Sara, Book 1 (5 page)
The ice will hold you. Just roll over onto your knees and crawl over here
, her mysterious friend said.
So, without looking up, Sara rolled over onto her stomach, and ever so slowly she pulled herself up onto her knees. And then, gingerly, she began crawling in the direction of the voice.
Sara was in no mood for conversation. Not now. She was wet and very cold, and really mad at herself for doing something so stupid. What she was most interested in, right now, was getting home and changing before anyone else came home and caught her in her telltale clothes.
“I’ve gotta go,” Sara said, squinting into the sun in the direction of whomever she had been talking to.
She began picking her way back through her own tracks, very cold, and irritated by her decision to try to cross the silly river. And then it hit her. “Hey, how’d
you
know that I can never drown?” No answer came back to her.
“Where’d you go? Hey, where are you?” Sara called.
And then the biggest bird Sara had ever seen took flight from the treetop, soared high into the sky, circled the thicket and pastures below, and disappeared into the sun.
Sara stood in amazement, squinting into the sunlight.
Solomon.
S
ara awakened the next morning, and as usual, ducked back under the covers, bracing against beginning another day. Then she remembered Solomon.
Solomon,
Sara thought,
did I really see you, or did I dream you?
But then, as Sara woke up more, she remembered going to the thicket after school to look for Solomon, and the ice giving way beneath her feet.
No, Solomon, you were not a dream. Jason was right. You’re real.
Sara flinched as she thought of Jason and Billy shouting their way through the thicket looking for Solomon. And then that heavy, flustered feeling that Sara always got when she thought of Jason blasting into her life swept over her.
I won’t tell Jason or anyone that I’ve seen Solomon. This is my secret.
Sara struggled all day long to give her attention to her teacher. Her mind kept pulling back to the glistening thicket and this gigantic, magical bird.
Did Solomon actually speak to me?
Sara pondered.
Or did I only imagine it? Maybe I was dazed from falling. Maybe I was unconscious and dreamed it. Or did it happen?
Sara could hardly wait to go to the thicket again to find out if Solomon was real.
When the last bell rang, Sara stopped by her locker to deposit her books and then stuffed her book bag on top of them. This may have been the second day ever that Sara didn’t lug home all of her books. She had discovered that an armload of books seemed to protect her from any intrusive classmates. They somehow provided a barrier that kept frivolous, playful intruders out of her way. But today, Sara didn’t want anything to slow her down. She shot out of the front doors like a bullet, heading straight for Thacker’s Trail.
As Sara left the paved street and started down the trail, she saw a very large owl sitting in plain view on a fence post right out in the open. It almost seemed as if he were waiting for her. Sara was surprised to find Solomon so easily. She had spent so much time searching for this illusive mystery bird, and now here he was, just sitting there as if he’d always been right there.
Sara didn’t know quite how to approach Solomon.
What should I do?
Sara thought.
It seems odd to just walk up to a big owl and say,
‘Hello, how are you today?’
Hello, how are you today?
the big owl said to Sara.
Sara jumped back about a foot. Solomon laughed heartily.
I didn’t mean to startle you, Sara. How are you today?
“I’m fine, thank you. I’m just not used to talking to owls, that’s all.”
Oh, that’s too bad,
Solomon said.
Some of my very best friends are owls.
Sara laughed. “Solomon, you’re funny.”
Solomon, hmmmm,
the owl said.
Solomon is a nice name. Yes, I think I like it.
Sara blushed with embarrassment. She had forgotten that they had never really been introduced. Jason had told Sara the owl was named Solomon. But Billy’s father had chosen that name. “Oh, I’m very sorry,” Sara said. “I should have asked you your name.”
Well, I’ve never actually thought about that,
the owl said.
Solomon is a nice name however. I do like that.
“What do you mean, you’ve never thought about it? Don’t you have a name?”
No, not really,
the owl replied.
Sara couldn’t believe her ears. “How can you not have a name?”
Well, you see, Sara, only people need labels to identify things. The rest of us just seem to know who we are, and the labels are not that important to us. But I do like the name Solomon. And since you’re accustomed to calling others by name, that one will do nicely for me. Yes, I do like that name. Solomon, it is.
Solomon seemed so pleased with his new name that Sara’s embarrassment went away. Name or no name, this bird was certainly pleasant to talk with.
“Solomon, do you think I should tell anybody about you?”
Perhaps. In time.
“But you think I should keep you a secret for now, right?”
That’s best for a while. Until you figure out what you would say.
“Oh, yeah, I guess I would sound pretty silly. ‘I’ve got this owl friend who talks to me without moving his lips.’”
And I might
wisely
point out to you, Sara, that owls do not have lips.
Sara laughed. This was a very funny bird. “Oh, Solomon, you know what I mean. How do you talk without using your mouth? And how come I’ve never heard anybody else around here talking about you?”
No one else around here has ever heard me. It’s not the sound of my voice you’re hearing, Sara.
You’re receiving my thoughts.
“I don’t understand. I can hear you!”
Well, it seems like you’re hearing me, and, truly, you are, but not with your ears. Not in the way you hear some other things.
Sara pulled her scarf up around her neck and pulled her stocking cap down over her ears, as a blast of cold wind swept around her.
It will be dark soon, Sara. We can visit more tomorrow. Think about what we talked about.
While you are dreaming tonight, notice that you can see. Even though your eyes will be closed tight, you will see in your dreams.
So, if you do not need your eyes to see, you also do not need
your ears to hear.
Before Sara could point out that dreams are different from real life, Solomon said,
Good-bye, Sara. Isn’t this a lovely day?
And with that, Solomon leaped into the air, and pulling with his powerful wings, he rose high above the thicket and his fence post and his tiny friend below.
Solomon,
Sara thought,
you’re gigantic!
Sara remembered Jason’s words: “He’s gigantic, Sara, you have to come and see him!” As she made her way home through the snow, she remembered how he nearly dragged Sara to the thicket, literally running with excitement, making it hard for Sara to keep up with him.
Strange,
Sara pondered,
he was so intense about me seeing this gigantic bird, and now, in three days, he has not said one word about it. I’m surprised that he and Billy have not been out here every single day looking for Solomon. It’s as though he has forgotten all about it. I’ll have to remember to ask Solomon about that tomorrow.
Over the next few days, Sara often found herself saying, “I’ll have to ask Solomon about that.” In fact, she had started to carry a little notebook in her pocket so she could make notes about the subjects she wanted to discuss.
It seemed that there was never enough time to talk to Solomon about all the things she wanted to ask him about. The narrow window of time between school ending and Sara needing to be home to complete her after-school chores before her mother came home from work was little more than 30 minutes.
It’s not fair,
Sara had begun to think.
I spend all day with boring teachers who aren’t one-tenth as smart as Solomon, and a measly half hour with the smartest teacher I’ve ever had. Hmm, teacher. I have an owl for a teacher.
That made Sara laugh right out loud.