Bedtime

“Shhhh! Listen…. Do you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“Listen.”

“I hear crickets.”

“No…more than that.”

“I hear a horse”

“Yes, that. But it’s not a horse.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s night time.”

“So? Why can’t it be a horse?”

“Where are there any horses near here?”

“There are horses by Brian's house.”

“That is 6 miles from here.”

“Is that too far?”

“Yes.”

“So. What it is?”

“A bird.”

“A bird?”

“Yes.”

“Is it the Whip bird?”

“Good guess, but not this time.”

“That is the only nighttime bird I know.”

“You know more than that.”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. What is a night time bird that whinnys?”

“I don’t know.”

“What is the most common night time bird?”

“I don’t know.”

“What is Harry Potter’s bird?”

An Owl?”

“Yes.”

“That is an owl?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t owls supposed to hoot?”

“Not all owls hoot. Some whinny.”

“Mommmmmy.”

“Really. It’s a Screech Owl.”

“Shouldn’t it Screech?”

“I don’t know why they call it that.”

“How do you know so much?”

“I have heard them before. When I lived on the farm.”

“Oh, before me.”

“Yes, honey. Before you.”

"Mommy, can I have an owl?

"No, we are muggles, we don't keep owls."

“Screech Owl, Screech Owl, Screeech Owwwwl Screcchh.…..”

Sheila kissed Teddy’s head. She picked up the latest Harry Potter from the nightstand and tiptoed out the door. She paused in the hallway to listen to the tremolo of the owl and made a mental note to buy him a bird book for his birthday. He would soon be 10. Maybe it was time for a big boy present.