Owen’s Roommate

Owen had seen a lot of night owls in his day, but none of them were human — until now.

As soon as the sun set behind the castle across the river, Giles, his human/roommate, headed for the library. There he sat with pen in hand and a blank piece of paper on the small desk in front of him. It was the same piece of paper he always used—and not once did a drop of ink touch it.

Giles simply sat there, with silence, as two candles emitted an eerie orange glow. Occasionally he would sigh and gaze out the window at the castle.

Owen recalled that a woman once lived here also. One day she left and never came back. That’s when Giles’ nightly ritual began. Owen, in his wisdom, ventured there might be a correlation between the two events. Could the woman’s leaving have triggered the man’s odd behavior?

Then one evening as the man was gazing longingly at the castle, the woman emerged. She was with a man and two small children—a boy and a girl. Maybe they were twins, Owen thought, since they were close to the same height and size. The man and woman were holding hands. The woman looked into his eyes as if he’d hung the moon. Perhaps he had.

Giles caught his breath and let out a small gasp. Tears welled up in his eyes and his chin quivered. Eventually, when he was able to look away, he returned the pen to its inkwell and crumpled the blank sheet of paper.

He blew out the candles and went to bed.

That was the last time Giles had entered the library.