I Can't Sleep At Night

This story tells us about owls and how wonderful,helping they are.. owls are not that bad ..that some people see or say.. Just change your thoughts about them:)

Once upon a time, in an old village, there lived a boy named Tahaan. 

Everyday at seven, his mother and father went out to work in the fields and he went with his friends to play near the forest. 

Though the elders had warned them of the leopard that lived in the forest,
they still went out to play hide and seek.

 But today was different. Tahaan went out a little too far into the forest to hide. It did not take him long to realize that he was lost.

Being a boy of not more than ten years of age, he started to cry. He called out his friend’s name in between his sobs, but they never replied.

He cried for his mother, but she was not around. Not knowing what to do, he rambled around the place.

Time ticked away, and he was all alone.

He was still crying. He was hungry and his tiny feet were aching. But he did not stop. He walked on. Soon it started to grow dark. 

The sun was setting and stars started to peep from around the horizon.

      Tahaan couldn't walk any more. He sat under a tree. He wiped his tears. And suddenly, he heard a voice.

     “Oh, dear boy, why are you crying?” said the voice.

Tahaan was too scared to reply, he looked around and pulled himself tighter.

“Don’t be afraid, its me, up here” said the voice. He looked up and up upon the lonely branch sat an owl with reddish brown feathers and big, dull eyes. And at once, Tahaan remembered what his mother had said: owls were evil, harbingers of death.


“Tell me son, why are you crying?”

Though shivering, he tried to reply.

“I am all alone… I lost my way…I forgot my path…”

“Calm down, my boy” said the owl.

“Please sir, could you help me out? Could you help me get back home again?”

 The owl thought for a minute or two.

“Why should help you, you human boy? After all, you hate us all”

“I know a lot of us hate you much, but trust me sir, I am not one of them.”

"Alright then, since you say so, I believe you. I will help you"


      The owl flew gently and sat upon his shoulder. He turned his head to look around. “Go left” he said. After a few paces, he noticed that the boy was uncomfortable.

“Owl sir, I am terrified. It is such a dark night and there is a leopard living near!”

“Haha! You poor little boy! Don’t be scared. I will call all my owl
friends too, and we will sing a song to distract the leopard. You just
keep your voice low.”

   And the owl called out for his friends. They all came, flying around.  They sat on the darkened branches high, and whispered a tune and broke into a song. 



‘The giggle goes right!
The giggle goes left!
Makes us feel high...
Don't let your courage fail ya
Pretend you're in Australia
Kangaroo is falling asleep
A big leap into the deep..

So lets start dancing
 like a parrot in the zoo..

The giggle goes right!
The giggle goes left!
Makes us feel high...

This is a dark place..
Its like scary
But if we both are together
It becomes tiptop..
So don't worry’


And at the sound of the silly song, the little boy chuckled and chuckled along.

“What a funny boy you are! What is your name, may I ask?” asked the owl.

“My name is Tahaan, it means I am a merciful boy"

“That is indeed a wonderful name.” said the owl.

    An hour and a half later, they reached near the village, glimmering in the light of lanterns held high. The people were all scattered and restless, they had been looking for the boy who was lost in the woods.

People gathered near his home, where his mother was crying at the door.

    Tahaan rushed towards his home, the owl too happy to fly away.

“Tahaan! He is here! I found him!” It was Tahaan’s friend from that morning.

    They all ran towards him now, the elders, men and women.

They were taken a back at the sight of the owl, which was still perched upon the boy.

 Some men gather at the back of him, and before Tahaan could say a word, they caught the owl and took him away.

“No! Leave him alone! He saved me!” The boy tried to rebel, but he knew too well it was no use.

   Tahaan’s mother rushed him home, not minding his wails and screams. She told him again, owls were evil, all they did was bring death. They fed him hence and put him to bed. He was crying still for his owl friend.

 And at midnight, he awoke and sung the song of the owl, assuring to himself that those humans would pay for killing the owl. He stood near
the window and looked out into the forest. He heard the song of the owls, still singing for their human friend.

Akshat  &  ScarlettTheDreamer
July 2011

Author's Note

This story is written by "ScarlettTheDreamer"
combined with me..
Please review it and rate it too:)
i really appreciate your valuable time..enjoy this piece..
i hope you all will like it:)

Reviews

[SoLongAndThanksForAllTh..]

I think you've really picked up on how to write in a style suited to children. On the whole you've kept the language plain which makes it accessible without becoming too simplistic and the length and content seems well considered.

Reading this seems somewhat reminiscent of hearing an unfamiliar tale from another culture being told. I think children will appreciate this as it will appeal to their natural curiosity and need to explore.

One technical point I noticed was that the tense slipped several times. A good example of this is, "He walks on. Soon it started getting dark". Perhaps this is a result of writing alongside someone else? If you decide to fix this then I'd suggest you stick to the past tense that it is predominantly used as to me that best suits the story telling genre.

On the whole a very good effort and a pleasure to read something from a completely different genre!

[Morgan]

very good job ! i dont know what brought me to this poem , but i enjoyed every minute it took me to read it ! good job (:

[Sunni Davis]

I immediately loved the little boy. He's such a sweet lil guy. The end made me feel sad. Overall, the story was well written. Nicely done.

[Sarah E. Pearson]

A really great children's story. I'll be sure to make this one I read to my nieces. Keep it up.

[Daytonight]

A really great children's story. Keep on penning.

[+Naomi+]

I love this story. The owl saved the young boy yet still, he lost his life..:(
Great write...100/100

[theopenbook]

this was nice:) like the old fairy tales we read in panchtantra:) the boy was cute and well created:) nice work:)

[Tom Benson]

I see you haven't managed to kick your habit of introducing random changes of font colour ...

If I had one suggestion it would be to use a coloured font for the boy and a different one for the owl. Apart from that I think it's a great children's story and you both deserve to be applauded for your efforts on this compelling collaboration. Nice work.

[EMF]

I loved every word. The format threw me at first, but I didn't care. It was fun, enlightening and truly wonderful. My grandaughter will love it. I can't wait to tell her it this weekend. A great piece

[Libby]

It's like on of those children's tales that haunt you through your whole life. Simple yet very beautiful and though this is much sadder than modern tales,traditional ones often resonate similar vibes of death and sorrow. Well done c:

[Audrey Howitt]

Wonderful story. Sad though. It reminds me of some of the Just So stories by Rudyard Kipling. Nice job!