Owloween
VII
OCTOBER 29
The next morning I was up earlier than normal and went down into the kitchen to get some cereal. It was in the 20s that day and bitterly cold. Grandpa Joseph was sitting at the table eating oatmeal and reading a book. Normally he read the paper, but I guess they weren’t delivering.
-Are we going into town, I asked him.
-I don’t think so.
-What? Why not?
-The military has a lot of clean up to do and I don’t think we should get in their way.
-But what about finding the owls? Don’t you want to do that?
-I think it’s best if we leave the authorities up to it.
-But you’re the mayor.
Grandpa Joseph put his spoon down. It was rare for me to challenge him. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I did. I usually had more on my mind than challenging Grandpa Joseph, and he was always so kind and nice to me that I never felt the need. But I had the urge to go into town and figure out what was happening. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know.
-Buffalo, said Grandpa Joseph, we’ve neglected things out here for too long. I’ve gotten up and tried to feed the cattle every day, but I haven’t had time to do anything else. Stuff is piling up in there. I could use your help.
-If I help you for a while, can I go into town afterwards?
-Yes, but make sure you are back by supper.
Well, that settled it. I was going to have to go through my chores as fast as possible. The cereal didn’t last long. I was done in two seconds and then went up and threw on a long sleeve t-shirt, warm jacket, stocking hat and jeans and got outside quick. It wasn’t going to be easy because nothing had been done in a few days. I got out the shovel and shoveled all the shit out first as fast as I could. I then went out into the field and checked all the fences. I fed the cows. Then I got down to milking. Then Grandpa Joseph had a bunch more things for me to do. I was running all over the farm with my head cut off. God bless Grandpa Joseph for not piling on any unnecessary chores. Even though I knew that meant I’d have a ton of stuff to do down the road - I didn’t care. My shirt and jeans were completely covered with shit by the time I was done. I had dirt and grass in my hair. My face was streaked with dirt and sweat. My hands were raw and my back was killing me. I walked up the lane at around 3 o’clock, finally done. Grandpa Joseph came out of the barn when he saw me walking up.
-So I guess you're heading into town, he said.
-Yup.
-All right, I’ll see you here for supper.
I ran upstairs and showered as quick as possible, then I grabbed my trombone and headed out for the truck. Grandpa Joseph was outside smoking a cigarette and watched me with a grin get in and drive off.
Driving into town, the soldiers were sitting around with scared forlorn faces. The amount of soldiers had tripled. I think the whole Wisconsin National Guard was in Lake Bawshkinaway now. And that’s when I realized how strange it was nothing was on the news sites. There hadn't been anything on the Milwaukee Journal –Sentinel site. I typed in owls and Lake Bawshkinaway into Google and nothing came up. It’s possible that based on what Cedar said the authorities told her when they were supposed to evacuate, that a lot of people who evacuated didn’t know about the danger being massive owls. But when I typed in Lake Bawshkinaway and evacuation, nothing came up either.
When I arrived at the O’Neil house, I heard shouting through the front door. It was Donovan’s voice. I stood up close to the door and listened.
-Just stay away from her! She has a lot to think about without your advances. Can’t you see she’s vulnerable?
-Yes, that’s why I’m making my advances, said a voice that was Prof. Klemm’s.
-My god.
-Every reception to my advance is her choice. You are a man; make your move with her if you are interested.
-I would think she deserves a little more respect.
-Respect? What more respect does she deserve than to have a male recognize her beauty by propositioning her.
-You’re a dick, and you don’t understand the circumstances. Someone close to us was just killed and with everything going on…
-All the more reason for me to comfort her.
-You are not interested in comforting her. Be honest.
-No, you be honest. You are afraid to make advances toward her. This inadequacy upsets you. In your mind you are with her. But in reality you are not. This divergence causes a rift in your spirit. You are just an angry man. And you are angry because you are ineffectual.
Poor Donovan. At that moment, Dr. Veggente came out the front door with his pipe in his hand, smoke and breath swirling in white wisps, and I stepped back out of the way. It had started to snow. He just then noticed me.
-My goodness its tough to get work done in there, he said shaking his head. Lester will never change.
-What happened last night after the attack, I asked him.
-Nothing. That was it.
-I heard you out there late at night.
-Yes, I was, the great horneds have set up sentinels all around the town about a mile out. They are trying to trap us in.
-Wow, I said, in awe, and for some reason, filled desire to see the owls. Are you going out tonight?
-Yes, we are attempting to find the nest before they bomb the area.
-Can I come? I asked, perhaps a little too urgently. I was practically shaking to go see them. I wasn’t sure what had come over me, but I needed to know what the owls were doing. The snow was whipping around our heads as the wind picked up, blowing Dr. Veggente’s hair around underneath the brim of his hat. The snow came down in small, light flakes that easily bounced around in the breeze.
Dr. Veggente thought about letting me go for a while. He looked me over like he was examining a new specimen.
-No, he said, it’s too dangerous to take you out there. Its one thing if you are near a house, but not out in the open.
My disappointment must have been obvious. He thought about it some more. He observed the lime-tinted green of the trees obscured by the helicopter crashed on the ground by cupping his hand over his eyes to block the snow.
-No, he said. The thing is, if you head north right through where the helicopter is I think all signs point to that direction for the nest. The only problem is that when I reach a sentinel, and play, I can’t really stop playing, as they are primed for attack. So I could use another trombone to play while I move forward. Then I can move forward and see if the owls have placed any other guards further along. They can hear you coming from miles away. So if I get trapped out there I’ll just have to play various songs in the hopes one of them will get them to move along. But it seems they don’t go away so easily in this state of mind.
-I can help, I said, eating out of his hand and relishing every word about the owl’s position.
I quickly opened up my case and screwed the bell onto the slide. I played a couple scales and then popped into some other stuff I’d learned in band. He nodded his head.
-Okay, so ability is not a problem. But still Buffalo, I can’t ask your Grandpa to take you out there. It’s just too dangerous.
I walked away depressed. If I could be of any help, I wanted to help. That is how I resolved it in my mind. I really wanted to just hear an owl, see an owl, follow an owl. What I didn’t know was that I was like an addict who justifies using a drug. I resolved to go out there that night. It was stupid, I know. But after that conversation I had to go out and see if we could find the nest.
I drove home through the blowing snow. The air was white and difficult to see when I traversed a plain. It flew in bursts across the road. But little was accumulating on the ground. It was just a light dusting. Grandpa Joseph was grilling steak before nightfall and making baked potatoes when I got home. When he was flipping the steaks and smoking a cigarette, I finally asked him.
-Grandpa Joseph, I said, can I go over to Cedar’s after supper?
He put the spatula down and sighed.
-Fine, he said.
-Really?, I said surprised as all get out.
-Well, I hate that there’s a couple women out there with these owls out. And she seems to be your friend, so it is probably good for you to be out there.
-Thanks Grandpa Joseph.
-Take your trombone, he said suddenly. And remember, when in doubt, just do what is natural. How were things in town?
-There are a lot more troops.
He nodded as he put the steaks and potatoes on the plates. I ripped through the meal as fast as I could. I felt bad about it because I knew Grandpa Joseph didn’t break out the steaks every day. It seemed he was hoping we’d stay in that night and keep away from the owl business. But I couldn’t and he knew it and he was resigned to that fact.
-Take it easy out there, said Grandpa Joseph, as he walked into the living room. I felt lonely at that moment; I knew I was on my own.
I decided to drive straight for Cedar’s. I knew she could help me. Because of where she lived, she knew the woods better than anybody. And she was as fast as a kentauride or something. As much as I needed to see the owls, I understood the danger of approaching them so ardently. She answered the door after I knocked.
-Buffalo?
-Let’s go, I said.
-Okay, was all she said. She reached up and grabbed a jacket off a wooden hook by the door and put it on as we headed down the path towards the north of town. We careened through a meadow as reckless as possible. Thinking back I couldn’t believe we didn’t get killed. But I thought the trombone would save us for sure, and I must admit, I felt a weird aura of security in the face of the owls. Like they knew me intimately now and couldn’t possibly harm me. We had no idea how many owls were out there. I couldn’t keep up with Cedar so she had to slow down for me. I carried the trombone in one hand and it glinted in the moonlight.
When we reached the edge of the woods we saw a large figure looming overhead in the trees under the moon.
-A sentinel – I gasped. Cedar halted in her tracks.
The owl stood on the branch of a large tree, staring at us on the ground. It was terrifyingly impressive. Suddenly, I felt like a meal, a nice prize to the owl.
The owl lifted off the tree. The bare branches of the massive tree swung up and down like a pendulum, making cracking sounds, after it lifted off. It circled high in the sky.
-Oh my god, it is going to attack, said Cedar.
I hurriedly brought the trombone to my lips and played the serenade as best I could. G-A-G-A. It blared out the bell but the owl did not seem impressed and began swooping lower towards us. I quickly brought the instrument back to my lips and tried again. This time the sound came out better but too forceful, but the owl didn’t respond, and kept circling. I played it softer, more in tone, changing the tuner to make it more in tune. The owl circled languidly. It worked! I kept playing it until the owl circled down to a tree branch it originally stood on. I noticed the owl took a branch right above the hiking path that people used to get through the woods. We walked slowly forward, while I continued to play the tune. The owl stood still. It’s eyes half open.
The owl was just 20 feet above us now as we walked into the forest. I kept playing desperately. The claws on its feet completely encircled the huge branch. The feathers and its face were stoic and confident. The large disks of the yellow eyes were like two large moons staring off into space. I was nearly cast in a spell by the sight. What a creature. So much more imposing when I’m awake and conscious and outside my body instead of in a trance. I kept playing and walking. But something was troubling the owl. The owl’s devious glance betrayed its thoughts. It started to get restless.
-What’s happening, Cedar whispered. Now the owl was in the air. The owl glided over the trees and then back out over the field. I could feel that it was headed for us with all its force. A rustling behind us broke the silence.
That’s when I saw the deer chomping on leaves – Cedar jumped out behind a tree and scared it. It looked up in fright and took off through the hayfield underneath the owl. We watched as the owl swooped down and voraciously tackled it with its talons thrusting into it extra viciously out of frustration. Then it began to devour the deer.
With its yellow curved beak, it pecked out its entrails – pulling up intestine like hose and tipping it’s head back – gobbling the flesh down its gullet. Then it picked up the carcass by the neck, and hoisted it into the air – flying away from us with hooves dangling, and then out of sight.
We both took a deep breath and ran north through the woods.
We ran as fast and as far as we could to get away from the owl, knowing we were next after it was done with the deer. We reached a slight hill and ran to the top – it was a hayfield with no trees. When we reached the top, I stopped and looked over the country. The grass glowed in the moonlight. We breathed heavily. Cedar smiled at me and then she stood up next to me. She reached for my face and felt it with her hands. I stared into her intense eyes. Her black hair punctuated the white swirling snow. At that moment we kissed each other. Our lips exploded as the snow pecked our cheeks and our hair intertwined. She leaned back and looked down, then came in and kissed me again. We kissed for a long time, completely unaware of the danger around us. We probably would have been too timid under any other circumstances. I now believe no matter the depths of ghastly destruction, moments like this will always rise, kind of like the thin mist in a valley at night. It’s the thing to hold on to, especially then, and we still hold on to it now. I would have liked to die at that moment. If an owl swooped down and took us then and there, killing us and eating us alive, I believe I still would have been happy. But both our minds released any thoughts of owls for the first time all week when we kissed. Then she smiled again and ran off down the backside of the hill to the north and into another set of woods. I followed in exhilaration. We ran through a few sets of woods. We ran a long time. And stopped again at another clearing.
We were about to recklessly kiss again when we saw them.
Mist rising in a valley at night
The moon was draped in silk of parting clouds as the snow filtered through the air. The gigantic owls perched on an expansive oak tree. One of the largest trees I’d ever seen out in the middle of a field. The branches sagged and splayed out like the tree had been squashed from above. The owl with the fiery red eyes stood on the highest branch. I noticed its ears were tipped with white feathers. All the other owls’ ears were brown. Then we heard –
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooooooooump
Then he played a C and then slid the slide up to the position closest to his mouth, an F. And then back down into a C. Waaaaaaaaaooooooooump. And back up to an F. Oooooooouuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaa…. He blared it as loud as he could from his belly. And then listened. And then we heard it. Ghastly. Low and loud. Hoooooooooot!
And he played it again. And we heard Hoot! Hoot! And again. He was standing up now, blaring it. And a chorus or hoots came from the oak tree. And then he stopped, and lie as still as he could in the snow.
We were confused and didn’t know what to do, we dropped to the snow as quickly as we could.
-Shhhh. Try to stifle your breathing, Dr. Veggente whispered, remember they can hear a pin drop from a mile away. If they weren’t occupied with some sort of meeting, we’d be dead already.
I remember thinking, great, we probably sound like a jet from 5 feet away to them right now.
I tried to stay as still as a statue. The owls began to hoot even more vehemently. They wanted to fly to the sound and see what it was. Dr. Veggente set the trombone in the dirt quickly and lay down on his back, not making a move. We followed suit. If they didn’t see us move maybe we wouldn’t be detected and be the next meal for the gigantic horde. As they lifted majestically off the branches, I wanted to look, but couldn’t bring myself to move. I barely breathed. I doubt Dr. Veggente did either. I remembered what Grandpa Joseph used to say. If you are going to act, don’t be an actor. The leaves hung down in my peripheral vision, grey green in the dark, like some forlorn Siberian sea. I could see part of Andromeda and Taurus above me. And thought about Orion shooting Taurus. But I couldn’t see Orion and didn’t care. The snow had stopped. The light from the moon made part of my view bright. And then it was blocked by darkness.
Then I saw two yellow eyes scouring the ground, looking right at me. And then more of them were circling above. Staring at me. They made no sound in flight. They just circled. Now I wasn’t breathing at all. You’d be hard pressed to find a rock that moved less than me. But deep down in the belly of my mind I wanted to move. I wanted to run over to the tree and see if they'd speak to me like they did before and let me into their lives. But I knew that was foolish. It was amazing to me how strong the urge was, subconsciously, as if on some banal reptilian instinctive level. My conscious mind knew I'd be devoured like a hapless mouse, but I still wanted to see if maybe I was special, like I was considered knowledgeable on some level to exist and live with them.
The owls flew at different heights and speeds. They kept circling, circling trying to hear the sound again.
After a long time, the silence caused the owls curiosity to break. When the leader broke from the search. The rest soon followed. We were safe. But we stayed still on the ground in the snow for a long time. Finally, Dr. Veggente sat up. He motioned for us to get up and we walked slowly north.
-What was that meeting between the owls? I asked him.
-I’m not sure, I think its some sort of séance, he whispered. No more talking, he said, putting his finger to his lips.
When we reached a copse of trees on the other side of the field, we stepped through the leaves in the darkness as quietly as possible. The rustling sounded as loud as a semi going down the highway to me in my heightened awareness of the owl's senses. When Dr. Veggente reached the next meadow, he crawled on his stomach and slid through the grass – his eyes constantly scanned the sky, looking for anything overhead that would drop down. We did the same. We tried to meld with our surroundings, staying still, moving quietly and hoping we wouldn’t be mistaken for rodents. I mistook every star that peaked through the leaves for owl eyes. It was nerve racking. We seemed to be on the ground moving for hours.
Then we saw them on a group of old maple trees on a hill in the moonlight. Owls were sitting on the broad boughs.
We were on our bellies now and crept through the snow and observed the owls. They were occupied or they certainly would have gone after us. The snow was cold on my stomach. The owls’ low hoots were barely discernible. They sounded like the gurgling of a stream from the distance. And then the pangs started inside me again. I wanted to be entranced again. I had to get my mind inside an owl. I tried to shrug off the urge.
The owls barely regarded our noises or the rustling of other animals in the brush. They were not interested. Then the red-eyed owl suddenly lurched up in the air – the massive branch wobbled and cracked under his weight as he lifted up. I recognized him and secretly hoped he came for me. Then he hooted and floated back down to the branch. The large owl with his white ears and red eyes was clearly in charge.
And after he settled back on the tree, the branches cracked and we saw two more owls come through the forest from the south. Two human bodies were hanging limply in their talons. The rest of the owls hooted in unison. As the owls flew closer we could see that they were two soldiers. The owls flew over the hill to the North and out of sight.
-Let’s play together Dr. Veggente whispered.
I looked at him like he was insane.
Dr. Veggente took a deep breath and blared out an F and slid down to the low C with the slide all the way out. I played with him. Then we stopped and listened. We heard the murmurings of hoots in front of us – the ghastly communications of rabid mutant owls, less agitated than when the owls came through the trees with the bodies. Dr. Veggente brought the C back up to the F and then back down to the C. I played with him again. We could hear the hoots getting louder. They were more animated. We played a few more notes and the owls responded even more vividly. The sounds echoed out like they were muffled. Like shouts in a room with the door closed. My desires to be entranced melted away as we played. Dr. Veggente put his hand up to stop and we all ducked down in the snow again.
My mind was clenched. I was frightened by how rabid the owls were. They were barely able to control themselves.
Then Dr. Veggente cut into the serenade. The song that placated the owls before. I played with him. He played a high G up to a high A and back down to G. G-A-G-A. And then overhead we saw the owls flying above us. 4, 5, 6, 7 owls out into the darkening sky. We stopped and lay on the ground. Then they turned towards the town. I turned my head to watch where they originated as more joined the others single file towards town. They shot over the hill. A massive cliff loomed in the background. A pile of boulders led up to the cliff like a gray rhinoceros lurking.
They kept spilling out. I counted – more than 50 long owls, all at least 15 feet long were swooping towards the town. Finally it stopped and no more owls came out.
Suddenly we heard the squawking of an owl. And seething hoots. It was grotesque.
-It sounds like feeding, whispered Dr. Veggente, then he grimaced. Along with the loud long hoots were of an owl in pain.
We heard deep bellowing hoots cry out of the cave. There were other squawks too, in concert with the bellowing.
-It sounds as if an owl is in severe pain, as if it is being fed on by another owl. They are cannibalizing each other. Dr. Veggente continued to cringe.
We stayed out there until dawn in the snow, watching the owls come and go and listening to the gruesome sounds. It never seemed to cease. Cedar was next to me and we could feel the sides of our bodies touching. But we knew we couldn’t move or make a sound. We had to stay as still as possible. The sounds died down and I dozed off for a while but never far from being awake. It was difficult for me to tell the difference between when I was asleep on when I was awake.
An owl landed right in front of me while we were lying there in the snow. It was Molga, the owl with the red eyes and white ears. He stared down at me and cocked his head from side to side. For a second I was hoping he would put me in a trance, and that I would get to experience the HOMI again. But it didn’t happen. He stood there in that menacing position for what seemed like minutes. Maybe hours. It was hard to tell. I tried to scream but I couldn’t. I tried to reach for my trombone but I couldn’t make my arm move. I tried to run and I couldn’t get up and move away. I’ve read a lot about sleep paralysis since this happened. And I understand that it is possible the owl landed there and I couldn’t move because I was in REM sleep. Cedar and Dr. Veggente were both sleeping when it occurred, so neither of them could verify the story. However, it is possible that I just dreamed the whole occurrence. That the fact that I could move wasn’t anything more than a remnant of my dream and that the owl didn’t land there at all. Strangely though, I wasn’t as frightened of the owl for myself as I was for Cedar and Dr. Veggente. I wanted to wake them up and I wanted to run on instinct. But in my mind I was frustrated that the owl wasn’t putting me in a trance. How could it not put me in a trance? Was my mind not worthy after he entered it the other night? Did he think it was crude? I’ve heard that ghosts only appear to people that can handle it. Maybe the owl thought my mind wasn’t ready. I hadn’t wanted anything more in my life than to be entranced at that moment. After he stood over me for a while, his red eyes glowing in the dark and the snow reflecting the moonlight in great swaths of gold, he lifted off the ground and flew away over the hill and onto the horizon. I was stuck in that same position and then I’m not sure what happened, but when the sun finally came over the horizon, Cedar rolled on top of me and kissed me. The new day was warm and the snow was melting and dripping off the trees. Her eyes were bouncing out of her head. She must have been as tortured as I was to lie so close and not be able to do anything. Then Dr. Veggente woke up and we broke away from each other. We hiked it back to town.
