Owl Eyes

A lonely screech owl wails in the dark woods. The air is still. There are no stars shining, nor moon. As Faerygirl and I stride down the driveway, our pupils dilate to monstrous sizes. The rapidity of the iris movement is almost painful as our eyes adjust to the dimness of the light. We have owl eyes now, and if we look at each other, we see huge dark eyes in pale faces. This darkness makes us look even more elven in our heavy cloaks. We started having owl eyes earlier in the year, broken by a brief respite as daylight savings time came, but now it is December. The days only get shorter. Sometimes, we have a sparkling diamond sky with a luminous moon, sparkling off snow. But this morning is warmer, and there is a lot of cloud cover. It's really time to be in bed, this darkness tells us. Winter is a time to cuddle in warm blankets, sleeping and dreaming until the sun's light returns. But schoolbuses and schedules do not respect the rhythm of the seasons, so here we are, standing in the dark, with our owl eyes opened.