Ananya And The Owl

Ananya was born into the Mojave tribe. Her father Irataba was the chief of the tribe. He was named after his great grandfather. Who was also a chief. When Ananya was six her father took her for a walk to show her the land. "Ananya, all of this land is your's. I want you to understand that we are all born with unique gifts, however; not all of us are born to be leaders. Some of us are born to follow and that is why it is very important we have leaders who lead us down the right paths." Ananya responds, "Father, how do we know if we have a good leader?" Irataba looks at his beautiful Indian princess and says, "Our unique gifts we are born with determine our paths in our lives. Someone who is born with the gift to discern good from evil, right from wrong, is born with the gift of leadership." Irataba continues. "When you were born, the moment I saw you I knew your name was supposed to be Ananya. It means unique. I knew you had a unique gift from the day you were born." Ananya stops and looks at her father with a confused look and asks, "What unique gift was I born with father?" Irataba chuckles at his daughters question and continues to walk with her. Now entering the forest he stops and crouches down to be face to face with her. "Ananya, the gifts we are born with come with time and age. One day you will know what your gift is. What is most important for you to understand Ananya... Once it is your time to understand what your gift is, it is how to use your gift. Those who do not properly understand how to use their gift become lost souls." Ananya could not help but to wonder when, where and how she would discover her gift. As her father took her hand they headed deeper into the forest. Ananya loved being in the forest. Her favorite part of the forest wasn't just the beautiful scenery it created but all the wild animals. She noticed that the animals were not running and hiding like they did with other tribe members. She was curious as to why this was. "Father, why are the animals not running and hiding from us?" Irataba stood still. He looked up and took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Irataba wasn't just a good leader. He was born with more than one unique gift. Not only can he discern good from evil, he can also interpret dreams and visions. This is what makes Irataba a good leader. He points up toward the tops of the trees and says, "Do you see that?" "Yes! It's an owl!" replies Ananya. "It isn't just an owl Ananya. An owl represents knowledge." explains Irataba. He continues to walk with her through the forest. The owl continues to follow. Irataba smiles as he walks with his beautiful Indian princess. Knowing all too well what her gift is. He looks down at her and say's, "When you were a baby you would look at your fingers, trying to figure out what they were. When you learnt to crawl, you started to realize what your legs could do for you. When you got a little older and could run, you started to really understand what your legs could do and why you have legs. Your gift works the same way Ananya."

As Ananya got older she started to realize that she was different than the other kids in her tribe. She didn't have many friends. The only friends she had were the one's in the forest. She spent most of her time in the forest. She could hear things. Almost as if the animals were trying to talk to her, but she couldn't understand what they were trying to say. She knew she had a connection with the animals but couldn't quite figure out what the connection was and why she had this connection. What she did know, was she was the only one in the tribe that could walk into the forest and not scare off the animals. As Ananya sits on a log with rabbits close by her feet and a deer in arms reach, she see's an owl fly above her head and land on a branch in the tree right next to her. She looks up at the owl and they make eye contact. In that moment a vision pops in her head as if a movie is playing and she see's a little girl in a barn with the owl over-head keeping an eye out. The vision disappeared as soon as the owl flew off. "What does that mean?" thought Ananya. She got up and started walking in the direction the owl went. Not really understanding where she was going or what she was doing. She just let her feet guide her to wherever they took her. She ended up at the river. Looking around for any sign of the owl. She walked over to the water, bent over and rinsed her face. As Ananya was bent over rinsing her face, she look's at her reflection in the water. Her reflection quickly changed to her grandmothers reflection. "Ananya," say's the reflection. "Listen to your heart. The owl spirit animal represents a deep connection with wisdom, good judgment, and knowledge. Like the owl, you also possess insight and intuition. You can see beyond the masks that people wear." After her grandmother's reflection faded. Ananya just stared into her own reflection before jumping up with anticipation of finding this owl. She walked deeper and deeper into the forest with the forest animals staying close by. She sensed fear. In that moment the forest animals stopped in their tracks and so did she. She heard the tree top's rustle, she looked up and seen the owl flying above. The vision of the little girl in the barn quickly came back. She noticed the owl flying deeper into the forest, so she continues to walk in the same direction. Ananya could feel something. Something in her gut that she couldn't quite understand. She knew the owl had something to do with this feeling. She had to find the owl. Ananya knew she was walking out of her territory, but she couldn't ignore her gut feeling. She hear's a scream and quickly hides behind a big log laying in the forest as the forest animals scurry to hide too. She wonder's if the scream was an animal or a human. Being off her territory was scary enough. She wait's in silence for a few minutes before seeing the owl on a branch a few feet ahead of her. The vision of the little girl came back. It all started to make sense to her now. The owl was leading her to a lost girl! At least that's what Ananya thought. She hears the scream again and she takes off running toward the scream. Ananya stop's suddenly in her tracks when she see's an old barn a few feet ahead of her. She slowly walks up to the barn and looks inside. She couldn't see anything, so she decides so go inside the barn and look. She doesn't see anyone or anything. As Ananya turns around to leave she see's the owl fly in and land on one of the beams. Her vision comes back. This time she doesn't just see a little girl, she see's herself inside a barn with an owl over-head keeping watch.

The owl flew down and landed on Ananya's arm. As Ananya looked into the owl's eyes she could see thing's that were going to happen, but had not yet happened. "I can see the future." Ananya whispers. "Yes you can Ananya." said the Owl. Ananya's eyes grew wide and her mouth opened with a gasp. "You can hear animals speak too. You are like your father. You have more than one unique gift." said the owl. Ananya was speechless. The owl and Ananya became best of friends. Everywhere Ananya went so did the owl. It wasn't long until Ananya understood what her father had said about understanding how to use her gifts. She noticed that not everyone uses their gifts for the right reasons. Although; she could see things that were going to happen before they happened, that didn't mean she could come in between divine intervention. Hearing the forest animals speak was just pure nature from having a compassionate heart and soul. Ananya grew up to be a great leader. Like father, like daughter.