Owl is Well!

The valley was lit with the full moon's light and covered with a blanket of silence that was a signature of winter nights in this quiet countryside. The giant hay bales appeared like golden nuggets in the vast field which was otherwise barren, awaiting its sowing season.

Deer roamed in the fields, their shining eyes turned them into shadow entities moving through the air. He was sitting on a branch of the Walnut tree and hooting to his heart's content. The full moon was his ally though he could easily do his job without this celestial help. Every now and then he turned his head from one side to the other, surveying the field in tangible anticipation.

The barn was on his left and the road on the right. His intense gaze was a sight to behold. But in this secluded field in the dead of the night there was no one around who could watch this spectacle and neither did he need an audience. He was focused and content with his game.

The moon was high in the sky, the abandoned barn looked like a castle that once had a glorious history. To him it was both a sanctuary and a battlefield. He looked up and gazed at the moon, his eyes glowed like amber stones and for a moment he was one with the surroundings. The field, the barn, the moon, the walnut tree… everything was perfect in this illuminated stillness.

A gust of cold wind suddenly arrived and he instinctively flew into the barn. He perched himself on the broken plank standing next to what was once a window. The moonlight flooded the floor which was mostly covered in the wild grass. A rusted chair sat right in the middle from where the half broken door was visible. The chair called him and he flew to it. Sitting on its right arm, he looked below with meditative alertness. Not a feather in his body moved. His breath was long and deep, he sat there waiting and the gust of wind periodically pierced the silence.

"There…one of them!" he noticed a mouse that showed up in the entrance. "Let him get closer…" he thought to himself. But next instant the mouse disappeared in the grass.

He felt a vibe of anxiety but waited, once again holding himself still. This time a snake showed up, unusually long and slender, almost like a whip and his skin was shining like polished leather.

He did not wait this time and jumped right at his prey, but like the mouse, the snake also disappeared before his claws could catch him. He thought the chair isn't working, he flew towards the broken wooden shelf and sat there thinking "This is a good position…"

Once again it was time to be still, he regained his posture and waited once again. A long time passed, nothing happened. He was beginning to give up. He looked around and a voice echoed from somewhere, "Leave the Barn…Leave the Barn. Go out into the field." He turned around to look but nobody was there.

He wasted no time and flew outside. Once again he perched himself on the walnut tree. "Why am I here?" he thought and the next moment a rodent appeared in his sight. He had never seen a rodent as big as this, it appeared so menacing that instead of hunting him, he could become its prey!

He watched the rodent running towards him, "Is he going to kill me?" He tried moving his wings but felt like he was frozen. The rodent was fast arriving nearer and nearer, he could smell him now.

He struggled to open his wings and the rodent was getting bigger and bigger. He pulled his entire strength and after a few more attempts he finally opened his wings. As he looked down at the bottom of the tree something told him that its not what it looks like and the game still belongs to him. He gathered himself and with one swift flight he swooped down, the rodent suddenly shrank in size and next moment it was in his claws. As he was flying mid air with his prey securely held, he looked above at the moon and felt its silver light massaging his feathers.

"Good Morning, its time to wake up! Good Morning, its time to wake up!" Alexa in her Missy Elliott voice alarm was providing her morning service to Jake.

Jake moaned a little before he woke up and turned the alarm off. The barn and the field were revolving in his half awake head, and he could still feel the rodent in his claws. "What was that…oh my god, what a surreal dream!" Jake thought as he put his robe on and walked towards the bathroom.

His head was still spinning from the last flight of the owl. "Why owl? I am an owl? crazy dream…" he thought as he sipped his coffee. He had made it extra strong thinking it will help him shake off the jitters from the dream.

Jake looked at his phone and checked what time he had to pick Anna from the airport before going to office. It was already little late. He quickly went to the room and pulled a shirt from his closet.

"Oh, man! This one is no longer fitting. What am I going to do." Jake was visibly upset. And as he looked over, the weighing scale was giving off a sarcastic smile from the half open closet door.

He pulled another shirt and this one he could button up well. Jake grabbed his phone and laptop bag and ran out of his apartment. It was 7.45 AM already and the highway was no joke in the mornings.

Jake drove off towards the airport. The traffic was slow due to fog and the collective atmosphere of all the vehicles was that of restrained restlessness. He could feel that in the air. The dream energy still bothered him but he was feeling alert otherwise. Jake's mind made a faint scream, "Cigarette…"

He looked around at his dashboard console. He always kept a full pack in his car. Another pack in his laptop bag, one in his kitchen drawer and one in his office drawer. 20 was his magic number for a daily dose! And this was after he had reduced it compared to the last year.

Jake pulled into the right lane and slowed down some. As he reached out to grab the cigarette pack. He almost shouted but his jaw dropped before he could.

The cigarette pack had turned into a rodent. Jake couldn't believe his eyes. "What the hell!" he said to himself and just then the phone rang.

"Yes Anna. I am on my way."

"I will see you in the parking." Anna replied.

"Okay.."

"You remember your promise Jake…" Anna questioned softly.

"I am trying…I am trying" Jake answered in a sheepish tone. "It won't be that bad now. I know you care for me my dear!"

"Its for your own good. See you Love.." Anna hung up.

Jake took a deep breath and sighed. "Why is it so difficult?"

His mind made another faint scream "Cigarette...just one!" Jake pulled on the side and stopped before the bridge. He looked at the pack and again the menacing rodent flashed before his eyes. Jake felt as if his hands were frozen. He sat there gathering himself in stillness, his throat almost choked and eyes moistly frigid in cold tension.

A loud siren suddenly caught his attention. He looked out, an ambulance was zipping by. A bright orange car followed it next and slowly moved into the right lane. Jake couldn't believe what he saw and a freaky astonishment flooded every vein in his body.

On the back of the car he saw a giant sticker. 'If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down.' And next to it was a picture of a magnificent Owl, spreading his wings, about to take a flight.

Jake remained silent for the next few minutes. His mind was scrambling for something to hold on, he could hear his heart pounding. "My bucket list…I don't want to die…" that's all he could murmur to himself and the phone rang one more time.

Jake looked down, it was his ever pressuring boss who was always demanding either performance or conformity or both. Jake ended the call by sending a message 'I am driving' and then started the car.

As the car reached the middle of the bridge, Jake pressed the button and rolled his window down. He picked up the pack of cigarette and looked at it, "You cant gnaw me like a rodent…" he said and threw it out into the stream below.

He turned the music on and the song 'A Change is Gonna Come' started playing on the radio.

A voice appeared in Jake's head, "Owl is Well!"

He couldn't resist smiling, the game still belonged to him.