Maiah and The Barn Owl.

Sitting under her porch in her rocking chair, with a cup of hot cocoa and a magazine, Maiah seems to be living her best life. She and her beautiful mansion inside a wrought iron fence ornated with flowers and pieces of broken bottles. Everyone sees happiness, success, and satisfaction on the outside as they admire the two-story mansion flatteringly pink and white, with a large pool patio on the roof. This mansion makes Maiah famous, as everyone has something to say about this house; it becomes a topic to debate at parties, funerals, family gatherings, even Quincenearas. Yes, that is how famous this mansion is. One weird thing about this mansion, other than the construction workers who built it, nobody else has been inside. Many have tried to get in; they pose as handymen, electricians, even house investigators. One thing they do not know is Maiah can do it all. Despite being loaded, Maiah lives a low-key life, never throws a party, never has people coming over. She mows her lawn, cleans her pool, paints her home, waters her garden like it's no big deal.

Everyone assumes that she is either a weirdo who hates talking to people or the queen of a mob with the mafia working on her behalf. Not even once they see her going to work. How come an unemployed person has such property? What kind of person with such properties does not throw a party and live alone? Perhaps the house is haunted! No, the mansion is not haunted, as even the ghosts and spirits are a little skeptical of invading her space. Although she enjoys reading, she spends most of her night drawing in her gazebo, in the backyard beautifully placed in the middle of the trees. She is super talented. Her works could have been the proof that Picasso and Leonardo Da Vinci were nothing but amateurs. She defines beauty with her palette, and her paintbrush only designs masterpieces. The first night I saw her drawing, I was on my way to hunt blackbirds and mice to provide for my owlets. I couldn't help but feel another creature under the tree, one that was bigger than mice and blackbirds. Us, barn owls, we are silent, but not stupid, so I went my way as I did not want to become the statistic of the "Curiosity kills the cat ."Well, I am not a cat, so I flew away.

She might have been my lucky charm! That night, I came home with many preys, but for the first morning ever, I could not fall asleep. I kept thinking about her! I wanted to find out what she was up to. No, no, no, this wasn't curiosity; I just wanted to make sure that she wasn't up to no good. After all, we are neighbors, so I must ensure that my family is safe around her. I thought about it, meditated on the thought, then I decided to snoop a little more at nightfall. I hear her footsteps around the same time as yesterday; I hide. These two-foot creatures always think they're somewhat superior to us because they are taller and have more luxuries at their disposition. She sits, and somehow she manages to drop her palette.

I think I could quickly take a sneak peek, but she catches me off guard. Idiot barn owl, you're a disgrace for your ancestors! I tell myself. But by surprise, she held me like I was her pet, touching my wings, caressing my back. Come on, lady! Don't do me like that. I am curious, but I am not a cat. Of course, she doesn't understand none of that; it seems like she thinks that I am trying to impress her. Don't say it, don't say! I know what you're thinking, but I was not trying to impress anyone. I just wanted to.... you know what, never mind.

To Maiah, this is the greatest inspiration, precisely what she needed. She poses me on the table, and she kindly asks me to be her muse, like she knew that I understood her. I do not like people taking advantage of me, but I was flattered. Never before I was a muse, so I decided to let her draw me. She drew and drew for hours, almost until sunrise. I never knew it would take such an amount of time to design me. Well, whoever created it might have taken tons time Maiah's time. Suddenly, I grow an ego; I find myself the most beautiful and brilliant bird in the mansion. Who wouldn't feel that way after being drawn by the mysterious Maiah? Since then, every night, I hunt part-time and spend the other half of the night looking at her drawing, listening to her singing until I become her first friend. Taking too seriously my new role, I lose track of my babies. They flip their wings and fly away as being Maiah's friend makes me forget to be a mother. So, now just like her, I am alone. The only good thing about it is we are alone together.

As Hurricane Season approaches, she takes me inside her mansion gives me a proper tour, an opportunity every neighbor wishes they have been given. After the tour, she locks me in a dark chamber, promises to feed me, looks after me until the weather change. One day, after being fed, she forgets to close the door. I decide to go to a little indoor promenade, and as I am approaching her room, I hear her yelling on the phone, threatening someone in code. Who dares make my friend mad? I come a little closer, hoping to comfort her; then I hear her asking: how many kilos missing if she hasn't asked to deposit her money? Then I remember a parrot telling me that its master thinks Maiah is a mob-queen. I get scared a second, I start to panic. What do I do? Should I hide? Should I fly away? As I was moving in a circle backward, I somehow hit her. There goes our friendship. Rest in peace to my poor naïve soul; as of now, I am just a painting along her mansion's hall.