Spirited Owl

It was a late night in the farmlands of Illinois. Stars flooded the sky over the rooftops of the small town of Scottsdale. The year had been alright so far, but on this date every year, something strange happens. The people of the town all claim to see the return of the battle worn barn owl companion of General Ronald J. Levewhitts soaring over the trees and through the moonlight. Searching for the camp at which he was sent from.

Legend says, General Levewhitts would send out his pet owl to scout out the surrounding area and bring back intel on where the enemy troops were and where they were going to attack from. Until this fateful morning, where Levewhitts sent out his owl but, he never returned to the campsite. What the townsfolk say, is that the enemy troops figured out General Levewhitts agenda with his pet and captured it before the owl was able to return to camp. Because of this, General Levewhitts had no choice but to send out his troops completely unprepared for what they were walking into. In turn, they were completely demolished in the art of guerilla warfare. Ambushed from all sides, sneak attacks from every direction. Not a single soldier survived the travesty. A statue, commemorating the bravery of the troops was placed in the middle of what is now The Crow Family Farm. The owl was never found. Even with multiple groups of troops scouring the forest for months, looking for a body of the animal, they never recovered even a single feather.

Because of this legend, The Crows were somewhat labeled outcasts as, General Levewhitts was the great, great, great grandfather of James Crow, who married and took the wife's last name of Crow to attempt to lessen the blow from the townsfolk. Needless to say, the attempt was a failure. What was determined was that "Crow" being the wife's name, was also the descendant of Emanuel Crow. The opposing general who, according to legend, orchestrated the kidnapping of General Levewhitts's owl scout. Which didn't help James much but, what it did was piss off the townsfolk enough to do whatever in their nature to avoid The Crow Family Farm. Passing in the streets, at the markets on the weekends, The Crow family was utterly shunned from everyday life in their small society. On this date though, every year, the townspeople of Scottsdale gather around the front gates of The Crow Family Farm, waiting in anticipation to see the owl scout soaring through the moonlight and perching itself on the statue of General Levewhitts.

Jimmy Crow, the youngest of The Crows, is more open to the possibility than the rest of his kin. However, because of his last name, whenever he tries to come out to the gates to watch with the others, they all pretend like he doesn't exist. So, in the past four years, he's isolated himself on this date to the treehouse that he scraped together from branches and logs he found on the outskirts of the forest around their property. Watching, waiting, hoping to see the rumored sights of the owl soaring over the statue. Nothing so far but, this year was different, he could feel it.

Why was it different? This year, Jimmy had a plan. Normally, Jimmy would stay out until around midnight, where the moon was at its peak point, and then around 12:30am, he would go back inside and go to bed. He recently overheard rumors while he was picking up a few books from the local library though, that 3:15am is something called the witching hour. Where any and all of the spirit world would come back to reign over their once acclaimed properties. Skeptical to a sense, Jimmy decided he had nothing to lose and so, he grabbed a blanket and some pillows from his bedroom, and started off toward the treehouse.

Packing his bag full of snack things on the way out the door, Jimmy was all set. Chips, drinks, a couple sandwiches in case he got really hungry, the works. Most importantly though, he brought a few of his favorite old books to read while he lay in waiting. After he was all set up in the treehouse, there was nothing left to do but sit around and relax. Which was always a little difficult for Jimmy but, he felt the need to find his calm space if this plan of his would actually work out. See, it had been exactly 100 years since the death of General Levewhitts, and the presumed death of his barn owl companion. So, with that in mind, maybe, just maybe, Jimmy would have his shot to see the owl in all its glory.

The hours passed by as Jimmy kept himself cooped up in the treehouse, paying no attention to the rants and raves of all the townsfolk that began gathering around the front gates of his property. Instead, he stayed calm in his little hut, focused on the books he'd brought out with him and, of course, when he was bored enough, he would make himself a little snack. Wasn't too long though that Jimmy started catching himself drifting off. Checking the time to see that it wasn't even after midnight yet but, with the recent years, he'd become so accustomed to going back to the house right around 12:30, this year was going to be a bit of a fight.

Silence fell over the night, Jimmy had run out of reading, and food, and drinks, it was now rearing 3am and he was quickly nodding off into the darkness of slumber. Snapping himself awake every few moments, trying desperately to stay awake for the hopes of seeing this phenomenon. the battle was lost, Jimmy had finally crashed with no chance at snapping himself awake again. The war though, the war was just beginning.

Jimmy woke to the painful calls of an owl, not thinking much of it, he rubbed his eyes and brushed it off. Something was odd though, he realized that he was no longer in his treehouse. Panicking briefly, he snapped himself up and wondered if maybe the townsfolk had something to do with it. Maybe they dragged him out of his treehouse and off to somewhere in the woods. Maybe he was just dreaming and this wasn't even real. Quickly slapping himself on the cheek, trying desperately to wake up, hadn't worked. Taking a moment to gather himself, Jimmy decided that it might be better to just roll with it and see what was to happen next. If he were dreaming, things would clear up eventually.

Stepping out of the small hut he had awoke in, Jimmy realized that things were definitely off here. It was a campsite of some kind. There were soldiers wandering around at every corner. Panicked once more, he tries to dive back into his "safe space" and crawl under the covers. Before he could get into the bed though, he found himself being dragged away by two soldiers. They had dragged him out and across the grounds, eventually landing him in front of what seemed to be the General's quarters. Unsure of why he was there, Jimmy took a chance and stepped inside willingly. Still in disbelief, Jimmy soon found himself face to face with General Levewhitts himself. Who, with an extremely stern voice, ordered the soldiers to leave and close the tent up on their way out. Leaving the general and Jimmy to themselves.

Immediately after the soldiers closed the tent up behind them, General broke into tears. Screeching about how he'd lost his barn owl companion and needed Jimmy to go find it. Expressing that he'd been friends with the owl for over 20 years and, through all of its time, it'd always come back. Mission after mission, it always found its way home. Frantic, astonished and unsure of how to respond, Jimmy simply nodded to General Levewhitts and started backing out of the tent. Levewhitts thanked him graciously as he began putting himself back together. As soon as the tent opened, it was as if he'd never broken down. Exhausted, confused but, also extremely excited that he might be able to see the phantom owl, even if it was just a makeshift imagination thing, Jimmy stormed off through the forest in search of the famed creature.

Scouring the woodlands for what seemed like hours upon hours, Jimmy finally came across a clearing. This place looked oddly familiar, like his home but, there was no treehouse, there was no house even. Just a freshly built barn that resembled the one from his house, only it looked much newer than the faded and worn-out old thing at his house. Deciding he'd had nothing to lose, Jimmy slowly crept up to the doors and peaked inside. Low and behold, the general's owl sat perched on one of the rafters. Once it saw Jimmy, it squawked as loud as it could. Frantically shushing the bird, Jimmy ducked down and hid behind a bale of hay that was off to the side of the door. Once the owl had calmed a bit, Jimmy stepped back out into the open. It was as if the owl was investigating him though, when it swooped down onto the stack of hay Jimmy was hiding behind and started pacing back and forth. Jimmy held his hand out, hoping it wouldn't get ripped into shreds by the owls cracked up beak. The jagged edges made it look as if it had teeth and, it clearly had seen battles before as, it had a very large scar running through its eye and down its entire face. For some reason though, Jimmy found himself unafraid of the owl now. It was as if a wave of calm had washed over him. He did slightly budge when the owl pressed its forehead against Jimmy's chest though, in that moment however, it was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. Suddenly, a gang of troops bust through the doors of the barn and started blasting their guns every which direction. Not a single shot had hit so, as soon as the enemy had stopped firing to reload, Jimmy grabbed the owl up and bolted. Straight out the front doors and back into the depths of the forest he'd wandered through.

Arriving back at the campsite, Ecstatic about being able to save the owl from its most certain demise, Jimmy had found himself in the midst of a massacre. He was too late, the general had already been ambushed by the enemy troops and there was nothing he could do about it. Feeling horrid about the circumstances, Jimmy fled the scene and dove back into the hut he'd found himself in earlier. Only to find a note on the bed he'd crawled out of.

Jimmy,

I'm sorry that it's such a mess. Now you should understand what we've endured through the past century. While your journey has come to an end, please be sure to look after my best friend and greatest ally. He will be with you from now on. I hope that on your next journey, you find yourself fighting just as hard as we all had today. Only in your time, I hope you succeed.

Regards, General Levewhitts.

P.s. Be kind to your neighbors.

As soon as Jimmy finished the letter, he'd set it down on the bed beside him. holding the owl tightly in his arms. A tear ran down his face when from behind him, the sheeted doorway slowly crept open. When he turned to see who it was, there was nothing. No soldiers, no campsite, no battlefield, just nothing.

When Jimmy walked through the doorway, he found himself back in his treehouse. Just lying there, right where he'd fallen asleep. Although, not alone. A small barn owl had found its way onto the windowsill of his treehouse. Welcoming it in, Jimmy had discovered a note around its ankle.

-Stay true.