To Save an Owl

Flurries of snow falling from the frozen, dead tree branches barely shock the pure white barn owl that simply shook off the the snow before flying off of the rock it had perched on with a rather large rat trapped in it's talons, long since dead from the attack the owl made. Sounds of hungry and cold chirping come from inside of the roof of a barnhouse as the bird lands in front of the nest. One by one mushed up rat meat is given to the young birds while their mother nudges more twigs and hay into the nest, attempting to warm it during the cold weather, before covering the owlets with her feathers.

Sounds of gunshots ring out through the silence of the snow covered forest before a cry from a large, pure white owl could be heard as she crashes into the ground and staining the crystal white snow with crimson red. Her breaths are shallow but she desperately covers the red with the snow while hiding her hurt wing as well. When the hunters near, she stops breathing and closes her eyes- listening to their footsteps. Step, step, stepping ever closer before they stop right in front of her. There were noises exchanged between the humans but the owl did not understand as she simply felt her body becoming ever more cold as the seconds ticked. She was nearing her last breath when she felt something warm take ahold of her and covered her in something she was not used to.

The first sight she saw as she opened her eyes was a dull orange light that felt good on her feathers, warming her as she slowly stirred awake. There was a sound of one of those two-legged creatures near her but the appearance was younger and softer than the others. The owl seemed to ease up at the sight but quickly realized what was missing and began to make panicked noises and movements as she tried to locate her children. The younger human seemed to try to calm her but when it failed they yelled out for another- another who brought the owlets into the mother's cage, all of them covered in a towel that kept them warm. Small chirps filled the air reaching to the mother, calming her down almost instantly.

As the owl tended to her owlets, the humans nearby tended to her wing as they attempted to heal her wound after taking out the metal shell that was inside. The wing had lost a good amount of it's beautiful white feathers after the injury but the owl could tell the creature wrapping her wing up was promising that everything would go back to normal in no time and there'd be no more dangers such as this one. The bird wasn't absolutely sure if that was the case but the human seemed to actually seemed to care.

The owl watched her owlets grow and fly off without her as her wing only seemed to grow worse- something about an infection spreading through it according to the humans. She heard noises of discussion get exchanged before suddenly she was left with just a single wing and unable to fly. The humans seemed upset by the development but one of them picked her up with such a careful, gentle hold as they seemed to declare that they'd continue to care for her even if unable to release her.

The mother owl seemed scared and nervous at first as she was moved to her new home but as weeks went by the fear seemed to evaporate as she was given the love she was always giving her dear owlets- it was a nice change of pace. She may have lost a part of herself but she gained the things she needed- love and safety.