Dixie's Friend

We moved to the farm when I was only 5. I believe that to be the perfect age because I was so full of questions and curiousity. It was a 20 acre farm with a huge red barn and there was a babbling brook that ran beside the barn and the house and then under the road thru a huge metal pipe. Momma would take me out with her to do chores every morning and would occasionally let me wander. I would always go with her to the chicken coop, because I loved feeding the chickens to make them leave their nests so we could get their eggs! It was fun being so careful and putting the eggs in momma's basket without breaking them. Then momma always let me break them when we were making breakfast. SO FUN! As long as I didn't break any, momma would let me go to the barn to find poppa and let him know we were going in to make breakfast. He was always feeding the horse and cow. And then would milk the cow to bring in milk for breakfast. This one morning I spotted something move very high up in the barn. "What was that, Pappa?" I asked. "That is our barn owl. He gets rid of mice, rats and harmful snakes for us." he answered. "But stay clear of him, because they have a very sharp beak and claws. And he doesn't know you". I ran into the house as quickly as my little legs would carry me.

As we were having pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and milk for breakfast, I told momma all about our barn owl. "After breakfast, can I go look at the cyclopedeas (how a 5 year old says Encyclopedias) and find pictures of a barn owl so I can know what he looks like without getting too close and getting my eyes pecked out?" Momma said, "OH, honey, I don't think our owl will peck your eyes out! But yes, I will help you find some pictures after you help me clean up after breakfast." I actually loved helping momma do any of the work she did to make it easier on her. She always seemed so tired.

We found lots of beautiful pictures of all kinds of different owls. Some looked to small to be ours. When we found one that looked close enough, I had momma scan it and print it for me. I carried that picture everywhere, looking for him outside the barn. One such day, I was hot and tired of looking for him, so I walked down to the brook and dipped me feet in to cool off. I loved having the water babble over my feet like it did the rocks. I heard a big splash down the brook from me, that made me jump. I looked and it was our owl! He had flown into the brook to take a bath and probably cool off too. I softly said, "Hello, Mr Owl. You sure are pretty. You look very much like my picture." The owl looked at me as if he hadn't seen me here before. He didn't seem scared nor like he wanted to peck my eyes out, so I continued, "I am Dixie and I am very happy to meet you, finally. Would you like to be friends?" He dunked into the water a couple more times and shook the dirty water from his feathers. When he decided he was clean enough, he slowly moved toward me like he understood and didn't want to scare me either. He moved right up in front of me and turned toward me. We made eye contact and I felt an immediate friendship with this beautiful, wild creature. We even seemed to have a silent communication. He bowed his head to let me pet him. He was oh so soft and I never wanted this moment to end.

But then, momma and poppa came out of the house and startled him and away he flew. He was so graceful and made no sound at all. Momma and Poppa stood in awe for a moment and then ran to me and momma asked, "Did my eyes deceive me or were you just petting a huge bird?" I replied, "That is our barn owl, isn't he perfect?" I held up my picture. Poppa came up and said, "He is indeed perfect, but also huge! You should be more careful, Dixie dear!" "Poppa, don't worry. Mr. Owl will never hurt me! We are friends now!" And I skipped away.

Every day I would take some time and sit by the brook in hopes to see Mr. Owl again. One day as I was standing up to go back into the house before the sun set, I heard him screeching loudly. As I turned around he was flying right at me, I felt a stinging sensation and saw Mr. Owl grab a snake. He took it into the brook and bashed it on a rock over and over until he was sure it was dead. Then he began to eat it. I looked down and blood was running down my leg and I passed out.

When I woke, I was in the hospital and momma and poppa were crying and holding each other. "Why are you crying?" I asked. They ran over and began hugging me. Momma said, "Mr. Owl saved your life, Dixie!" Poppa said, "Had that snake been able to pump any more venom in you, they might not have had enough anti-venom to counteract it! It was very touch and go for a little while!" "That barn owl got that snake away from you just in time and took care of him alright. Even got a good meal out of it. I am so glad you are ok." Momma was crying again.

"I told you that he would never hurt me!" I said proudly. From that day forward, Mr. Owl was my guardian angel and my best friend. I would go play in the brook every afternoon and he would come and play with me. Sometimes we would splash each other and other times we would cuddle. He always spoke to me in the barn when I would come get Poppa for breakfast. And if I accidently broke an egg, I would take it to him in a bowl that afternoon. Sometimes, Momma would even let me break one on purpose to reward him for saving my life!