The Owl's Flight

"That's it", he said putting down his pen and placing his copy of the lease on his desktop, "all set". Her heart skipped a beat as she reached out to take the keys from the property manager.

"Thank you so much", she replied, but what she really wanted to say was... That's it? If you only knew buddy. If you only knew how long this day had been coming. How many months it took me to find this place. How many months it took me to get up the courage to even meet with you to sign this stupid thing. This is far from what did he call it... finalized?

"Rent is due on the 4th, this lease covers you until June", he added as she turned to leave his office. "Call me if you have any problems with the place!" "Sure" she said, "and thanks again".

*****

She had been trying to catch that rat for days. It scurried out from its hole under a root at the edge of the yard and across the expanse of brown-green grass in the general direction of trash stored in the garage that evening. She had been waiting for him, this plump little rodent, and she wondered if tonight might finally be the night that she would have him.

A brisk wind rustled the few remaining leaves on the branch next to her and the rat paused in his journey, his little red eyes searching the tree above him. Unfortunately, for the rat, his field of vision was not very large and thus did not extend to the reaches of the tree where the great barn owl perched waiting to catch her dinner.

The rat shrugged to himself and continued his scurry across the yard, over fallen leaves, along tree roots and patches of dead grass following the heavenly sent from the garage. Hunger clawed at her belly. It had been days without a satisfying catch, but she had a feeling tonight things would end differently.

*****

Back in her car, she carefully folded her copy of the lease and tucked it into an inner zippered pocket inside her purse. She turned the key in the ignition as tears streamed silently down her face, took a deep breath and stepped on the gas.

*****

Saliva pooled in her mouth as she peered down at the rat as he attempted to finish his scurry across the yard. She could see its little pink nose twitching and his long whiskers fluttering as he approached his destination. She plumped her wings and stretched one leg, readying herself for flight.

Feeling eyes upon him, the rat once again paused and looked in the direction of her tree, then resumed his journey. She leaned to the left, watching, and slowly stretched out her other leg.

*****

The woman at wheel simultaneously lamented her situation and tried to come up with a plan of escape as she began the long ride home that evening. brrrrriiinnnnngggg. brrrrriiiinnnnggg.

"Hi" she answered, wiping with one hand at her nose and taking a deep breath.

"How’s it going? Did you sign the lease?" her friend asked.

"It’s going awful, but yes I did sign the lease", she replied, "I'm driving back now. Thanks for taking the kids tonight."

"No problem. Everyone is settled in and tucked up tight. Don't worry about the kids" then added, "It was great that you brought some boxes over to my house this week, but now we really just need to get YOU out of there, you are not safe"

"I know" the woman said, and she really did mean it.

The fights had been becoming more frequently, even when the woman tried her best to keep them from happening. The criticisms, the comments, the screaming and yelling. Objects thrown at her, spit in her face. She had to call the cops the week before, that bruise was still healing, and the stress for everyone in house seemed to simply be mounting. "At this point its only a matter of time before someone gets hurt, ends up in jail, or worse. It’s just.... I can't believe this is where we are now. I can't believe this is how this ends" she finished with a sob.

*****

The owl pointed her beak in the direction on her prey, leaned forward on her branch, and leapt into the air. Her speckled wings spread wide as she soared, silently toward the ground. Eyes locked on the rat she swooped quickly toward him. The rat, unaware he was in danger, continued following his nose.

*****

As she neared the house she checked her eyes in the rear view mirror to see if it still looked as if she had been crying. She blew her nose in a napkin, and with one hand tried to tidy her messy hair. He thought she had been out taking a friend to a doctor’s appointment. Taking a deep breath, she turned into the driveway and pulled into the garage.

*****

Headlights flashed a pool of light into the yard, illuminating the scene. The rat, surprised, blinked and upon opening his eyes saw sharp talons just above his head. Ducking to avoid becoming dinner, he scurried along the foundation looking for a place to hide.

The owl, startled by the light and the rat’s sudden change of course, landed briefly on the ground. Then quickly soared up to perch on the roof.

Lucky little Rat, thought the owl as she watched him squeeze into the garage through a small hole in between two cedar shingles. Her hunger and frustration took hold and she cried out. Her banshee cries echoed through the night sky as she took flight once again. Swooping in wide circles around the garage, she began looking for a way in. Her calls letting the rat know she was out there. Still watching. Still waiting. Still hungry. Still hunting.

*****

Distracted the woman didn't notice the owl's call. She didn't notice the rat huddled between the wall and the trash can. All she knew was that she was home and about to face the most terrifying night of her life. Steadying herself with another series of deep breaths, the woman exited the garage and walked slowly up the path toward the house.

*****

The owl used this exact moment to swoop, unobserved, above the woman's head and into the garage. She found herself on the top rung of a ladder, which was perched against the wall. She surveyed the interior, scanning for the offending rat. After some minutes she spotted him, greedily munching on bits of trash he had pulled from a hole in the can.

*****

"Hey. I'm home", the woman called into the darkness of the house.

"I'm upstairs", called her mate.

"I'm going to start dinner", she said. Putting down her purse and turning on the kitchen lights, she added, "It's chicken tonight. Just you and me. The kids are staying over at a friend's house".

"Sounds good,” he replied, "I'm just finishing up this report and then I will be down".

To hear us now, she thought to herself, you would never imagine anything was wrong.

*****

Now, she thought to herself, it's time. Fixated only on quelling her hunger, the owl entered predator mode. Silently she hovered her way over to the rat's side. In an instant, she had him caught in her clutches. Then she feasted, heartily.

******

They ate together that night. And watched TV. She acted like nothing was wrong. Her heart was breaking, but if she acted like something was wrong they would have to talk about it, and talking about never went well, which was one reason why she was leaving.

She felt like a liar. To have lied about where she was and what she was doing earlier that night, and now to act like everything was fine, when her whole world was shattering. He was unpredictable these days, though, and she had no idea how he would react if he knew she was actually leaving him.

So they ate together and they watched TV, and they went to sleep that night as if nothing was wrong.

******

With her hunger now abated, the owl realized she a new problem. She was trapped. She had walked around, almost human-like, for sometime now trying to find a way out. She had flown around the space, up into the rafters looking for an escape. She had poked her head into every nook and cranny she could find and had been unable to find a hole large enough to squeeze through.

Panicked, she had even spread her wings wide and tried flying at the window hoping to break through, but she was unsuccessful. Returning to her perch on the ladder, she tucked her face into her wing feathers and tried to calm down.

******

He was asleep. He snored, his leg twitched once, twice, then stopped. Now, she thought, its time.

As quietly as possible she rolled out of bed, stood up and grabbed clothes hamper she had stuffed full earlier that day. Carrying it out of the room, she paused when she reached the living room. Her heart was pounding so hard, she was afraid he would hear it. She sat on the couch, and waiting to see if he would stir.

If he wakes up, I can just say I was having trouble sleeping and came out here instead.

She waited a few minutes. It seemed she hadn't disturbed him.

Quickly, she carried her hamper down the stairs and placed it by the front door. Then she repeated this process with the children's hampers.

Sweat dripped down her face and she felt short of breath. She sat for a moment by the front door and prayed that he didn't wake up.

Gathering her courage, she opened the front door as quietly as possible, and placed each clothes hamper outside. She grabbed her coat and her keys, closed and locked the door behind her.

Quickly, she thought to herself, if he wakes up now, he won't find me right away, but I need to be fast.

Almost silently she entered the garage and put each hamper inside. Then she quietly closed the door behind her. She and opened hatch and placed each hamper into the car. Then she climbed in herself.

Thinking only about getting away now, she turned the key the ignition and pushed the button to open the garage door.

Crrreeeeakkkk, cathummp, cattthuump. Why hadn't I thought about the garage door and how loud that is! Silently she berated herself for forgetting this small detail. She put the car into reverse and pulled out of the garage. *******

A loud noise woke the owl who was perched on top of the ladder. The owl stared out from her perch into the starry night. She must have fallen asleep for a moment. Wait, starry night?, she thought. It was in that moment the owl realized the garage door was open and she could make her escape. She swooped out over the car and out of the garage.

******

The woman looked out in the starry night and up at the bright moon in front of her as she put the car into drive and pulled out onto the street. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she thought about all she had endured over the last six years.

She thought about all the joy and love, all the tears and frustration, all the pain and suffering. She cried for all that she had lost and for all of her pain. She cried for her children, for the ways in which she had failed them and the ways in which others had failed them. She cried for all that he had lost and for all his pain too.

She cried, but she drove, and as she drove she thought she saw an owl swoop across the face of the moon.