CLARA Chapter 10 Which Way Is Home: Clara Meets Owl

Clara was having so much fun enjoying her new pond adventure that she didn't notice when Della Duck left the pond to take her ducklings back to the duck pen in the barnyard for the night. The pond was not a safe place for ducklings in the dark.

Clara didn't know that Peter the pony was no longer in the meadow.  He had returned to his stall.  It would be dark soon.  She didn't know that Karla the cow and her calf were no longer in the pasture. They had gone back to the barn for the night. All the farm animals had gone home, all except Clara.
 
Clara was having so much fun she didn't notice the robins and sparrows had all flown back to their nest in the trees. It would soon be night and time to sleep. Clara was so busy having fun that she didn't notice the stars starting to peek out or the moon rising in the sky.

Suddenly the world was dark. Then Clara noticed and Clara was all alone.

“Oh my”, thought Clara as she climbed onto the bank beside the pond, “which way is home?” Clara sat down. She looked all around her. Everything looked different in the dark. Clara knew she should go home but she didn't know where home was. Clara was afraid. She was very hungry and she was tired. Clara wanted to go home. She wanted to go back to her little piggy pen behind the big red barn with its nice tin roof and her bed of sweet golden straw, but it was dark and Clara didn't know which way to go.

Clara sat down beneath the pine tree near the pond and began to cry.  “Oh dear, oh dear, whatever shall I do.  I shall never find my way home in the dark.  I want to go home.” Clara looked all around her but she couldn't see where home might be.  The pond and the meadow looked very different at night.  “Oh dear, oh dear”, Clara sobbed.

“Whooo, Whooo, Whooo," an owl called from very nearby. The sound seemed to be coming from right above Clara's head. Clara looked up. Sure enough, there he was, an owl, sitting on a branch just a few feet above Clara's head.

“Whooo, who are you and what are you doing here beneath my tree? Why are you crying, little pig?" the owl asked.

"I'm Clara and I'm lost. I can't find my way home," Clara sobbed, "I want to go home."

"Whooo where might that be? Whooo where do you live?" Owl asked Clara.

"I live on the farm with the big red barn, with Dog and Cat and Peter the pony and Karla the cow and her little calf and Rosalie red hen and her five little chicks and Cornelius the rooster who wakes me up every morning at the crack of dawn.  I'm very afraid and I want to go home," Clara continued to cry.

“OOoooo, Stop crying, little pig, and follow me." Owl said. "I'll show you the way back to the farm with the big red barn. I'll show you the way home again.”

"Oh thank you," Clara said, sniffing back her tears. "I shall never go wandering off this far again and from now on I shall be home before dark."

"What were you doing out here all by yourself anyhow?" Owl asked Clara as he fluttered down to the ground. “Pigs should stay on the farm where they belong.”

"I was taking a walk, a lovely walk. I was looking for adventure." Clara explained.  “I was having such a wonderful adventure of my very own that I forgot all about the time and now it is dark and I don’t know how to find my way home again.” Clara sniffed back another tear. She was trying not to cry.

“I want to go back to my little piggy pen behind the big red barn with its nice bed of sweet golden straw.  Please, can you show me the way home, Mr. Owl?" Clara asked.

Mr. Owl blinked his eyes and hooted softly and then spoke more sternly. "Yes, yes, I’ll show you the way back to the farm with the big red barn but you’ll have to hurry," said Owl, a bit impatiently.  It is my dinner time so hurry along and don't dawdle.  Follow me and be quick about it." Owl began to fly across the meadow.

"Wait," Clara cried. "Please, Mr. Owl. I can't fly. I already tried. Wait for me."

Mr. Owl turned back, hooting with laughter.  "Of course you can't fly", Owl hooted, "You're a pig. Pigs do not fly and thank the heavens for that.”
 
"I know", said Clara, "I know pigs can't fly.  I have already found that out." 
 
“Just run as fast as you can then," Owl said, flying back to Clara's side, "and don't take your eyes off me or you'll get lost in the tall meadow grass all over again. I will have you safely home in no time at all."  Once again Owl began flying across the meadow.

Owl flew low over the meadow, away from the duck pond with Clara running as fast as she could behind him, but owl flew so fast that Clara couldn't keep up. She fell down, THUMP, bumping her little piggy chin.

When Clara stood up again she couldn't see Owl anywhere. Owl was gone. It was very dark now and Clara didn't know which way to go to find her way home. Clara didn't like being alone in the dark so far from home.

"Oh dear, oh dear," Clara cried, "What shall I do? Now I am lost all over again. Perhaps I shall never get home to my nice piggy pen.  

"Oh dear, oh dear," Clara began to sob and sob.  She was crying so hard that she didn't hear someone else approaching through the tall meadow grass and it was much to dark now to see.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” Clara sobbed again. Karla the cow was right. It is not good for a little pig to wander off all alone. It is not safe, not even for the first adventure seeking pig in the whole wide world. I could get hurt or lost.

I am lost,” Clara thought to herself. “I’m lost and I don’t know how to find my way home again.” Suddenly she thought she heard something moving in the grass. It was coming right toward her. Clara as very afraid.