The Little Mother Owl

The little barn owl looked forlornly down at the forest floor from her perch on a high branch of an oak tree. She keenly spotted a little mouse scurrying its way across the leaf-covered ground but she made no move to hunt it down. She wasn’t hungry, hasn’t been for a few days now.

All the little barn owl could think about was her mate and her three babies. She had been so happy, raising her little owlets along with her mate. They were growing up to be so big and strong that she felt both love and pride every time she laid her eyes on them.

So when the wind was particularly strong a few nights ago and it was her turn to hunt some prey for her babies, the little barn owl didn’t hesitate to leave the nest. It had been difficult, of course, to both fly against the wind and to make sure that the wind didn’t blow her away. But she still managed to grab a healthy, young squirrel for dinner. On her way back, however, she heard a loud crack that was followed by a large crash. The sound had startled the little barn owl but she had been more scared by the fact that the crack came from the same direction as her nest.

She flew back to her nest as quickly as she could only to see that she was too late. The branch she and her mate had picked to build their nest on had broken off from the tree and crashed all the way to the ground.

Pinning her mate and her babies underneath.

Despite all of her screeching, screams, and attempts to get her little family moving again, they wouldn’t respond. They were dead, and she was now all alone.

An unfamiliar cry then broke her out of her depressing walk down memory lane, making the little barn owl turn her head. In the distance, she saw a pair of humans walking through the forest. It was strange to see humans here in the dead of night but it wasn’t too unusual. She didn’t understand what they were yelling, but thanks to her keen eyesight, she could see that they were upset.

But the little barn owl couldn’t bring herself to care one little bit as she turned her head away. Less than a minute later the humans were out of sight and she was by herself again. A few seconds after that, the little barn owl left her perch as well. If she wasn’t going to hunt, she might as well go back to her...new nest. It was clumsily made, but it did its job well enough.

Along the way back, however, she heard a cry. Unlike the cry from before, this one seemed...younger. Much younger.

Concern touching her heart for perhaps the first time in days, the little barn owl flew towards the noise. About a minute later, she came across a small human sitting on the forest floor crying his eyes out.

Practically a baby. A human baby yes, but still a baby.

The humans from earlier must have been his parents…they were looking for their lost baby.

In the end, the little barn owl didn’t have to think about it. After quickly making sure that there weren’t any threats around the baby human, the owl turned around and flew in the direction the humans had been heading. Thankfully, the adult humans didn’t get too far and within minutes she was circling above their heads.

Now for the hard part.

With a very loud screech, the little barn owl dove towards them as rapidly as she could. The humans looked up and screamed with alarm as they ducked and covered their heads with their hands. Not satisfied at all, the owl climbed back up into the sky and once again dove at them with one of the loudest screeches she could utter. This time, the humans ran away.

Right in the direction of their baby.

Glad but knowing that she couldn’t afford to stop now, the little barn owl kept diving at the humans in order to direct them to their baby. Then finally, right when she was about to dive at them again with another loud scream, the humans suddenly stopped.

The reason became clear when the little barn owl heard a familiar young cry.

The humans cried once more as they ran away, but this time, their voices were full of hope. The little barn owl followed them and it didn’t take long for the humans to reunite with their baby. She landed on a nearby branch and watched silently as the adults picked up their baby, held him tight, and kissed his chubby cheeks. Then, after kissing his forehead and wiping their eyes with their hands, the small family left the scene together. As they should be.

Huh, the little barn owl felt hungry.