16 Nov 2020, 02:39
First Owl Home
Daphne wiped her sweaty hands on her robes as she covered the last few stairs leading to the owlery. It wasn't the heights that she found nerve-wracking...it was the birds. It took her two mornings of loitering in the tower to watch other students attaching their own letters before she felt confident enough to try it herself.
She pulled the parchment out of her robe pocket. Hand sweat and ink splotches covered the sad looking page, but it had still ended up being the best draft of three. The letter was short, and mostly explained how her cell phone had exploded in Daphne's trunk, and that owls would be the only way to communicate from here on out. Daphne took a deep breath of the high-up September air, and edged slowly towards the door. Peeking around the flagstone archway, she saw them...shifting and shuffling about on their perches, softly cooing until every so often one would let out a shriek that got all the others going as well. Daphne pulled back for a second to collect herself.
"It's just birds. It's just birds," she scolded herself. "Go in, act in-charge, pick one, attach and be done."
Daphne had avoided contacting her parents for nearly an entire month, solely due to her fear of all feathered bipedals. It all started at age four on a night when she hadn't been able to sleep and had snuck out of bed. Her parents were still awake, and she could see the flicker of the television on the floorboards as she crept towards the living room. On the TV was an older movie, and a woman with a green dress was slowly searching through a creepy house. Daphne stood transfixed, stopped in her tracks by the eerie music playing through the speakers. Suddenly, the woman opened a door and was surrounded by crows, staring with beady eyes, fluttering about, pecking and clawing, screeching and flapping all while the woman screamed and screamed...
Even though Daphne was 11 now, old enough to know better, she still couldn't seem to shake the fear from that night. Steeling herself now, she turned the corner of the archway and strode in with a fake air of confidence, convinced that birds might be able to sense fear. Quickly scanning the owls in the tower, Daphne's eyes landed on a small fluff of a bird off on the opposite side. She quickly moved toward the creature, and as she did, it's head swiveled and the owl's eyes dilated as they scanned the poor girl. Daphne froze in her tracks, preparing herself for the inevitable attack, her hand outstreched...and then the owl did the unthinkable: it nuzzled her fingertips soflty, as a soft coo escaped its beak. Daphne didn't even have to wrestle its scaly leg out, as the bird delicately presented its claw for the letter to be attached. With a shaky hand, Daphne secured the parchment. The owl shook its plumage a couple times, then fluttered off the tower ledge with a low hoot.
Daphne sighed with relief that she was still alive and un-pecked. Sending owls was clearly going to take some getting used to.
She pulled the parchment out of her robe pocket. Hand sweat and ink splotches covered the sad looking page, but it had still ended up being the best draft of three. The letter was short, and mostly explained how her cell phone had exploded in Daphne's trunk, and that owls would be the only way to communicate from here on out. Daphne took a deep breath of the high-up September air, and edged slowly towards the door. Peeking around the flagstone archway, she saw them...shifting and shuffling about on their perches, softly cooing until every so often one would let out a shriek that got all the others going as well. Daphne pulled back for a second to collect herself.
"It's just birds. It's just birds," she scolded herself. "Go in, act in-charge, pick one, attach and be done."
Daphne had avoided contacting her parents for nearly an entire month, solely due to her fear of all feathered bipedals. It all started at age four on a night when she hadn't been able to sleep and had snuck out of bed. Her parents were still awake, and she could see the flicker of the television on the floorboards as she crept towards the living room. On the TV was an older movie, and a woman with a green dress was slowly searching through a creepy house. Daphne stood transfixed, stopped in her tracks by the eerie music playing through the speakers. Suddenly, the woman opened a door and was surrounded by crows, staring with beady eyes, fluttering about, pecking and clawing, screeching and flapping all while the woman screamed and screamed...
Even though Daphne was 11 now, old enough to know better, she still couldn't seem to shake the fear from that night. Steeling herself now, she turned the corner of the archway and strode in with a fake air of confidence, convinced that birds might be able to sense fear. Quickly scanning the owls in the tower, Daphne's eyes landed on a small fluff of a bird off on the opposite side. She quickly moved toward the creature, and as she did, it's head swiveled and the owl's eyes dilated as they scanned the poor girl. Daphne froze in her tracks, preparing herself for the inevitable attack, her hand outstreched...and then the owl did the unthinkable: it nuzzled her fingertips soflty, as a soft coo escaped its beak. Daphne didn't even have to wrestle its scaly leg out, as the bird delicately presented its claw for the letter to be attached. With a shaky hand, Daphne secured the parchment. The owl shook its plumage a couple times, then fluttered off the tower ledge with a low hoot.
Daphne sighed with relief that she was still alive and un-pecked. Sending owls was clearly going to take some getting used to.