Tylisia yawned as she sat on the branch outside the front of her tree hollow and surveyed the scene before her; her keen owl eyes could see perfectly in the darkness of the forest. The new moon phase was still upon the world, and so it was especially dark without the moon's light to shine on it. But Tylisia, despite the darkness, could see as clearly as if it was daytime. Her ears tuned in to the faint sounds around her, her eyes content on gazing at everything about her, and her wings folded neatly to her sides, she sat and waited. Not waiting for anything in particular, but for something to happen...The forest seemed so silent and motionless. Not even the scurry of a mole was detectable at the moment. Nights of the new moon phase were always quieter than usual, she had come to notice. In fact, because nothing really happened, they were quite boring to her...She sighed and blinked away the boredom in her eyes as she looked upon the nothingness of the familiar forest.
Suddenly, she felt the presence of another owl. The swooshing sound in the wind, caused by the flapping of wings, was silent and nearly inaudible, and so she recognized it as a Barn Owl, one of the most silent fliers. The swooshing sound became more audible as the owl approached her, and he effortlessly landed on the perch beside her.
"Hello, Tylisia!" Jay cooed. "What are you doing?"
Tylisia smiled in welcome and said, "Hello Jay! Oh nothing, I was just sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet of the night."
"Really? How can this stillness be enjoyable? I can't stand new moon nights, when nothing exciting is happening. Whenever the new moon arrives, I tend to do a lot of flying. It's mostly aimless, because I'm just looking for something to do when there isn't really anything to do...But once the moon's light comes back, there will be much more life in this forest," Jay explained.
Tylisia nodded. She completely understood his dilemma of boredom. Barn Owls are generally adventurous and curious, and they always seem to be looking for adventures to go on to occupy themselves.
"How about we go on a hunting adventure? It's especially a challenge to find prey during new moon nights, and my friends and I often have competitions with them to see who can catch the most prey first." Jay suggested. Tylisia, desperate for something to do that would be more fun than just sitting outside of her tree hollow, responded, "Sure! That sounds like fun!"
Jay screeched, "Lets go!" and immediately leaped off the branch and soared down lower to the ground. Tylisia followed him, and they flew in between the twists and turns of the dense trees. Tylisia first caught a scurrying mole, and then a centipede that had been crawling silently on the ground. Jay caught three more centipedes and a vole. They kept up this game of who could get the most at once, not killing their prey but simply capturing them and then letting them go. Tylisia had been taught not to waste food when she didn't need it.
In the end, they were having so much fun that they lost track of the number of prey they caught.
"We'll just call it even." Jay hooted.
"I still think I got more than you." Tylisia giggled.
"No way! I caught way more centipedes than you!" Jay laughed and ruffled his feathers.
"Well, then I guess it's even..." Tylisia cooed. "But I still think I got at least one more mole than you." She added playfully.
"Fine, but next time I'll be sure to bring my friends so they can keep track and I'll prove to you that I won." Jay chuckled.
"Fine! I challenge you to another round tomorrow, and whoever wins that round will get permanent bragging rights. Fair enough?" Tylisia smiled, then shook claws with Jay to make it seem "official". Jay laughed, then cooed "Bye!" and soared away.
Tylisia flew back to her tree hollow, caught a small mouse for a midnight snack, and took a nap in her cozy tree hollow.