Chapter 1: CarlOwl and a New Beginning

CarlOwl woke to the sound of trees falling a short distance from him. It was frightening to hear the cracking of breaking limbs and crashing thuds as trees were falling, hitting the forest floor with a deafening sound.

It was the sight and sound that CarlOwl often had nightmares about. CarlOwl could tell trouble moved closer as the noise grew louder and the smell of freshly cut wood left a sickening smell from the large yellow creature in the distance, roaring through the forest and cutting trees quickly and without much effort.

CarlOwl lived with his parents in a small patch of trees surrounded by wooden nests where people lived. The forest shrunk in size while more people nests were being built. Now it appeared that they finally come for his nest as well.

CarlOwl’s mother was always near, teaching him how to fly and take care of himself. It was very boring but he loved his mother’s attention. CarlOwls dad was either getting food for the family, fixing the nest or keeping an eye out for people with the huge yellow creatures.

On this beautiful morning, just before sunrise a loud crash startled CarlOwl and his family. His dad immediately flew off to see what caused the noise. It appeared that the big yellow monster was coming straight for CarlOwl’s nest. He could see his father flying franticly around the creature but it didn’t notice him, nor did the human that sat upon the yellow beast. It continued to move closer and as it did CarlOwls father flew past it and made a sharp right u-turn. He began his decent toward the beast. CarlOwl could only watch as his dad was making a dive to attack, wings flapping franticly gaining speed as his attack brought him low over an open area where people drove their small colorful machines back and forth. Out of nowhere, bright lights gazed on CarOwls dad.One of the small machines appeared out of nowhere and tried to miss the large bird but it was too late. CarlOwl heard a loud screech from the machine and a thump. CarlOwls dad was knocked into a small clearing and lay motionless. CarlOwl and his mother watched the whole thing and were in shock, not believing what they just witnessed. All the while, the large creature moved closer, very near the nest now. CarlOwl’s mother knew it came time to flee and readied her son for flight, instructing him to follow her every move and fly fast, as fast as he possibly could.

CarlOwl was just beginning to learn the art of flying and his lessons had started a short time ago. Instead of paying attention to his mother’s fling instructions, he let his mind wander to other things. He would have to use everything he could remember in order to follow his mother out of the path of danger.

CarlOwls mother said, “Ready?” "Yes!" shouted CarlOwl, even though deep down he was almost as scared to fly as much as he feared the large creatures. He watched his mother take off from the edge of the nest. CarlOwl took a deep breath and followed her. Both were flying at top speed as CarlOwls mother tried to swing wide to the left of the large yellow creature. They were almost free but it had cut down a tall pine tree. As the tree fell, a large limb clipped CarlOwls mother’s wing and knocked her down to the ground. CarlOwl tried to follow but the tree fell too fast and the big trunk fell on top of his mother.

CarlOwl quickly turned to keep from getting caught by the tree and its long limbs. Once clear from the forest and creatures, CarlOwl flew away as fast as his wings would carry him. He continued to fly fast, as far as he possibly could until he reached another small patch of trees in the distance. He spotted an old large oak with a wide limb to land on. He stopped on that limb and just sat there, out of breathe, in shock at what had just happened to his family, his home. He was very tired….his large eyes closed as he fell asleep.