She Comes At Night

Nate preferred to sleep in the barn. He slept to the sounds of the crickets serenading their moon, of the hounds triumphant snoring and to the steady cadence of Rain's beating heart. Rain was his dearest companion. She was the last cow on his father's ranch. He cared for the animals after his mother's passing. Rain was the only one who cared back.

He would always lay his back on hers as she cradled her head in his lap. She would listen to him rant on and on about his fantasies, his aspirations. She would gaze at him with big soft eyes as he cried. She was the only one who seemed to understand.

She would wait for him every night by the doors. Tonight however, she cowered in the corner. Her back against the wall, pressed against the chipping green paint. Something had spooked her, as well as the other animals. The hogs stood vigilantly in their pens, the chickens hid away in their roost and the hounds circled the walls. Snarling at the open side windows.

He thought it was probably just a cougar. They occasionally stalked the forest around the ranch. They would snatch the unfortunate feral cat and occasionally claim one of the goats. Nate knew they would never dare come near the barn. He slept peacefully.

The screams of the hounds ripped him from his slumber. He blinked rapidly, adjusting his vision to the darkness before him. The hounds had caged something in the old horse stall. Desperately, they clawed at the sidings and stood on the walls, howling at whatever hid behind them. He grabbed the pitchfork from its bed and slowly stepped towards them. Careful not to trip in the shadows.

He patted one of the hounds on the head, it's mouth foaming from its corners. His heart thumped in his chest. His knuckles clenched so tight around the shaft that they were white as bone, his mouth as dry as the midday sun he braced to peek over the small door. He was washed instantly with relief.

"You silly things." He said, releasing his breath. "It's just a barn owl."

The owl stared at him with eyes as black as night. Its white belly glowed in the darkness with its wings and feathers puffed up to intimidate its attackers. Its golden back shined in the darkness. Blood dripped down its jagged wing. It did not twitch as he opened the stall door.

"Did one of them get you?" He asked tenderly. He set his weapon down and showed his free hands to the bird. It remained a statue. He knelt down on one knee.

"If you let me look at it I can fix it, as long as you don't bite me." As slow as sludge he reached towards it. The owl seemed to relax as it raised its injured wing towards him. He beamed to himself as it let him touch it. With a soft touch he examined the injury.

"Lucky you, it just looks like a scratch." The owl tilted its head and then suddenly and without warning it silently exploded into the air and out the side window. Nate smiled and wrapped his arms around his chest, his heart still racing. He gave the hounds a pat each and returned to Rain's side.

A quiet thud caught his attention and he flicked his eyes up towards the owl sitting on the railing above him.

"Hello," he whispered.

"Hello," Nate nearly jumped out of his own skin.

"You can talk!" He bellowed, his eyes widening.

"Oh, I can do many things." She had a motherly voice. Her beak did not move as she spoke.

"Can all owls talk? Can all birds? Or animals?" He fired off. She chortled.

"I don't believe so," she hesitated, contemplating herself. "Although I've never tried. Talking to them, that is, I rarely speak at all."

"Why?"

She sighed, "In my travels I've met many things. Most tried to hide from me, others ran, a few even tried to kill me. But nothing has ever been kind to me. So now I'll talk to you."

Nate struggled to understand what this meant. He had heard many stories from his mother of animals that could talk. Many of them played the role of the trickster. They would confuse men into making horrible trades with unforeseen consequences. Most of them were of a being named Coyote. He had also heard stories of massive apes that lived in isolated clans in the mountains. He'd never heard any legends of a talking owl. "Why are you here?" He asked, skeptical of her deceptive nature. "Because I'm free!" She opened her wings. They both glowed majestically in the dark visage of the barn. "The night sky is mine and mine alone. Through valleys and forests I've been and each place I'll never return again."

"Wow, I wish I could go there," He slumped his head. "I'll be trapped here forever." He mumbled.

"Well, I could take you there." She offered. He snapped his head back up.

"Really!"

"Of course, all you have to do is sleep." She bounced across the railing.

"How will I go with you if I'm asleep?" He begged. He imagined all the places he could go if he just had wings.

"As soon as you drift off you'll start dreaming. It won't be like any dream you've had before. It will be as if you're free from your own body and I'll return you before you wake."

Nate felt his heart skip. Her soothing voice warmed his soul as his imagination leapt towards the possibilities.

"Ok!" He giggled, shutting his eyes. His mind racing through different lands and space. After a short while he started to drift to sleep. A cold hand caressed his cheek as he finally drifted off.

He awoke in the night air. He laughed vivaciously as he soared above the ground below. He flew past trees and mountains as the comforting break of the wind rippled against his feathery arms. He could see everything with his powerful eyes. The coyotes crawling across the tall grass, the occasional field mouse that scurried above its burrow.

Up here he truly felt free. Free from the burden his father put onto him, of the tragedy his mother fell to and of the animals who were all his responsibility. He dominated the night, the moon was his only rival.

Below him he spotted a cabin alone in the woods. The hairs on his neck crawled as he approached it. A lump in his throat began rocking and his skin trembled. Serenity fell upon him as he rose again into the air and away from the decrepit building. As the sun crested the mountain he flew directly into it.

He awoke the next morning to find Rain's head wrapped around his torso. He searched for the owl but could not find her. He decided he had dreamt of the entire encounter.

He found his father the same way he did every other morning, in his rocking chair. The house had fallen apart in the last year. Dishes were constantly piled high and dust formed its own kingdom over every flat surface. Nate couldn't bear to look at it anymore.

He picked up the empty whiskey bottle off the ground near his dad's chair. He turned off the TV that was only playing static. After he had cleaned up he started cooking breakfast. His dad groaned and grumbled as the smell of bacon wafted through the house.

He fixed his father a plate and then sat down on the floor with his own. The two ate in silence. He thought about the previous night as he ate. The feeling of freedom still lingered within him. He watched his father eat. His hair had greyed considerably as it creeped further up his head. His thin wiry glasses sat low on his crooked nose.

"I need you to come to town with me today." He said between bites of egg.

"OK, what will we be doing in town?"

"I need you to order some more feed while I find someone interested in buying the hogs."

"Understood, sir. I'll go and feed the animals and make sure they're put away in the barn." He stood, offering the rest of his food to his father. He took it gratefully.

"Take your time son, I'm still waking up." Waking up was code for getting over a hangover. Nate knew it wouldn't pass. He went and fed all the animals, making sure they wouldn't escape their pens. He checked the chicken coop for any new eggs, gave the hounds some leftover bacon scraps and finally went to check on Rain.

Rain raised her head and beamed at him as he approached her. He wrapped his arms around her neck, nuzzling his face against hers. He remained there for a few moments. Her warm breath trickled down the back of his neck. He kissed her cheek before leaving the barn.

It was a short drive to town. His father's old beat up truck dipped and lugged as it made its way down the curved dirt road. Soon enough they stopped just in front of the feed store.

"Here," his father said, "use this to order chicken feed and dog food. Use whatever is left to buy some groceries down at Sal's." He handed Nate a few crumpled bills. Nate nodded and watched as his dad drove down the road.

The feed store smelled mostly like cattle. They sold chick's as well as the occasional goat or pig. There was a young woman talking to the owner behind the counter.

"It felt so real," he heard her say. The owner saw Nate approach and waved at her to hush.

"How can I help you son?" The owner asked. He was an old man with a soft voice.

"I need to purchase some feed. If you don't mind me asking what were you guys talking about?" He laid the bills on the counter. The old man tugged at his collar as the young woman stared at her feet. She quickly left the store after Nate gave her an appraising look.

"Oh my daughter, she has an overactive imagination. She's been having night terrors. A few people in town are actually, everyone seems to be having the same dreams."

"What dream is that?" Nate asked. The old man chuckled to himself. "Oh they all say they start off flying, or falling depending on who's telling you. Anyway, they're flying deeper and faster into the forest as some kind of creature chases them. So now they're all too scared to go near the woods. Some of them keep talking about some kind of ghost or demon. My daughter told me that she thinks it's a witch." He started writing out Nate's receipt.

"It's a load of bologna, just a bunch of young people who read the same book or are watching the same show on the television. I've lived here for almost seventy years and there ain't no such things as ghosts and there certainly ain't anything out in those woods." He handed Nate the receipt

Nate thought of his own encounter. He thanked the old man and left the feed store. He walked a few blocks down and proceeded into Sal's. The name belonged to the original owner who had passed before Nate was born. Now, his good for nothing nephew, as his dad put it, ran the place. He paid for the groceries and bought himself a candy bar. He waited outside on a bench for his father to return. "Well look who it is boys!" Nate looked up towards Zach Koeland, the mayor's only son. He was several years older than Nate and had a nasty reputation around town. He openly stole from any store he wanted to, he harassed girls no matter how much older, or younger they were to him. To top it off he was the biggest bully Nate had ever met, and since his dad was the mayor, the sheriff did nothing about it. He and his three lackeys surrounded Nate on the bench.

"This is the first time I've seen you since your mom died. I almost thought she took you with her."

"Leave me alone Zach."

"What's the matter, just some old friends hanging around." He sat down next to him. Wrapping his arm around Nate's shoulder. "Ya know my pa won't tell me what actually happened to her. I've heard a few different rumors though." He eyed Nate, watching to see what would get a rise out of him.

"A few people think she just got really sick. A few think that she died in a car wreck. Hell, Tom's folks think she just flat out offed herself." Zach grinned as he spoke, Tom shrugged

"Just shut up Zach," Nate tugged his arm off his shoulder. Zach raised his hands to show surrender.

"Relax, I'm just messing with you. Besides, I don't think any of that is true." A snake-like grin crawled up his face. "I think that your good for nothing drunk of a dad is who killed her."

Nate punched him square in the nose. The older boy laughed and grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the dirt. The other boys started beating and kicking him. Nate curled into a ball and fought every sensation in his body telling him to cry.

When the older boys were finished, Zach lifted Nate's head up by the hair to whisper in his ear. "Or maybe she did off herself, I know I would if my boy was as pathetic as you." He slammed Nate's head against the ground. They ran off with all the money Nate had left, as well the groceries. They even took the receipt he got from the feed store.

He fought desperately at the tears in his eyes. Every drop that peaked through drudged down his cheek. The townsfolk simply stepped around him. Not one was interested in comforting him. After some time he sat up and waited for his father.

He waited for hours. It wasn't until the sun was starting to fall that he decided to walk back to the ranch. What was a short drive was now a long walk. No one paid him any mind as he marched through the town and out of sight. He thought of the owl he had met last night. He still wasn't certain if she was real or not. He wanted to be free of this place. He wanted to steal his father's truck, take as many of the animals as he could and leave. But he could never do that to his father, the only family he had left.

He found his father slumped in his chair. He was watching football on the television with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

"Did you get what I asked you to?" He slurred.

"It was stolen."

"Don't lie to me Nathan!" He shouted, the bottle flying from his hands.

"I'm not-" his father rose and shoved him on his back.

"That's all the money I had for the month!" He grabbed Nate by the collar. Tears welled in Nate's eyes. Without saying a word his father released him and walked to the freezer to get another bottle. "At least I was able to sell that damn cow." Nate's jaw dropped.

"No, no you can't get rid of Rain." He begged, unable to stop himself from sobbing.

"It's too late, mister Hawthorne already took her." The Hawthornes owned a butcher shop in town. Nate bolted from the house and towards the barn, a monsoon of tears streaking down his face.

He ripped open the barn doors and shouted for Rain. He paced up and down the stalls before collapsing on her bed of hay. His sobs drowned out the music of the night.

He was woken by a cold hand on his shoulder. Alarmed, he searched frantically before laying his eyes on the owl sitting on the rail above him.

"Hello again." She said, a joyous bounce in her tone.

"You said you'd never come back," he said, his voice as rough as sandpaper.

"I changed my mind, I think I'll stay here with you for a long time." She whistled in-between sentences. "You're upset?"

He turned his head away, covering his bloodshot eyes.

"Why are you upset?" She fluttered down towards him. Nate sat up.

"Careful, the hounds will get you." She chuckled.

"Oh they'll never bother me again." Nate searched for the hounds and realised he couldn't find them. Maybe his father had sold them too.

"Why are you sad?" She asked again. Nate explained how Zach and his friends had jumped him. How his father had abandoned him, that it wasn't the first time. He told her how Rain was the only friend he had since his mother died and now she was gone.

"Well, I could be your friend."

"I just want to go far away." He laid back down. He didn't have the energy to cry anymore. Without Rain he felt dead. He had felt this way only one time before.

"If that's what you want. All you have to do is sleep." She took a few steps towards him. He could feel his heart stutter. Oh how he longed to be free. He nodded his head and closed his eyes. He felt a frozen hand trace its fingers through his hair as he drifted asleep.

The wind struck him like freedom's bell. It lifted him high above his father's ranch. The moon watched him soar with all its jealousy. The stars gazed in awe. The night was his domain.

He bounded through trees and hills, through leaf and vine. He towered above the small town, watching the townsfolk sleep in their beds. He flew until it was out of sight. He had always been a prisoner at his father's ranch. Alone and afraid, but up here. Up here he was free. He flew straight towards the rising sun.

He opened his eyes to the open sky. The sun beamed down onto his face as the trees around him swayed in the wind. He rose to his feet to find he was only a few hundred yards from the ranch house. He dragged his feet to the front door.

Inside he found his father. His nails dug into the arms of his chair, his eyes bloodshot and held wide open. His mouth hung in terror as shallow breaths drew in and out. He rushed to his father's side.

"I saw them," he whispered, staring straight into the television. On it were the faces of the three boys who had jumped Nate. The word "MISSING" was written below their faces.

"What do you mean?" Nate asked with a warbled voice.

"Last night, I had a nightmare." His voice was shaky. His eyes near hollow, reliving some horror that Nate did not know. "At first I was falling, sliding in thin air. I could hear the wind breaking. Something was following, chasing, me. Then it caught me. It had white hands with black talons for nails. It dragged me out of the air and across the forest."

"It dragged me to an abandoned shack, I fought it, I couldn't go in. It took me anyway. It dragged me to a pit inside the shack," He gulped. "I can still hear their screams, begging me to save them. I'll never forget their faces." He fell into silence.

"Then what happened pa?" Nate asked. His voice was as tiny as a mouse. His father looked at him as if he had been woken from a trance.

"I woke up."

They sat and ate breakfast in silence. His father poked and prodded but didn't take a single bite. They watched the mayor and his wife talk about their son on the television. Nate couldn't bear to watch Zach's mother cry and beg for her son's safe return. He left to do his chores. As the day passed and his list of chores grew shorter and shorter he thought of what the old man at the feed store had told him. His father's face still haunted him. He loved his father, even for everything he was, he couldn't stand to see him suffer and he certainly couldn't lose him too. He stepped back inside the ranch house just before sundown.

He spotted his father carrying two suitcases. His father, for the first night in a long time, was not drinking. He looked up at Nate, his eyes widening.

"Are we leaving?" Nate asked, his heart jumping at the thought of moving away. His father stumbled over his own words.

"Erm, yes, go pack your things." He picked up his luggage. Nate noticed he had only packed his own cases. He did not pack anything from the living room or the kitchen. Anger swelled in him as he came to a realization.

"You were going to leave without me." He spat, a calm rage in his voice. His father stumbled over his words.

"No, I was gonna come get you in a few minutes." He began running through every excuse he could think of. Nate cut him short.

"How could you do this to me?" He cried. "Why don't you love me?"

His father caught his breath. He considered the question in silent pain.

"Because you remind me so much of your mother. I can't bear to take it anymore." Nate was stunned. His father moved to walk out the door.

"No you can't walk out on me you're all I have left." He stood in front of the door. His father dropped the cases.

"Get out of my way." He demanded coolly.

"No."

"I'm not doing this with you Nathan, just move." His eyes twitched as he waited for Nate to move. After he refused to budge his father grabbed him and threw him onto the ground.

"Damn it Nate, I told you to move!" He bellowed as Nate sobbed on the floor. His father paced across the room. "Can't you see your mother's death has ruined me. I'm nothing without her!"

"I wish I had died instead." Nate whimpered.

"I wish so too!" His father shouted. His face fell as the last word rang out. He threw a suitcase across the room. He then pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the freezer and sat in his chair. Nate cried himself to sleep where he lay. As he finally drifted off he heard a pair of wings dancing in the night.

He woke in the middle of the night. The crickets sang to the tune of the midnight moon. His shoulders ached as he tried to stretch and lift himself off the ground. He turned towards his father's chair. His heart sank as he found it empty with a half full whiskey bottle on the floor. He kicked one of the suitcases as he tried to race out the door.

He stumbled out onto the porch to find his father's truck still in the driveway. He searched frantically for his father but could not find him. He checked every room in the house. He then checked the barn.

"Dad!" He yelled, his breath quickening. "Where are you?" He bellowed. He froze as an owl flew through the side window of the barn and landed on the stall railing next to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked. A calming hum in her voice.

"I can't find my dad. He's the only family I have left, and he just abandoned me." He started crying. "How could he abandon me?" He pleaded. "They all abandon me."

"It's okay, come here." She said with her motherly timbre. She raised her wings as if to hug him. He wrapped his arm around her.

"I'll be with you, always." A pair of ice cold arms wrapped around him.