If you ever drive at night, you know the phenomenon. Owls swooping down in front of your car. It's been said that they are snapping at insects they see in the beams of your headlights. It can be a very un nerving experience. And it can be heartbreaking when the owl misjudges.
I was in high school. I wasn't one of the popular kids.
There was a guy named Tim. He was one of the popular kids. Good looking, football player, senior.
A year older than me.
Everyone called him Mad Stork, though I never found out why.
Tim was telling some of his friends how he had struck and killed an owl the night before while driving down a dimly lit road.
"It was so beautiful," he said. "It made me sick that I killed it. It just came out of nowhere and hit my windshield. There was nothing I could do." He was truly upset over it.
"Wow," I thought. "I'd have never thought someone like him would care so much about a bird."
My level of respect for Tim went way up that day.
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