My Grandfathers Owl

I’ve never been known for being an animal lover. I’ve always been used to just being by myself and nothing more. Yes, I had my friends and family, I talked to them, visited them every once in a while, but I lived alone. I had just moved into a country house located near the east of England. It had a large piece of land, and it ironically came with a barn. I had this house passed down to me from my grandfather, he passed away a year ago. I never knew much about him though, mostly because he always kept to himself. Especially after my grandmother passed away. He didn’t like talking to us as much like he did when my grandmother was still around. We visited him about once or twice a year when he was still around. I never knew why, but my guess was just that he always lived far from where we were. And I never knew much about him. That’s was until I moved into his house. It was pretty dirty at first, but eventually I cleaned and tidied everything up and it looked much better.

Now, there was one thing about the house that I didn’t much like, and you could probably already guess what it is. Yes, it was the barn. At first I didn’t care for it, really. Mostly because I thought it’d reek of farm animals. But, I knew I had to go in there sooner or later. So, I did. One night, I heard a noise coming from the barn. It sounded like a hooting from where I was in my room. So I decided to go see what it was. I went outside into the barn with a flashlight. It didn’t smell much like I had thought it would. I pointed the flashlight around the inside of the barn, and what I saw was an owl. It had light and dark brown feathers with a white feathered face. When I pointed the flashlight at it, it looked me in the eyes. But not just with any look, it gave me a look as if it had known me and I felt as if I had known it. After that profound stare, it flew away through a hole in the roof of the barn. I then went back to the house, and went back to bed thinking about what had just happened. I tried not to let my mind think about it much, but it did.

I woke up the next morning to find a feather in my bed. It was a brownish looking feather, and right away I knew it was the owl’s. I decided to get out of bed, get dressed, and go see if it was in the house. I checked everywhere that morning. Everywhere except for the attic. I went up stairs into the attic and surprisingly, there the owl was. It was sitting on a window sill when I found it, and it then stared at me once again. Something about that owl, it just gave me a profound feeling. I knew I wasn't an animal lover, but something about this owl just told me that I had to see it. So, I went up to it to get a closer look, and when I did, I petted it. It had such a tender feeling, it’s feathers soft to the touch. While petting it, what seemed to be a journal fell on the ground. It had fallen due to a draft that came from a hole in the roof of the attic.

I picked it up and started flipping through the pages one by one. In the journal it had written on the first page, “Alexander Miller.” It was my grandfather’s journal. On the next page it read, “ I’ve been around the barn for the past couple of days and every time I go feed the animals, I’ve seen an owl close by. It’s been flying around here for about 8 days now. I’m afraid it will attack the farm animals, especially my chickens. I’m probably going to make a covering so that it won’t get near them. -January 10th, 2018” I kept reading, and I soon found out that this owl was more than what it seemed. On the next page it said “I was about to put up the net covering today in the chicken area, but when I went outside, the owl was already in it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t attacking my chickens. It was in the coop, eating some of their food. I decided to take this owl in. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my arm, hoping the owl would get on. Once I got near it, I put my arm out to it and right away, it climbed on. I then took it inside the house and befriended it.” “So this owl is my grandfathers’?” I said to myself surprisingly.

I never knew my grandfather had an owl, he never even mentioned it to us once. Maybe there’s something else about this owl I don’t know about. So I kept on reading. “I felt a connection with this owl as if I had known it, and as if it had known me.” “I didn’t know what this feeling was, but it sure was familiar and profound.” January 22nd, 2018 “Today when I woke up, I decided to name this owl. I named her Melody. Now, the reason I named her this is because of a dream I had the night before. I had dreamed of my sweet old wife, Melody. I hadn’t dreamed of her in years, or at least since about a month after her passing. She came to me in a dream, we were in our lake fishing and watching the sunset. Just like the old days when she was still walking this Earth.” -January 22nd, 2018

“Today I woke up with a great feeling in myself. I felt like today was going to be a great day, and better than any other. I decided that I would grab my fishing gear and go out to the old lake that me and melody used to go to. And so I did. I also decided that maybe Melody should come with me. I had a bird carrier that could fit her, so I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my arm, and put my arm out to her but when I did, she didn’t climb on. I thought that maybe she didn’t want to go, so I just let her be. I drove off in my truck and right before I knew it, Melody was flying high right next to me. She followed me all the way to the lake, and when we arrived, she landed on a tree branch. I started getting all of my gear out of the truck, and once I set up a spot, I started fishing With my dear old Melody. We caught a total of 13 fish that day. Once the sun started setting I sat down and when I did, Melody flew down from that tree branch and sat on a log right next to me. We enjoyed every moment of it. All the way till the end of it. And from there on, I spent the rest of my life with her.”-January 31st, 2018

“Wow.” I said to myself. I never knew my grandfather like this. I started wondering to myself, and thought “This owl knows much more about my grandfather than me or anyone in my family ever has. At least on a personal level.” After reading and wondering, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my arm hoping Melody would climb on. She then did. We then went back down stairs and I took her outside to see if she would want to go back outside, but she didn’t. So I took her inside the house, and she climbed off onto the counter. And I didn’t understand why, but as my grandfather said in his writing, I just let it be.

The next day I decided I would go to that lake that my grandfather mentioned in his journal. He had the directions written down and everything in the journal. I didn’t know what I would do there, but I just had a profound feeling of going. So I packed some things to take in one of my backpacks that I had. I didn’t pack much, all I did pack was some water and snacks. Afterwards, I found the bird cage and with it an arm protector in the attic. I did what my grandfather did that same day he went to the lake with Melody. I put on the arm protector and went to go find Melody. WhenI found her I put out my arm to have her climb on, but she didn’t. I wondered why, I mean she didn’t know where we were going, so why didn’t she climb on I thought. So I just decided to let her be. I got in my car and I drove off to the lake, and as soon as I knew it, Melody was high in the sky flying right next to me. She followed me just like she followed my grandfather that same day.

When we arrived, Melody landed on a tree branch and I started setting up a spot. Once I finished setting up, I decided to go on a walk around the lake. I started walking and soon Melody followed after. She was flying up high while I was walking down below. I walked and she flew for about an hour or two. During the walk, I took pictures to remember that day. When we returned to our spot she landed and sat on a log next to me. We then rested the rest of the afternoon. Once the sun started setting. Out of nowhere, another owl came over and sat next to Melody. I wondered where it came from.

And that’s when I realized and figured it all out. I finally understood why I felt that connection with Melody. She’s my grandmother, and the owl sitting right next to her was my grandfather. I know it sounds quite odd and a bit exaggerated, but it’s true. At least it was to me. I mean, why else would she have acted so odd and not wanting to leave when she had the chance. It also explains why I’ve been having this profound and familiar feeling this whole time. I know that we don’t know much about what happens after death, but honestly, what if there is an after life and this was it. Either way, I felt at comfort knowing that I was with my grandparents. Finding out more about my grandfather, and figuring out the emotion and feeling he had even though he never showed it to us. In the end, I was just glad to be at peace, just like he was that same day with his dear old Melody. I then took a picture of us three, and we forever cherished and remembered that moment from there on.