Song in the Wind

A golden streak of the sky...

The mountains were silent. No movement that afternoon. This was the perfect time for the mountain's ancient bird to come out from hiding. A shiny, golden owl was perched on a thick branch. It sat there, watching for something to eat. It was the fastest bird living on the mountain, and it was famous for its beautiful melodies. Though it was an owl, it could make music.

Suddenly the scurrying of a mouse caught the witty owl's attention, and it swooped down. It was as fast as a bullet. The owl faced its talons towards the mouse and snatched it right up off the ground. Then it threw it up into its mouth. It landed on a low branch, and began to devour the scrawny mouse. 

After eating a well deserved meal, the owl began to wash itself. The owl hardly got a chance to come out. It's usually not this silent out. It would lay cooped up, until nothing was around to hurt it. The owl wants a friend, but it mustn't, for it could be betrayed.

The wind blew, ruffling the owl's feathers. It shook, trying to keep its neat feathers organized. The sun shimmered onto its golden feathers, making it shimmer as well. The owl looked around, uninterested in its surroundings. To lighten the mood, it began to sing a melody. It was slow, graceful, and serene. It seemed to calm the wind, and silence the swaying of the grass. The mountain did not creak, and the trees did not whistle. The rushing rivers became still, and the insects froze.

The melody of the owl was so wonderful. This is why the owl had to wait to be alone. Any creature would die to have something precious, like this golden owl. But it was to be remained untouched. 

Once the owl silenced its melody, everything went back to normal. The elements of the earth continued their cycles once again. But the owl was still alone.

Suddenly a small brown bird appeared next to it. It stared off into the distance, trying not to disturb the golden owl.

The owl cocked its head at the small creature, wondering what it was doing.

The brown bird looked at the owl and chirped. It was complimenting its wonderful melody that it had played.

The owl was shocked. No animal has ever said such a thing. It gave it a nod of approval, and looked away. 

The brown bird hopped closer to the owl and looked up. It chirped loudly, startling the owl. But all it wanted was to say goodbye.

The owl gave it a short hoo, trying to tell it not to go. It wanted the bird to stay with it, and keep it company. Though the small bird could not stay, so it tried to coax the owl into coming with it. 

The owl was unsure though. It had never left the mountain. But it did not want to be alone.

It took some time, but the owl gave in. The brown bird was glad that it would not be travelling alone. So the two birds took off into the sky.

The owl did not look back, for it did not want to look back on the place that had imprisoned it for so long. Now it could sing its song in the wind. The wind it would travel by. Now its song could be blown through the wind, and it could travel to different places.

Reviews

[Margaux Alchem]

well here we go, since you've reviewed my work i kinda visited your profile an browse for stories to read :) , and amazing allegory, as a reader i would often observe my reactions to story and how i would interpret those series of events as well as the words and sentences, your story as mentioned by bisskat (the reviewer below) was truly short and sweet with a punch. so my take regarding about the story is... it takes the right person to make us realize things and turn us into a caterpillar to butterfly transformation - freedom at its finest.. the title was great as well, that made me choose the story first among the other writings. great work :)

[TheBubbleManiac]

Thank you so much for your review!

[Margaux Alchem]

you're welcome :)

[bisskat]

wonderful story! the vocabulary is amazing, and very provocative image-wise. short and sweet, brilliant description. only thing is - perhaps different sentence types next time? it tends to remain a similar rhythm most of the piece. still - i really enjoyed it!

[TheBubbleManiac]

You are absolutely right! I'll try and work better on that. Thank you for your review!

[bisskat]

anytime! :)