The marked owl

As he lay there with eye’s shut, he listened. There in the distance was a sound. The sound to him was beautiful. He had only recently learned what this sound was.

The sound belonged to a barn owl. She was white except she had a vermilion feather on her towards her tail. This was from someone trying to mark her with spray paint. The spray paint was to show everyone in town she was the owl who had been trying to attack the rabbits on someone’s farm.

In his bed with eyes shut still he tried very hard to listen. He blocked all other noise and sound out. All the remained in his ears was her faint song and the sound of his heart beating calmly in his ribs.

Slowly he opened his eyes to start to look for her. She seemed to be getting closer. He sat up and watched out his window while putting on clothes and finding his shoes. Walking away from the floor to ceiling window he went for his coat and headed outside.

When he walked out of the house and into the clearing the owl waiting on him had perched on the back of his bench. She had been around the back of the house where his bedroom windows looked out to the woods. She had been calling for him. The man walked towards the owl slowly and she seemed to welcome him with a quiet squawk.

The man sat on the bench and turned to the owl, she turned her head to face him. “Good morning love,” he said to her with a smile. She seemed to make a gentle hoot in response. He sat with her while drinking tea and she sat with him only moving to pick in her feathers. They looked around at the surrounding woods and fall leaves. The wind making them rattle in orchestral ways. He turned to her and held out his arm, she hopped onto his arm looking at him. Studying him. He smiled warmly at her “ I’m staying here love. I’m staying here with you, if you will allow me. You are...” his voice trailed off. He looked around some more, his gaze fixed on a tree out front of his house. He had sniffled , trying to hold back tears. She gripped his arm tighter as if trying to give him the go ahead to speak. He continued “you are my only friend. You and this house, these woods. You are all I have in my life now and I’m ok with that.”

The owl leaned in and looked into his eyes before letting out a tiny sound of sentiment it seemed. He smiled again and they returned to watching the leaves dance on the wind. “It’s settled then, I will be your new neighbor.”

The man had once had a very different life. A career which afforded him many opportunities to travel and live in nice homes, his wife could be happy and stay home if she chose to. Success brings enemies and with them problems abound.

His wife was everything he wanted in life. She could cook anything it seemed, often making things no one thought of out of whatever was in the kitchen. She cleaned and kept the house in order with her daily tidying. His wife would also play records while crafting something from whatever was in her craft closet. All was perfect.

On his way home one winter evening he got a phone call from his wife’s phone. He answered “hello there darling, I’m nearly home what can I do for you?” There was silence.

“Hello?” He said with tones of worry in his voice.

His wife struggled to speak “hurry home love, I need help” her voice trailed off and he sped to the house.

At home the door had been kicked in, the house was a mess he discovered going room to room calling for his wife. He found her. She had hidden in their room beside the bed. In her hands she held their wedding picture. There was blood coming from her chest and stomach. His wife had been stabbed. The sound of sirens was coming closer. He held her “what happened? what happened? Who did this?!”

She held him in her arm, their wedding picture sitting on her lap. Her other hand holding a bathroom towel to her stomach. He held a towel to her chest, cleaning blood and hair away from her face. Their conversation was quick. She quickly told him what happened and who was responsible. She told him she loved him and would watch over him. They both cried. How do you cover so much conversation in a quickly shrinking window of time? The medics rushed in immediately going to work to save her. He followed beside the gurney while they talked. He got in the back of the ambulance and held her hand. She was fading in and out.

She looked over at him and smiled holding his hand tighter now. “I love you I want you to find happiness. I’ll be in the leaves and snow the grass and warmth from the sun.” She was gasping now but determined to finish her thoughts, as she always did. “Listen for me and I’ll be there to comfort you and support you love.” A bigger smile came to her face, her eyes looked above his head. She was gone.

He couldn’t stay at the job where his enemies were made. Their jealousy causing his wife’s killer to be hired, her death to distract him. He left his home. He went to the woods where their cabin was. They had honeymooned there. On the first night in the house he had made sure his affairs were in order. He gathered what he needed to carry out his intended plan. Morning would bring death. He watched the fire turn into a small pile of glowing embers in the fireplace. He went outside and sat on the bench. He had proposed to his wife here. This was it. This was the time. The man closed his eyes sounds fading to background noise. A gentle hooting off behind him started to get closer. He attempted to block it out.

The hooting got closer, more purposeful sounding. An owl was flying towards him, her wings flapping furiously. The owl flew up from behind him and landed at his feet. Squawking at him until he opened his eyes. He looked at her she was a snowy barn owl with a vermilion feather. She wouldn’t leave him alone, following him into the house, hopping behind him. He walked back outside after grabbing his sleeping bag. The man settles onto the the bench while the owl looks on.

“Fine, I’ll sleep on it tonight if it will quiet your squawking please ma’am” he said to her drifting to sleep. The next morning the fire pit held only smoking memories from the night before and the owl was watching him from the tree. The man went inside and got ready to go into the closet town for groceries. In his car he realized it was dumb to do this if he was still planning on what he came there for, continuing on as if he was watching himself. The town was small and had curious bystanders who watched him drive into the market parking lot.

He gathered essentials and checked out. The cashier seemed nice as if he had always know him. He asked why the owl had a bright color on her, the cashier explained that was so they all knew it was her. “Why do you need to know which owl she is?” The cashier explained that she was suspected of attacking a farmers rabbits. The cashier didn’t think she was doing it though.

Days then weeks passed. The man had set out to fix up the cabin. He had left it to a charity in memory of his wife. The owl continued to visit the man keeping watch of his activities. His trips into town set him on edge with them hunting the owl. He had a busy day in town ahead. The man gathered his supplies and some groceries stopping next at the craft supply. He purchased yarn and burlap. He would leave it in the gazebo at the cabin for the owl to use for the coming winter. It had been almost a year now.

While leaving town the sun had started to set. He heard a noise and pulled off the main road to see. The rabbits. They were being attacked by a local woman he had seen around. He honked and she ran off. He had caught her with his phone. When he got home to the cabin, he noticed the owl waiting. He went inside with his purchases and hurried out with the yarn and burlap. He showed it to the owl and told her what he saw.

He made something to eat and went outside to be with the owl. She had ate and was in the gazebo perched. The man turned the video over to authorities and they assured him that his owl was safe. She flew over to the bench he was sitting on. He noticed her eyes. They were big and golden maple brown with amber and bright gold flecks. A darker ring of brown lined the outside of the iris. He felt a familiar feeling. “Your eyes are beautiful love” he said to her. “Oh my, darling is that you? No, of course not, you are an owl not my wife.”

Still he thought back to that day. What his wife had said before...she died. “I’m going to bed for the night, you let me know if you need me” he said to the owl. She flew up to the tree in front of the house. He watched out of his window at the leaves and noticed the owl had flown to a tree outside of his window. “Goodnight friend,” he said to her and fell asleep.

When he woke up he made some tea and headed outside. The owl flew up to the bench, she had something in her beak. It was a rock his wife had painted and buried after they were married. His wife said it was like a time capsule, she did this every year. The owl put it on the seat and flew off. The man looked at it then looked toward the direction the owl flew. She came back with another rock painted by his wife. She had done it a week before she died. They were going to go there a month later but she went early.

“Darling that is you!” He said to the owl. She perched on his shoulder and nuzzled his neck.

Now he was going to live ther. He was now a writer and worked from his home mostly. His owl kept him company and he was happy. His wife’s spirit was in the owl and the woods. In the house in the seasons. She was with him always and all was well.