The Persistent Owl

Gasping for air, sweat dripping down her face, Lola was abruptly awakened in the middle of the night by an unknown disturbance once again. You see, Lola had been having nightmares and many sleepless nights since the accident that had recently put a halt to her once happy life.

It all began that Winter, two months ago when seventeen year old, Lola and her best friend, Alicia were having the winter break of their lives. They had been inseparable since the day they met and they wouldn’t have it any other way. During this break, they decided to take a much needed girls’ trip together to a beautiful ski resort.

Their first day at the resort consisted of them skiing, ice skating and snow tubing. This was an exciting trip they would never forget. That night, they arrived at their cabin more than ready to sit by the fire and warm up. As they walked up to the front door, they were greeted by the screeching hoots of a nearby owl. Lola looked up and saw perched atop a branch of a tree, a white owl with the most beautiful and distinguishing brown and black markings. The girls also spotted two snow mobiles next to their cabin with no owners in sight. When inside the cabin, the friends unpacked their bags, enjoyed a quiet dinner and sat by the fire reminiscing over the memories they had made over their twelve years of friendship.

Just as the girls were about to go to bed, Lola stumbled across a pair of keys inside the nightstand right beside her bed. Lola looked at Alicia with wide eyes and a mischievous look on her face. Alicia automatically knew what Lola was thinking and grinned slyly back at her. They both took off back outside, put the keys in the ignitions of the snow mobiles and they started right up. They had never driven snow mobiles but were certain they could pull it off. As they each got on their own vehicle, Lola looked over at Alicia and bet her $20 that she could beat her in a race around the trail. Hesitantly, Alicia agreed and they shook hands on it. They started off slow and steady but quickly got comfortable and increasingly sped up. Alicia was in the lead as they were headed towards a sharp turn. Lola sped up and proceeded to cut off Alicia on the turn nearly hitting her from the side. Alicia turned her wheel sharply trying to avoid the hit but she suddenly veered off a snow bank throwing her into the air, flipping her snow mobile, then hitting a tree head on. Lola frantically ran over to check on her friend but sadly, she was unresponsive. Just then Lola heard hooting again and looked up to find the very same owl from the cabin perched on a tree looking down on them as if trying to say something. Needless to say, that would be the one single night that changed Lola’s life forever.

Fast forward to the present where Lola is back home trying to put the pieces of her life back together, while living in constant pain and guilt grieving the death of her best friend. She spent most of her days alone thinking about what had happened that evening at the resort.

One night after finally falling asleep, she was awoken by the all too familiar sounds of an owl hooting nearby. She scurries out of bed and peeks out her window to find the same white owl with the same markings that her and Alicia had seen at the resort. The owl stared her deep in the eyes and she automatically felt a sense of peace and calmness grow inside her. She suddenly felt in her heart that Alicia had come to tell her that she is alright and that everything would be okay.

That night, Lola learned that sometimes the universe has a strange way of sending us signs and these signs shouldn’t always be ignored. Pay attention to the creative ways the universe sends us messages. You must be present, open and willing to receive answers. Each sign that comes your way has a unique message to your specific situation and is received at the place and time you’re meant to see them.