Twoo

Chapter 5

 As I wake up, I notice small drops of water landing on my face. Feeling neither sadness or anger, I realise they are not tears of my own but tears falling from the sky. This is not something that I have come across before so I find it quite strange.

For want of understanding, I turn to the owl that lies fast asleep beside me. With a nudge of my trunk I manage to wake him. It is unlike him that he seems not at all disheartened by this. In fact, he couldn’t look more content. Staring up at the sky, he twoos quietly to himself, aware of nothing other than the small droplets of liquid that plummet down onto us.

“Twoo, Twoo, what’s happening, why is water falling out of the sky?” I ask, desperate for an answer [although I know that I probably won’t get one].

“Rain” he replies, and it seems that that is all he has to offer on the matter.

So after waiting a few moments for him to elaborate, I give up realising that he is little use on the talking front and pull him to his feet hoping that he is fit to walk again. After some encouraging, it turns out that he has no trouble walking and so we can continue on our way.

***

So through the rain we continue to travel. For some time we have been walking in silence, so I have had plenty of time to think over the recent events. Twoo, on the other hand, is still worryingly docile and doesn’t appear to have any recognition of me. Never the less, he seems happy and much better tempered than I remember him being, so I’m not complaining. I do worry though, as it is strange that he is acting so differently. If it wasn’t for his identical appearance, then I would consider them different owls, but they are so alike down to the very last feather that it is out of the question.

It’s the same Twoo, just not in mind.

It just bothers me that I cannot work out how he lost his memory and the awareness of his surroundings. He may be a much greater pleasure to be around, and for that I cannot complain, but he has no sense of urgency and doesn’t seem to have any idea where we are going and why we must get there quickly.

I have tried to quicken the pace several times, as we are not travelling fast enough, but he just continues ambling along at his own speed. At some points he even stops to look at a tree, to point out a leaf on the ground in fascination. He is not himself and I fear that it will get us into difficulty at some point along our way.

Several times I have considered scooping him up and letting him ride on my back, but he seems so content walking that I don’t have the heart to stop him. Walking is the right word though, as Twoo is closer to skipping than walking. Perhaps hopping a bit as well and not in a straight line either. Zigzagging back and forth he stumbles through the savannah with no clear direction. 

Seeing him like this is quite upsetting to say the least. Any anger that I felt for him having left me has now gone because now all I feel towards him is pity. I just have to hope that he hasn’t completely lost his mind and that maybe one day his memory will come back. It must have been quite a bump to have affected him like this. Perhaps it was another animal, a larger animal that attacked him. I wonder what kind of creature exists that could have been so heartless as to hurt another like this. Especially another so small and old.

And then it hits me.

It was like no thought has ever hit me before. It wasn’t a great beast that had done this to Twoo, but me. I am the monster. It is me that did this, me that caused Twoo to lose his memory.

I look over to him as he skipped merrily beside me. Oblivious to the world. He has no idea, no clue that anything is even wrong in the first place. No idea that it was me that destroyed his mind. That made him confused and broken. It was me who threw him into a tree with such a force that it did him so much damage.

I am ashamed of myself. A disgrace.

He was the closest to a friend that I have ever had and I have been the worst friend possible to him.

I cannot return to my home. Even though nobody else would ever know, I do and it is enough to stop me liking me, so nobody else should know me.

I am now faced with several options. I stay here on my own and wait to die from dehydration and hunger, or I keep going and instead of avoiding the creatures that have settled close by, I will destroy them. My life means nothing to me now, so I may as well do something useful with it. Yes. I will go on at full speed and kill every last one of them. It is an awful thing to do, no matter how horrid they are, but I am bad already. Plagued with destruction. I will remove them from our savannah and se the end of them forever.

And with that last thought I snatched Twoo from the ground beside me and shoved him onto my shoulders. With a quick glance back, I turn in the direction I am headed and with no hesitation, I run.