Serenity

There was this barn owl who liked to just watch. Observe the world as it were. He would sit on the limb of a tree and stay there from dawn until dusk. He would fly all around and find a good spot, just to watch everything that goes on. He would hoot a few times, just to let people know he was there and would stay for a while. There was one place though that he loved the most, and that was his home out in the country.

This place was serene and beautiful and he loved it most when it felt as though the earth stood still. When everything was quiet. When he was just going to sleep, as most owls do, in the morning before anything moved.

Suddenly, there was silence. No cows, no sheep, no horses. No people. No dogs chasing cats, no kids playing. No cars driving down a dirt road. No geese honking, no birds flapping their wings. All was still.

The small brown barn owl sat staring out at the vastness that was this farmland, his home. He sat on the limb of a tree, staring, watching, waiting. He didn't dare to move. Just to watch.

The boundless farmland had been plentiful this year. The grass was green, not a dead yellow patch to be seen. The trees grew tall. The water ran bright blue. If only you could've seen it when it was alive. The horses whinnied and played, the pigs rolled in their mud, the cows relaxed in the grass. The kids, they would play with the dogs and the cats. The people would be merrily smiling and laughing. It was busy but peaceful, chaotic but tranquil. All would be joyous in this place so serene.

The barn owl hooted, the only sound heard in the quiet, still air. Then the wind got some gusto and roared. Each stock of grass bent down to the right, the leaves of each tree rustled with delight. The water rippled as the wind breathed. All began to move.

From the biggest building off to the left, a bright red barn that housed many who lived here, out came the animals who felt the air stir. The horses came first, they galloped together. Then came the cows and the pigs. The sheep shuffled out last. From the littlest building that was off to the side, the kids and the cats and the dogs came outside.

The farmland got busy again, the people got to work mucking out stalls. Peace followed quickly because that's what was normal. The kids got chaotic, all running around. Then tranquility came because that's what was normal.

Through all of the stillness to when everything came to life, the barn owl just sat there are watched. He hooted again and listened to the leaves. Listened to his home, a place so serene. Cars and trucks drove past on the dirt road. Geese swam around in the pond. Ducks flew over from north to south, changing formation in the sky.

The owl smiled, as much an owl could smile anyway, and looked over his home one last time. He flapped his wings a little and found a nice spot on the tree. The wind flew bye, almost as if it was speaking to him, and the owl closed his eyes and fell asleep. He wasn't worried that he would miss anything though, because this was his home. When he woke up, he would do it all over again. He would watch as his home changed colours, listen to crickets in the grass, stare up at the moon and say goodbye to the wind as his home would become quiet again. But now, as he sleeps, suddenly, everything lives.