Lyf In The Barn

Ch 1

I think I hate this rodent. He freaking eats and bites everything, then goes into his too small for me hole. Ahhh he is so lucky! What he doesn't know is Randle the king snake has been watching him for days now. And Randle when he spots something he gets it. I've seen it! Me and Randle have somewhat of an understanding. I'm a barn owl well.. the barn owl and he is a snake. I could get him at anytime. However the way he moves through the barn and uses his surroundings fascinates me. It would be such a tough fight. So I let him have his space and I have mine. But I think now we have a common enemy and a potential meal for either one of us. Randle is getting closer and closer moving through the hay. I got a bird's eye view if you know what I mean, so I see everything. The rat just sits there stuffing his face not knowing he is minutes away from doom. Creek...Creek. But from that sound I believe this is going to be a rough night.

Ch 2

I have lived in this barn all my life. I will be 16 months in two weeks. My mom and dad raised me. They named me Lyf. Something about those 3 words always intrigued me. They were beautiful owls. My mother would stand in the window at the top of the barn every morning and the sun would glisten off her wings. That would be my view everyday before I went to sleep. You could mistake her for a snow owl because she had mostly white feathers with a hint of a sandy brown. I miss my mom. I think I get my brown feathers from my dad though. He was fully brown. He was huge! He would grab my neck and sling me across the barn whenever I talked back to mom. My dad was rarely around. He always left the barn during the night. But oh my gosh he brought back the best meals. Yeah I miss them both. They never let me leave the barn, but they told me many great stories while I looked through the window as the moon shined on a pond not too far behind the barn. I always wanted to fly to that pond but they said it was too dangerous. And the one time I did try my luck.. well let's just say I got scared the last minute. It actually wasn't that long ago. The sun was setting and it was pretty warm to be in Oregon or whatever my mom use to call it. I decided I was going to fly to the pond, touch the water, and fly right back. I imagined the wind flowing through my wings. I could feel the cold water of the pond on my tongue as I see a fish swimming underneath me. I could imagine so many things but when it was time for me to fly my legs would get stiff and my heart would beat so hard. I was so disappointed in myself. I guess I just fear what's out there. When I was young my parents were killed by a raccoon. I seen the whole thing. It was a normal day and my dad was getting ready for his late night hunting. He had a couple of fights already that week against this mother raccoon who decided to bring her young ones and start a family in the barn. This was our barn. But this night something felt different. The mother raccoon came in the barn acting crazy. She was crying and screaming. She rushed to the top of the barn where we was and attacked my dad. Me and my mom starting flapping our wings as fast as we could in the tight space to get away. My dad starting clawing at the racoons eyes. That only made her madder. See when it comes to rodents, mice and rats are a go. But a huge raccoon that's a predator. The mother raccoon let go of my dad's leg while throwing him in the air and quickly bit him in his chest. It was over. I seen the life of my dad's eyes quickly transcend from his body. My mother screamed and rushed in. She was clawing the raccoon from the top staying a safe distance while the raccoon still had my dads corpse in its mouth. I started to see blood come from the top of the raccoons fur. The mother raccoon squealed and dropped my dad. She quickly lunged at my mom. My mom stayed as high as she could but it didn't help since we were so close to the roof. The raccoon cornered my mom and went straight for the throat. My mom made it out somehow but on her way flying towards me she was grabbed from behind then boom she was bit in the chest just like my dad. I was so confused, it happened so fast. I just sat there and watched as the mother raccoon took my parents away and ate them with her young ones. Til this day I don't know why I wasn't eaten either. Story was Randle got to one of the mother racoons young and she assumed it was my parents. That was four months ago. I've learned a lot since then. I pretty much run the barn. And one day I will fly to that pond.

Ch 3

Creek.. creek. I've been hearing that sound the last two nights. I can't figure out what it is. From my view I can't catch it. I see a figure and it hides in the hay. I refuse to get closer. I've learned to not just fly into trouble. Also last night I seen Randle go check out the haystack and even he hissed and jumped back. So I know it's something serious. This time though the sound is louder and I hear a familiar clawing. I fly towards the front of the barn to get a better view. I look down to see a raccoon clawing away at Randle. My heart stopped. I haven't seen a raccoon since that day. I immediately swooped in and attacked the raccoon from above. I grabbed the racoons back with my claws so tight that on my way to fly up I kind of lifted off the ground. Once I got to the top of the barn I released the flesh I had in between my claws. The raccoon screamed and immediately focused on me. It ran up the wall towards me. I flew to my beam that hanged over the middle of the barn. You have to be a great climber to get here. This was my safe spot. Although one time I found a bat just sleeping on it, but hey that's another story. The raccoon was enraged. It climbed to the top and started making it's way on the beam! I froze up. Was it actually going to balance on this beam and get me? I figure it can't balance and defend itself at the same time. I went in for another attack hoping the raccoon would fall off the beam. Once I was close to the raccoon I felt a huge rush of pain and I was thrown down into a haystack. Could it have hit me that fast? I couldn't move, I felt as if I was going to pass out. I was going to pass out. Not here, I can't. There's Randle to worry about or the rat biting on me. Will my life end as my parents? With my eyes barely open I heard some huge wings and then a large thud! Then I see the raccoon falling from the beam right onto a old rake. The raccoon screamed, there was blood everywhere. I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I slept.

I woke up expecting to be in the belly of Randle next to the rat but instead I smelt worms and I was in my nest at the top of the barn. Was this bird heaven? I wish I could pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. But then I looked and I seen her. Big wings and powerful she was. So beautiful my whole speech changed. Was that Shakespeare? Was she the ones wings I heard before I died? Did she save me? I asked her "hey who are you?". She said " I'm Bola" with a smile. "Why did you save me?" I asked. "Would you not have saved me if I was getting thrown by a raccoon?" she asked back. "I don't know if I'm that bold." I whispered. "You were already fighting it and winning. That's plenty bold to me". "Besides that's just who I am". She was amazing. I thanked her and fell back asleep. When I woke up she was still there sleep next to me. I went to the window. The moon was shining off the pond. I wondered what all this meant. I have a beautiful girl owl in my nest. I fought a raccoon last night that could have even been the one who killed my parents. Where is Randle and the rat? Bola creeped up from behind and looked out the window with me. She asked me about the barn. And I started with, "I've lived in this barn all my life". I told her everything.

Once I was done she told me to come on and flew from the window. I hesitated but she kept urging me to come on. I trusted her. She filled a piece of me. Plus I have to look brave in front of her. I flew from the window. I felt the wind, heard the trees, and smelt the pond. And we sat on the pond. I took a big gulp of the refreshing water. She then told me her story. And o was it a story to hear...