The Girl and the Owl

She was yearning for a friend. For a genuine connection with another soul. She never thought it would come in the form of a winged creature. One that awakens with the moon, with white feathers glistening like the stars of the night sky. This girl, a unique one she was. She connected so deeply to the natural world. She felt as though the trees could hear her, that the water understood her soul and that everything has a spirit. She wandered down the same trail every day, her feet would glide effortlessly through the darkened soil, as if she was floating through the forest or being carried by the winds. This place was a safe haven of hers, a place she could go to get away from the noise of the world and the shallow hearts that seemed to be held within everyone’s chests. She yearned for so much, but mostly for true soul connections, for magic and for beings that understood the mysteries of the world and the worlds beyond. This forest held a sacred energy. One that aligned with her soul and made her feel at home.

Every day she would walk down the same darkened pathway. She would whisper hello to her favorite trees, and they whispered back in their own way.. they heard her, they saw her and she felt every notion deep within her soul. Things that most others couldn’t feel. She saw the world around her so beautifully despite her troubles. She would walk to the pond that was always as still as glass. She would lean over to see her reflection in the water staring back at her.. but she didn’t just see her face, she saw the spirit of the water and how her and the water merged as one. It was never just herself she saw, she saw the earth and herself as one. The water began to ripple, slowly moving towards her, aligning with the rhythm of her heart. The water felt it too. A connection so crystalline.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and opened her arms out wide to the sky. She gave thanks to life around her, to mother nature. She felt alive here, she felt loved here, and little did she know a gift would present itself when she least expected it to. A barn owl, as white as snow, landed upon her left shoulder. She had always wished for this. For the wild world around her to feel safe in her presence, to connect even more tenderly with them than she could have ever dreamed of. She opened her eyes and looked to the waters reflection to reveal the mysterious creature, and there he was perched upon her shoulder. She looked into his infinite eyes, as he looked into hers, tears streamed down her face. Those were no ordinary eyes. For most of the eyes that looked back at her everyday were empty ones. But no, the owl’s eyes were full of depth and soul. They saw her, and she felt like she was finally seen and in that moment she felt free. There were no words used to communicate with this beautiful bird, it was just a knowing, an understanding.

She felt as if her entire world shifted, that the universe heard her heart and gifted her with a friend for life. From that moment on, every time the girl visited the forest her friend would fly from the shadows of the trees to her shoulder, to her heart. Where they would walk together soul to soul towards the emerald abyss of the trees. She named the bird angel for she was sure he came from the heavenly realm, to the world of a girl who needed love and a true friend.