“Shattered Screech Owl” is a Gansai (Japanese Watercolor) painting featuring a Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl against a mottled forest green background resembling a stained glass window. Her eyes are bright yellow and assertive. Like this owl means business. And she does.

Deep within the ancient forest, where the trees whispered secrets to the wind, lived a red-morph eastern screech owl. She was known as Nyx, a creature of sharp wit and even sharper talons. Unlike the other owls, who preferred the quiet solitude of the night, Nyx patrolled her territory with a fierce determination, protecting the smaller creatures from harm. She was a force to be reckoned with, her piercing yellow eyes seeing through the darkness, her calls echoing through the trees like a warning. Her territory was her pride, a lush, vibrant green haven in the heart of the ancient woods.

One sultry summer evening, as the fireflies blinked their enchanting code in the velvet darkness, Nyx was startled by a flash of russet fur. A fox! She immediately took to the air, determined to protect the field mice she knew were foraging nearby. She swooped down, talons extended, ready to give chase.

But something was wrong. The fox wasn’t running. It was…glowing? Before Nyx could make sense of it and force her wings to change course, she collided with the fox and then slid through it. It was something hard and unyielding and then something that felt like water. She was released and then tumbled to the ground, disoriented and confused.

As her vision cleared, she realized she was inside a crumbling cathedral. The air inside was still and heavy, the silence broken only by the soft rustle of her feathers and click of her talons on the stone floor. She looked around, trying to understand what had happened. Then, she saw a stained-glass window depicting a dense forest, its leaves a calming shade of dusty green. And within the window next to it, the fox, surrounded by aqua green light! The very fox she had been chasing!

Drawn by an unseen force, a strange sense of recognition, she hopped closer to the window. As she touched the cool glass, a surge of magic coursed through her body. The world around her dissolved into a whirlwind of colors, and she felt herself transforming, becoming part of the stained glass.

When her vision cleared, she found herself perched within the dense stained-glass forest, her feathers now a mosaic of clay and Sienna, her bright yellow eyes still glowing with their characteristic intensity. And all around her, the vibrant green of the stained-glass leaves. She was no longer just Nyx, the protector of the forest; she was Nyx, the guardian of the cathedral wood.

The fox, in his own the window, looked at her with an expression of…knowing? “ Welcome.” the fox’s voice seemed to echo from within the glass.

Nyx, still slightly dazed, looked around at the other animals in the stained glass. She saw the frightened mouse she had tried to save, now nestled safely amongst the moss’s under a giant mushroom. She saw a fa deer in a nighttime glade, conversing with another owl. And on a cluster of bright red mushrooms, she saw a small colony of ladybugs, their tiny shells gleaming like jewels. They all seemed peaceful, even happy.

The fox continued, “I saw you out there, swooping and diving ever so vigilant. We…we need someone to protect us, someone strong, just in case people come. Will you stay, Nyx? Will you be our guardian?”

Nyx, her protective instincts still burning bright, looked at the creatures around her, all safe and happy. And she knew what she had to do.

“I will stay,” she said, her voice ringing with a newfound resolve. “I will be your guardian. Now WHO’s that owl over there?”

And so, Nyx embraced her new role, becoming a beacon of strength and hope within the cathedral, a guardian of the green, a protector of the nave.

This and more paintings from the “Shattered” series will be offered for sale summer 2025 along with. Prints will also be offered in the future.

Please feel free to use the form below for commissions or gallery appearances. I will answer your request as soon as possible.

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Check out my other paintings at www.tobitokens.com or find out a little more about me at About Tobi! Visit Disclosures to find out how I establish these short stories.

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