Payal and her mom are fond of birds and animals. Their house was a home to all kinds of abandoned animals, lost dogs, injured cats and lost baby birds. Though not a large house, Payal’s mom had a BIG heart. One day Shefali didi had brought a carton. Inside the carton, there was a small Owlet. Payal’s Mom picked it up carefully and placed her inside the cage. They named it Owlie.

They had to figure out a way to feed the owlet. As Owls eat rats, snakes and frogs, Payal’s mom was hesitant to bring meat inside the house. Finally, Mom ordered the meat and put the meat before Owlie. As Owlie was a baby, it didn’t know to eat. Mom decided to squish (smash) the meat until it was soft and shoved (forced) the food into Owlie’s mouth. In a second, Owlie fell down on the floor of the cage. They thought they had killed Owlie and started talking about burying Owlie. Suddenly, Owlie opened one eye and got onto her feet. That’s when Payal and her Mom learnt that it was Owlie’s way of defending danger.

Payal’s Mom started reading a lot about owls and their habits. Payal took the job of looking after Owlie. Once Owlie leamt to eat on its own, Payal loved it when she offered the meat on her hand and Owlie took the piece. Owls were night birds, so they slept all day and were active during the night. So Payal decided to let Owlie fly when she was bigger. To train her to fly, they had to keep Owlie in closed room. So they chose the library with two doors.

One door led to the rest of the house and another into the garden. Payal used to read all kinds of books in her favorite library room. The book shelves also displayed beautiful pieces of pottery, dolls and wooden and clay animals and birds from all around the world.

Once Owlie was moved to the library, it was decided by Mom and Payal not to leave the doors open. Every night, Payal left the cage door open and put a piece of meat on the cage. Owlie would fly out of the cage and find her food. Every morning, Payal used to close the cage door and find minced meats all over the room. So she thought Owlie was flying around in night and returning back to the cage in the morning to sleep. After some days, Payal left the cage door open as Owlie was sleeping during the day. But one day, when Payal returned, the cage was empty and the garden door was left open. Payal panicked and called for her Mom. Mom asked Payal to be calm and search for Owlie. They couldn’t find Owlie . Finally they decided that Owlie had gone and left the doors open.

Payal was very upset and was looking sadly at the cage . Mom advised Payal to read a book to cheer herself up. Payal started looking for a book to read. Suddenly she noticed a curio (unusual object) on the shelf. Payal was happy to find out that it was Owlie. Payal scolded the owl and put her back in her cage.