Lay Me Down

HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO.

Consciousness crept in, following the hole left by the hoots. Awareness bled from the opening and he grunted, squeezing his eyes to keep their seal. An ache in his hip forced him to roll and the push of the pillow on his face popped his eyelid just enough to catch the red digital glow from his clock. He shut it out.

HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO.

This time his eyes rolled up with a groan and the numbers came into focus. 2:35am. A sickened grumble closed them again as he breathed back into sleep.

HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO.

3:18am. He rolled to his back, trying to pull back the half dream state he was in, he took long slow breaths, letting his annoyance flow out with them.

HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO.

His eyes opened, strained with the ache of too much whiskey, stomach none the happier. He looked across to the baseball sitting on his desk next to the bed. Beside it, the remaining quarter bottle of whiskey stood, lit artfully by the glow of street lights slipping in strips through the blinds. He tucked his chin to take in the clock. 4:01am. “Fucking barn owl.” He grumbled. Dry-mouth prevented him from finding a comfortable spot so he got up to drink water. Eckkk. He groaned to himself as he felt the soil of his fallen succulent coat the bottom of his foot. He reached to dust it off, trying to open his eyes as little as possible, then meandered to the kitchen. Bright light from the fridge stung so he cringed and listened to the rising pitch of the water falling into his cup. Sleep weighed him but dribbles and small splashes jarred him back as the glass overflowed. “Fuck.” He squeezed without even moving his jaw. His first gulp was huge, but he pulled back to short icy tugs when his stomach hissed at him for it. Holding his head, he shuffled back to bed. “Agghhhhh” he snarled as he dragged his feet through dirt again. He lazily wiped them on a clear spot of rug and tumbled back under the covers, groaning back into sleep.

HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO.

His eyes opened and frustration heated his forehead. 4:44am. “Mother. Fucker.” He rolled over, fighting his eyes to keep closed.

HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO.

His eyes shot open. Immediately he came to greater wake as anger at his unwelcomed guest swelled. The clock read 5:27am. A sharp sting behind his eyes made him cringe. He glanced with disgust at the whiskey bottle on the desk and huffed a moan, curling into a ball and hugging his pillow.

An obnoxious buzz grated into his mind as he cursed his morning alarm – and his poor choices the night before. With a grunt and a yell, he maneuvered out of bed, stepping on the dirt again, and slammed down on his alarm clock as it continued to scream 5:30 at him. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why. Fuck. Next to his clock his phone sat, blinking with a notification. He pushed the screen to turn on the display. “Ohhhhhhhh. No.” It showed 3 new text messages from Tiffany Perez – his last ex-girlfriend – a missed call, and 2 messages from an unknown number, and 12% battery. “Why do I do this?”

He walked off, not yet having gathered the strength to deal with emotions. He grumbled into the bathroom and plopped onto the toilet, letting his aching head hang in his palms as he prayed for a snow storm, flood, earthquake; anything to allow him to stay home from work today. But nothing moved.

After a slow shower, more water, and a couple pain relievers he was slightly more okay with having to exist.

HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO. HO-OOOO.

He cursed the infernal owl again as he stepped out of his apartment. Realization hit him as a taxi blew by and the hushed sounds of morning in the city washed in the background. He pulled his phone from his pocket. 6:11am. He swiped it open and checked the messages from Tiffany as he walked. “Oh, this is not good.” He spoke as he read her first essay of a message. Angry with her final messages –

It’s been 3 years, get the fuck over it.

Stop calling me when you get drunk asshole

- he swiped to his contacts and deleted her number. “There ya go.” He said as he moved to the messages from the unknown number, adding a “bitch” for good measure.

Hey! It’s Katrina! Thank youuu again so much for helping me out! This is my number…

He scrolled through the texts and stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. He started again from the beginning. His eyes widened in disbelief and he turned to look back toward his apartment building as he sighed and moaned inwardly.

It was so great meeting you and I can’t thank you enough for watching Sir-hoots-a-lot! I hope he didn’t give you any trouble. I can come by to pick him up any time after 2pm, just let me know!

“What have I done!?” Confused, overwhelmed, and slowly recalling the events of the previous night he couldn’t decide if he should turn back to his apartment or continue on toward breakfast and work. Nausea decided for him – off to a bagel.

***

“Heeyyyy Timbo man! What’s up??” He was greeted with too much volume.

“Hey Greg. Rough night my man, can we keep it a little hush-hush till I’m feeling better?”

“Oooof, brah, it’s only Thursday. What did you do to yourself?” Greg, a happy Hawaiian asked as he smiled on him.

Tim met his eyes, unable to conjure an appropriate expression, his faced stayed blank and he shrugged lightly as he shook his head and crumpled into his desk. “I don’t even know man. I called Tiffany again. Deleted her number this time though, so whatever there. And apparently, I’m fostering a barn owl for a complete stranger named Katrina. No idea who she is. I don’t even know where the owl is other than that it’s somewhere in my apartment. It kept me up all night but I was so gone I didn’t even realize it wasn’t outside.”

“Brah!” Greg exclaimed.

“Duuuuuuddeeee.” Tim subdued him and gripped his head as he laid onto his desk. “Too loud.” He added in a whisper. “Please.”

“Sorry, man. Sorry. My bad. Just never heard that before from a Wednesday night out. Not like you were Mardi Gras-ing on vacation. Where the hell did you get an owl?”

Tim opened his phone and showed Greg the messages from Katrina. “Oh. Hm.” He said, stroking his chin as he considered after reading. “She cute?”

“No idea man. I didn’t even remember going out last night until I saw the messages this morning.”

“Ahhhh, haha, you’re crazy bro. What are you gonna do?” Greg asked.

“Avoid conversation as much as possible, nap at lunch, and make my way home as soon as possible to sleep this miserable feeling off.” Tim said.

“Aight, bet. I gotchyu, I’ll cover best I can for you. Feel better my man.” Greg planted some comforting pats on Tim’s back and chuckled as he spun back to his own desk.

His phone went off when he got to his door. He stepped inside and unpacked himself, then laid out on the floor to check it.

Hey

• Hey

Sooo, do I get my owl back?

• Of course, of course. Sorry. You would not believe how hungover I am today.

Uhh, I would actually, you were pretty drunk by 8 when I bumped into you.

• Oh boy…I hope I was behaved?

You’re watching my priceless owl, aren’t you??

• True enough, lol.

• So about that…I’m home now, he looks like he’s sleeping. How do I get him back to you?

I can come pick him up anytime. I hope he’s not a problem!

• To be honest, I forgot he was here until I saw your texts this morning.

Oh boy.

• Even when he woke me up every 40mins all night.

Sorrryyyy he can do that sometimes! I hope it wasn’t too bad?

• Well, considering my hangover has a hangover…it was rough, lol. But it doesn’t matter now. Did I give you my address?

Yeah, that’s how I got you home last night.

• You got me home??

Yeah, you were pretty drunk, lol.

• And you trusted me with your owl??

Well, I needed help, and he’s in a cage and I didn’t think you were capable of causing any harm, lol.

• Oh my goodness. So you were in my place?

Yeah, I helped you get yourself together and into bed and got Sir-hoots-a lot settled.

• Oh no, I hope it wasn’t too messy. There was dirt all over the floor this morning.

Ooohhh, that was me! SO sorry about that. I knocked your plant over when I was trying to help you get into bed, but I didn’t see what happened to it and it was late and you kept telling me we’d take care of it in the tomorrow, lol

• Wait, wait. Please don’t be mad, but…did we…?

Lol, no. I don’t think you could have if you wanted to.

• Lmao. I am so sorry. Ugh. Def a bad habit. I hope I wasn’t disrespectful at all.

Again – you are watching my priceless owl. You were a perfect gentleman.

• Okay good. So, where did we meet exactly?

You bumped into me on the street and freaked out when you saw I was holding a cage. You wanted to ‘see Hedwig so bad.’ Somehow, even though you were already drunk, you convinced me to join you for a drink.

• And I suppose you did. Then what? I’m really sorry, I remember bits and pieces but it’s really a blur.

Hey, we’ve all been there. We just talked for a while. You had me beat 3 to 1 so by my 2nd drink you were pretty much done. Had you home by 9:30.

• Well, thank you.

• So you want to come grab Mr. Hoots a lot?

SIR-hoots- a lot.

• Yes, sorry. You want to come grab SIR-hoots-a lot?

Lol, yes, I can come by whenever.

• Alright. Might as well make it now, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep myself awake.

Kk. I’ll leave in 5 and see you in….about 40.

• Cool, okay. Give me a buzz when you get here.

Tim stood and went to the kitchen for more water, running a hand through his hair, trying as hard as he could to remember what Katrina might look like. He shook his head at himself wondering how he could manage such a series of events. He looked at the clock and then glanced around his apartment. There was enough time to give it a once over. He decided to call Greg and bounce the new information off him.

“Heeey brah, whats good? You feelin better?” Greg said cheerily when he answered.

“Yeah man, bit better, thanks. So, I texted that Katrina chick. Apparently, we met on the street and then got drinks. She brought me home and I agreed to watch her owl for her.”

“Ahhh some answerssssss. Alright? So what happened then, did you guys..you know?”

“Nah, I asked. I honestly can’t even remember what she looked like. She said I couldn’t have if I wanted to.” They both laughed. Tim crouched down to find his succulent, still having neglected the dirt pile. “Ohhh. Damn.”

“What happened brah?”

“Ahh. Nothin really.” He smiled as he lifted the broken plant and examined it. He went to the kitchen and chucked it into the trash, absently letting the metal lid of the can slam.

“You good? What was that now?” Greg asked.

“Apparently Katrina knocked over my plant last night. It’s totally destroyed. I was just throwing it out.”

“Ahhh, damn man. Sorry.” Greg comforted.

“Yeah, I was sad for a sec there but as I looked at it, I realized that shit was still from when I was with Tiffany. So WOOOP. In the garbage.”

“Ah, nice brah. So, what’s the deal with owl girl? You gonna make her hoo-hoo-hoo??” Greg laughed at himself as he hooted into the phone.

“Dude! I don’t even know what she looks like. What if she’s 60??” Tim said.

“Did she sound 60?”

“Well, we didn’t talk, just texted…but no. Maybe 20’s or 30’s.” Tim responded.

“So, ask her.”

“What? I can’t just up and do that.”

“But if she’s cute my man…whuchya gonna do?” Greg asked.

“I don’t know…I’m just watching her owl, man.” Tim said.

“Yeah, but like…did she sound cute?” Greg pried.

“I mean..I guess? She texted well, didn’t sound like a kid and actually responded with messages and not single words.”

“Okay, okay. That’s cool. Then when you see her man, if she’s good, then I like how it sounds. You already got her owl. If that ain’t an in, I don’t know what is.”

“Ehhhhhh, I guess you’re right. But I was so drunk, she could be anything. She could even be married!” Tim said.

“Yeah, but what if she isn’t?” Greg asked, using his voice to lighten Tim’s negative tone.

“What if she’s a crazy lady? There’s no telling!”

“Brah. Why’d you call me?” The question made Tim pause.

“I guess to bounce this off you since you know about it and I’m definitely still hung over and not thinking straight.” Tim thought out loud in response.

“Alright man…then from me, the sober one, stop worrying about it. When is she coming?”

Tim checked his clock. “In like ten minutes now.”

“Cool man, cool. Get excited. Just go with it.” Greg coached.

“Fine, fair enough. Thanks man. I’m gonna let you go so I can vacuum this dirt up before she gets here.”

“Sounds good brah, lemme know what goes down.”

“Alright, thanks man, peace.” Tim hung up and plopped his phone on a table.

As the vacuumed crackled over the spilt soil, he smiled satisfaction, feeling near catharsis at so thoroughly removing that piece of his past after throwing the plant away too. He noted a cleansed feeling.

His phone rang. It was Katrina.

“Hey, you here?” He answered.

“Yep, I’m outside.” She said.

“Okay, buzzing you in.” She sounds cute. He smiled to himself and went for the door. He snuck the shutter on the peep hole open and watched her approach. His smile grew. He turned the lock, then the knob and took in her glowing form as the door swung open.

“Hi.” She said with a bright smile.

“Hi.” He said back, almost dazed in delight. She was beautiful. Unique. And just his favorite height.

“Can I come in?” She said cutely.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry. I just..you’re..ah..come in, come in…” He said, flustered.

“So, how’s my baby??” Katrina asked as she looked around.

“He’s good, good. He’s over here.” Tim walked her into his main room where the cage sat covered by a blanket on a chair in the corner. She bent down and lifted it a little to peak inside as Tim admired her form. His delight waved away the remnants of pain from the night before. He couldn’t wait to tell Greg how cute she was. When she stood again, he beamed at her.

“What?” She said, biting her lip in subtle shyness under his gaze.

“I just…” he shook his whole body, “..you are gorgeous. I honestly couldn’t remember what you looked like. I’m just pleasantly surprised, and I don’t know if it’s okay to tell you that, but I’m too old to be nervous hiding things. Especially in my own apartment.” She giggled and flushed.

“Woww, thank you.” She stepped into him, half to hide it, and half to be closer. Tim tingled and cautiously embraced her, then relaxed into holding her as she snuggled close. She looked up at his face. “I was kind of hoping you thought that.”

“Wow.” Tim said. He smiled and stared at her, taking in every piece of her face, seeing her as much as he could.

“You wanna hang out?” She asked, her cheeks still pink.

He pushed back, unable to smile any bigger. “What is happening?”

Her face twisted in question as her ponytail shook.

“You, a random gorgeous woman, whose owl I’m babysitting, is in my apartment, in my arms, and telling me she was hoping I think she’s gorgeous. There’s no way this is real.”

“Well, to be fair, you don’t remember last night and I do.” She said, becoming coy.

“Right, so what happened exactly? What did I miss?” He asked, starting to feel a tickle of fear in the unknown.

“It really is too bad you don’t remember. I don’t think it will be a problem. We’ll talk about it all again eventually, I’m sure. But if you are who you seem to be, then I’m really glad you got drunk and bumped into me last night.” She smiled and stepped into him again, this time wrapping her arms around too.

“Well. Who did I say I was? I hope I was nice, and I hope everything I said was true.” He said, smiling, but concerned.

She squeezed him. “You were a perfect gentleman. You were very kind and I have no reason to doubt anything we talked about. I wouldn’t trust my owl with just anyone, but you really seemed special to me, I knew I could trust you.”

“Wow. Well. This is just fucking magical.” They laughed as he returned her squeeze. “So, you know me. I don’t know you. Other than that you have an owl. What uhhhh do we do about that?”

Her voice became sweeter and she looked into his face the way he had completely taken in hers. “I think maybe I’ll just tuck you back in bed again then talk you to sleep.”

The sound of her voice set fire to his core. “Alright..” he smiled “okay…” he added a nod. “Lay me down.”