The Owl

Once upon a time a on a family farm just east of Omaha Nebraska, The Stephenson's sat around a campfire as they did each Sunday evening. Rain or shine, this was their longstanding tradition. They'd tell stories, talk about their week, and pray for one another's week ahead. This was sacred time, and no matter what, the entire family would make it to their Sunday evening campfire.

But one chilly evening as the fire roared, Ole granddad was nowhere to be seen. This was the first time in over 40 years that someone hadn't been on time for the campfire.

Fearing something terrible might have happened to Ole granddad, Billy picked up his hatchet and made his way to the overgrown path that cut through the woods towards the farm house.

Something felt different in the air, and the unusual hooting of the owls in the trees above made Billy believe that something was amiss. "Ole granddad" Billy shouted, as he walked through the woods, but there was no response, other than the owls.

The thick canopy of trees had made the woods almost pitch black, and Billy began to feel his panic set in. Although he'd walked this path thousands of times, for the first time he began to lose his sense of direction.

Each step he took felt like two steps in the wrong direction, so eventually Billy sat down on the ground to try and refocus.

It was at that moment that Billy felt an intense sharp pain on the right side of his head. An owl had quietly began pecking through his ear to eat his brain.

Losing consciousness, Billy tried swatting the owl away but it was too late. The owl had essentially eaten his entire brain, leaving only a few scraps that the crows would find the following morning.

Meanwhile, at the campfire, the rest of the Stephenson's began to worry that now both Ole granddad and Billy were nowhere to be seen, so Uncle Isaac decided to go look for them. It didn't take him long to find Billy, who lay withering in agony on the ground. "What the hell happened to you?!," screamed Uncle Issac, but Billy could no longer speak. But then an owl appeared from the tree - it's beak dripping with blood and brain matter.

"Ole granddad, is that you?", asked Uncle Isaac.

"How did you know?," chuckled Ole granddad, as owl feathers began falling off his body.

Uncle Isaac had once seen Ole granddad pluck the feathers and beak off an owl, gluing it to himself - an owl fetish not uncommon in the Stephenson family.

Uncle Isaac and Ole granddad laughed about the incident as they both made their way out of the woods and back to the campfire.

The End.