A Mystical Night

Running wild through the forest for the first time, breaking free from the human chains that held her for so long for all those years. Ebony was free. Shackles cracked open, as her ankles felt the sunshine warming them like never before and her breathtaking wings opened out like the floodgates of life, unfolding her natural born gifts, exposing her inner light that had been in darkness all her life, uncrumpling the dusty flight into eternity.

She was about to see life in a new way. All that mattered now was the wind on her heart-shaped face and the horizon. Nothing else mattered. Her old life had fallen away like an old skin and had been replaced by precious wings that gave her the gift of freedom and a new perspective. What more could she ask for? Up there, everything was fresh again like being reborn where there is a clean slate just as a baby entering the world with potential in abundance.

It wasn’t always this amazing for Ebony. Living a of life of humble beginnings straight off the bat had become the norm for this little innocent girl. Fun and adventure had been squeezed out of her soul from day one as she lived as an orphan, moving from place to place and family to family, but really in truth, Ebony never really knew what family was. Her foundations had been built on sand and love was only a fantasy in a movie for Ebony.

On a usual night, Ebony was sent to her room without dinner for something that was no fault of her own. One of the siblings she lived with had done a bad deed and then blamed Ebony for it. She didn’t try to fight the accusation. Instead, she quietly retreated to her room, and rather hungrily at that.

She couldn’t stop the tears that were gushing out onto her pillow as loneliness pierced her heart once again. Feeling so out of place and misunderstood consumed her. Curtains flapped slowly at her open window in the soft breeze, and a sound caught her attention, making her even forget about crying momentarily. Wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks, Ebony got up and stood by the window, peeping her head out to see what was making the noise. She couldn’t see anything at all.

Being a curious girl and having a room on the ground floor made Ebony climb out the window and follow the mysterious noise into the darkness. Nature never frightened nor disappointed Ebony. It was only humans who dashed the hopes of the young girl. She heard a screeching noise that with every step was getting closer to Ebony. The leaves and twigs crunched under her bare feet as she walked closer to the animal noise.

There perched on a low branch was a Barn Owl. Looking straight at her with its bright, beady eyes that shone like emeralds in the pitch black of night, the owl’s gaze was intense. The girl and owl locked eyes into an electrifying stare that was hypnotizing. It was as though magical electricity was buzzing from the bird into Ebony. After a short moment, the owl stopped looking at the girl and flew away, but something felt different inside Ebony as she hazily made her way back to her window.

After that mystical night, Ebony felt herself changing. Nobody knew of her secret encounter but inside her, she could magically feel her primal-self reawakening. She felt inner strength starting to build like a foundation that she never had. From that moment, something inside her protected her. It was an instinct, a feeling, a force.

If someone was mean to her, she could regather herself much faster than before, and their nasty words were now only like water off a duck’s back to her. Nothing that aimed to hurt her or crush her spirit had any effect on her at all. There was a new powerful force guiding her, protecting her, and loving her. She no longer felt alone even if she was in solitude.

Another magical thing was happening to Ebony. With any set back or heartbreak, a feather would appear on her body. Any experience that hurt her was just leading her slowly back to her true self, experience by experience and feather by feather.

By the time she was a grown woman, her sense of hearing was very sensitive. She had a new ability to funnel sound with her changed face shape. She didn’t even mind that many more feathers had gathered on her body any time she had pain in her heart. Her instincts told her she was soon going to be free. She had a sense that she was going to be led to a more utopian life, but she had to be patient. Her wings were not ready.

She tried to fit in, but it was challenging because she now looked different on the outside. Before, she was only different on the inside, but no humans could not see anything unusual then . Day by day, it was becoming obvious to the world that Ebony was not one of them and they were not one of her. At least, she no longer needed a pretend family because she was grown up now and could fend for herself. She wanted to find the dark nooks and crannies of the world to hide in to shield her from any more pain and to make her feel safe.

In an old barn she found solace. She could sleep all day and stay up all night, just as she had always liked to do. Here, nobody told her how to act, how to behave or how to be. She could finally just be all that she is. It was here that she met a man. A man she even felt what she thought was a feeling of love. She had never known what that felt like, but she was pretty sure this was the feeling of love because he made her feel giddy and a warm-fuzzy feeling in her heart.

It was his barn and he saw her sleeping in there one day at about midday. He told her his name was Ace and Ace was so kind to her and let her live there. He even bought her some food to eat and didn’t even get creeped out that she asked for mice as her dinner meal. Of course, she had fun catching them herself as well. He also accepted her as herself and didn’t try to make her look more human. He thought her soft wings were pretty, even though they weren’t fully grown yet. She finally found she could let her guard down and trust a human.

Everything was going great until one day, Ebony’s world came crumbling down around her wings. Ace uncharacteristically said, “You need to leave. I am becoming the laughingstock of the town with you here. They all think you are a freak. You have to go,” Without even knowing why, Ebony’s feathers now all fully grew. It was the deepest pain her heart had felt because it was the deepest, she had let someone into her heart with complete vulnerability. She looked at Ace and without saying anything at all, she took to the skies. She instinctively knew that now she was ready to fly.