A Love Story

She didn’t know what drove her to turn right instead of left down Clover Street that night. Maybe it was a lack of awareness after a long day, maybe it was what he came to call it later on, fate. She poked fun at him every time he said it. She was always hesitant to believe in things of that nature. But even in her skepticism, she had to admit, something about that night felt magnetic. 

The day was long, she grabbed her red coat and made her way down the four stories of her apartment, walked the foyer of handcrafted tile with golden floral designs, and pushed through the two old wooden doors. Down a few more steps, she turned right instead of her usual left on Clover Street.

The nights were finally getting warmer, she thought, it had been a long and very cold winter. She reached the first street and crossed it, not realizing it wasn’t Cove Avenue, the first street she normally crosses. A few streets down she came to a stop. At the top of the sign of Clover Street and Leaf Lane was an owl. She stood there staring at the owl and the owl stared back.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” To the right of her was a man walking a black and silver German shepherd. He was tall with dark hair and his voice was stoic. 

“Yes. Your dog, too.” She said.

“Oh, this old thing?” The man bent down and pet the dog. “This is Blue, he’s quite friendly.” 

The man was very kind. She wasn’t afraid, but she was hesitant. 

He stood up and reached out his right hand.  

“I’m Max.” She kept her hands in her jacket pockets. 

“Sadie.” She said and looked back at the owl.

He pulled his hand back, hiding it away at his side. 

“Do you know what kind of owl this is?” She asked.

“A Great Horned owl, I think.”

“Have you ever seen one before?”

“No. I walk this street every night with Blue, and this is the first time I’ve seen it. I only think it may be a great horned because of the stories my grandpa used to tell me.”

“Hmm… I wonder what it’s doing here.”

He looked at her staring at the owl. “I wonder.” He said.

Blue laid down on the ground and huffed air from his snout. “Looks like Blue is ready to get home.”

Sadie looked at Blue and smiled. “Looks like Blue and I have had similar days.” She looked up at Max. “It was nice to meet you, Max, and you, Blue.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Sadie. I hope you have a good night.”

They left each other with a gentle smile.

The next night, Sadie walked the foyer, down the couple steps, and turned left. She passed Cove Street, as she always did. Went on her normal walk, passing by the houses and trees she knew and loved, and made her way back to the old wooden doors of her apartment. But instead of pushing them open, she went back down the steps and turned right. She wondered about the owl, those piercing yellow eyes haunted her and she needed to see if the owl would be there again. She reached the corner of Clover and Leaf and the owl wasn’t there. She looked around and there was no sign of it. 

Next to the building on that corner was a small bench, she decided to sit and wait. 

“Blue, wait!” She heard a man yelling and a dog running in her direction. She was nervous at first but quickly realized it was the man and his dog from the night before. Blue ran right up to her, wagging his tail, and put his head on her lap. “Hi, Blue!”

She laughed and pet his head. 

“I’m sorry! He got away from me.” Once he got close he saw it was Sadie. “Oh! Hi Sadie!”

“Hi Max, how are you?”

“Doing just fine, how are you? A better day I hope.”

“Oh yes, I’m good, yesterday wasn’t bad, just long.”

Blue climbed up on the bench and nestled his head into her lap.

“Blue seems to have warmed up to you quickly.”

“Yes, he has. I think we both just needed some rest.”

Sadie looked back up at the empty street sign. Curious, Max looked, too. “What are you looking at?” He asked.

“The street sign.” She said. “The owl from last night, I’ve been thinking about it all day, I can’t get its eyes out of my head.” He pointed to the empty seat on the bench next to Blue, “May I?”

“Sure.” She said.

Max sat down next to Blue, petting the dog's back. “In our, mine and Blue’s, many years of walking this street, last night was the only night I’ve ever seen an owl on that street sign, or anywhere on this walk.” 

“Yeah, I usually don’t walk down this way, I have a different path I walk every night and I’ve never seen an owl until last night either.”

“But you think maybe it’ll be back?”

“I don’t know. I just couldn’t…” She stopped talking and looked back at the street sign. “Have you ever been so struck by a moment, so taken by a feeling that you just…you just…“ She struggled to say what she felt. “You just…”

“You just know before you know.” He said.

She looked at him, “Yes…You just know before you know.”

They looked at each other quietly, they both knew before they knew, they just didn’t know what it was they knew quite yet.

Each night she skipped her usual walk and came back to that corner hoping to see it again.

And each night Max and Blue showed up to keep Sadie company.

The owl never came.

Sarah Luther.