The Owl

Old Woman Solstice keeps company with Felicity, a Snowy White Owl. The owl comes and goes as she pleases for she is wild and answers to no one. She is not a messenger nor does she guide. And, although she does present herself at times bespectacled and studious, she is not particularly wise. In fact, as far as owl chronology goes, Old Solstice's Owl is rather young and has much to learn. Felicity is to Old Woman Solstice what dogs are to humans, her best friend.

Old Solstice found her one frosty day when she was out foraging for berries and pine cones. A small patch of snow was swirling and flurrying about, which upon close inspection, was actually a baby Snowy White Owl that had fallen from a nest. The little owl waved her tiny wings valiantly but to no avail. The wings were a bit heavy with melted snow and the baby muscles were not yet trained to lift and fly from danger. Though she must have been in pain, the owl did not cry out. Only the frantic waving of her wings signaled her panic and distress.

"There, there." Old Woman Solstice whispered soothingly. "Let me take a look at you, little one".

But the little owl, too young to have ever seen an Old Woman, beat her little wings faster till she felt her heart would pop. Old Solstice's eyes followed up the trunk of the tall Pine scrutinizing each branch searching for a nest. And, yes, there was one, but the red stains and mess of feathers were tell-tale signs that someone had shot the owl's mama.

Old Solstice took pity on the sweet little thing and endured many pecks of the sharp little beak before she managed to wrap the baby owl in her wooly shawl. Once her eyes were covered, the little owl huddled as if in a trance in the warmth of Old Solstice's bosom. The Old Woman cooed and clucked the whole way back to her stone cottage, her heavy black boots leaving deep imprints in the snow.

Once safe inside the stone cottage, Old Solstice unwrapped her little bundle. The baby owl's eyes look like amber buttons set in a fine feathery gown. The walk in the Old Woman's arms had calmed the baby owl's heart so that she now looked all around the cottage moving nothing but her neck. It was the last thing her mother had said,

 "Remember, Felicity, first look all around you. Take time to assess a situation."

 Her mother was patiently explaining the way of Owls when, in an instant the strange and foul shock - her mama exploding in into a puff of feathers, a blast so powerful it had knocked her little body off the nest. The baby owl shuddered and closed her eyes.

Old Woman Solstice let the little creature rest on her shawl in a warm spot upon a shelf above her bed. She continued to coo and cluck as she made herself ready for sleep. She tended the fire and banked the ashes well so they'd have enough warmth for the night.

"Good night, pure one." She murmured and closing her eyes, feel right to sleep.

At the break of dawn, Old Solstice felt a tickle on her nose. In the early morning light she screwed open one eye and saw a downy bundle on her breast rise and fall, rise and fall, with every breath.

This was how Old Woman Solstice and the Snowy White Owl came quite literally to be bosom buddies.