An Owl's Rise

She was able to tell this when just a day after she had hatched, when to more distinct squeaks began echoing through the nest.

She thought that there might be more possible new siblings that were late hatchers, but after one more day she heard nothing new other than the sounds of her siblings and parents.

The next new thing she found was when she was finally able to see, and she saw her mother for the first time.

In front of her was an owl like she had never seen, because it had a slick coat of sliver and shimmering green feathers.

Evelyn was pretty sure that there were no owl\'s that looked like this back on Earth. Although she did not know every owl species, so maybe it was possible.

However, after observing her new nest and mother Evelyn became certain that she was no longer on Earth.

This was because after getting a good scale of her nest she realized that it easily had a radius of twenty-five feet and that her mother was at least eight feet tall.

At first, she thought that it might just seem that big because of her new baby owl body, but after moving around the nest she found something to use as a scale.

She had found something she was very familiar with, because she used to have ten of them. The bone of a human finger.

When she first saw this, she reeled back and got as far away from it as possible.

However, she soon realized how useful it would be for her to get a measure of the things around her.

\'So, I really did end up in a world other than Earth. Either that or this is so far in the future that there are giant owls, though that seems just as or even more farfetched. I suppose it really does not matter. I will be able to find out more about where I am once I unlock my greatest advantage. The ability to fly.\'

After she had a good understanding of the layout of her new home, Evelyn found her new siblings that had not moved since hatching and were currently still under their mother.

Of course, this was the normal behavior for a baby owl, and Evelyn\'s new mother wondered why her eldest daughter was so adventurous.

Once she had a good view of them, she studied how they looked in order to get a better understanding of what she herself looked like.

Unfortunately, there were not many distinct features for her to gleam from her siblings, since they were pretty much just gray fluff balls with eyes.

\'I guess I must look pretty similar to them as well. Huh, I wonder how long it is going to be until I can fly, staying here in the nest is incredibly boring.\'

It was only moments after that thought when Evelyn heard the soft sound of something landing outside.

She then looked towards the entrance to see her new owl dad come in, holding a large boar in his talons.

Her father looked quite similar to her mother, although he was about a foot taller, and along with silver and shimmering green feathers he had a few red ones around his neck.

She watched as her father skillfully hopped across the nest right up to her mother, and the two began conversing with a few hoots and coos, before rubbing their head together in a show of affection.

Seeing this made Evelyn\'s heart grow heavy, as she remembered her mother and father on Earth, and how at one time, they were actually happy. Although it felt like an eternity ago for her.

Her new owl parents then separated, and the father owl left the boar he had just brought. Before hopping back towards the exit and flying away. Presumably to get more food.

Evelyn seeing her mother start to tear into the boar and feed her siblings waddled over, since she had already come to accept that if she wanted to survive, she had to eat what was provided.

After she had gotten her share of the food, Evelyn flopped over onto her head and went to sleep. Hoping that her boring days would be over soon, and that she would be able to soar through the sky.

…

The next two weeks went by with pretty much the same routine for Evelyn, eat, sleep, repeat.

There was pretty much nothing else she could do since it only took her a couple of days to explore the entirety of the nest, which was situated in the middle of a tree hollow.

This made it impossible for Evelyn to see more than the endless foliage outside the hole that severed as the entrance and exit for her new home.

And as she was currently still too small to get over the lip of the hole, her view was limited.

At the very least her body had rounded out a bit and had caught up with her large head. Making her balance much better.

She had also come to a realization about her new siblings. They are both dumb as bricks.

The two of them had done nothing but lay around, and when the mood strikes them do some hopping around, often into the walls of the nest.

They also made a bunch of noise, chirping like madmen whenever their father came back with food.

Of course, this was actually how a normal newborn owl baby was supposed to act, and both of Evelyn\'s parents were a bit unsure about what might be wrong with her.

She was far too adventurous ever since she was born. Always trying to move around and her mother even caught her once stacking objects to try and get over the lip of the tree hollow.

\'Such an intelligent child, she is definitely going to be a handful when she begins to fly.\' Evelyn\'s new mother thought.

Yes, her parents were well aware that Evelyn displayed above average intelligence for her age, normally it would not be until much later that she would be smart enough to use objects to her advantage.

\'Ugh another attempt to see beyond this prison of a nest thwarted. I have to say my new mom is a real helicopter parent. Whenever I get close to getting a view of the outside, she pulls me back into the nest. I also doubt she has been outside of the nest for more than thirty minutes since me and my siblings hatched over two weeks ago.\'

However, Evelyn\'s chance to get a view beyond the nest soon came. When one day her father did not come home on time, and their mother reluctantly left the nest to look for him.

\'Now is my chance, I need to be quick so that I am not stopped halfway through again.\'

Evelyn then went to collect whatever she could. From the bones of past meals and some of the thicker branches that made up the nest that she could get lose.

After around two hours she had made a respectable staircase that she used to get her head over the lip, and look out beyond the walls she had been confined in.

\'Wow.\'

This was the first thought that went through Evelyn\'s mind as she peered out into the expanse around her.

The first thing she saw was the endless forest of massive trees that extended like an ocean.

However, even beyond that she was able to see mountain\'s that towered into the sky, some of them with peaks that were so tall she could not see the top.

\'How big must those mountains be for me to be able to see them from this far away, but still not see their tops. I am certain that there were no mountains like that on Earth. So that confirms it, I am on another planet.\'

Evelyn then moved her head from side to side which was quite easy now that she was an owl and could rotate her head nearly three hundred sixty degrees.

Looking to her right, she saw a massive lake that glimmered like a beautiful gem under the light of the sun, and to her left were well just more trees. But the lake was still nice to look at.

Evelyn then leaned her body forward as far as she could hoping to get a look at the ground.

Sadly, the branches and leaves of the trees were too thick, and she could not see the ground below her.

Yet it was at this moment that one of her siblings ran into the makeshift staircase she had made and caused her to lose her balance and fall forward.

\'Oh crap.\'

As she fell, Evelyn tried to grasp at the lip of the tree hollow, but her talons scraped against the wood unable to find a purchase.

She then began to fall, descending towards the floor of the forest.