The Owl and the Pussycat

He is a night owl and takes some heat for that when his habits conflict with the lifestyle of who he spends time with. The house was plain on the outside but nice inside with huge arched doorways to the multiple adjoining rooms. It had a large river-rock fireplace that was where he felt the best magic with those he lured back to his lair. The master bedroom was the piece de resistance with a circular bed, and befitting the true bachelor that he was, it had it's own fireplace and sound system built into the walls. and balcony overlooking the barn.

The house was on a large piece of property with an abandoned barn, which he did not venture into. He did not enjoy the barn because it was dusty and covered wall to wall with spider-webs that would come out of nowhere to tangle in his face, and for him, there was no creepier experience he could possibly face in his nice ordered and controlled existence. Spiders were a serious phobia and spun him back to when he was a child of 8 and he had stumbled into a large web with millions of baby spiders that had covered his body with creepy crawling sensations that have never gone away to this day.

What he did like was his kitten, Buster. Buster was 6 months old and was a fluffy ball of energy. While he valued when Buster would crawl on his lap and cuddle when he watched tv, he was not completely patient with the energy that would wake him up too early in the morning after his usual night owl activities. Those night owl activities included Lauren this evening. Lauren was a FWB whom with he had forged a connection that was precariously close to becoming more. That was troubling but at the same time, he had to admit they were a good match. Lauren loved to make love and loved to be frisky. She was also gorgeous with long legs and a behind that he could not take his eyes off when she walked naked across the floor. He was a certified bum guy.

On this night, Lauren had come for dinner and a movie. They had watched the usual action flick on the big screen TV in the living room with a roaring fire and the fake bear-skin rug. The wine was flowing and the weed was smoldering in the ashtray. Around 9 pm it was time to head up stairs and he was careful to make sure Buster was safely locked inside and the doors and windows were all secure. Once in the bedroom, he turned on the TV, turned up the gas fireplace and turned around to then focus his attention to turning on Lauren. It escalated quick, before he knew it Lauren was writhing on the bed with her back arching as he used all the magic he knew to make her want him.

As he looked down at Lauren, the thoughts in his head were whimsy. She was a vixen or hmm, maybe a tigress? He was so enthralled seeing Lauren in ecstasy, that his mind momentarily lost the calmness that came with knowing his home was secure. That snapped him out of her ecstasy, and his first thought was where's Buster? He rolled off Lauren, much to her dismay, and stood up. Looking around, he was concerned that Buster was not immediately visible in the room. Not sure why, but he panicked and walked out of the room and down the hall checking doors. No sign of Buster. Almost at a run, he knew something was wrong. Two stairs at a time he reached the foyer and turned to look at the open window at the end of the hall leading to the kitchen. His heart sank and he realized he had somehow missed that window, maybe in the zeal to get Lauren upstairs. His heart began to pound and his fear intensified. He knew there were predators outside at this time of night and Buster was not capable of defending himself.

At that moment, Lauren came downstairs and saw him in a way she had not seen before. Almost like he was a little boy who needed help. She took control and said, let's go outside and see if we can find him. Lauren was calm and rational and those were qualities he really liked about her. He gathered two flashlights and him and Lauren ventured out the back door to the same area where that open window would have led. What scared him most, was the barn. That barn would be a magnet to an animal looking for shelter, and maybe mice? Ugh. The thought of looking for Buster in the barn gave him the heebie jeebies and Lauren could see his reticence. She laughed and said it's only a barn. What could possibly be so bad? Yes there are spiders and mice and who knows what else, but those are not life-threatening things.

They scoured the yard and the back creek. It was pitch black and there were creatures out and about. A frog leaped off the creekbank and splashed in the water scaring the bejeesus out of him. A large rodent of some kind scurried into the high brush from the water and he turned the other direction. The only thing left to search, was the barn. What could he do to avoid it? If Lauren was not there, maybe he would have just gone back to the house and hoped Buster would return. But, Lauren was important to him and he could not show that kind of weakness. He turned to look at Lauren and she was watching him. She said lets check the barn. He looked at her and saw that she was studying him. What choice did he have? None. They turned away from the security of the house and walked toward the unknown of the barn.

It was about 50 yards to the barn and there was high grass from the edge of the yard, to the door of the barn. As they walked he called for Buster over and over, desperately hoping Buster would come before they reached the barn door. No such luck. They reached the barn door, and Lauren pried it open ever so slightly. Lauren shone the flashlight inside and called for Buster. Then they saw something, and worse, they heard a weak sound. It was Buster, and not only that it was Buster in the claws of a giant owl. He suddenly gained strength and ripped the door wide and rushed inside, cobwebs covering his face and he only cared about one thing, rescuing his buddy. The owl was having none of it. The owl was high in the rafters and safely about to rip into Busters soft underbelly. If he had any intention of saving Buster, drastic measure were required. So, he climbed. The ladder up the hayloft was not strong and the rungs were rotting. He broke one as he stepped on it and to his surprise he kept going. The ladder was not stopping him from rescuing his buddy and showing Lauren that he could be relied on in a threatening situation. It felt good, but he realized almost at the same time as the rung broke, that Lauren meant more to him than he had been ready to admit.

As he reached the top of the ladder and climbed onto the loft, the world exploded into a frenzy of shadows and wind and claws. The owl had attacked and that was when he realized the owl had babies which he did not know or care were called owlets. The problem is that it wasn't just mama that guarded the nest. Daddy owl was even more ferocious and if daddy was not doing the job, mama was right behind him to launch an even more ferocious attack. He did not know there were two owls, all he knew was that there were claws and giant beaks, ripping and gnashing at his face and arms, and he was in trouble. The thing was, he could hear Buster. That gave him strength and he fought back. With one swing of his arm, he caught one of the owls with a strong right punch and remarkably, both owls backed off.

He was bleeding. The claws and beaks had ripped into his face and he could feel the blood dripping. He stumbled toward the sound of Buster weakly meowing as if Buster knew there was a rescue nearby. Buster was lying in the owl nest perched up high on one of the wide beams that crossed the roof. Buster was hurt and could not rise to his feet. Seeing Buster gave him a surge of adrenaline that allowed him to ignore the cobwebs and dripping blood and he scooped Buster up in his arms and turned and headed away from the scene of the most life-changing event he could never have expected. Lauren had been shining the flashlight knowing the ladder would never have held both of them and she was almost in tears when she saw him come down the stairs with Buster in his arms.

As they walked toward the house, they all knew, including Buster, that they had just become a family and that this was a moment they will never forget.