White Owl

Under the wire-held street-flares a low, flat car sped alone along the one road leading out of Jemstone. It wasn't that late, but the dark and the weather had either kept others at home or persuaded them to stay where they were a little longer. Petr drove fast, as he always did when a clear road beckoned him. Next to Tis he still felt underdressed, her with her lions mane - that ring of platinum hair that he felt accentuated his baldness. They had argued at the party and she had walked, with him following a minute or so later, knowing that as she can't drive things would get worse the longer he waited. Now there was an upset silence, she was waiting, and he was thinking. He made to speak when there was a hard dull thud that rocked the car, jolting them both forward and sending the vehical off at a wild angle as a white blur bounced off of the jagged web of cracked windshield a few inches from Petr's face. They slowed and hit the curb on the opposite side of the road gently and flopped back – the shape on the plexiglass was thrown forward and rolled along the bonnet, falling from view and leaving a white feather stuck in the glass. He and Tis looked at each other.
“You okay?” he said,
“Yeah. You?” she replied looking ahead. She blinked, her mane creased at an angle.
“Mmm. What was that?”
“I don't know. Can we go ? I don't feel right at all.” She'd had her belt undone while he was driving, but had just buckled it
“I just want to check what we hit.” he said starting to open the door.
“Petr! Can we just go? Please?” she was maybe concussed, he thought, laying one foot outside.
“Ok, one second ...” he walked around the fender and saw a white owl laying on the curb, wings broken and its back horribly twisted.
He bent down to look at it, half to check it was dead, half to look it in the eye. He felt that he needed to look the creature in the eye before he could forgive himself for killing it, even accidentally. So he went to kneel when the owl spoke to him.
“Petr, get Tis.” It had a tinny human voice.
“What?” He felt went numb and everything around him felt strange.
“Get Tis, now.” It didn't move at all.
“I'm sorry I hit you – I didn't see you.” he said getting up. “Tis! Come out here.”
He turned and saw her undoing her belt again, and turned back to the owl.
He knelt down and spoke quietly.
“Please forgive me – I wouldn't have hurt you if I'd had the choice” he said “But I couldn't help it – I didn't see you at all...I didn't even know there were birds here...”
“Get Tis, now.” said the owl.
Petr heard the car door slam and waved her over. When she saw the owl she flinched.
“It's still alive – what should we do?” he said, and looked to her.
“Tis” said the owl.
“What?” she said looking at Petr. “What are you doing?”
“You heard that?” he gasped.”I thought I imagined it – it said to get you.”
She crouched and moved towards it, flinching and afraid: “It asked for me?”
“By name.”
“Tis.” said the owl again.
“Yes?” she looked down, and Petr thought he saw the fear and revulsion in her eyes soften slightly.
“Petr asked me to forgive him.” it said, quietly.
“Okay.” she glanced at him and then back down, “Do you forgive him?”
“Do you forgive him?” the owl echoed.
“Yes, of course.” she suddenly sounded calmer than he could believe.”Of course I do.”
“Then I forgive him too.” said the owl.
Petr looked at her, then back down at the owl. It had not moved at all.
Then the owl's eyes moved to Tis and it spoke again, louder.
“Now leave.”
“Okay. Petr, we should go. Now.”
“But what about..”
It screeched .
“Leave now!” high and loud, and they tumbled back into the car, started and reversed back to the right lane. It cried again, deafening even inside the car, and Petr hit the brakes, then accelerated wildly.
In the mirror he saw the owl rise up over then road behind them, crimson and white and vast, filling his mirror before he looked away, and he drove until the sun began to rise over the mountains, casting thin shadows over the red sand until it began to burn a fierce and wonderful gold.