Ghost in the Woods

“I don’t understand,” said the man with a dangerous voice. “You said the search would only take a few days, sheriff. It has been TWO WEEKS!” The man’s wife jumped in her chair then struggled to suppress a high pitched sob. The officer, however, didn’t flinch. He simply took off his hat and sighed. “Sir, I can’t begin to imagine what you and your wife are feeling, but I assure you that we are trying our-.”

“DO NOT sit there and tell me you are trying your best! I’m not paying you to try your best, got it? I'm paying you to bring my son back for me!” The man continued to scold the tired police officer while he got to his feet and headed for the door. He put his hat back on and began to reach for the handle when he paused. “I truly am sorry, but at this point… the statistics don’t look good… I’ll give you two a call if we find a lead.”

Much later that night the man sat at his desk. His reading glass sat on the bridge of his nose as the eyes sitting behind the thin layer of glass darted back and forth. He had been rereading the same line for the past five minutes, not understanding a single word. Finally, he dropped the document and reached for the glass of dark liquid next to him. Glancing up at the bottle he had ripped from the liquor cabinet earlier that night, now sitting near the edge of his desk, he noticed it was significantly emptier than it was hours ago. Rubbing his eyes, he turned towards the large grandfather clock ticking away by the window. The clock’s white face read about two-forty. Seeing this the man must have decided it was time for bed as he started to look away and get up. Then he froze. Half-way out of his chair he did a double take. His head snapped back towards the direction of the window and there it was. There, barely visible from the light pouring through his study’s window was a small ghostly white heart shaped face staring directly at him. Two eyes locked onto his own. They were incredibly dark, darker than the night surrounding the face. The man tried to shift in hopes of escaping the entrancing face, but as he moved the thing seemed to track his movements, sending a chill down his spine. Slowly, the man reached for a drawer in his desk and found a flashlight. He paused and caught his breath. Then in one swift motion he raised the thing and pointed it right towards the creature and lit up the world outside. What the man saw both relieved him and made him feel idiotic. It was just an owl. He had let himself get worked up over a bird, he definitely needed sleep. He looked out the window again. The bird before him wasn’t so scary. In fact it was quite beautiful, but the eyes… Those eyes still made the man feel unsteady. They seemed so out of place on the bird to the man. Such dark eyes sitting centered on a graceful white heart shaped face. His eyes continued downward. They didn’t match the body either, he thought. His eyes dropped even lower to examine the bird's legs when he froze for a second time.

This time, standing, his knees felt like jelly. Shocked, he stumbled towards the window, nudging the corner of his desk and sending the glass bottle tumbling towards the floor. It landed with an echoing crash! The man, however, paid it no attention. He had hastily pocketed the flashlight and was fumbling with the window sill, desperately trying to throw the thing open. Finally he threw the glass upwards and flung himself out onto the grass below the outside window ledge. He jumped to his feet and anxiously scanned the surrounding trees for the bird. He turned in circles faster and faster until finally he turned and saw his wife running up to him, still in her night clothes, and obviously alarmed and angry. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” she yelled at him, grabbing him by the shirt and jerking him towards her. The man tried to ignore her and continued to turn and search nearby branches but finally spluttered out “you don’t understand… outside my window… there was an-.” “An owl…” the woman cut in. “Well yes and it had, in its talons, his-.” “Tommy’s bracelet,” said the woman pointing at a spot behind the man. They both turned and stared, not daring to scare it away. There sitting on a branch was the owl, and in its claws it clutched a dark blue bracelet made of weaved paracord.

The woman took a single step towards the bird and it took off through the woods. The two people raced after it, but, after a few minutes, the man tripped and fell onto his face. He struggled to get up. Then, on his knees, he heard a terrible scream of loss come from ahead of him. It pierced every fiber of his being leaving him motionless. He stared off into the woods as his wife’s cry broke the wood’s silence once more. Then he began to sob. He sat there weeping with his face in his hands for a while. Then finally he heard the sound of flapping wings. He looked through his fingers and saw the blue bracelet sitting on the ground before him. In awe he looked up towards the trees and saw the beautiful owl staring right at him again. Those eyes… The brown eyes locked onto the dark black, and the man knew.