by Arielle

On the top of a dead tree in California 3 northern spotted owl eggs were laid. The mother owl, Marabella, sat on them, feeling proud of herself. When Charles, her mate for life, got home she would show him her new babies.

''Peep, peep, peep'' went the eggs. They were ready to hatch. Charles and Marabella waited three weeks for their babies to mature in their eggs. One, then two. No third. Charles and Marabella were worried. What if their third egg didn't hatch? Yet, they could not be sad for long. Who could be with two new baby owlets?

A few weeks later the owlets would start their flying lessons. By now the owlets were named, one Fuzzy, the other Wuzzy. Not two very appropriate names for boys, but their Mother wouldn't call them anything else. Fuzzy took off and flew for three seconds and started plummeting to the ground. His father caught him and they flew safely up to the practice branch. Now Wuzzy went. He was scared. He saw what his brother did, but he went. Wuzzy took off and flew. He never fell. Marabella and Charles were very proud of him. Fuzzy tried again. This time he succeeded. Together the boys flew in figure eights above their parents.

Later that night Charles went hunting. He located a mouse and swooped down. The mouse was fast, but not fast enough. Charles grabbed the mouse with his talons and chomped on it with his sharp beak.

''Goodbye mouse,'' said Charles. But one mouse would not be enough to feed his whole family. He would need at least twelve mice. When he got home he fed his family and went to bed.

Boom! The owl family woke up. Boom! Again they heard that sound. They flew into their friend's coop and slept there that day. When they got up they found no tree where one once stood. For a few days afterward they slept in their friends coop while Charles looked for another abandoned coop. Another day went by and when Charles, his friends, and family came home they found their tree was gone. The families were fed up. Their friend was going to have three great eggs and decided to move to another forest. The forest they found seemed perfect. They moved into two abandoned nests next to each other and fell asleep.

''Caw, caw!'' cried an unwelcoming bird.

The owl families woke up once again and flew far away. Exhausted and aggravated, they ended up in a nature reserve. They didn't know this because owls can't read, but they found this place truly perfect. They fell asleep cautiously and were not woken, not by a caw or a boom.

When all five babies grew up their parents died. None of the babies, neither Fuzzy nor Wuzzy ever forgot the story of how their parents looked for the coop with the most sticks, softest leaves, and the biggest space to sleep. Their parents truly found the perfect coop.

BACK

Miss Garrido's Class  | Mrs. Lebenson's Class  |  Pocantico Hills School