Aneira felt surprisingly safe for someone who had just met a talking owl, climbed on its back and was flying for the first time at night – in the DARK!
“Not bad, is it?” called Mrs O over her wing.
“It’s wonderful,” beamed Aneira.
From Mrs O’s back she gazed upwards and to either side and even though she was surrounded by the dark, the thing that she was most scared of, it didn’t feel scary at all. It just felt… brilliant.
“So why don’t you like the Moon, dear?”
“Oh,” said Aneira, surprised. “I do like the Moon.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want the Moon and that’s why it went out?”
Aneira could see why that would give Mrs O the wrong idea.
“Well, yes, I did say that but it was only because of my night light not working. I normally have it on every night, it makes the shape of stars on the ceiling and it makes my room brighter so I can see into all the dark corners where things might hide,” explained Aneira.
“Oh dear,” said a surprised Mrs O. “What things have you found hidden in the corners of your bedroom?”
“Well… I’ve never actually found anything hiding before. I guess it’s just where things… could hide,” said Aneira.
“We owls have good eyesight in the dark as long as things aren’t too close, so when we get back I could check the corners of your room to see if anything is hiding if you like, dear,” said Mrs O.
“You can see in the dark? Is it from eating loads of carrots?”
Mrs O chuckled at that. “Carrots?”
“Yes, my mum says that eating carrots helps you see in the dark,” explained Aneira.
“We don’t eat carrots, dear, and I wouldn’t like to disagree with your mother but I’m not sure that is scientifically correct,” said Mrs O.
Aneira nodded, it made a lot of sense as she’d been eating carrots all her life and she definitely couldn’t see any better in the dark.
They didn’t talk for a bit after that but it didn’t feel awkward like when she was at lunch with some of the girls at school and she couldn’t hear what they were saying because of all the noise in the canteen. It was a nice not talking bit of time.
“Mrs O, you said you knew someone who could help us?”
“Ah yes, apologies my dear, I should tell you where we are going, shouldn’t I! I am taking you to the Owl Parliament to speak to our very wise owl leader who we call, well, Wise Owl. I am sure she will know how to bring the Moon back,” explained Mrs O.
Wise Owl and the Owl Parliament all sounded very important which made Aneira a little worried. After all, she was still just wearing her pyjamas.
“Oh. Well, we do need to know how to bring the Moon back but will Wise Owl be mad at me for turning it off?”
“Don’t worry dear, Wise Owl is very wise, calm and always speaks very slowly so she never gets angry. Or if she is angry, she’s probably forgotten by the time she gets to the end of her sentence. It can be a little slow getting things done though. Once one of the young owlets accidentally fell on her head in the middle of a parliament meeting and she wasn’t angry at all, although she didn’t speak for an hour,” said Mrs O.
“Well, I will make sure I don’t fall on her head then, just in case,” said Aneira firmly.
Mrs O chuckled and nodded at that.
They glided over a forest and it looked like the rows of trees went on forever. Looking at the forest from above made Aneira think of a furry sea and she tried to imagine all the animals that were scurrying around in the furry darkness beneath them.
“Mrs O, will there be other owls at the Owl Parliament?”
“Yes dear, there will be other owls there. We meet most nights and anyone who has anything to ask Wise Owl will be there waiting to hear her advice. It takes rather a long time so hopefully they will let us jump the queue,” explained Mrs O. “I usually nap whilst I am waiting.”
They flew over a hilly area and Aneira spotted a river splitting the sea of trees in two.
“This is the forest of the Owl Parliament,” said Mrs O after they had crossed the river. “Do you see that very large old tree in the distance?”
Aneira could see one tree that was taller and larger than the rest. It was poking its head above the others.
“That tree is hundreds of years old, dear. It is where we meet each night and where our Owl Parliament has always met. It’s also where I have had some excellent naps,” said Mrs O.
Aneira still didn’t understand exactly what an Owl Parliament was and why they had to meet in a very old tree but it didn’t seem a very good time to ask. Mrs O said they asked Wise Owl advice so maybe it was a bit like asking her favourite teacher, Mrs Allen, for help with her homework, although she was pretty sure owls didn’t have homework.
“Once we land, stay still and I will explain why we are here,” said Mrs O. “Hopefully they will let us jump to the front of the queue for Wise Owl’s time.”
“OK,” said a very nervous Aneira as the very large, very tall tree got closer and closer.
The tree’s branches were huge. They spread out at different heights like a very tall building with lots of different levels. Mrs O flew into the darkness of the tree and Aneira felt a jolt as they landed on one of its huge branches. She blinked a few times to help her eyes adjust. If anything, it was even darker in the tree than it had been in the night sky. She remembered what she had been told and stayed still as Mrs O began to hoot their arrival.
Up until then Mrs O had only spoken, so hearing her hoot was a bit of a shock. It was even more of a shock when Aneira heard other hoots replying to her from the tree’s darkness.
Once the hooting stopped, two yellow eyes appeared in front of them, then two more above them and then all of a sudden everywhere she looked there seemed to be pairs of yellow eyes staring at them. Aneira tightened her grip on Mrs O and buried her head in Mrs O’s feathers for safety. This is exactly what she had imagined was hiding in the darkness of her bedroom.
Aneira could hear more muffled hooting from around her and she was suddenly worried that she hadn’t brought her hearing aids and wouldn’t be able to hear the Owl Parliament at all. Just as she was beginning to panic, she heard a chuckle and then a careful but strong voice said:
“Welcome.”
Just like with Mrs O, it was as if the voice was coming from inside Aneira’s head and she could hear the words perfectly. It would be so much easier if humans could speak this way too, then she wouldn’t feel so left out all the time. She lifted her head from Mrs O’s back and saw that hanging lanterns had now been lit and were dangling from every available tree branch, giving the old tree a friendly glow. Aneira admired the tree’s red-brown bark and flat cloud-shaped leaves. She gazed down and could see layers of branches beneath them with even more lanterns and green leaves sprouting from them. It was quite a beautiful tree. Then she noticed the owls. All around them on the large tree branches were rows and rows of different coloured owls. At the centre of the tree, in a hollow in its trunk, sat a very large and very old-looking owl. The owl must have been twice the size of Mrs O and its feathers were grey in places. On its head it had a crown of leaves and berries like it was the queen of the forest.
“I’d like you to meet Wise Owl,” said Mrs O.