Her name was Flight

Blinking herself awake, she stretched her arms to the warm afternoon sun and gracefully rolled out of the comfortable bed. Glassy, grey eyes gazed intently from the old wooden floor below to the sky above, wishing she could live in the sky instead o f being a slave to it.

"FLIGHT!!!!" The loud, incessant call of her younger sister broke her internal struggle. Crossing to the door, Flight entered a scene of normality.

"The moment your leg is healed, I'm gonna break your neck, ya hear?!" screeched a very irritated, grandmother.

It only took a few moments of scanning the room to understand exactly what was the cause of the ever rising emotions. 2 words.

Tawny Lows.

Flight's younger sister was a force to be reckoned with, even with a broken leg. Clever, beautiful and wild, the latter being the reason for her broken appendage.

"It's not my fault that it's broken, Oma."

"You know fully well it is. Don't you peg this on anyone but yourself, Miss -I'm going to jump off this ledge even though I know 20 feet down is way too far-", Oma exclaimed, her white hair as wild as her granddaughter's personality.

"Will you two ever get along?" Flight's clear, low voice commanding attention.

"No." Both voices answered, followed shortly by the gang of 3 laughing and rolling eyes at each other. Oma made sure life was normal. After the war, after their kind was hunted down, after life was everything but normal... Oma made the exceptions.

"Flight, the squirrel you brought in from last night is going to be the best meal I've ever made." Oma declared as she ripped into the plump prey.

"If you'd have brought home 2 squirrels, we could've finally been plump like our prey is." Tawny teased as she ducked, narrowly missing the acorn Flight had chucked at her.

Family. Though small, easily annoyed with each other and usually hungry, there was no greater treasure... And no greater threat. The evening flew forward. Instead of the sun declaring the time, the moon took over, which also signified that it was time to divulge the night's plan.

Oma went through the nightly routine, re-bandaging Tawny's leg, bestowing unwanted life advice and ending with an ancient melody the trio was fondest of.

"Under the branches of the old, creaking oak

lingers a whisper of hope.

Soaring and weaving through it's tangled vines,

a flash of white wings and bright yellow eyes.

Danger and horror do dance midst the night,

but fly, sweet ones, further up into flight.

For over the moon and stars we all go,

to a home we have picked or one we'll soon know."

Oma's wavering voice faded out into a quiet hum, and the world around them was as still as they were. As if the Earth itself knew the danger that night held for them... For Flight.

Shaking away the dread and lifting herself from her comfortable position, the eldest Lows sister lifted her head to the moon, beaming through the wooden planks above and whispered a small soft prayer of safety.

"You'll be back." Tawny blurted out, as if she was trying to convince herself. "You always come back."

"Yeah. I know." Flight acknowledged softly.

"Stick to the shadows, listen for howls and don't let the moon catch you." Tawny recited the words their father had made them both memorize. At the beginning of the war, it sounded like a poem. Now the poem had shifted into their life source. It was almost biblical.

"See you in the morning, little Flight."

Cold air rushed around her as she reached for the next branch quickly. The night sky was a deep blue, and while the stars had once been friends, they were now enemies that spotlighted what Flight hoped to conceal...

Herself.

Nimbly landing on a secure branch, the sounds around her took over her senses.

A cardinal to the left, a small house cat further into the brush, and just ahead she pinpointed with violent accuracy exactly what she and her hungry family needed.

Behind her, and crouched in the mud, was another being just as hungry.

"If it wasn't so damn cold out..." Thought Honor as he silently watched his breath billow from his mouth in white waves throughout the night.

Honors eyes were hooded with years of struggle. The wrinkles creased the corners of his eyes and the wide set mouth twinged slightly as movement caught his gaze. Any movement that had once been, ceased completely as the man prayed that his old eyes hadn't just tricked him.

"This will be my last night if I don't get something. Their last night. This blasted, stupid, shit show of a war has ruined everything. Let this night end in life... please..."

Flight managed to make quick work of the field mouse in her grasp, and just as quickly as she was on the Earth, she knew her safety was the "over the moon and stars" just as the ancient song had ensured.

Just as her Mama and Father had promised...

"This war will not end well, little Flight. Be stronger than the oak, braver than your Oma on her best day and as quick as Tawny is when in trouble." The memory of her father captured her thoughts, and pulled her into a melancholy mirage.

"Beautiful. White feathers, at least a foot tall and completely unaware of the massive danger behind it. Granted, a bit skinny, but anything would do at this point. Food is food." Honor's relieved realization was all the food he needed.

As if he was there with her, she reached out to her father, balancing on the low hanging branch and without realizing until it was too late, her voice rippled through the silent night.

Terror struck her... "Rookie mistake, Flight. You have to move. Now."

Descending into the air, clinging to her prey she didn't climb towards the heavens... she fell...

Without even realizing that she'd been shot, her body met Earth with a soft, shattering thud. The ground beneath her shook in beats that grew louder and quicker.

Everything was competing against each other... Pain met peace. Torture shook hands with tranquility... And then, the worst followed.

Panic.

Honor quickened his pace as he realized his shot had found its mark.

"We'll be okay. We don't die this night." Was the hope filled remark playing on a loop in his head. "My granddaughters will not die tonight. Not tonight."

As the old man moved the thick grass away, his gaze squared onto the once white, now crimson stained and terrified owl that would save his family. Momentary regret filtered in and broke the loop playing in Honor's mind...

"FLY. YOU HAVE TO FLY." The memory was crisp and too bright in Flight's mind. "MAMA PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO FLY." The cry from the small fledgling was drowned out with the sharp, staccato crack of metal.

I'm sorry, little Owl. Your body will not... is not taken for granted. I... I have a family you see. 3 little ones that I try to keep up with. And... and I... I'm thankful to have seen your flight tonight, little Owl. I'm real sorry." The crack in the wise old voice was enough to make him chuckle. How many times had he hunted before? Why was this any different?

Darkness breached itself into a solemn song, listing itself down onto the shoulders of Flight's stilling body... The melody came in waves, with the voices of all those she loves. The voice of Tawny, Oma, her mother and father...

-but fly, sweet ones, further up into flight.

For over the moon and stars we all go,

to a home we have picked or one we'll soon know.-