Shooting star!

It was the 4th of July 1970, Independence day in the U.S.A . I stood in the backyard looking up into the sky hoping to see a shooting star.. after the display of fire works had died off. As if the universe heard me , there it was wizzing across the sky so quickly, I could barely get my thoughts together to even wish, but I did anyway and do you know what it was?

Well... lets tell you," I wished that I were an owl sitting on top of one of those tall trees towering above the old broken down barn , which lost most of its roof top in a big rain storm a few years ago. You could see the light from the kerosene lamps come through the rafters .

Hoot Hoot! Hoot Hoot! gosh that was loud and eerie. Looking around me to figure out where it was coming from I did not see anything. O.KKK....I wondered. Hoot Hoot! again, this time I could feel the sound coming through me and to my surprise as I looked down saw my feet , long sharp claws grasping on to the towering Maple tree I was talking about a few minutes ago. OH! MY ! GOSH! my wish was granted and I was an owl ..the sound I heard was me talking to you ,since Owls Hoot! Now that makes complete sense. I was in my element and just wanted to fly , and turn my head around 360 degrees and Hoot Hoot ! all night long.

My story is not about me having my wish granted but about an unforgettable night in my grandparents barn on the 4th of July.

The day went off great, after a long day of festivities , delicious food, great company, lots of laughter and games and most of all a display of colorful, splendid and loud fireworks. As the night dawned upon me and I sat perched on this strong branch ,I could hear myself breath as there was pin drop silence...but not for long.

There was some soft chitter chatter coming from inside the barn and I got curious, So I flapped my wings and flew over to the exposed rafters very gently sitting on one , since this barn was pretty old and dilapidated.

Turning my head down to where the noise was coming from I could see to my astonishment, three snakes coiled up together as if in a meeting discussing something ..now believe me you, they were speaking in English and not hissing...So I began to wonder ..did they wish upon that shooting star too ..but the wish was incomplete...May be!

What could they be talking about? Hmmmm?

So very stealthily I got even closer to catch what they may be talking about. I hear words like ,"GOLD,TREASURE,UNDER" so I kind of put two and two together and summed it up as a hidden treasure of gold...but ….here in my grandparents barn...NO...not possible.. and why here...Scratching the back of my head with my now , wings. I began to think really deeply.

I did remember my grandpa telling me the story of how he and my grand ma came about getting this barn when they were newly married. He said they stumbled up the house which was abandoned and there it was this old barn staring back at them , all dirty and still beautiful with no owner to its name.

Their old neighbor Aunty Marg was a big miser and batty too. She would always cried poverty asking my poor grand parents for food, while they had barely anything for themselves. They shared anyway, because they are kind natured and do not mind sharing.

Aunt Marg was a grumpy woman with a very bad temper .As the saying goes , her husband disappeared with out a trace. No one could ever find him. Mysterious as it may sound ..it was true.

You must be wondering what does this have to do with the three snakes.. As I am all ears ..I hear the rest of the conversation these three were having.. They were Aunt Marg's three children who wished upon a shooting star and became snakes so that they could ween their way into the barn to search for the hidden treasure, they had an idea their mother may have hidden in this barn or somewhere around there , all those years ago. WOW!!

Now believe me you.. My grandparents had not the slightest idea that their old barn had hidden treasures in it.. they are too simple and humble and live within their means.. I was so excited to know this that I just wanted to transform back and go running to give them the great news.. but listen.. this wish to be an owl was only to last until dawn and I wanted to know exactly where the hidden treasure was with out these three knowing I was listening. So I made sure to be really quiet.

As the three of them crawled through the hay weening their way through my favorite cow friends, I just hoped they would not bite any of them... if they did get stamped on, all hell would break loose and this whole mission would just go down hill.

The three snakes maneuvered their long slimy, cold blooded bodies towards the back of the barn where a broken down well stood, now covered in moss and filled with dried fallen leaves, branches and twigs from the trees around it. I gently took flight and parked myself on the nearest tree... carefully spying on them. They were so engrossed in finding this treasure that they had no clue I caught on to the fact that they had also wished upon a shooting star, and them speaking in English gave them away...that they were human just like myself.

I was so curious now to see what it was they were actually going to find....one by one slithering themselves into the well ,disappearing under the huge pile....they were out of sight for a long five minutes...I wondered if they were successful in finding what they were looking for ….. just then I heard the rustling of the leaves and saw all of them come charging out in haste, trying to get as far away from the well as they could.. I got frightened at first, I also jumped off the branch for a second and then noticed two mongoose come chasing after them.

I am sure you all know that snakes do not like mongoose. Hoping that the three snakes would be able to protect themselves I began to think on my feet of what I could do, but then I knew all of us had not much time before the sun would be rising in the horizon and our wish would be over.

Flapping my wings rapidly and HOOT! Hooting! I swooped down towards the mongoose and frightened them away , giving the three snakes just enough time to get to safety.

When things settled down and it seemed pretty calm , I saw the three snakes emerge again. They looked up towards the tree telling each other, they wished I was like them so they could thank me.. Now this was when I took the opportunity to fly down towards them and Hoot! Hoot ! my state of affairs and break the ice . We all laughed and agreed that we should together try and find this treasure that their mother had hidden.

With time against us we rushed to the well again and rustled through the leaves and twigs to find a rather old rusted box embedder at the bottom of the well. Now you must remember we had no problem getting to the bottom of the deep well. I flew in and they slithered down there. Since the box was so rusted it was not difficult to break the lock open.. and what do you think we found?

To our horror... it was the skull and bones of Aunty Marg's husband Arthur. She had murdered him. As the three snakes mentioned in our conversation earlier, he got really sick one day after eating something their mother cooked for him and then disappeared while they were at school. I get the notion she had poisoned him. I could see their eyes well up with tears, the expression of heartache and pain. So unfortunate and tragic.

Now it all came together. The hidden treasure was their father and they wished to find him so that they could give him a respectful burial for some closure they greatly needed to heal as a family.

The sound of the cock bird crowing made us aware that the sun would be rising soon. We closed our eyes and opened it to find that all of us were our human selves again. I, a thirteen year old girl and the others, two boys and a girl, in their late teens too. We exchanged pleasantries and promised to cherish this memory , even though it was a sad but yet adventurous one. Our mission was complete, thanks to a wish upon a shooting star.

I did not judge Aunt Marg, although I wished that she would have gotten the help she needed for her unstable mental health, instead of taking an innocent mans life and depriving her children of their father. They were pretty satisfied to find his remains and considered it as the hidden treasure they had found because their father just like my grandparents had a heart of gold.

What an unforgettable night in my grandparents old barn it was....I hope you have one to tell too...

Written by ,

Jaki