A Boy and His Owl

A Boy and His Owl

In a small town in the middle of Wisconsin lived an extraordinarily rich in love family. They have owned their farm for many years now and are one of the main suppliers of the freshest fruits and vegetables you can stand. The Millers are loved by the entire town and have been since they moved there some time ago. David and Michelle were just a fantastic couple with two children, Justin and Blake. Justin and Blake were fourteen and fifteen with Justin being the oldest. Justin really enjoyed helping his father maintain the farm as he has since he was able to walk. He would always feed the horses by hand, standing so proudly smiling from ear to ear. While David is sitting back admiring how amazing his son was in wanting to be involved but Justin really loved all the animals and they loved him too. Michelle and Blake would be in the house with Michelle cooking dinner most days and Blake upstairs on her phone socializing. The rule was that they all had to eat as a family and talk, meaning no phones for Blake and David could not watch the game. David was a huge Wisconsin Badgers fan and so was Justin, as he emulated everything about his father. The table was set for the family and dinner was served. They all sat and talked for a while after finishing dinner about how the day went. Michelle mentioning that Saturday morning all the fruits and vegetables had to be picked out perfectly so they can sell as much as possible. They all knew the routine and chipped in to assist David with maintaining the farm. David and Justin would grab all the items needed while Michelle and Blake would set up the stand. Now that family time is over, and they all go on off to bed. David and Michelle begin to have a private conversation regarding the crops and how business is slowing down because of their dying land as well as another farm in the next part of town. Justin is sitting in his room by the window as he always does and hears them speaking. Of course. In his mind this is not good, but Justin was taught to believe that if you stared up at the stars and asked for what you want then you will get it. Justin looks up and says, “Can you please help Mom and Dad become rich?” then goes to bed. He never really asked anything for himself.

It is Saturday morning, and they begin to setup for the day. Mom yelling, “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” It is time to have some fun in the sun. Justin is bright eyed and ready to go, Blake not so much. The boys went out to the farm with bags to be filled with all the fruits and vegetables they would need for the day. Michelle and Blake were setting up the tents before the customers would arrive. Around 10a.m. customers started to arrive as always. They were busy. The family had completely sold out for the day by noon. As David started to close the market down for the day a man in a fancy car pulls into the market looking around the farm from afar. David asks, “Can I help you?” and the man responds, “Yes. My name is Robert Williamson, I’m looking to acquire this amazing piece of land you have here.” Justin yells “It’s not for sale.” David smiles at his son as he took the words right out of his mouth. David and Mr. Williamson talk for a short while regarding the inquiry about buying the land. They finish their brief conversation and Justin says, “Dad, you’re not thinking of selling our home, are you?” No son of course not, David says. David is pacing slightly back to the barn thinking about the man’s proposition. The family has been struggling for some time but never showing any signs in front of the kids. David and Michelle never wanted to lose their home and business, but this is a fantastic opportunity to start fresh. Justin can see on his father’s face that he is thinking about what Mr. Williamson was saying. They finish putting everything back to its proper place and went inside the house. Michelle and Blake were happy because they had sold all their inventory in such a short amount of time. Mom asked Blake if she wanted to go into town and look at some new dresses. Blake grabs her jacket and they both dash to the car excited because they had a great morning. Knowing that they will be gone for some time David sits down on the couch for a moment to take in everything the Mr. Williamson said to him while turning on the football game. Justin goes to his room and begins to play video games with his friends on the computer. Time passes and the girls finally come back from shopping. You can tell they had an exciting time because of the many bags that they were carrying. Michelle puts everything down and goes to the kitchen sink to wash her hands so that she can begin dinner. David is stressed now because he sees all these bags and bills are due for the month. Justin comes out the room to hug mom and sit down next to dad while he watches the game. Justin gets the feeling that things are not going well because dad always smiles during the game. Dinner is ready and they all sit at the table as they always do. The conversation this time was not as enjoyable as days before. They finish dinner and everybody goes their separate way. Night comes and the house is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop. Justin is sitting by the window looking out at the stars in the sky thinking about the day. He then begins to pray as he always does, asking God to help his family not lose their home. Now, he does not know exactly what is going on, but he is asking God for a sign to let him know that everything is going to be ok. Night after night Justin is asking for a sign, something to let him know that they will not lose everything. The following Thursday David curiously contacts Mr. Williamson office to discuss his offer regarding buying the land. Now, Michelle is not aware of the plans that David has in his mind to save his family so later that night after dinner David tells Michelle about the proposition to sell the land at a great price. Michelle is furious and they begin to argue about selling the land that has been in their family for years. She understands that they would not be in debt anymore and that they can start over, but this is still home. David says, “I’m doing my best here Michelle.” The land was slowly dying out as the seasons are changing. Justin is listening as he always does by the window. As Justin is looking out the window, he looks at the tree in the yard. He noticed this tall strong majestic bird staring at him with these big black eyes with white and brown feathers. It was an owl that had found a new home in his tree. Justin had never seen an owl before, so he politely ignored it and began to pray. This time was when he finished his prayer the owl made a noise almost saying to Justin I am here. Justin laughed and went to bed.

The next morning the kids go off to school, Michelle starts to clean up around the house, and David goes out to the farm. While Michelle is in the kitchen the house phone rings and it is Mr. Williamson. Michelle took a moment to calm herself because she had so much to say in not the nicest of ways. They begin to have a small conversation about the offer and David walks in the house. By the end of the conversation both Michelle and David realize that this offer may not come around again and it is the best choice for their family. Both agreeing to have a talk with the kids later that day to tell them the news. School ends and the kids are now home to destroy the house with mess as usual. Justin throws his bookbag in his room and runs outside to help Dad with the farm work. David without words hands a shovel to Justin pointing to him to clean up the horse stables. Justin was excited because God sent him a sign that they were going to be simply fine and not lose their home. David is looking at Justin wondering why he is so happy when they are going through a rollercoaster of emotions as a family. Michelle did not cook dinner today and decides to order instead. Justin is now ever more excited because he gets to choose pizza for dinner. Dinner arrives and he grabs the pizza from the delivery guy with a smile because not only is this pizza amazing, but he has fantastic news to share as well. Mom and Dad stare at each other trying to signal who is going to begin this conversation about selling their home. If awkward had a picture to it then this dinner would be it. David starts off by telling the kids that some changes are going to be made and that they may be moving to a better place. Blake dropped her pizza and ran to her room, Justin stopped chewing and yelled you cannot do that with a mouth full of food, and Michelle had an expression of what did we just do. They did not want to have to sell the property, but it was the best thing to do with the land going dry. David says, “Son the land isn’t as strong as it used to be.” Justin says, “You can’t! God said that it’s going to be okay.” David smiled and said, “Son I know you believe that and that’s good that you believe.” Justin said he sent me an owl and the owl told me. Michelle snickered, “I love you son. You so special.” Justin then darts to his room and begin to pray even harder. He looks out the window and the owl nods his head at Justin. He then calls for his dad to come into his room and see the owl, but the owl leaves just before David can enter. “Go to bed son it’s getting late,” dad says. The next morning both Michelle and David instead of opening the market they call Mr. Williamson to set up a meeting in town to sign the paperwork. As they are driving to the office, they talked one last time about whether it is a good idea or not to sell. Michelle smiled randomly, thinking about Justin and his owl being a sign from God. They arrive at the office and begin walking up the stairs while still questioning internally whether it is a good thing to sell or not. Mr. Williamson calls them into the office, and they begin discussing the contract one final time. David looks at Michelle and says, “Ready?” Michelle says, “Yes.” Right before signing the contract David looks out the window to see the very same owl that his son was talking about, and a tear rolls down his cheek. Then turns to say, “I’m sorry. I can’t sell my home.” He then turns to Michelle and says, “We will figure it out together. We will be okay.” When they leave, the owl looks at David, nods his head and flies off. David smiles with excitement and fear believing they will be okay. When they arrive home the kids are sad because they must leave the only place they know. Justin says, “So, that’s it?” David said, “How did you know that was sign from God?” Justin simply says, “Because I asked for it.”