Call of the Night Owl

Part I

A full moon rose high above the land to keep watch over the night offering loving guidance for lost souls who were searching, searching, searching. What they yearned for they did not know, but they followed the moon’s glow all the same, hoping that whatever lay ahead would relinquish their fervent hunger. Diana was one of those lost souls. She desperately followed the light into the depths of the woods. The tall trees cast dark shadows all around her confusing her way. Soon she was engulfed in total darkness. She froze. Her body paralyzed with fear. Her mind screamed out for help. Nothing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe in. She refused to breathe out until her body forced her to exhale. With the immediate revival back to life, she opened her eyes surprised to see a pair of eyes staring back at her. Suddenly, she felt a sensation of warm electricity shooting up the base of her spine through the top of her head. She was no longer afraid.

“Thank you!” she cried out to the eyes who had saved her. “Who are you?”

“Who?” The eyes echoed back.

“Yes, who are you?” she asked.

The eyes sparkled becoming brighter and brighter radiating more vividly than moon she had followed into the woods. Soon its face was completely illuminated. “Who, who, who?” It asked. Diana gasped in astonishment and recognition. It was the face of her oldest and wisest friend, the barn owl.

Part II

Diana woke up remembering her dream vividly. She stretched out to grab her journal and pen to quickly record all the details before they were forgotten. Her dreams provided excellent content for the stories she wrote, and these stories provided her main source of income and gave her freedom to live remotely. As she wrote, she tuned into the sensation she felt in her spine. It was a strange feeling like the one from her dream. It felt like a surge of warm electricity. Diana was used to this sort of thing. Her dreams would somehow linger into her awakened state confusing her senses. “That was one wild dream,” she uttered to herself. “Maybe it has something to do with living in the woods,” she pondered. A few weeks prior Diana had made the sudden trek from city life to rural life hidden in the mountains. Her friends and family thought she was crazy for moving somewhere so isolated, but she wasn’t completely alone. She had the company and protection of her two giant greyhounds, Anpu and Inpu. She thought she was clever for naming them after the Egyptian God of the Underworld since in profile they looked just as he did. She also believed there was power in a name and Anupis (also known as Anpu and Inpu) kept evil out of Egypt. If a name like that could keep evil out the entirety of Egypt, then she believed double of that name could keep evil out of her life. Diana was like a magnet for trouble. Naïve and disconnected from herself, she attracted the predator archetype. Her ex-boyfriend was no exception. He was the reason she had left everything behind and moved to the middle of nowhere. Destiny would not have her sorrowful fate be so lonely, however. Together Fate and Destiny decided they would work together and throw her not one bone, but two in the form of Anpu and Inpu. As she drove into the unknown, she noticed twin black dogs (brother and sister) on the side of the road. They had no collars nor microchips. They also refused to leave her side making it obvious they were now hers and she theirs. Diana finished writing the last part of her dream and with it the electric feeling in her spine dissipated. She was now fully grounded in this reality. She sighed. She would rather be in the dream world. At least there she had her owl friend to save her from her fears. As if her hounds had heard her thoughts, they barked in protest alerting her to their offended gazes. She smiled and offered an apology by inviting them onto her bed, a special treat since she hated cleaning dog hairs off her blankets. They happily jumped onto the bed and nestled comfortably on either side of her. All was forgiven. As she turned to pet Inpu on her left, she caught sight of herself in an oval mirror hung on the wall beside her. It was the first time she looked in a mirror since she had left Los Angeles. She avoided reflection of any sort up to this point, which included avoiding mirrors, but this one glimpse made her curious as to what she would find. Her soft brown eyes surveyed dark roots fighting their way back from suppression of dyed blonde hair. Shocked by this discovery, her eyes shyly moved across her face to look for any familiar landmarks. She found comfort in high cheek bones she knew well but was surprised to see freckles speckled across them. She forgot she had them the way she forgot there were stars in the night sky. She gently moved on to survey her nose, which had the same small bump and lips that were soft and feminine yet turned downwards as if dissatisfied with something. She didn’t recognize herself anymore. A giant owl tattoo perched permanently on her shoulder stared deep into her eyes just as the owl from her dream had. “Who,” she whispered before fear could clench her heart. “Who am I?”

Part III

The seasons changed and with it so did Diana as she connected to the natural rhythm of the land. Spring gave her appreciation for life. Summer gifted her with abundance. Then autumn gently nudged her into the shadows where darker things hid prepping her for the cold reality of Winter. Mother Gaia was her loving yet stern teacher showing her lessons from the outside were also lessons within. She was connecting to who she was without the critical judgements of others being stuffed into the depths of her psyche. Her exile brought freedom. Freedom to discover. Freedom to think. Freedom to be. Diana’s wild nature grew out like untamed vines, arms outstretched engulfing all that life had to offer. There was no need to be fearful of who she was. She was a mirror of the nature she loved with her whole being in all it’s imperfect perfection. The light of Spring and Summer radiated out of her core as she stepped into the dark of Fall and Winter. She embraced her roughness and the parts deemed unworthy by society as beautiful and necessary. She had tasted all the colors of what it meant to be human. She could never go back to the tasteless black and white illusion. Diana was transforming, but even though society would deem her an adult, she was not yet a woman in the eyes of the Goddesses and Gods that watched over her from the Heavens. She would need a rite of passage to help her transcend into that next phase of humanhood. The heavens collectively decided with the first fall of snow, they would release chaos into the cosmos giving her the opportunity to prove herself.

Part IV

The wind howled a bloodthirst scream as dark clouds swarmed in from all directions angry with bloated bellies of ice. It seemed winter was coming early this year making a dramatic entrance with a vicious storm. Diana yelled out for Anpu and Inpu. It was not like them to leave her side. She followed their tracks deeper and deeper into the woods. She felt the temperature drop with each step. “Anpu! Inpu!” she cried out. “Come!” Between the breathes of the wind she heard them. They were howling to her in response. But where was it coming from? To her right up ahead she saw what looked like a cave. Strange. She never noticed it before, and she knew these mountains like the back of her hand. As she walked closer to the cave the howls became louder and louder. Fear crept up behind her. Something was wrong. She ran into the cave scared of what she would find. The cave swallowed her whole engulfing her in darkness. All was silent. Where were her hounds? “She heard something stir around her. Anpu? Inpu?” she heard her voice echo back to her. A sharp howl filled her ears then another and another until she was surrounded by them. She fumbled for her phone in her pocket, turned on the light and met the gaze of a pack of coyotes’ sharp canines smirking at their trickery. She clenched her eyes shut trying to make sense of what was happening. Beneath her closed lids she found familiar eyes staring back at her. She knew she was dreaming.

“Why am I dreaming this?” She asked her wise owl friend.

Its eyes bore into hers. It wanted her to understand something. “Who?” It asked simply.

She was asking the wrong question. She didn’t need to know the ‘why’ she needed to know the ‘who’. Who did this dream represent?

“He’s found me hasn’t me? Ryan.” She said flatly.

The owl shook its head in confirmation.

Her ex had been searching for her since she had left. He wasn’t one to take rejection well and his fears of abandonment lead him to extremes.

The owl looked deeply into her eyes pointing its right wing at her chest. It wanted her to know something else. “Who, who, who?” It asked.

She understood. “Who am I?” she smiled. This question used to frighten her, but now after she had developed a deep connection with herself, it enlivened her. “I am Diana, embodiment of the Goddess of the moon. Goddess of Earth's sacred animals. Goddess of the hunt. I am protector of light and lover of dark. I see Truth in all things. I integrate warring opposites fusing them together as one perfect whole. My heart beats in unison with the heart of Earth whose rivers flow in sync with the flow of my blood. I am life. I am death. I am rebirth.”

She opened her eyes and smirked back at the coyotes who entrapped her.

“I’m not afraid,” she said simply. “The illusion is broken.”

The coyotes bowed in response. She took a deep breath and let out a howl from the depths of her soul calling back all the power she had ever given away.

Part V

Diana woke herself up. She did not take her lucid dreaming lightly. She knew the messages in her dream were warning her of what was going on in this reality. She felt the surge of power she had called back in the dreamscape pulse through her veins confirming her beliefs. The wind shook her window alerting her of the outside world. There was fresh snow on the ground, the first snow of Winter. Diana felt the eeriness of something significant about to happen. She followed her intuition to the front door, her hounds alert right behind her. Something was out there or someone…She opened the door. There were fresh mountain lion tracks in front of her cabin. Just like her dream, nature was warning her that her ex was close by. Anpu and Inpu growled at something in the distance. Diana shut the door. She wasn’t going to be afraid any longer, but she also wasn’t going to rush into conflict without protection. She went to her closet looking for the bow and arrows left behind by the last tenant. She really was becoming the embodiment of Diana the Huntress down to every detail. With a determined face she headed out into the forest with Anpu and Inpu at her side ready to face whatever was to come.

Part VI

Diana waited on top of a hill hidden amongst the trees. She was no longer prey. She knew how to be the hunter. She just needed to be patient. He would come. The icy wind grew bored waiting for something to happen as it chased clouds out of the sky revealing stars that sparkled in anticipation for what was to come. Anpu and Inpu whined next to her. Once the sun had set, the cold relentlessly gnawed at the warmth in their bones.

“I’m sorry guys. We won’t be out here much longer,” she promised.

The moon rose high in the black void casting just enough light over the land for Diana to see her target when he came. She heard an owl in the distance, “who, who, who” it warned. She knew Ryan was close. Her ears tuned into the silence searching for any sound. Then she heard it, the sound of tires crunching on snow. Anpu and Inpu heard them too. They stopped whining and stood guard. Ryan drove up to her cabin with lights off, but she could see the silver of his jeep reflected by the glow of the moon. She strung her bow with an arrow. He got out of his jeep and walked up to her front cabin window to peer inside.

“I’m not in there,” she bellowed out echoing throughout the land.

Ryan jumped not expecting to be caught off guard. He was used to being the one three steps ahead.

“I’m done playing this cat and mouse game.” She stated simply.

“Di? I just want to talk. Where are you?” He said in his smooth deep voice.

“You’ve crossed too many boundaries Ryan. You’re not welcome here. You need to leave.”

“Come on Di. You’re being unreasonable,” he pleaded.

She knew what he was doing. Every time she spoke, he would step closer searching for where her voice was coming from. She would give him one last warning.

“I have an arrow aimed right at your heart. If you don’t leave, I’ll shoot and I don’t miss.”

He stopped. She could feel his anger pouring out of him. He wasn’t used to being in the weaker position. He looked right in her direction. He figured out where she was hiding. He cursed at her and ran straight towards her at full speed. Anpu and Inpu barked fiercly by Diana’s side. Diana released her arrow. Woosh. It hit her target. Ryan froze. He turned behind him to see a mountain lion hunched over with an arrow in its chest. Without missing a beat Diana strung another arrow.

“I told you I don’t miss,” she said coolly.

Ryan froze. His brain was catching up to what had just happened. Not only had he become prey of Diana, but he was also prey of a mountain lion. A mountain lion Diana killed. He was no longer the one in control. Ryan backed up slowly. The reality of the situation was sinking in. He wouldn’t be able to manipulate his way out of this one. Before he got back in his jeep, he yelled out one last thing.

“I love you Di. Please know that. I’m sorry…” his voice trailed off as tears streamed down his face.

Diana kept her bow and arrow aimed in his direction tears filled her eyes. “I love you too Ryan. Know that I’m sorry as well.”

He got into his jeep and drove off lights on this time. Diana felt her heart beating with his. Even though their relationship was traumatic, they shared a deep soul connection, one of many karmic lifetimes. If she hadn’t gone through all the hurt, she wouldn’t be who she was today and she wouldn’t change that for anything in the Universe. She was grateful and she hoped from the bottom of her heart that he would face his fears to become the man he always wanted to be. Bats danced in the night sky signaling a rebirth. Diana had emerged from the death of her old self to be born again as Diana embodiment of a Goddess. The heavens celebrated Diana’s successful rite of passage by filling the night sky with thousands of shooting stars. Diana closed her eyes and made a wish. It was a wish for Ryan’s happiness.