A Grateful Owl's Gift

Arnie Sijano, Seeta Dasani and Peter Downing looked forward to their next weekend at the Crawford farm created by Seeta’s father Ashok Dasani near the Philippine town of Cagayan de Oro. A bustling city in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, the jungles around this quaint city are great to trek in and extremely fertile. The 2 acre Dasani farm was a paradise of sorts. Peter thought it was more of an animal sanctuary rather than a farm. Peter and his 14 year old friends were classmates in school and were inseparable. The townsfolk were used to this unusual trio of friends from three different countries and would smile to see them at supermarkets, parks and occasionally at the movies. This friendship brought the three families together and they often got together for relaxing weekends and holidays at the Dasani farm.

The Dasani farm was an animal lover’s paradise. There were 11 species of monkeys, parrots, macaws, goats, pigs, sheep, cows, buffalos, squirrels, chipmunks, dogs, foxes, rabbits, chickens, ducks and even mongooses. There was a veterinarian who came in twice a week. The Dasanis loved their animals and would feed them in turns. Peter and Arnie also fell into the spell of all the animals and they proudly told their friends they had hundreds of pets. The boys got inspired by the Dasani and also became vegetarians.

Peter’s mother Doris also grew to love the animal farm. “I can’t bring myself to slaughter these lovely innocent animals” she would say, stroking a chick that had hopped on to her lap. “It’s good we are all vegetarian now.”

“Are you also vegan?” Boy Sijano asked Ashok Dasani during a weekend gathering of the three Families at the farm. Seeta’s mother Reshmi smiled and explained they were not vegan but vegetarian. She explained that being vegan also means giving up milk and diary products. She added that milk products are the mainstay of an Indian vegetarian’s diet and even giving up these could lead to protein deficiency.

That evening, Arnie, Peter and Seeta were walking down the paved pathway along the fence of the farm. Some of the animals had been with the children and were slowly retreating for the night and the pups, cubs and chicks were being called by their parents. Peter thought he saw a barn owl in a corner near the barn adjacent to the forest outside the farm. Arnie wondered if this was a good omen though some cultures considered owls to be a bad omen. Peter reminded him of several cultures where owls are considered to be wise and a good sign. “Where did you see the owl?” Seeta asked excitedly and Peter pointed towards the barn. Arnie looked up at the night sky and thought there could be a storm. Though most of Mindanao was not in the belt of the typhoons that lashed this beautiful island country with renewed ferocity every year, Cagayan de Oro and its surrounding areas got torrential rain whenever typhoons lashed the country further north.

Arnie’s instincts turned out to be right as the sky grew dark and ominous clouds loomed up. The air became cold and the children expressed a desire to cuddle up with their pets in the barn. The mothers looked worried but Cal Downing reassured them but asked the children to get back into the house if there was too much rain. The children smiled in delight and took their bed rolls with some snacks with them.

The night was too exciting for the children. They made their beds in the hay and a few chicks, piglets and ducklings came up to investigate and see if they could grab a midnight snack. The children immediately cuddled the little animals and soon they were immersed in a sea of crooning affectionate animals.

Arnie said he also wanted to have an animal farm of his own, hugging 2 little piglets that were grunting softly in affection. Meanwhile, the storm outside was raging on and sheets of rain lashed the farm though it was warm and cozy inside the barn.

Seeta suddenly looked up and thought she could hear light hoots and cackles from the roof. The three children took their oil lamps and climbed up into the loft of the barn. Peter suddenly spotted four owlets huddled together and squealing. “They’re hungry” Arnie said. He turned to Peter. “So you did see the owl. Mother owl was bringing her owlets to a safe place.”

“I’ll get some food for them.” Seeta got up. “What will you feed them? Owls mostly eat small rodents and animals, you know.” Said Peter.

Seeta was climbing down the loft. “I know just the food for them.” She looked up and whispered. “The worms that we feed the fish.” The boys nodded in appreciation and gave her the thumbs up sign. She came back with a bowl of worms and gave them to the owlets. The chicks were hungry and began eating the worms. The three children looked at the chicks affectionately as they ate and then snuggled up to each other in the tiny nest their mother had made for them in the barn roof. The children stayed up with them as they slowly drifted off to sleep.

A little later, the children went down to sleep. The rain slowly drizzled off and slowed down. Peter woke up as he heard a small ruffle of feathers and looked up to see the glowing eyes of a barn owl. Seeta had also hear the soft sound. She sat up and looked up. “Look. Mother owl is back.” She pointed. The barn owl had made a hole in the roof and that was how she had stowed her chicks in to protect them from the rain. She was wet and dried herself on the straw. She saw the bits of food near the chicks and was glad to see her babies had been fed and cared for. She looked at the children and the children could sense an expression of gratitude from a grateful mother. She took her chicks out one by one and the rain outside stopped and took them all away, presumably to her nest.

“I wonder if we’ll see the barn owl again.” Peter yawned and went back to sleep.

The children were excited and told their parents about the owl and her chicks in the morning. The parents of the children listened with interested. Ashok Dasani said it was a very good omen that the children had had so much interaction with an owl. Cal Downing recalled the secret societies that used the owl as a mascot and agreed it was a good omen.

The children often wondered what became of the owl as the days went by.

During the next weekend, the three children were back in the farm with their families. It was a warm evening and they were enjoying supper in a gazebo near the barn when they heard a soft screech. They were thrilled to see their barn owl. “She returned after all!” Seeta squealed in excitement. The owl flew up to them. It was carrying a metallic object in its beak and she put it down near Seeta’s feet. The owl looked up at the three of them and flew off into the night.

Seeta picked up the object and handed it to the boys. It appeared to be an old bracelet made of gold. Arnie’s father Boy Sijano walked up and took the bracelet. His eyes grew round in amazement as he switched on the torchlight of his smartphone and examined the bracelet in detail. “Can I keep this for closer examination?” He asked. The children sensed this was an important find and nodded. He made the children give him details but all they could say was that the owl had brought it to them and they did not know where it came from or where she had found the bracelet.

The following week, Peter and Seeta received invites to the Sijano house where they went after school.

Boy Sijano welcomed them with a smile and asked them to join the family for dinner.

The children were excited as Boy had not divulged any details to Arnie. They waited patiently until dinner was over and they went to the living room.

Boy lit a pipe and asked the children what they knew about the Yamaguchi treasure. Peter suddenly recalled tales his father used to tell him about a Japanese general during the second world war and how he had stashed a large cache of treasure towards the end of the second world war. The Yamaguchi treasure was supposed to be hidden in several places across the Philippines.

“General Yamaguchi left the Philippines in a hurry when General Douglas Macarthur made a surprise landing with the allies” Peter said.

“Yes” Boy nodded. “Yamaguchi never realized Japan would lose the war and that he would never be able to return to the Philippines anymore.”

Arnie recalled that some of the Yamaguchi treasure was found during the presidents term of Ferdinand Marcos.

“That’s right, son.” Boy nodded.

“Is the bracelet we found a part of the Yamaguchi treasure?” Seeta asked suddenly, voicing all their thoughts. Boy nodded again, taking a deep puff of his pipe.

Boy got up, taking the bracelet out of his pocket. “I’ll have to report this to the government. I wonder if they’ll believe the owl story. We don’t want a horde of treasure hunters descending on the farm.”

“See. I told you owls were lucky. “Seeta’s eyes were shining.

The children and their families had almost forgotten this incident. 2 weeks went by. One day, they got calls to visit the principal’s office. The three of them were studying in the same school. There were 2 officials from the Philippine government with Boy.

One of them had a warm smile and he spoke to them gently.

“Mr. Sijano has told us everything about what happened. You had an owl do you a good turn for taking care of her young. Yes, this bracelet is part of a rich treasure that is a heritage property of the Philippines. We will keep this story under wraps and we ask you not to reveal this story.”

The children nodded. The man smiled in appreciation and went on.

“We don’t want the country disrupted with another massive treasure hunt. We don’t want our owls to be hunted down and killed and their nests searched for bits of treasure which may or may not be there.”

He reached into his pocket and drew out an envelope and handed it to Seeta.

“This is a token of appreciation from the government of the Philippines.” He smiled. Boy got up and shook the man’s hand. “Thank you, Sir” He said in solemn gratitude.

The men got up. “Please do inform us if mother Owl comes back with more gifts.” He smiled. “And keep that hole in the barn open and do feed her chicks the next time there’s a storm.”