The Owl of Athena

When I wake up each morning, and when I look at myself in the mirror, I keep telling myself that I am a fighter and don’t give up. Each day is like a battle for me, as I continue to face new challenges and obstacles. It’s almost like a never-ending war, but the war is not just with others but it’s also with me. About 6 months ago I suffered a traumatic injury while playing soccer, I was going for the goal when out of the blue one of the rival players kicks both my feet right from under me, and I landed in the worst way possible. The minute I heard the snap when I hit the ground, I knew it was bad. At first the doctor said I would make a full recovery within 2 months but after resting for a while and taking it easy there hadn’t been any signs of improvement. He then told me that sometimes it is very rare to not recover as fast as most other people. I then asked him what are the chances of me making a full rec before the start of the new season? He has no idea what to tell me because he’s never had a patient like me before with this problem. All he tells is that we will just have to take it one day at a time and see what happens. That answer is something that I could not accept. Because this upcoming year is where I could be looked at by future colleges to play soccer on a full scholarship. It’s been a big dream of mine to play soccer in college just like my sister who plays for Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Everything in my life has been a disaster in the last 3 years. When I lost my mom, I felt that my whole life ended right there the second she was gone. I felt broken and lost not having her by my side anymore. I miss seeing her sweet face every day and being there for both my good and bad times. Some of the things that I really wanted her to be here for is watching me graduate from high school. Just being able to watch me walk across that stage and see me being given my diploma and where I will be furthering my education has not only broken my heart but my spirit as well. Since her passing I have had little support from my dad but, I know he too is lost without her. Thankfully my older sister Tessa has been helping make it one day at a time. She and I both played for high school varsity for 2 years up until she graduated this year. I still can’t believe that this is also the first year where we are not playing together. Me and my sister have always been super close, when we were younger, we would always tell each other stories and whenever we go to the beach, we would always look for shells and then we would always exchange the best ones with each other. I know I won’t be seeing her as much but I’m glad I can call her whenever I want. With losing mom and seeing my sister it’s almost like looking at a doppelganger. People used to always ask if they were sisters but as always, they would say they are mother and daughter. Just looking at Tessa everyday has always been a reminder of my mom and even though it’s been 3 years since she’s been gone sometimes, I forget what she looks like so, when I see Tessa, I see my mother.

Things at school have not been good either I have distanced myself from almost all my friends but worst of all I’m dealing with a much bigger problem. Since my sister graduated and went to play for Vanderbilt the new captain Vivian is always harassing even though I’m on leave till I make a full recovery. Even before Tessa left Vivian was always a major pain, she would always shove me, and Tessa always had to step in to tell her to back off. But if there’s one thing me and Vivian both have in common is that we both lost a parent. I think half the time that’s why she is so bitter because she never fully accepted it or knew how to handle it with losing her dad. I admit I don’t fully accept it either that my mom is gone too but, I don’t bully or haze someone as a coping mechanism. I know she probably just wanted someone to blame but the truth is for the both of us there isn’t anyone to blame but death itself.

These last few months had really taken a toll on me, and I begged my dad if I could go visit my sister in Nashville. He agreed to it and the timing couldn’t have been better since school was letting out on fall break for the next 5 days. The short plane ride from Louisville to Nashville wasn’t too bad at all and I was just glad to be getting from my problems. I have never been to Nashville before, and this was exciting for me. I’ve always been a huge fan of country music and from what my sister describes that it’s one of the greatest cities in America. There is so much to do here that the days are never boring, and the people are great. One of the other things that really intrigued me the most was all the best places to visit in Nashville. There’s also so many bars owned by a lot of the big singers in country music like Kid Rocks and Jason Aldean’s are both on my bucket list. Even though me and my sister aren’t 21 yet I still would love to go in and listen to all the local singer’s.

After I find my suitcase at baggage claim I head to arrivals to meet up with Tessa, and of course there she greets me with a hug and a coffee for me in her hand.

“Glad you made it Sis! Are you excited!”

“For what…Visiting Broadway? Buying a cowboy hat and boots? Or seeing my sister play her first college soccer game?”

My sister could see how much stress was weighing on my shoulders with everything in the last year.

“Don’t beat yourself up Minerva. I know that things have not been easy for you and I know how hard everything has been but, I don’t want you to give up. Just don’t focus on everything with what the doctor said I know you will be healed in time for the season. Just have faith!”

She tells me to have faith and that’s all I’ve been doing is trying to keep my hope and faith with every passing second. But I just don’t know how much more I have left in me.

“Hey Minerva, I know you just got into town, but I have my classes this afternoon and I was wondering if you be okay by yourself for a little while.”

This wasn’t how I wanted to start my trip, but I think I really do need some time to myself before I can try and have fun with Tessa. I then said, “Yeah I’ll be fine I’m sure I’ll find something to pass the time till you get out”.

“You could always go walk around campus or there’s also this really cool park that’s right across from the stadium you should go check out.”

“Ok sounds like fun”

“Just promise you’ll take it easy with your leg”

Now Tessa really sounds like mom but I may have a brace on but that will never stop me from walking.

“I promise I will, and I’ll see you after class!”

We both hug each before separating for the rest of the afternoon and thank God the soccer field wasn’t too far from where she parked. Just seeing the field that sister will be playing on for the next 4 years just reminds me so much of what I really want to do. Maybe my sister is right I shouldn’t lose my faith but with everything that’s been happening to me I still can’t understand I feel like all the worse things that could happen to me came all at once. As I’m resting my head against the rail, I lift my head up and I notice something peculiar past the football stadium. It looks so out of place. I rub my eyes and I can see it clearly wasn’t a figment of my imagination…it was Greek temple. I couldn’t believe it what’s a Greek temple doing in Nashville, Tennessee. I start to make my way to the structure and its sitting in the park like my sister described.

As I get closer, I think about a huge art project I have to do my midterm back at school and I think this is the inspiration I need for my piece. So, I pull out my camera and start snapping away. I take so many pictures from the outside but, I’m also curious to see what is inside this temple. I walk in and there are hundreds of art pieces spread all throughout the lower level. All of these artists work are incredible there was even one that caught my eyes, it was a seaside sunset painting just colors of the sun setting on the water was just spot on perfect and just all the little details of the ripples on the water was flawless. I then see that there is a set of stairs that leads to the top level and before I make my way up top, I read a plaque that is on the side of stair entrance.

“This Temple is a replica of the Parthenon in Ancient Greece. The Parthenon was said to be the sacred temple of Athena the Goddess of Wisdom, Handicraft, and War.”

I think to myself “Now that is pretty cool, they would make an exact replica of this grand temple”. As I climb the top of the stairs my leg starts to hurt but I push myself to make it and I keep saying to myself “you can do this, you have too!” I finally make it and as I come around the corner, I couldn’t believe what I was looking at I was just blown away. It was a humongous statue of Athena; she was head to toe covered in real gold. Just the overall beauty of her took my breath away. I started to take some pictures of her and then I just stop, and I find myself gazing at her I could not take my eyes off her it felt as if I was in a trance. It felt like an eternity looking at her for this long but then I hear.

“FLAP, FLAP, FLAP”

I close my eyes after I hear the flapping and that broke the trance and I look up again at her but then I see what made the flapping. There was a barn owl sitting on the top of Athena crown. I said, “How did you get in here?” I then hear a pair of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and it was one of the guards and he says “I’m sorry miss but we are closing for the night”. I then look at my watch and I could see 3 hours had passed and my heart just dropped I had only been up here for like 10 minutes. I then look back at the statue after looking at my watch and the owl was gone! I immediately rush out in a panic thinking my sister is going to be worried sick. It was poorly lit in the park at night I could barely see where I was going. The only light that I could see that was leading my way through the dark was the football stadium lights and then I hear Tessa calling for me through the distance. I see her and I run straight to her, but I end up tripping in the process and my brace comes off. My first thought was that I probably made my leg a million times worse now. But there’s no pain! I kept thinking how is this possible a few hours ago I was struggling to make it up the stairs in the Parthenon and now I have no sharp piercing pain anymore. I kept thinking how is this possible…this is not normal!

I look up and Tessa is right on top me out of breath.

“Where were you I’ve been scrambling to find you in the last hour. I thought you got lost.”

“I’m sorry I spent a little too much time at the Parthenon.”

Of course, I wasn’t going to tell Tessa about the mysterious time warp that I can’t explain myself. But then she looks down at my leg and she can’t believe it seeing my brace off for the first time. She kept telling me not to move and she’ll call an ambulance and told her not to and that I’m not in pain. She then just stares at me, and she thinks I’m joking but I wasn’t. I then proceeded to try to stand up normally for the first time in a year. I kept having a sensation coming over me at that moment it was like a feeling of something inside me that told me to “get up”. At first, I thought I was going to fall over but I stood up with on both my feet with no trouble. This just left Tessa stunned.

Tessa then says “Is this a joke, has your leg been better this whole time?

I then tell her “No, it’s no joke I’m just as bewildered as you.”

“How is this possible?”

“A miracle…I guess. You were the one that said don’t lose faith.”

She pauses for a moment “I don’t how this is even humanly possible but, I just can’t even believe this. C’mon let’s go get something to eat.”

We head over to this little restaurant that’s right across from campus and the moment I walk in I hear country music being played by a local musician. It just put a huge smile on my face not only with the music but the fact my leg is now mysteriously healed. We both pick a table and order and we both talk about how I am going to explain this dad when I get back home. She quickly comes up with a plan and she suggests that before I get on the plane to just put the brace back on and just pretend that its still broken for another 2 weeks or something. But also says that it would be best to go see the doctor after 2 weeks just so it doesn’t looks out of the ordinary. After taking in everything she said I should I look out the window and I see the same barn owl from the Parthenon just staring at me from the other side of the glass.

I ask Tessa if she sees that owl she then says, “What Owl?”

I’m in disbelief “how can you not see it.”

I look back and its gone again. I swear after today I feel like nothing will be ordinary ever again.

“Minerva first your leg is mysteriously healed with no explanation and now your seeing things that aren’t there. I swear we both have got to call it a night”

“I agree let’s head back to your dorm and get some sleep.”

For the remainder of my time in Nashville nothing else out of the ordinary has happened. It felt great to just walk normal during the rest of my time with Tessa. I loved being able to dance again and jump up and down in crowds while watching my sister make the winning goal against Appalachian State. But I know that this trip was short visiting my sister I just still can’t help thinking about returning back home to Raleigh. I just got to remember to listen to what my sister said I should do so people don’t think I’ve gone nuts with what happened to me. Upon returning I did everything my sister said I should do and then after seeing the doctor I am finally able to take my brace off. What perfect timing too because around late November is when we start conditioning for the season.

Over the next few weeks nothing was out of normal but after leaving Nashville it left me with a lot of questions. Did something happen during the black out at the Parthenon and now I can’t remember? Or something truly mysterious was going? It wasn’t just the fact that I felt somewhat normal again but I could something inside me was changing too I couldn’t figure out what it was, but it felt like an intense inner strength that was just lurking beneath the surface waiting to come out.

I’m at least going to try and put whatever happened in Nashville behind and just go to school and pretend nothing happened but I was wrong. I was changing in ways that I couldn’t explain. Like in Algebra 1 for example Mrs. Lincoln was going over what Algebra 2 would be like next year if we couldn’t ace this method for solving these future equations for the next year. I had a sensation coming over me again but this time it almost felt like a voice in my head, and it was telling me the possible answer. I couldn’t help myself, so I raised my hand and I blurted out the answer. Then Mrs. Lincoln has a shocked look on her face, but she is quickly impressed that I would know the answer to that problem and the fact I knew it so quickly. This was strange because I’ve never been good at math now look at me. I then test myself and as soon as the bell lets out for lunch, I ask Mrs. Lincoln if I could just have my lunch in class and work on my homework. She said that would be okay, so I stayed. But it was not to get caught up on late homework but to test myself. I pull out some of the more advanced math books off the shelves not just Algebra 2 but, Trigonometry and Calculus. I work on a few equations from these books and after completing a couple of them per book I check the back of the books to see what the answers are and just as I thought they were all correct. How is it that I went from getting C’s to now A’s in math but I wasn’t just excelling in math I was doing great in everything. My creative writing for English was flawless and even my art would even impress Vincent Van Gogh. The painting I did of the Parthenon from Nashville was so perfect people thought it was a photograph at first.

What had become apparent was that it seemed I was given a gift but from what or who? Another week had rolled by that time December had fast approached, and soon it would be time for my sister to come home for Christmas break. That night I went to bed, and I was sitting by the snow watching the first snow fall for winter and it’s so pretty it’s just mesmerizing. I decided to grab my sketchbook and draw the tree in my backyard with the snow. As I’m drawing, I once again hear flapping and I look outside and of course no surprise it’s the owl. I had finally come to point where I wanted to finally know what is going on and what does this owl have to do it.

I decide to open my window and finally confront this mysterious bird.

“Who are you and what do you want…why are you following me?”

The owl then screeches at me and flies right up to my bedroom window. I’ve never seen a more beautiful bird than this little barn owl. It lets me pet and I can’t believe that this is happening and then I look down at its talons and there is what appears to be a coin.

“What have we got here!”

I pick it up and it’s a silver coin as I’m looking at it the bird flies off into the snowy night. I bring it closer to my face to see what’s on it and on one side it a has a picture of Athena and on the other there’s an owl and then I see a name “Glaukopis.” Now comes my first real question who is Glaukopis?

Two weeks later after school we start doing some indoor soccer practice before school lets out for winter break. To me this is now my big moment, and this is now my time to shine, and I feel ready and excited. But of course, there’s that obstacle in my way and its Vivian. When is she going to learn to just back off and leave me alone? Then of course here she comes with insult bombs once again.

“Hey Minerva, you might wanna be extra careful this time don’t wanna break another leg or we might just have to end up wrapping you in bubble wrap.”

I just keep telling myself to just ignore her and just focus on soccer because this is the year where I’ll be looked at to play in college. As the ball is kicked to me and I’m going in to make that goal Vivian comes right for me and she is starting to shove me out of the way to get the ball. She then tries to give shove me again but this time to ground and then as she about to it I do a quick maneuver and kick the ball behind me, and I follow in the direction of the ball. Then I see Vivian is now this time the one on the ground. For once karma was in my favor this time because I had taken so much abuse from her. But I was so proud and confident for the first time in a while at what I had done. I then look back at Vivian and see the sheer and anger and hate on her face and she’s heading right toward. She then pushes against me and is giving me hell.

“What was that how is it that you went from broken leg most likely not to be recovered for this season and now you’re a wannabe star athlete.”

I have let this girl push and shove me around in the last year but there are some comments she’s making that are becoming too painful to ignore.

“Wheres your Mommy Minerva?”

I then lose it and now I have the anger and fire in my eyes. I then let it out.

“JUST SHUT UP VIVIAN FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE.”

Now I am finally sticking up for myself. I try to walk away from her and then I see she starts to throw a punch at me, and I block it. I then don’t know how this happened next but then I roundhouse kick her to the ground. She slowly raises her head at me, and she looks petrified she honestly didn’t think I had it in me. I didn’t think I had it in me either. But my coach is not happy by what she saw from the both of us. She knows Vivian has been a problem this whole time and today my coach could really see I had enough, so she just lets me off with a warning. Vivian however is not so lucky after he countless bad behavior with me my coach decided to cut her from being the captain and she now benched for the first 2 weeks if the season.

That night when I go home, I really think about all of what’s changed in the last 2 months. My sister Tessa is supposed to be arriving home first thing in the morning and I can’t to tell her all of what’s happened. But I still have no idea what’s the connection to all these big changes happening to me. I then remember the coin and the name “Glaukopis” I think this must me the answer to all this.

I walk over to my laptop and research the name and at first, I had trouble finding it but then I type in “Athena Owl” and I click on the first thing that appears in the search page and it takes me to a site where there is a supposed legend of an owl and Athena.

It turns out there is a huge legend about Athena and that she is said to help those that have reached their lowest point in battle. She has been known to assist those that been injured in great wars and heal them to continue to fight. With her strong power and influence she was said to help the Greek heroes reign victory in countless battles. With Athena being the goddess of wisdom, she is said to have a strong influence on those that have strong thirst for knowledge and success. I then say to myself “when you’re the goddess of wisdom I guess that meant everything including how to fight”. I keep scrolling down to see if there is more and sure enough there it is. Greek gods are said to have animal guides that act as their messengers to help those that need them. At the bottom of the page there it is clear as day the name of her owl “Glaukopis”. Now it all makes sense the owl I’ve been seeing is her messenger to me. I guess playing sports is where a lot of our modern wars and battles come to play.

I was just blown away by all that’s happened, and I was still in disbelief that an actual real goddess had blessed me back in Nashville. I know I could take real advantage of what I have now but, from this day now I’m going to abuse it or take it for granted. I now know what I have but I still should at least make it right with Vivian because she was probably hurting inside that she didn’t want others to know. So, the next day I go to find her at school and really talk to her. As I’m walking through the hallways, I see she’s at her locker grabbing her books for class and I just take a deep breath in and approach her.

“Hey Vivian”

“What do you want?”

“I just want to talk.”

“About what, how your most likely the new captain.”

“No, and I didn’t come here to fight and argue. I really just want to put an end to this.”

She then finally loos at me with complete respect. “Ok”

“Just hear me out with what I’m about to say. I know this is a touchy subject not just for you but me too. You have been through a lot, and I have been through a lot. In the end we both have lost a parent this should be the one thing we can at least understand from each other instead of fighting all the time.”

I then proceed to ask the most difficult questions yet and I know it may sound sappy but, I know this must be done and the whole time I’m talking to her about this I keep thinking that I hope she doesn’t throw a punch at me.

“Who did you turn to after your dad died overseas?”

She quietly says “No one…my mom just went in her room and hardly came out. The only time she ever came out of the bedroom was to just make sure I had food.”

I then really see who she is for this first time she has been just as lost and alone as I have.

“You are not the only one Vivian after my mom died my dad hardly speaks to me ever from this day out, we should just lean toward each other for support.”

She agrees and I couldn’t believe she starts hugging me and she apologizes. After that day she and I got along for the rest of year.

In the end yes, you can still have conflicts and wars overseas but, wars can be just about anything whether it’s a sport, or with other people or it can even be within ourselves. All this time I’ve felt like I’ve lost everything it was those points where I was losing a sense to live and with everything that’s happened to me was a true miracle and gift. All it took was real faith and an unexpected source that helped make all this possible. Going forward I can’t hold on to the past anymore otherwise I would just be stuck there. Now each night I look out my window with the hopes of seeing my new friend with the hope of giving a message to the goddess herself and that is “thank you for everything”.