The Fifth Season

CHAPTER FOUR: A CHANGE IS COMING

SNOH

            "I said shoo!" I puckered my lips tightly against my face, my eyebrows followed suit as I waved my hands dramatically in front of me in an attempt to get this owl away from me. The white owl continued to stare at me as if my adamancy about it leaving were doing nothing but disturbing its peace; his reaction was that of an observant creature waiting for the right moment to attack.

                  "Go away!" I called out.

                  The owl's stare probed deeper into me, its liquid gold eyes had a center like a grandfather clock ticking back and forth, a constant and steady movement. I continued standing there trading glances with the bird before I abruptly pulled my curtain closed, the only shield stopping the animal from peering any further into my private space. Once I thought enough time had passed, I ripped the curtain back once more and purely shocked, found that the owl was still standing against the windowsill peering at me with those scrutinizing eyes.

                  "What do you want from me, huh?" I called out to it knowing full and well that it could not understand the language of Wialuite. The owl cocked its head at an unusual angle the moment I asked that; the gesture frightened me due to the flexibility of its neck. How can it move it around like that so flawlessly? I watched as its little feet scurried back and forth on the edge of where my window laid almost anxiously as if it were anticipating something.

                  Maybe he wanted food? Owls were like regular Wysterian creatures, right?

                  I want nothing in particular from you. Though I would request that you refrain from shouting, you look quite unfavorable when you do so.

                  I felt my heart stop in my chest.

                  Instinctively, I reached up to touch where it lay and found that it was beating—incredibly fast if I do say so myself. Did that owl just speak to me?

                  And telepathically at that? Its mouth made no movement as if it were speaking to me, but its eyes were focused heavily on me as if he were caring about a conversation with me.

                  No! No, it didn't.

                  I had to just be losing my mind at this point! As a matter of fact, perhaps I haven't gotten enough rest these past few days with all that has been happening. I may have just imagined that an animal—a creature was replying to a question that I posed it! I chuckled crazily to myself and ran my hand through my streaked hair in complete bafflement.

                  "I need rest," I muttered to myself.

                  Certainly, you do, you have a constant habit of tossing and turning in bed. It's a wonder how you have enough energy to go about your day. The voice reappeared in my head, the posh and very structured nature of it made it sound as if a regular Wysterian man was speaking to me, but I knew there was no one around but me and that owl, stunned, I looked back at the bird with wide eyes.

                  "Why are you talking?" I asked it.

                  The owl turned its head back to a normal position though his eyes remained purely focused on me. Because I can. That was all he said before he flew off of my window and disappeared into the dark sky. I continued looking for the owl minutes after it had left but to no avail, it really had departed.

                  "Well, I did ask it to leave," I said before shutting my curtains.

                  I slowly shuffled my feet over to my bed, too surprised by the odd occurrence to find sleep; there was no way that anyone would believe me if I told them this. As far as I was concerned, people couldn't talk to animals—not even elementists! Sprites had a variation of communication with animals, but it was never on the level of having full-blown conversations with them, it was more so that they could "sense" their emotions, needs, and wants thus making their interaction a lot more pleasant.