A Lesson For Owlets

A bright ball of light gleamed above the tree in the sky, forcing Flutter to squint his eyes. His wings flapped slightly as he sat up in the small, sturdy nest that balanced in the crevice of two large branches. Willow, Flutter’s sister, squeaked when he accidentally whacked her in the face and sat up as well.

“Rude!” she squawked at him, glaring.

“Sorry…” he replied quietly, tucking his wings in tighter. Flutter looked around at the lush green leaves surrounding them, which rustled quietly in the breeze. His stomach growled as he reminded himself of his hunger, and he stretched out his wings, careful to avoid Willow’s face this time. Flutter chirped loudly, calling for his mother, who was likely out hunting, since she had a lot of mouths to feed. His father sat on a branch nearby, watching over the owlets. Flutter noticed something different in his gaze today, as if waiting for something in excitement.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Flutter spotted his mom flying back. She held a large squirrel in her talons. Usually, she would glide right up to the nest and tear off pieces of food for him and Willow to eat, but today she swooped down towards the forest floor and dropped the prey at the roots of the tree. Flutter watched with wide eyes as she flew back up, claws now empty.

“Are you guys hungry?” she asked, her beak tinted red from the hunt. Flutter and Willow nodded vigorously in response. “Then go get it,” their mother replied, gesturing towards the dead squirrel at the foot of their tree. Flutter peered over the edge of the nest cautiously, eyeing the delicious rodent.

“But how? We’re so far up from-” before he could finish, Willow pushed past him and leaped off the nest, her wings fluttering wildly to slow her fall. In the process, the force of her sudden jump caused the nest to tip over, bringing Flutter down with it. He squawked in surprise, fear leaping up in his stomach as he fell from the tree and hit the ground hard. Flutter lay there for a few seconds, his heart thudding wildly like a startled animal against his ribcage. Suddenly, Willow hopped around him towards the squirrel, and he sat up before making his way towards the food. The two owlets tore apart the squirrel, copying what their mother did, and ate up the rodent ravenously as their parents watched from above. After all that was left were bones and fur, Flutter stepped back and began to clean his feathers, while Willow hopped around on the ground curiously, pecking at bugs in the dirt.

Everything seemed fine until realization slowly dawned on Flutter. “Uh… Willow?” he squeaked. His sister looked up at him with an annoyed glare.

“What do you want?”

“How are we going to get back up?”

For once, Willow didn’t have a snarky response to his question; she only turned to gaze up at the tree where their two parents were staring from. His mother stared back with an intense gaze.

“Fly.” That was all she said, as if one word was all it took. Flutter blinked up at her and slowly lifted his wings and flapped them ever so slightly. Willow took a different approach and started to climb the tree with her talons, flapping her wings wildly to maintain balance. Flutter was about to follow, until he saw his father swoop down when Willow reached the first branch and blocked her path.

“Not climb, fly. Like an owl,” he snapped, spreading his wings to stop her from climbing further. Willow sighed and slid back down to the grass. Flutter looked around and then backed up to the tree. He hopped around a little, waving his wings in an attempt to lift off the ground. Willow looked at him like he was crazy. Embarrassed, Flutter folded his wings back and looked away. He thought for a second, then remembered watching his parents take off into flight. They always leaped off of something higher, so maybe that will help him?

Without a second thought, Flutter scrambled up a nearby fallen tree, which was short enough to climb on and tall enough to jump off. He took a deep breath and leaped off, beating his wings as fast as he could. For a few seconds, he glided smoothly above the forest floor before crash-landing into a bush full of spiky thorns. Flutter yelped as berry thorns pricked his wings and jabbed through his feathers, and he writhed to get out of the vines. Willow ran over and hauled him out of the thorny bush and dropped him heavily as soon as he got out.

“You mouse-brain,” she chirped, plucking out the thorns in his tail.

“Maybe we need a higher structure?” he suggested, standing up again.

“How about that square nest the humans live in?” Willow asked, looking around for the object. Flutter nodded in agreement and the two started making their way towards the human nest, their parents flying over them to keep watch of any dangers. Once the pair reached the human nest, Flutter looked around for a way to get up and found that the walls were climbable, so he dug in his claws and started heaving himself up.

“Come on, Willow!” he called, and Willow clawed up after him. They reached the very top of the nest, sitting back to catch their breath. “Okay, we’re at the top now. We need to jump and flap our wings like mom and dad do.”

Willow gave him an annoyed look, then sighed. “I guess you’re right. For the first time,” she muttered. Flutter turned back to the edge of the nest, gazing out at the tree he hatched in. I can do it. He told himself, and gathered his strength before leaping off the nest, and opened his wings. Flutter thrashed them desperately and found himself high above the ground.

“I’m doing it! I’m flyi-” SMACK! Flutter was so caught up in his excitement that he forgot that he was heading straight towards a tree, and ended up slamming face-first into a thick branch. He lost balance and started to fall towards the earth, his wings flailing uncontrollably. Just as he was about to hit the ground, something fluffy swooped below him and cushioned his fall. Willow dove down underneath him and stopped him from hitting the forest floor.

“Got you! Now get off you great lump, you’re heavier than you look,” Willow squawked, wriggling out from underneath him. Flutter shook out his feathers.

“Thanks, Willow,” he replied, plucking at a loose feather. He looked up and found his parents gliding down from their lookout place, landing smoothly in front of the two owlets.

“Nice job kiddos. You did pretty good for your first try,” his father hooted. His mother nodded in agreement, and Flutter puffed out his chest proudly. He felt happier than ever, and was proud of himself, too. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow above the sky. Flutter was accomplished with one of the most important life skills an owl needed to reach adulthood, and despite his sore beak, he felt glad he tried his best.