The Girl with an Owl

Chapter 37

The path through the forest was very narrow, edged with the beautiful lush forest that was unlike any forest that Ajana had seen before. It felt as if there was more life and vibrancy in the trees than it was common in her world as if they might start talking any moment.

Rex seemed to share her enthusiasm since he kept flying off to investigate different trees and bushes, then coming back again his pages rustling in excitement.

"Pretty! Pretty!" Rex said.

Even the physical appearance of the trees was more graceful and life-like than Ajana had expected. It was as if nature itself wanted to be the witness to the worship of it that the picnic represented. As if the Great Father Owl's spirit, his essence, was permeating the air. Everything was buzzing with so much joy and life energy.

Even the colorful blossoms that adorned the trees were more beautiful than one would have expected in Ajana's world. The colors were more vibrant, more powerful. There was some kind of magic quality to them that Ajana couldn't really define, couldn't fully comprehend. Her very soul seemed to vibrate in tune with the energy of the forest.

After walking down the forest path for a while, they came upon a clearing that was obviously magically prepared for the arrival of many beings. There was a magical gazebo on Ajana's left and a lot of colorful blankets or magical carpets on the right offering the visitors a choice of how they would like to enjoy their picnic.

Since Nectarine and Walnut were pulling her off in the direction of the gazebo she thought she might as well check it out since it was the most magical gazebo she had ever seen. From the golden dust that adorned it, it was obvious that the wonderful golden gazebo was the sparkling masterpiece of a fairy or a few of them. The closer inspection proved to Ajana that the golden dust was most definitely fairy dust which fascinated her more than she would have expected after everything she had already seen.

The food she saw there was so lovely that it took her breath away. There were cakes and puddings in the shapes and colors of different trees that only an artistic eye could have made so lifelike. There were so many cakes and cookies, all of which had one thing in common, the beauty of nature and life teaming in it.

Ajana's favorite cake from the wide selection was the one representing grass with a few small mushrooms peaking through it. Some rabbits and other wild animals were scurrying around the meadow and of course on top of the cake, more prominent than any other figure was the figure of an owl, of the Great Father Owl, Ajana guessed.

After feasting her eyes and taste buds on the delicious treats Ajana started looking around to see what kind of magical beings attended the celebration since she remembered Cassie saying that everyone would attend in one way or another. But before she could distinguish any individuals she was almost blinded by the colorful diversity of it all since there were so many creatures of different shapes and sizes as well as colors.

Finally, as her eyes adjusted to the rainbow of diversity, she could recognize some magical beings in attendance. The first one she noticed was, of course, Wallace and upon feeling her gaze he lifted his proud head and waved at her with his wing covered in cake icing. It was strange to Ajana to imagine owls eating cakes but who knew what it was made of, maybe it was owl food.

She also noticed some teachers from school and most of the students just wandering around enjoying the beauty of nature and chatting amongst themselves. It was as if, for one day, it didn't matter who was who and what kind of social position they had, they were just enjoying being granted the opportunity to live.

Before she had the chance to note anything else she was almost knocked off her feet by the familiar mess of wings and hoofs, otherwise known as Bluebells. Luckily for Ajana, she had gotten so used to his crushing entrances that she managed not to fall over but to steady the energetic little guy instead.

"What's the rush?" Ajana asked with a welcoming smile.

"Sorry, I was trying to hurry and greet you and I guess I tripped on my wings, again." Bluebells said.

"That's okay, at least we didn't fall down this time," Ajana said.

After she said that, they both burst out laughing at the memory. It sure was a shock for her the first time he ran into her, but now she knew better, she always expected him to fly out of nowhere or stumble depending on his preferred choice of travel that day.

As their laughter died down Rex came by and tired from all the flying around rested on Bluebells' soft mane which the happy little guy didn't seem to mind in the least. Ajana wasn't even sure if anything could disturb Bluebells' permanently good mood.

They sat down on the nearby red checkered blanket which turned out to be a challenge for Bluebells who tried to move carefully so as not to disturb Rex. Finally, managing to settle down, he started nibbling on the nearby apple seeming to thoroughly enjoy just being surrounded by friends and family as well as good food.

Soon enough a loud voice could be heard and everyone seemed to quiet down. Something deep and reverent was about to happen. It could be felt in the air, in the way people's eyes focused on the fairy speaker who was unfamiliar to Ajana and who spoke in a strange language that Ajana couldn't understand. It sounded like it might have been the fairy language although most of the magical beings present seemed to understand it perfectly well.

After the fairy made a short speech that Ajana couldn't understand at all Wallace approached the middle of the picnic area and started a speech of his own.

"Dear all, once again we have gathered to celebrate our Great Owl Father and the gifts he had bestowed upon us. We are joined by new friends and new dreams, but we are always grateful for all the old and new gifts we possess..." Wallace said.

Suddenly Wallace's speech was interrupted by the disheveled appearance of the headmaster Bob. His eyes were wide open, and they were bulging out of his head so much so that it scared Ajana. In her whole life, she had never seen an adult with such a terrified expression, and she was sure the news was terrible, that her magical journey might turn into a magical nightmare.

Everyone in the meadow was shocked by the panicked entrance and all awaited as one to see what kind of ill fate had befallen Bob, or all of them. Still, they had to wait for Bob to catch his breath doubled over as he was from all the running.

Although most of them weren't sure what was going on, panic could be felt engulfing everyone in the dark hole of despair because whatever it was, it was apparent that darkness dared taint the precious moment that was shared with nature.

Rex flew into Ajana's arms trembling in fear because he knew that many bad things could happen to books so easily, bad things like fire and evil tears. He was searching for the protection of the person he trusted the most.

Even Bluebells scooted closer to Ajana as she hugged him tightly, terrified by not knowing what was happening, by seeing fear mar the faces of powerful adults. The young witch was too weak to be able to protect even herself but still, she held on to Bluebells and Rex tightly ready to protect them by any means necessary.

"They have breached through the portal! They are coming!" Bob finally screamed out.