Freed from the owl

“That incessant noise! Is it ever going to stop?”, said Boor as he treaded round the room in his fine silk pajamas, the last ones he had. He was living in an old abandoned house, that at some point in its long existence served as a barn, a chemical factory and many more. The building changed with every owner. Now, it was little more than a pile of rubbish. The attic was the only habitable place in the house, every other room has either been burned down or was locked up. “Every single night at the exact same hour, never letting me sleep. What is this? A mad house! A mad house, I tell you”. He opened the bleak-colored curtains with a forceful, almost aggressive tug. The ceiling beams creaked in response. No one was there to look back at him, save for the lonely pine on the hill. “I can’t believe this! Where are you hiding, you little rascal?”. Boor started pacing once again, in front of the small wooden window, rubbing his unshaved face. “Stop! Just stop already!”, he shouted while grabbing a fistful of cloth from the curtains. His bloodshot eyes scanned the grounds outside in hope for a giveaway on the sound’s whereabouts. It sounded like an owl, but there were none to be seen out there. The sound creeped him out, making the hairs at the nape of his neck stand up. This wasn’t his first night and still, the sound was too much to bear. It moved his marrow, shook his bones, twisted his insides.

Boor was still looking at the pine through his small window as dawn was rapidly taking over the night’s sky. He had been pinned down to the floor the entire night. Once again, he reached down to the window sill and scratched with a nail another line on the nearly full surface. He broke away from that waking place and made his way towards the shabby looking bed. He collapsed instantaneously on it, forgetting to care for his wounds. “I can hear you…”, he whispered as he tucked his red-stained hand under the pillow. Soon, sleep descended over the whole room, blanketing everything with absolute stillness.

The day was almost over now, the last speck of light made a last attempt at keeping the dark at bay, but to no avail. The first stream of shadow poured in, draping the floor in gloom denseness, suffocating Boor. He couldn’t breathe, his lungs were struggling for oxygen. He felt it before he heard it. He opened his eyes, searching every moldy corner of the room, looking everywhere in hopes of finding the thing that has been bothering him since he came into this hell hole, over three years ago. He searched everywhere, but up. His pajamas were drenched in sweat, thanks to the ceaseless night terrors he was having. Boor slid the crate from underneath the bed, trying to find a change of clothes. He opened the lid and started roaming through the few peculiar things he had left. A rusty razor, some moth-eaten black socks, a handgun, from when he was on the run and a few scattered bullets. Nothing of help. All of his clothes were piled down in one of the room’s corners. “This keeps getting better and better!”, he said while he was still crouched over the crate. As he was about to close its lid, the recurrent sound rattled the unusual silence. “This again! Don’t you have any other place to be in? I’m sick of you!”. Boor looked everywhere. That suffocating feeling wouldn’t go away. He rushed to the window and tried to open it, but the lock wouldn’t budge. He was breathing quicker and quicker with every passing second. The walls were starting to close in. Boor reached once again for the crate and took everything out. He threw the whole thing at the window, but missed. His vision was getting blurry. He scratched his chest, wanting to pull out his lungs so he could finally take in some oxygen. „The gun...”, this seemed like the only thing left to do. He reached for it , put three bullets in and aim at the target. The gunshot reverberated through his limbs. The lock on the window cave in. He rushed there, opening it wide enough for a night’s breeze to come in. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes while doing this. „Finally, some peace and quiet”.

Just as he was about to turn back to bed, he heard it. That owl sound. „No, no, not again...”, Boor turned around just in time to see the owl fly through the window. He aimed at it and fired. Smoke was coming out of his gun. He was at a loss of words, how was this possible? It’d been there with him this whole time.

He grabbed the window sill with one hand, while looking for the dead owl. It was nowhere to be seen, the ground outside revealed nothing. He searched the sky. That’s when he saw it. The owl was perched on one of the pine’s branches. „Oh no, no, NO! You’re not getting out of this!”, he said while trying to aim at the owl. He couldn’t see it very clearly, it was too far for him to make a clear shot. He only had two possible choices, either reach through the small window in hopes of getting closer to the owl, or leave it be. He chose the former. He extended his arm outside and positioned the handgun. „That’s no good! It's too far! Aghh!!”, he shouted as he tried one last time to point the gun in the right direction. The angrier he got, the shakier his hands were, so he pulled away from the window. He paced round the room, thinking of what he should do. „I got it!”, he barely squeezed through the window, he was now half outside and half in the room. With one hand, he steadied himself on the roof while he stretched his other arm in front of him. „A little bit closer...”, he said as he pulled his body a few inches closer to the pine. The roof tiles were grimy and cold to the touch. It was the perfect night for a practice shooting. The moon was the perfect watch, silent and unjudging. He stretched even closer, holding just one foot on the window sill for balance. The owl was in sight. He pulled the hammer of the gun down and shot.

The moon witnessed it all.

The owl flew past his contorted body. It whistled and perched itself on top of the window sill. The man was lying down on the ground outside. He was finally free of the barn owl. He drew a last breath before closing his eyes forever „I can see you now”.