Road Sign: The Little White Owl

It was the cover of this book with its darling illustration and jewel toned colors that caught my eye as I plucked it off the shelf so many months ago.  Then it was the paragraph of  touching words on the first page of this sweet story that really drew me into the adventure of this very brave, very imaginative, but very plain, very lonely little white owl.

His only possession is a tattered teddy bear.  One day he sits on his branch gazing at the big blue sky and wonders what is "out there".  He packs his bag and goes to see the world.  The rest of the story talks about the rejection and then the acceptance that this plain little white owl finds in a very colorful world...a world that looks very different from his own.  The vibrant owls in the new land he discovers tell him that he is too "plain".  They tell him he just doesn't belong with them.  They command him to go away.  And then with an overwhelming desire to fit in, he cries out,

"But I do have colors!  HERE - in my heart!"

At this very moment two worlds collide and neither the colorful owls nor the plain little white owl will ever be the same again.  The story says that in the presence of the little white owl, the colorful owls became more colorful.

In my mind's eye I see Thunder and Lightning as plain little white owls...no mommy, no daddy, no name...maybe a tattered teddy bear...lonely orphans in a lonely place.  I wonder if they have ever seen the stars or looked up at the big blue expanse of sky overhead and desired to know what's "out there".

At the end of this journey, when our two worlds collide, they will discover a colorful world full of possibilities.  They will have a mommy and a daddy and a name.  Their tattered teddy bears will be replaced by colorful sock monkeys.  And we will have two little boys to make our hearts beat a little happier as we rejoice in the rainbow of colors they will bring to our lives.