Illuminate - The Owl

Illuminate - The Owl

(The chronicles of the East)

By Heather May

The stars glistened like the auroras, on a cold January night, in the middle of a wooded peaked horizon. Holly and Paul had been driving most of the day, and were ready to find warmth, from inside the getaway cabin. It has been years since Paul visited his parents retreat, but he knew Holly would relish, in its peacefulness and solitude. Holly recently escaped a tragic past, and was lucky to have found Paul, for he graciously saved her heart. She knew her journey had just begun, as the first snow began to fall.

Beneath the moon upon blanketed leaves, they walked together, in light of their destination. The cabin was nestled between a large lake pond, and a quaint red barn, dusted with white in the distance. Holly’s eyes gravitated towards the barn and pulled Paul’s hand tightly, as she steered him towards its placement. “This cold air and stillness makes me feel as if I’m living in magic Paul,” she said. “Holly, you deserve beauty, for all your heart gives. I’m glad I could bring you here,” Paul replied. Opening the barn door slowly, Holly saw two horse stalls, with two beautiful golden horses, being taken care of by what she assumed was a caretaker to this place. Paul introduced Holly to Zeal, and told him he could finish up for the night. Zeal lived in a small home about a mile back, and gathered his belongings and left.

Grabbing Paul’s hands, Holly asked, ever so eagerly if he’d join her up into the barn loft, to gaze upon the stars from the open window? Paul obliged, following her up the ladder. To her surprise, the loft was filled with books, paint, oddities, souvenirs, which felt entirely like another universe, she just escaped to. “I used to spend a lot of my time up here, Paul said. When I was younger, I’d retreat here to write or paint, when things in my head got too cloudy.” “Wow, you’re quite the mystery traveler, Paul,” as she laughed looking through his belongings!

The eleventh hour became so hauntingly quiet, but Holly basked in that sultry kind of darkness. Gazing out the barn window together, a beautiful white owl flew into a nearby tree, perching on a crackling branch. Paul leaned into her and said, “I call him Chosen, I’ve been telling my secrets to that owl for years.” “So, he knows all your secrets, do you think he’d take a couple of mine too,” she replied? Just then, the owl swooped in closer, landing on an iron rod hanging from the barn, right in the center view of Holly’s eyes. The owls eyes glistened like fire and ice, meeting hers. “He’s beautiful,” she said. Paul replied, “I’ve waited a thousand years for you.”