First Came the Owl Read Online Free Page B

and play costumes. On the wall was a blown-up photograph of a green iguana, which at that size looked like a dragon.
    â€œGuess what?” asked Nita.
    â€œYou want to be in the play,” said Amy.
    â€œYes, but guess what I saw?”
    Amy finally gave Nita her full attention. Her big brown eyes looked out from her wild hair and focused on Nita. “What did you see?”
    â€œA huge white owl! On the beach.”
    â€œA snowy owl?” asked Anne.
    â€œIs that what they’re called? I can’t wait to tell Petrova.”
    Amy reached for her book of Snow White. “Wait a second,” she said. “I think … yeah, listen. I thought I remembered there’s an owl in this story! The story goes: ‘And the birds of the air came too, and bemoaned Snow White: first of all came an owl.…’”
    â€œI wonder…” said Nita, but then she didn’t speak her chilling thought aloud. I wonder if my owl came because of my Mom. Maybe it came to bemoan her, to cry for her, because she was lying so still and not talking, as if Mom were Snow White in her glass coffin. Maybe it came to get her. Maybe it means she’s going to die.
    Nita felt tears prickle her eyelids. “Where’s the bathroom?” she muttered. Amy pointed down the hall, and Nita held her breath until she was safely behind the closed bathroom door.
    She stared at herself in the mirror. Her brown face was smooth, her eyes dark. Her bangs parted a little in the middle, as if the wind had blown them apart. She was sad, confused, and scared, and it didn’t even show on her face, like it would on, say, Amy’s face, with her flushed pink cheeks and wild hair.
    Mom was the same way. You could only tell she was upset when she got even quieter than usual. Were people from Thailand always like that? But even if they are always like that, I am only half Thai, thought Nita. I hardly even remember Thailand. Furiously, she messed up half her hair and stuck out her tongue at the mirror, but her silky hair slid back into place, and, after a few seconds, she slid her tongue in, too. She felt silly. Silly, but at least she didn’t feel like crying anymore.
    And maybe the owl was good. It would bemoan Mom and then she’d get better! Nita remembered the great feeling she had when she saw that huge, snowy bird. As if she were special to have it come near her and look at her with those yellow eyes.
    â€œNita!” Anne called to her from outside the bathroom door. “Come on, we’ve got to talk about the parts.”
    Nita opened the bathroom door. She felt much better, and it was the thought of the wild, free bird that had done it.
    â€œI absolutely want to be a dwarf,” said Anne. “I mean, if you pick me. I love to dance and sing.”
    â€œWhat about you, Nita?” asked Amy. She wrote on her clipboard.
    â€œWell,” said Nita, “I don’t want to be a dwarf.” Then she surprised herself. “I want to be—Snow White!”
    The words came out as if some new person were speaking them.
    Anne bounced up on the bed in surprise. “You do? ” she said.
    â€œYes,” she said, a bit more firmly, still wondering why. Nothing had happened that was different except the owl. The owl. It had something to do with the owl, and something to do with Mom, and a new feeling that was growing inside her.
    Amy gave Nita a considering look. “You’d be a good Snow White,” said Amy. “I’ll put you down on my list.” Then she went back to writing on her clipboard.
    â€œAmy!” came a voice from downstairs. “I need your help, and Anne’s mom is here for her and Nita.”
    The girls thundered down the stairs. There was a flurry of dogs, boys, and good-byes.
    Then Anne and Nita were outside for a freezing minute until they got in the warm car.
    â€œGuess what, Mom?” said Anne. “Nita’s going to try out for Snow