beams fell right smack on him. Where did he come from? I shut my car door and began to walk inside. The vision of this grey bird staring back at me was stuck in my head.

Walking to the door seemed as if it went in slow motion, until my small siblings rushed out to meet me. My little ones. They saved me from my own thoughts. They ran up to me, just to hug me. They really didn't have to run. However, they did. They came at me as fast as they could just to tell me what was new with them. Just to ask what was new with me. They stopped my thoughts dead in their tracks.

As I sat there, in what used to be my home, we started a game that we all knew would cause an uproar. Sooner or later, it would end in someone yelling that things weren't fair. All of us knew that this would happen, but that didn't stop any of us from joining in. As expected though, someone got angry, the game ended, and we watched a movie. Is it possible that I just like the family time?

The night was over as fast as my siblings had rushed out to see me. Like that I was on that long journey home. Then, out of nowhere it hit me. That owl. It couldn't still be where I last saw it could it? The thoughts of the owl came back. I turned the bend, where I last saw it, nothing but a yellow lined road stood in its place.

I went on as if the owl hadn't startled me at that section of the road before, and out of nowhere a man appeared. I slammed on my brakes, but my car didn't stop. It was as if I were driving on ice! My car slid into the ditch, where there used to be a river, and landed with a crunch. My head hit the steering wheel like a punch to the head and I was out.

That moment felt like a pause, like a dark pause, meant only for me to think. There was no ice. I could see through that man. What was going on? So many questions. He was a pale, cheap blue, but he looked as real as could be. Did I just see a ghost? And why did I slide? It made no sense.

When I came to that conclusion with my own questioning, my pause gave way. I woke to pain in my neck and head. Over my right eyebrow I could feel blood leaking down my face. It was dark. The river bed, which had been dead and dry for so long, was all I could see. Then I recalled. The man. Was he ok? I looked up at the road. It seemed so far away at that point. There he stood. That pale blue man.

He said nothing. My neck hurt as I twisted to see him. He had on what looked like a new long sleeved white shirt, and a set of worn denim overalls. But like him, I could see through them. He was lanky. He pulled his arm up to point at something. Directing me to look in that direction with no words. I did so not thinking at all.

There, on a drainage pipe, was the owl!

It sat there and starred at me with its bright yellow eyes. I forgot about the man. This damn owl! It too was transparent. I hadn't noticed that before. The grey of the owl hid the cheap, pale blue around it. It cocked its head to the side, as if to say really, you're just going to sit there?

I looked back. The man was gone. In that action some of my common sense smacked me. Call for help dumbass! As soon as that thought hit my brain I searched for my phone. The pain started to sink in. I wasn't in my car. I looked behind me. My cars windshield was intact, cracked but intact. The driver side door isn't open. How'd I get out?

My phone laid next to me on the ground. I scrambled to find it. The dirt was so dry it flared up dust as I searched. Found it. I dialed 911. My head was foggy and heavy. What's going on?

"911, what is your emergency?" A woman on the other end said. I answered all her questions, but none of them stuck out. It was like I was on auto-pilot answering them. The lady on the phone said "Ok I'll stay on the line with you until help comes." As soon as she said that I ended the call. I can't even remember why.

Out of nowhere an ear-piercing screech came out of thin air. The owl. It wanted my attention. I felt drained. Am I bleeding from somewhere? I saw the owl. I was dazed. It cocked its head at me again. Then it looked down at its feet. The drainage pipe it stood on now seemed suspicious to me.

My phone in hand I turned on its flashlight. I shined it in the pipe, and dropped it out of shear exhausted terror. Did I just see that? I mustered up some energy, and grabbed my phone again. 'The lights still on just point it again. Come on you can do it.' I thought to myself. I did as I told myself. I lit up the area and saw a skull. A small skull!

"Well this is a surprise." A voice came from the darkness.

I whipped my head around as if I had no bones to hold it up. Just to see who said that.

"I come to hide another body, and well damn, I can have more fun tonight with you." the voice continued with a hickish accent.

He had a large blanket wrapped haul. What I could only assume was the other body he spoke of. It was drenched in blood that had matted up some of the environment from being dragged. He dropped his haul. I could feel it, I wasn't all there, my head, my reactions. I had no clue what to do.

He pulled out a knife, as I just sat here. Am I bleeding? Did I already ask myself that? Did I ever answer that question? I called the cops, right? They're on their way, right? Can I scream? How do I scream? All these questions and more flooded my brain as he walked toward me, kneeled down and assessed me.

"You're hurt pretty bad, huh? That's ok." He said as he played with the knife.

"Looks like ya found my hidin spot." He whispered in my ear. My head fell back, it was too heavy to hold up anymore. He noticed my pain. He noticed my life draining. He was taking it as an opportunity.

"It's ok babydoll, it'll all be over soon." He said as he thrusted the knife into my ribcage. It pierced between my ribs, and he smiled. I felt it, it stung like the worst cold you could ever imagine forcing its way in. I opened my mouth to scream, but blood came drooling out instead.

"Yea, you wanna scream? Please scream!" He said excitedly.

"Freeze!" Yelled someone from the bridge. I couldn't even focus. There was a knife in my side. My head laid back on the dirt bank behind me. Was my body giving up?

"He ain't gunna do nothing." He whispered to me as he pulled out the knife. I felt a release of warm liquid just leak out of my wound. He lifted the blade, and stabbed again, but as it entered my collar area, I heard a loud bang. A spray of warmth splashed my face. I couldn't tell what was going on anymore. I blame that damn owl.

"I need backup!" I hear the other voice shout. I heard him. He was rushing towards me. Like my siblings did. Is there a knife in my neck?

"Hey, hey it's gunna be ok. Just hang in there, ok? I need medical!" He said as he cradled my head, laid me down in his lap, and just held me. 'I gotta show him' I thought. I tried, and struggled to lift up my limp arm from where it was laying. I pointed at the drainage pipe. Did he see? How long could I hold it up like this? I was shaking.

"Hey, ok I see hun, just rest now ok. I'll check it out after we get you taken care of." He said.

My body relaxed, in pain. They loaded me into the ambulance, and that long journey home became a shorter, faster drive to the hospital. In the back of the ambulance, that pause came back to me. Pitch black pause. What just happened? That was the only question I could come up with this time, but the peace of that pause helped so much.

A few weeks later I came out of my pause. The employees at the hospital and the officers on the case filled me in as to what concluded. They found a dozen bodies in that drainage pipe. All of which were crammed and smashed to fit. The killer himself died, from a shot to the head. No-one else saw the owl, I asked. Or the man.

I had small amounts of internal bleeding, as well a broken arm, three cracked ribs, and a skull fracture. Not to mention two stab wounds and a broken neck. No-one could tell how some of it happened though. Clearly, I was in an accident, but somethings didn't add up. With the trauma to my head, I couldn't remember anything that could help fix that puzzle. No matter how hard I tried.

They told me later that the surgery I required was extensive, but that I should heal up nicely with time. When I got out of the hospital, I took a drive to that same spot in the road. I saw the man again, he was holding the owl perched on his arm, and he smiled at me. As if to say sorry about all that, but we needed your help, thank you.