The Owl and the Nurse
written by: Rich Watson
Within the attic of a house in England, a small owl slowly died.
She was alone. She had been too long out of the wild and had lost the capacity for the hunt. Now, she lay prone, her vision weak, her brown and white plumage faded. She had lost even the will to spread her wings and fly as was her nature. But all was not lost.
For I was with her.
“Athena.” Sunlight streamed through the window, landing on her form. “Awake, little one.”
She opened her eyes.
“Who are you?”
“Mortals knew me as the goddess of wisdom. You are my namesake.”
“Yes. My mistress spoke of you.” She raised her head. “Where is she? Do you know?”
“Your mistress is preparing to depart for a great war, in a place called Crimea, on a peninsula in the Black Sea.”
“No!” The owl struggled to stand upright. “She must not… she’ll be killed…”
“Be still. It has ever been the way of man to struggle against their fellow man. As I am also the goddess of warfare, this is my will. But within this particular conflict, she has a role to play.”
“Her role is to care for me! Did she not rescue me as an owlet and protect me, nurture me, even educate me in human mannerisms? And now you say she is about to abandon me for the follies of war?”
“Yes.” Her blasphemy stirred my anger, but I kept it in check. “She has knowledge beyond that of her sex. For this reason, I have exalted her. Her destiny is to apply that knowledge in the service of the healing arts.”
“Why is she destined for such a task?”
I sighed, but this creature was blameless. She believed her to be no different from other mortals. I showed Athena a vision of her mistress on the battlefield, holding a lamp.
“She will minister to the wounded and dying like few before her. Men will revere her for her compassion, the same she once gave you. And generations to come will remember her as an avatar of mercy.”
Athena beheld my vision and understood. But her wings fluttered at her sides, and her head drooped.
“But I will never see her again.”
“Do not despair. Through you, did not your mistress learn the value of life, and what it means to preserve it? You helped her as much as she did you.” I held out my hand. “Come with me.”
The owl blinked.
“Where?”
“To my realm.”
Athena trembled.
“I can’t… I can’t leave her…”
“You must. Your time has come.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled, looking up at me. Then she spread her wings for the first time in days and whispered her mistress’s name.
“Florence…”
The sunlight enveloped Athena within its beams.
***
Florence rushed into the attic and knelt on the floor, where Athena lay lifeless. She cradled her in her hands. Parthenope stood behind her.
“I’m sorry, sister,” she said.
No one spoke for a minute. Then Florence stood.
“Get Father. Tell him I’m not leaving yet.” She looked at Athena’s body. “I must first say goodbye to my friend.”
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