Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land (18 page)

“However, there are some owls out there that
will take joy in making you feel bad about yourself. I will tell
you a story about the day when I found out how to overcome what
bullies would throw at me.”

“This story takes place when I had just
become a nestling. It was also the time when your uncle Kenyei was
hatched from his egg. I still had plenty of fun with Molea,
although at this time she could prove to be as annoying as Kenyei
was during the times when the other story had taken place in.”

“I was not nervous, but as excited as I had
ever been with the thought of breathing in the fresh air that
remained outside of your grandparents’ hollow. I always wondered
how different it would have looked, smelled, and felt to be part of
the outside world.”

“The moment I set my talon on the ground, I
felt a jolt of excitement go throughout my entire body. I slowly
pushed myself one step at a time, taking many looks at the forest
that surrounded me. I saw many creatures—called squirrels—that
stood on the branches of the reddish trees that they called their
homes.”

“At the time of the year when this was
happening, it was normal for special plants—called leaves—to fall
from the trees after changing colors. The leaves change into so
many colors—like green, brown, orange, yellow, and even some with a
red or purple tinge.”

“As I continued to take glances toward my
surroundings, I soon stopped paying attention to what stood in
front of me. I realized too late that there was another snowy my
age who was also paying no attention to where he was going. We
nearly ran into each other—but thankfully a rough breeze brushed
past us. As the breeze brought me back to my senses, I noticed my
beak only a very short distance from his.”

“I slowly backed away from him when I
realized how close I had come from knocking him over.”

“‘H-hi,’ he shyly said to me. I do not know
where this boy is now, but he had the highest-pitched male
voice—next to yours—that I have ever heard. Unfortunately, he
talked very little because he was born with a speech problem.”

“‘Hello, I’m Sahemawia,’ I told the young
boy.”

“‘I—a-a-am—Al-Al-Alar,’ he replied.”

“This is when I met your father. He was the
same age as both Alar and me—but he himself was the bully in this
situation, unfortunately. He and two other older owls came up to us
shortly after I had just started talking to Alar.”

“‘What is I’m-terrible-at-talking doing here?
Why don’t you go back to your home? By your home I mean your
rock
!’ Your father and his friends began to laugh at Alar.
It seemed to me that he must have met Alar before.”

“Why was Father being so mean to Alar?” asked
Leyoht, the question scratching at his mind.

“Unfortunately, some people will take joy in
making other owls feel bad about their selves.” Sahemawia gave a
sigh and continued the story after a pause. “Only a short time of
the laughter took place before I decided to step in and stand up
for Alar. ‘Stop it!’ I yelled at your father.”

“‘Why would we do that?’ your father asked.
‘I just can’t help myself. I think the more important thing for me
to say is to tell you to
back off
!’”

“I tried to run away when your father walked
toward me with his wings stretching outwards. Just when I felt
frozen in place, I felt his wings push against my chest, which made
me fall back.”

“At first I thought the outside would be
filled with nothing but wonders—and I was right. It was a wonder
why anybody would make fun of another because they were born with a
problem that they couldn’t control. It was a wonder why your father
had had any friends at the time.”

“Looking up at your father, I noticed he and
his friends smirking at me. Although I tried to hold it back, tears
started leaking from my eyes. This only gave them the satisfaction
to stay with us even longer.”

“‘I bet you don’t even have a father to take
care of your speech problem!’ your father teased Alar. Using his
tongue as well as he could, Alar stood up for both me
and
himself. ‘A-re-are you s-sure th-th-that is not your
pro-problem-m?’ he asked.”

“Your father’s eyes widened as he put an
angry look on his face. ‘Hey! You shut up!’ your father
yelled.”

Leyoht looked up at his mother at hearing the
two words which he had been told never to say at his current age.
“Sorry. Don’t say that. I am also surprised your father was able to
say that without covering his beak after he said it.”

“Alar and I exchanged nervous glances. For a
reason we did not know at the time, your father looked as if he
were going to explode. His anger did make an explosion when he told
Alar and me to leave and never return.”

“Since we were very young, we couldn’t fly
away—but we could only run away. When I felt my fear slowly fading
away, Alar told me something inaudible. It was only after a few
seconds after he said this when I found out that he wanted me to
follow him—so I did.”

“Alar took me to his hollow, where I met his
parents. They were both very kind snowies, but I forget their
names. I could also tell that Alar most certainly did
not
live in a rock, but that he was one of the few snowies that had a
family who found it more comforting to live in a tree.”

“After meeting Alar’s parents, we both made
our way to a corner in the hollow where we peacefully became
friends. ‘Let’s not try to be mean to him again,; I begged him once
we made it to the corner.”

“Alar glanced at me when he stuttered,
‘B-b-but it wa-was th-the on-only way to make him f-feel gui-lty
for wh-what he d-d-did.’ I put a confused look on my face when he
said this. At first I wasn’t sure what he meant, but then I
understood what he was trying to tell me.”

“The lesson here is that some owls will often
make fun of you for having something bad in your life, which is
often how they cover up the negativity in their own lives. At your
age, they’re not so good at covering these kinds of things up when
you talk to them about it. When you are older, however, the bullies
you meet will only make fun of you more when you remark the
negative truths about their selves.”

Leyoht let out a huge yawn before he
collapsed on his mother’s breast, sleep plaguing his thoughts. It
seemed as if he had just awakened only a few heartbeats ago; but
here he was falling asleep in the mist of his mother’s feathery
plumage.

Turning her head over to her son, Sahemawia
began to yearn for the days when
she
had been at that age.
She fought the urge to fall asleep, as she was well-aware of what
work would need to be done throughout the day ahead of her.

--

Many, many days had passed since the first
day Leyoht had caught sight of the many older owlets lurking
outside. It had seemed forever since he had first taken a glimpse
of the world outside his hollow tree. Since then, he had felt his
strength, senses, and intelligence grow stronger with every passing
heartbeat.

Once awakened from his sleep, Leyoht jumped
out from his nest in a rush of excitement, nearly waking his
parents up. His excitement removed from his body the ability to
remain still for a single heartbeat. He felt as if he would
mentally collapse at that moment, as he couldn’t make his way
outside until his parents had awoken.

Since the day he had first learned how to
speak, Leyoht’s body had undergone many various changes. From what
he could tell, the biggest and most noticeable change was the
change in his size—growing from the tiny hatchling he once was
until he had become a creature over half the size of his mother.
Another change he noticed how some of the down around his face and
wings had been covered up by feathers.

After what seemed like many days, the excited
owlet took sight of his father’s eyes opening up. At this sight, he
hopped over to a spot just behind his parents as he fought the urge
to shake his father awake.

Stretching one of his wings out, Leyoht
tapped his awakening father when he whispered, “Father? Are you
still awake?”

Shaking his ruffled feathers, Ulpheir blinked
himself awake before turning his head to take sight of his son
standing behind him. Yawning, he replied, “Yes—I’m awake.” He gave
another blink before pushing himself out of the nest.

Once he found himself standing outside of the
nest’s barriers, Ulpheir walked his way over to the edge of the
hollow tree and wrapped his talons curved around the rim of the
opening. Leyoht came just behind his father, a look of curiosity
flashing across his face. He took a sudden look up at his father,
asking himself,
What’s he going to do?

Ulpheir sighed just before telling Leyoht, “I
know what you’re thinking about, Leyoht.”

Before another word could be spoken, Leyoht
blurted out, “Can I
please
come with you?”

A pause occurred until Ulpheir sighed once
again, “I wish I could, but I can’t take you outside
right
now! You haven’t even had anything to eat yet.”

Looking down at his feet, Leyoht mumbled,
“Okay.” A spark of hope flashing in his mind, his head came back up
when he asked his father, “Can you get something for mother and me
to eat, please?”

Chuckling, Ulpheir raised his wings into the
air when he replied, “That’s just what I was getting to.” Without
another word, he gave his wings a great flap as he launched himself
into the air. Once he took sight of a bright, orange son rising
over the horizon, he took a look over his shoulder when he cried
out, “I’ll get back as quickly as I can!”

His father’s voice ringing in his ears,
Leyoht sighed as he turned around. Slowly did he stalk his way up
to his nest, staring down at his feet all the while. It was with
his sleeping mother where he would make an attempt at falling back
asleep.

A jolt of surprise surged through his blood
when he flicked his gaze upwards and caught sight of his mother now
awake. “Good morning, Leyoht,” she a greeted him, a collapsing
smile showing on her beak. Leyoht noticed her let out a sigh as she
gave a pensive blink.

Almost instantly could he tell something had
been bothering her. Before his mother could utter another single
word, Leyoht broke the discomfort when he asked, “What’s
wrong?”

A confused look on her face, Sahemawia asked,
“What are you—” The question came to an end when she gave a sigh
and confessed, “You’re right; something is wrong with me.”

Worry taking over his thoughts, Leyoht heard
his mother ask, “How has your morning been so far?”

His look of confusion still locked onto his
face, Leyoht replied, “It’s—been okay.”

After a short pause of silence, Sahemawia
remarked, “I’ve seen how you’ve been doing all day, Leyoht.”
Stepping out of the nest, she explained, “You woke me up when you
came out of the nest earlier. I tried to fall back asleep, but you
kept on fidgeting with excitement.”

“I also witnessed the whole conversation
between you and your father,” Sahemawia muttered. “It makes me feel
slightly guilty that I can’t simply let you outside on your own
right now. The problem there worsens when I realize that I would
feel even worse if I
did
let you go outside right now.”

“What’s the problem with me going outside
right now?” Leyoht asked.

“If you did go outside without eating first,
you would grow tired
very
easily. If you don’t have enough
energy inside of you, it will be hard to survive in the outside
world during these cold times. That’s why I’m surprised that your
father goes out to get us something to eat once he wakes up. It’s
very brave of him.”

Another pause coming between the two,
Sahemawia took a look down at her feet as she continued on her
explanation. “When I was your age, I tried to sneak through my
parent’s hollow as well as I could. Fortunately for me, I was
caught and stopped just in time. If I weren’t caught in time,
there’s a chance that I wouldn’t be here with you right now.”

Shocked by these words, Leyoht nearly took a
step back in fear. A tear nearly escaped from his eye when
Sahemawia clarified, “The world is much more dangerous than you may
think, Leyoht. If you aren’t prepared for what’s ahead of you, you
most likely won’t survive.”

These words sparked a gust of silence to blow
its way into the hollow as thoughts of dread entered Leyoht’s mind.
He couldn’t understand the same world which had given so much could
have also taken away everything he had once known. Holding back his
emotions, Leyoht gave a massive sigh.

In his storm of dismay, Leyoht’s thoughts
were interrupted when the sound of claws scratching against wood
stung his ears. Along with it was brought the scent of blood and
fur. Turning his head, he took sight of his father at the edge of
the hollow with a lemming in his beak.

Panting, Ulpheir removed the lemming from his
beak when he mumbled, “I told you I would be back as quickly as I
could.” As another series of panting passed, he continued, “You can
both have this.”

“Thanks,” Sahemawia praised as her mate laid
the prey on the hollow’s floor. She noticed the blood from the
lemming seeping a scarlet stain into the floors on which she
walked.

To help put an end to this leaking, she
lifted the lemming off from the ground as droplets of blood
continued to drip onto her floor. Slightly disgusted by the dead
animal’s appearance, she closed her eyes as her beak made its way
through the lemming’s flesh.

Hopping over by his mother’s side, Leyoht
exchanged glances between the deceased lemming and his mother’s
gaze. Anxiety rushing through his blood with a jolt, he nervously
whispered into his mother’s ear, “Once I’m finished eating,
then
can I go outside?”

A momentary smile flashed upon her face
before Sahemawia gave a quick nod and replied, “Sure.”