Owl Wisdom

I’m the youngest daughter of a widow, fourteen today.

“On the cusp of womanhood,” my mother said. “Finish your meal, then meet me in the woods.”

“Where?” But she was already gone, my older sister close behind.

Coat on, collar up, I stumbled in the gloom, teeth chattering, talking to myself. “If you look over there, you can see a very small patch of dark blue. Framed by a little branch, pinned up by a naughty star straddling day and night in the twitter-light –”

My monologue was broken by a snowy owl. Its feathers skimmed branches before swooping down.

Suddenly, the misty copse I’d arrived at was crowded with a parliament of all kinds of owls and, in the light of the rising moon, they transformed into women: my mother, sister and their friends. Wise women gathered for my initiation into the coven.

Kim M, Russell, 7th October 2024

Image by Max Saeling on Unsplash

I’m hosting this Monday’s Prosery with Arthur Rimbaud and a naughty star. Today we are writing the dVerse Poets Pub version of very short prose or flash fiction that tells a story with a beginning, middle and end, with a limit of 144 words. As host and deviser of the prompt, I have chosen some lines from Rimbaud’s poem ‘Novel’, which must be included somewhere in our stories.

The lines are:

“There you can see a very small patch
Of dark blue, framed by a little branch,
Pinned up by a naughty star”.

35 thoughts on “Owl Wisdom”

  1. LOVE the addition of these words to the line “straddling day and night in the twitter-light ” And of course, the parliament of owls….and then the twist! Perfect for October the month of Halloween – a coven!

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    1. Thank you, Lill! I won’t be around for Halloween, I’ll be at Ellen’s for Louie’s birthday, so I’ll be leaning towards the dark side for prompts before I leave.

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    1. Thank you so much, Lisa! As I said to Lillian, I’m taking as many opportunities as I can to write on a Halloween theme, as I won’t be around for the day – it’s Louie’s birthday and I’ll be going down for his party.

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      2. He’s into trains at the moment, so we’re going on a steam train during the day, which I believe has a Halloween theme. I’ve bought them both pumpkin trick or treat bags. Lucas will go trick or treating with his dad now he’s old enough, and we’ll stay with Louie and prepare his party.

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  3. First, very well written, which is so important in a flash tale like this, because there is so much in it, that must must unfold just right.

    And the tale is brilliant. It is all there, the atmosphere, depth.

    Highly entertaining, unexpected, but absolutely not jarringly so.

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