Hazel

Rustle rustle.

Her ears perked up.

Rustle rustle.

She lifted her sleepy head and turned it a hundred and eighty degrees. The rustling had been going on for a good few minutes now and there was no way that she could get herself back to sleep. She narrowed her big black eyes until they were barely visible behind the narrow slits and white snowy fur that covered her face. The incessant rustling was coming from far beneath her, under the pile of hay that had been complacently placed in the corner of the barn to cover the mould and rot that had eroded from neglect. The owners of the barn had always been lazy with home maintenance, which made it a perfect place for Hazel to find a quiet corner and nest through the cold winter season. It was more often than not a tranquil corner of the world, the only disturbances being the once in a blue moon appearances from the farmers as they came in to dump unwanted goods or to otherwise complain about the so-called bats that were living in the barn roof. Far from annoying Hazel, these intrusions would often amuse her as she peered through the cracks in the roof floor knowing perfectly well that even if they could do something about the fact she had made her home in the roof of their barn the effort it would take to find her and evict her was going to be too much for them to bother with. So instead she would scratch a little at the ceiling to infuriate them a bit more and then nuzzle her beak into her feathered wings and fall fast asleep.

But today’s intrusive noises were unfamiliar, and it had taken Hazel quite a while to work out that they were coming from inside the barn. Turning her head back round to the tiny haphazard mess of a nest she called home she checked on her little owlets snuggled up together like a lumpy cushion of feathers which on closer inspection you’d notice rising and falling, unsynchronized, with each tiny breath. She shook her head as her bed feathers flew loosely into the air and turned back around to the hole in the ceiling where she had been searching for the source of the noise. Trying to make as little sound as possible, she treaded delicately on the creaking boards, her wings gently outspread to lift a small amount of her weight off the floor and peered closer through the gap. Her beady eyes scanned the room, her beak starting to chitter, and a low purr rumbled inside. The rustling stopped. Hazel lifted her head almost blinkingly yet without a single twitch of the eye, her talons gently clenching the wood in frustration. Had she missed her best opportunity for food yet again? The winter winds and snow had kept her inside with her owlets for so long that she feared very soon they wouldn’t have anything to eat. Even without the rustling, Hazel continued to stare down at the empty barn, curtains of sun beams hazing the floor that were shining through the ceiling high broken window.

And then she saw it. A flash of speed that shot out the pile of hay and across the room only leaving an outline of a long furry tail trailing behind a blur of grey. Dinner. But before Hazel could position her pounce the mouse had slipped through a hole in the wall and vanished into the greater outside. With haste, Hazel jumped onto the nearest beam and trotted along it until she reached the window. Caught up in the uninvited breeze that the broken glassed window welcomed in she perched herself on the ledge and looked out. The woods just beyond the barn lay under a gentle sprinkling of snow and frost, it sparkled under the low sun which was sorely uninviting for Hazel who for a moment considered retreating back to bed and trying again when the moon had risen. But as she sat there the little mouse, now slowed down by the cold frosty ground, had started to bounce across the grass and towards the entrance to the woods. Sighing behind a tiny chitter Hazel lent down as her wings, having been tucked close to her sides mere seconds before, gracefully opened up like a ballet dancer moving her arms from bras bas to second position. Extending herself to twice her size her wings pushed down against the absent wind and lifted her weightlessly off the ledge. She glided through the air with ethereal grace yet supernatural watchfulness, high above the mouse, unseen and unheard like the silence of falling snow.

She landed on the branch of a thin tree which teetered under her weight knocking a sprinkling of snow onto the ground below. The mouse had stopped by a large prickly berry bush and was sniffing around on it’s hind legs, it’s tiny paws reaching up to a particularly juicy berry. Distracted by it’s determination to find a source of nourishment the mouse was completely unaware of Hazel perched mere meters away from it. Hazel readied herself, the branch bending down in anticipation of her flight when unexpectedly she reared back causing more snow to fall off the branch. A glimpse of ginger stooped down behind a tree had caught her eye; a slick fox crouching precariously close to the crunchy grass that was baited with fallen frozen twigs and branches was eyeing up the unmindful mouse. He treaded cautiously towards the mouse with the odd tiny twitch of his mouth, a nearly inaudible gekkering hissing coming from between his sharp fangs. The mouse had finally pried its chosen berry from the bush and was busy browsing his next best berry when the fox started to move towards it. Hazel’s eyes were transfixed on the scene below her. The fox had stopped moving. His right paw lifted from the ground started to twitch as if readying to grab. The mouse, whose paws were wrapped around a second berry froze. It’s whiskers trembling as it’s nose sniffed the air. Ears pointed up and it’s tiny black eyes scouring the woods. The fox, barely hidden as he crouched in no-man’s-land caught the eye of the tiny mouse as it dropped the berry it was holding and froze starring at the hungry eyes of the giant ginger predator. The fox recognising his window of opportunity leapt high into the air, all four paws poised aiming for the spot where the mouse was cowering.

Whoosh.

Hazel flew down, her wings outspread reached the length of the fox in full and knocked him off balance. Her widened talons wrapped swiftly around the tiny mouse whose fear had it rooted to the ground. She landed, squelching one of the mouse’s red berries into the unstained white snow. The fox was swiftly back on all four paws and suppressing the surprise of the unexpected competition he glared at Hazel who had tucked her wings around herself and the mouse. He started gekkering angrily and pacing around Hazel, who like the mouse was now defensively rooted to the ground. The fox gnarled his fangs at the owl who starred back unreprovingly, turning her head as he paced around her over the crunching ground. She struggled to find a way out. She glanced behind her, back towards the barn where she hoped that if she could get herself airborne the fox would have no chance of catching her on the ledge. There was only one problem. There was at least fifty meters of trees to get past before she could make it to open land and at the low altitude under the trees the fox could easily leap up and grab her. Her thoughts were interrupted as the said fox let out a very high pitched bark and lunged forward. Hazel spread out her wings and let out an angry screech which made the fox back away. Gnarling his fangs he continued to pace around her leaving angry prints in the thin layer of snow. The mouse had started to squirm, but Hazel tightened her grip on it as a little squeak emitted from behind her rustled brown feathers.

For a while the fox paced around the owl and the mouse, his gnarling now subsiding with the rise of impatience and determination to outsmart this fiendish intruder. When their eyes caught, the fox would freeze with surprise and start sniffing the air, slowly moving towards the owl, curiosity getting the better of him, until Hazel teasingly lurched her head forward with a tiny hoot and the fox would leap back and spend the proceeding couple of minutes bouncing on the tip of his paws completely on edge. Hazel, being a very proud and fearless bird, being the commander of the skies was far from feeling intimidated as much as humiliated and equally impatient. Surely this beast would tire out soon and decide to find food elsewhere? However relentlessly Hazel waited, it was equally matched to the prowling patience of this hungry fox. Finally deciding to take the first step, Hazel let out a trepidatious hoot, lifted her wings a little from the ground and took a couple of side steps away from the fox. The mouse who seemed nearly dead from shock tasted a small breath of winter air and started to squeal and struggle from the tight grip of Hazel’s talons. The fox noticing this started to gnarl again, lifting his giant fluffy tail into the air positioning a warning pose. Hazel ignored this and spread her wings further, lifting herself into the air, talons extended forward, facing the fox, the mouse struggling evermore, her body and wings piloting her away whilst her eyes remained transfixed on the fox. The fox leapt after the owl, only mere feet away his paws and claws as dangerously outstretched he lashed forward and caught Hazel’s talon.

The mouse fell to the ground, right next to the unsquished berry. In a matter of milliseconds it had picked up the berry in its mouth and was running away, back towards the barn. The fox no longer interested in Hazel galloped after the escaping mouse, his fangs leading the way, nearly snapping around the mouse’s tail. Hazel twisted herself back around wasting no time in making up ground. She flapped her wings in desperation, veering herself this time towards the fox. She extended her talons, her long deep weaponised claws moving forward. Inaudibly she flew right up behind the fox and snatched at his back. Her talons slashing through his skin and pulling out lumps of fur that went flying behind her. The fox let out a mighty howl of pain and spun round to face Hazel just in time for the mouse to scurry back through the tiny hole in the wall of the barn. Hazel turned herself back around and flew down for another pass, this time however she had the full attention of the fox who leapt, claws and fangs hitting the air aimlessly. Hazel changed gear and flew away; the skies were her domain and now it was the fox’s turn to feel cornered. She circled around, the fox attentively watching her, waiting. After a couple of orbits around the fox Hazel made for her third and final move. She swept down, anticipating the fox’s next move she reared back just as the fox leapt towards her and her sharp talons collided with his eye. He fell helplessly to the ground, whimpering. Hazel let out a chitter and the fox retreated back into the woods.

Landing on the window ledge Hazel tilted her head to the side watching until the fox could no longer be seen as the treetops sheltered his escape. She hopped on the spot for a moment before finally assuring herself that the fox was long gone and proceeded to return to the barn. She could hear her owlets chirping helplessly from behind the crooked ceiling, awoken to what they might have assumed was abandonment. She leapt back up through the hole in the ceiling to find her owlets thirsting for nourishment. She had completely forgotten about the mouse; so focussed with protecting the barn, and in turn her family, from the fox, she had neglected her original task. She turned away from her hungry owlets and looked down the hole in the ceiling. Sure enough, the mouse was stumbling across the barn floor, exhausted and injured. Still carrying the berry in it’s mouth it headed towards the abandoned pile of hay. Hazel could just make out amongst the strands of hay several tiny squeaking mice, their eyes barely open as they fumbled around and over each other. Arriving home, the mouse pushed the berry towards it’s babies and all seven of them started to rapidly eat the small supply of sustenance. The wounded mouse guided them back into their hideout till then, they were gone. Hazel hopped back down onto the beam. It would be so easy to swoop down there and take them all. Take them all and feed her babies.

But instead she gave a little hoot and flew back out the open window.