Eyes

A Story by Brooklyn Blade

A young owl opens his eyes for the first time and is amazed by what he sees. However, his life has been doomed to dwell in tragedy.

Eyes
A Short Story by Brooklyn Blade

Prologue
"Is he awake yet?" A high voice sounded next to my ear. I could see moonlight filtering through my eyelids, gently prodding at them to open.
A softer voice responded. "I don't know. He is the latest of you to open his eyes, so even if he was, you still should leave him alone. I know I wouldn't want to open my eyes for the first time to see my sister about to peck my eyes out with impatience!" I relaxed. That other voice was right. My..... sister, was it? Anyway, she sounded very loud. Why would she want me to wake up? Did she want to eat me? Was it more fun to eat something that was awake? At the thought of food, my belly rumbled. That soft voice was the same one that had prodded my beak open last day, with something furry. It had tasted good, and it was very... crunchy. Maybe that soft voice would feed me some more later.
"But I'm so bored!" My sister complained. That confirmed my earlier thought; she was definitely loud.
"Then go wake Hook up." The voice, which I decided must be my mother, told her.
"But he always is so bossy! I told him it was his turn to be the mouse, but-" She went on. She wasn't very nice either, I decided. Not nice at all. I started to wonder if she looked like me. Wait, what did I look like? What did anything look like? All I had ever seen was the reddish-brown glow of sunshine glowing on my eyelids. But, if I opened my eyes, my sister would eat me! But what about……. what had Mother called it? Hook. He didn’t sound eaten. Maybe it was worth a try…
I slowly lifted my eyelids and looked up. The moon was hanging high above my head, and it hurt to look at it. I swiveled my gaze to look at a big speckled owl. Mother. She was way too big to be my sister. I looked down at my own feathers, but instead of seeing the brown-spotted feathers like my mother, all I saw was white fluff. I sneezed. That was a lot of feathers. I looked around a bit. I saw two more white figures, which must be my sister and…. maybe that Hook thing Mother was talking about. Something caught my eye, and I try to move my eyes to see it, but I can’t. It... hurts! So instead I just swiveled my head around to look at it.
They were big, sharp talons. I shuddered at the thought of being torn apart by them, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was only my mother’s talons. I trusted her never to hurt me. Though I winced at the thought of my sister having the same sharp weapons. She doesn’t seem to like me very much. Do I have them?
I tried to look down, but my beak got caught in my feathers again. I shook myself, trying to get rid of the bothersome feathers, but they stayed, if anything more puffed. I whined in frustration.
Mother turned around. “Your eyes!” She exclaimed. “Your eyes are open!” One of the white fluffs in the corner got up.
“Yay!” She exclaimed. “Finally! It took you two more nights than Hook, and even he was late!” Then she stopped. “But your eyes are awfully big.”
I froze. Was that a bad thing? For some reason, I wanted her to like me. Obviously not, I thought bitterly, Oh well.
Mother glanced at me fondly. “I think he’s perfect.” I felt warm from the praise. Who cares about my sister? I decided. Only Mother counts.
“Anyway…. what are you going to name him?” My sister asked Mother. Mother nipped her ear tufts playfully. “You have to learn to be more patient Talon.” Talon. I thought. Hook and Talon. Maybe I could be-
“Eyes.” I said loudly. Talon and Mother looked at me in surprise. I suddenly felt shy, and looked away. “Can- can I be Eyes?”
Mother’s beak curved up slightly. “Yes, my precious. Your name is Eyes.” The other white owlet in the corner, Hook, raised his head sleepily.
“What’s going on?” He yawned, his amber eyes narrowing as his beak stretched. Talon shoved him.
“Your brother just got his name!” She said proudly, as if it was her name that had been decided. I shrugged. Oh well. So, Hook is my brother? Talon, Hook, and Mother. My new family.

Chapter One
I looked out at the night sky, and sighed. She said she’d be right back. I said to myself. But I couldn’t help worrying.
“Hey, Eyes, wanna go explore?” Talon asked. My eponymous eyes widened in surprise.
“But Mother said-” I protested. She cut me off.
“That we couldn’t go out of the hollow I know. But, don’t you want to see what’s out there? Feel the warm breeze under your wings?” I had to admit, she was right. Still, I know Mother only wants to protect us. What if we get hurt? We would be all alone, maybe even dead. She had strictly told us to stay inside.
“What does Hook think?” I asked Talon. She flicked her tail feathers impatiently.
“Who cares? That sleepy little fuzz never wants to do anything! It’s the middle of the night for pellet’s sake, and he’s still asleep!” I suppressed a sigh. Even though Hook liked to sleep, I didn’t think it was all that bad. Maybe he’s just tired sometimes. Anyway, Talon could be a bit more understanding. He was our brother, and so we should love him, no matter what. Even if he never was awake. Wait, where was Hook? He wasn’t in his corner…
“Hey, Talon? Where’s Hook?” She shrugged.
“I don’t know!” Our eyes met.
“You mean he-”
“Left us? Yep. Hey, now can we go out? We’ll say we were looking for him!” I stared at her in disbelief. How could she still be thinking about that, when our brother could be in danger! Was she really that selfish? I shivered at the thought.
“I guess-” I hooted hesitantly. The thought kept ringing in my mind: Say no say no say no! I silently berated myself. Maybe she’s right. It’ll be fun. But I couldn’t help feeling a cold wave of dread at the thought of being scolded by Mother. She only loves me. I shook my feathers out and set my beak. I need to find my brother. I need to find Hook. I kept chanting that to myself; I need to find Hook. I need to find Hook. Talon took my wing in hers and slowly we edged to the rim of the hollow in our tree. I need to find Hook. I need to find Hook. We took a deep breath and then looked down. I need to find- my mind went blank. There was a large gaping hole of blackness beneath me. Not the grassy dirt-speckled ground that Mother had described, just nothingness. I looked over at Talon, and saw she was quivering with excitement, her pupils dilating with a mixture of fear and adrenaline. I was shaking too, but out of just blind terror. So what if I was acting like a coward, I was alive, and very much intended to stay that way. My talons gripped the papery bark nervously, and I closed my eyes. I listened for the voice in my head, ushering me on, but it had gone silent. I clenched my beak and opened my eyes to gasp in surprise. Talon was gone! Frantically, I turned my head 270 degrees, my gaze sweeping my surroundings, all the while a feeling of dread creeping up under my skin.
“Talon!” I called out, horribly aware of the silence following the sound. I leaned precariously over the edge, my eyes watching for any movement in the dark. Suddenly, I heard a weak hoot.
“Eyes!” It was faint, but audible, and I tried to determine where it was coming from. Using my asymmetrical ear slits in my facial disc, I determined with a heavy heart that the sound was coming from directly below me.
“Eyes!” It was more urgent this time. I could tell from the sound of her voice she was afraid and hurt. I suppressed a sigh and started to scoot tail-first down the papery bark. Mother had called it a birch. I wondered if I would survive long enough to ask her what that meant. Suddenly, the bark started to strip away. I tried to scrabble at the slick wood underneath, but my talons only left white scratch marks on the contact point. I felt myself falling backwards, and I screamed, my words ripped out of my beak by the wind. I felt like I was suspended in the air for days. Then I hit the ground. As my gaze darkened the last thing I saw was two big, orange eyes peeking through the bushes….

Chapter Two
I opened my eyes wearily to see Talon lying down next to me. Her chest rose and fell with each breath she took, and her wing was at an awkward angle. I assumed it must be broken. I pushed myself up and looked around. Thick, brown walls were on all four sides, and a musty smell was in the air. I could smell the sharp tang of blood and the rank odor of death, and I squinted my watering eyes. I tried to turn my head to look around, but felt a sharp pain stab up my neck. I whimpered and heard Talon groan. Her eyes blinked open, and she rolled over to look at me.
“Eyes?” She whispered. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know.” I responded. Mother never told us about anywhere like this! Meanwhile, I had become horribly aware of a heap of feathers in a corner. Could that be-? I scolded myself. No. It can’t be! Talon followed my gaze then gasped.
“Is that…?” She voiced my fears. Our eyes met. What is this horrible place? Tears filled my eyes, and I tried to fruitlessly blink them away. A sob escaped my beak, and I closed my eyes helplessly. We were going to die, just like Hook. Both Talon and I had seen the horribly familiar light grey fuzz on the pile of bones, and the smell was all-too familiar. Then I finally understood.
“Talon,” I called softly. “Talon, we need to get out of here. Now.” She nodded sadly. We both knew that we were cashed prey; whatever had taken us here would be back, maybe a bit hungrier. My stomach growled impatiently, and I thought of my warm nest up in our birch tree. Mother would be back by now, with her prey, ready to feed us. She would call out for us, but we wouldn’t be there. She would search around for us, but it would all be in vain. I suddenly wished I had not listened to my sister; that Hook hadn’t left. That I had never opened my eyes. That I had never been hatched. I looked over at Talon helplessly. Its her fault. I thought bitterly. You should be mad! But I wasn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but cry. Talon scooted over to me.
“I’m sorry.” She hooted, tears in her eyes. I blinked. Even though I hadn’t known her long, I had noticed one of her main traits was that she was stubborn. I knew how much it hurt her to admit she was wrong. I opened my beak to tell her it was okay, that everything would be fine, but I couldn’t. I sat up painfully.
“Is your wing broken?” I asked her. She sat up too.
“I-I think so.” She hooted, her hazel eyes filled with pain. I crawled on my belly to the entrance of the den. A ray of sunlight beamed in my eyes, and I turned my head away painfully. As they adjusted to the dark again, I set my beak, then turned back to face the sun. It burned, but after I blinked my eyes a few times, they got used to the glare. I gasped; in front of me was a wide, green landscape of trees. I could recognize the bark of our hollow’s tree, but there were so many more! There was a tree a few feather-lengths away from me that had rough, brown bark that was streaked with crimson. I looked farther up the tree to see brown pellet-shaped figures in clumps of long, pointy green things. My neck ached, but I forced myself to keep looking. They were so big! I heard a shriek of terror behind me.
“Eyes! Watch out!” Talon? I turned around to see a large, black figure with a white stripe down its back. Badger! That had been the scent! Mother had told us about it, and had described its scent, but never had given me a sample. She had said to fight a badger was the most foolish and dangerous thing an owl could do, and it guaranteed death. I shivered. The badger opened its jaws to bellow angrily at me, its yellow teeth gleaming in the light. A big, lumbering paw bore down upon me, and I knew I was going to die. Suddenly, a furious caterwaul split the air, and the badger paused with his paw in mid-strike to look up. Mother! She started losing height, a whirlwind of fury falling from the sky. I held my breath as she rapidly approached. Suddenly, the feathery bullet hit its target, and the badger bowled over. A vicious battle began. Mother clawed at the badger’s eyes, and blood spurted from his face. He roared in pain, and with a sickening crunch, he grabbed Mother by the neck and snapped it in half.
She fell limp, and as the badger opened his wide jaws, her limp body slid onto the grass. The badger, his head down, staggered away wearily. I felt blind with grief. She isn’t dead! She’s just…. injured. I shook my head sadly. I knew it wasn’t true. Talon crawled out of the badger set.
“What is wro-” She froze at the sight of Mother. She closed her eyes and started to tremble. “She died… for us. For you!” She shook her head. “This is your fault! If you hadn’t gone outside, she’d still be alive!” I tried to argue,
“But-” but she didn’t listen. Favoring her injured wing, she limped away furiously. I had the feeling that this would be the last time I ever saw her. How did this happen?

Chapter Three
As Talon limped away, I nuzzled next to Mother. No matter what, I will never leave you. I couldn’t stand looking at her lifeless body, so I found a small ditch to bury her in as a crude grave. With my neck on fire with pain, I slowly dragged Mother’s body into the hole and covered her with twigs. I flopped down with exhaustion and closed my eyes. It had been a long day. My eyes closed and I fell asleep.
When I woke up, the stars were out, and I was surrounded by shadows. A snowy owl swooped above my head, but I was too confused to care. Where am I? Then my gaze fell upon the grave, and all of the previous day’s events came crashing down upon me. I let out a sob. With a whoosh of feathers, the snowy landed beside me.
“What’s wrong?” she asked gently. I shook my head sadly. I couldn’t speak. I only stared at my mother’s grave with grief in my eyes. She followed my gaze and gasped. “Was that someone you knew?”
“It- it was my mother.” My voice was hoarse. She frowned at me.
“What happened?” I shook my head again. It was all too painful to think about.
Realizing she had said something wrong, the snowy quickly said, “My name is Ember. What’s yours?” I couldn’t help but smile at the unfitting name. I noticed she was young, and probably just learned how to fly.
“Eyes.” I hooted, in a slightly better mood. This owl was so bright and cheerful, how could I not be?
She noticed the change too and smiled. “Hey, that’s a neat name! Ember is so weird!” She shook out her feathers. “Anyway… what are you doing out here all alone? Must be dangerous!” I sighed. You have no idea.
“Yea.” I echoed. Ember tilted her head.
“Do you want to come hang out with me?” She asked. I nodded vigorously, then regretted it. Pain shot up my neck, and I cried out. Ember looked concernedly at me. “Here, my mother is very good at healing, she’ll fix you right up.” So Ember then gently picked me up in her talons and flew off.
The experience was...amazing. The wind on my feathers felt wonderful, and I could see so many stars above me. “Do you like it?” Ember shouted over the howling wind, looking down at me. I nodded, and she smiled and looked up again.
Suddenly, another snowy appeared, and Ember stopped and started hovering as he approached.
“Who’s that?” The strange owl asked her.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s none of your buisness, Coal!”
He tilted his head to stare at me. “What are you doing with a hatchling, Ember?”
She hesitated. “I found him.” She decided to say. “All alone.” Coal narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Winter isn’t going to like this!” He said matter-of-factly. Ember snorted.
“Who cares? It’s not like she’s my mother; she should keep her beak out of other owl’s problems for once!”
Coal’s eyes had a hurt look in them. “Don’t you dare say that about my mate!”
Ember looked away aloof-like. “I don’t care. Maybe you should tell her to quit insulting Fern!” I started to get dizzy with all these names. “You must have noticed how she’s always telling Fern she’s stupid! Why don’t you stand up for your sister like you do for your mate?” Coal looked speechless. He opened his beak in a furious retort,
“Shut up! Winter is perfect!” He angrily shoved Ember. She staggered in the air, and her talons unclenched to strike out at him. I plummeted, and suddenly, the wind was no longer enjoyable, but painful, clawing at my feathers and pushing them the wrong way. I relived memories of the fall I had taken before, when everyone had still been alive. Before Mother died. And as I saw the ground coming nearer, I knew that my death would be short and painless. I hit the ground, and the world went black forever.
“It matters not how [an owl] dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.” -Samuel Johnson