| It
was late one winter night, long past my bedtime, when Pa and I went owling. The moon was
so bright the sky seemed to shine.I had to run to keep up, but I never called out. If you go owling you
have to be quiet, that's what Pa always says.
I could feel the cold. My nose and the tops of my cheeks felt cold
and hot. But I never said a word. If you owling you have to be quiet and make your own
heat.
I didn't ask what kinds of things hide behind black trees in the
middle of the night. When you go owling you have to be brave.
Then we came to a clearing in the dark woods. The moon was high above
us. It seemed to fit exactly over the center of the clearing and snow below it was whiter
than the milk in a cereal bowl.
I listened and looked so hard my ears hurt and my eyes got cloudy
with cold. Pa raised his face to call out again, but before he could open his mouth an
echo came threading its way through the trees.Whoo-whoo-who-who-who-whoooo.
All of a sudden an owl shadow, part of the big tree shadow, lifted
off and flew right over us. The shadow hooted again.
Pa shone his flashlight and caught the owl just
as it was landing on a branch.
Seth's chalk
drawing, owl sky.
We hope you enjoyed
our show.
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