A Night to Remember

"Shhhhh!" Peter quietly whispered with his finger to his lips. Shannon tried hard not to giggle again. They were sneaking out of her bedroom window and she knew that if her Dad caught them they would be in big trouble, but when she was nervous she always giggled.

Peter was her very best friend in the world and he was spending the night at her house. They slept in the same room until they both turned 12. Once they reached 12, they were allowed to stay up on weekends until midnight then they had to go to separate rooms to sleep. Peter would sleep in the attic bedroom while Shannon slept in her own room. Peter was a nerd of sorts and she loved that about him. He was one of the most popular guys at school but he still hung out with her on weekends. Now that they were 15 some people thought it was weird that he hung out with her instead of hanging with the other jocks on the football team. Peter always said he had more fun with her than with anyone else.

Tonight they were going to do something that Peter had been wanting to do for over a year. They were going to sneak into Mr. Mulligan's barn and see if they could see the barn owl, Old Wily One, that was rumored to live there. There had been several people say they'd seen him over the years but there were no pictures to back up their stories. Peter was determined to not only see the owl, but to take pictures to prove they saw him. The owl was a legend of sorts around these parts. Some believed he existed while others thought it was made up as it was a good story. It was told that the owl was unusual in that he flew around helping other creatures. Shannon thought it was all a hoax but she was excited to be sneaking out of the house and into the barn. She figured that would make a good story to tell her friends at school who thought she was boring and never did anything exciting. She just hoped that Peter wasn't too disappointed when they didn't find the owl.

After finally getting away from her house by sneaking out onto the ledge then down the tree that was next to her window, they gathered the things they had left earlier from inside her Mom's car. Shannon had pretended to need something from the car earlier and left it unlocked so they would be able to get in later. While her parents were taking their showers, Peter and Shannon took a couple of blankets, a thermos of hot cocoa, some binoculars, a camera and a couple of flashlights out to the car. They had their cellphones with them which also had flashlights built in also. Peter had stuffed his pockets with all sorts of snacks earlier.

Walking quietly, the teenagers made their way down the dark road towards the barn. Mr. Mulligan was not known to be the most sociable man but they had made friends with him over the years. They knew he would be upset with them though if he found out they were out in the night without their parents' permission. As they walked, Shannon reached over and grabbed onto Peter's hand and grasped it tightly. "Everything looks different and scary at night," she whispered to him. She saw his teeth gleam in the darkness as he grinned. "Yes," he said quietly. "You never know what might jump out at you!" He quietly chuckled as Shannon punched him lightly on the arm and said, "Peter!"

They finally got to the barn and quietly went inside where there was a ladder going up to the loft. They had been in the barn and swung from a rope in the loft many times when Mr. Mulligan was bringing his hay from the fields to store for the winter. They went up the ladder swiftly and moved to the open loft so they could look out over his field. "I think the Old Wise One will be coming from somewhere else and will fly into this loft to rest," said Peter. After spreading their blankets on the hay, Peter pulled out a portable tripod and set up his camera. He was determined to catch the owl on film. Shannon didn't care if they saw the owl or not. She was just enjoying the stars from the loft.

After an hour of sitting quietly, Shannon started to get bored and wanted to talk. Peter gave her a grumpy look. "He won't come if he sees or hears us," he said. About that time they heard a rustling in the loft. Peter turned the camera on and pointed it towards the sound. They couldn't see anything in the rafters. As they started to turn back towards the outside, a rushing sound came from above. Looking up they were startled to see an owl rushing towards where they were standing. Peter dropped his camera in his haste to duck out of the way. Shannon squealed and jumped to the side as the barn owl swooped down low then took off into the night. "He lives here!" Peter exclaimed excitedly. "I will come back and take pictures now that I know." Shannon thought for a minutes then she said, "Peter, he is a legend in our town and if you take pictures then everyone will try to come out here and find him. Once they find him, he will never be able to continue living here. Why can't we just let him live peacefully and be happy that we know he's real and we know where he lives?" After a minute of intense thought Peter responded, "You are right Shannon. It just wouldn't be fair to him to expose his habitat to so many. I wish I had gotten a picture but I would've been tempted to show it to everyone if I had. Since we didn't get one, let's take a picture of us. This is surely, A Night to Remember."

After taking the picture they gathered their belongings and went back to Shannon's house. They had to put the things back into the car and leave them so they could get them out in the morning. They climbed the tree and snuck back into her room. Peter hugged her tightly and said, "Thank you for going with me tonight. There's no one else I'd rather have shared this experience with." Shannon hugged him back and answered, "I feel the same." Peter left her and went to the attic while she got into her bed. They had such a good time tonight but it was one of those times that they would have to keep to themselves. But, at least they had each other and Old Wise One could continue to live out his days peacefully in the barn down the road.