Turmoil and sadness

Rosalie and the other Owls listened as Sensei described the plan for the group.  In her mind, Rosalie’s thoughts raced as she became resentful.  She had also stayed awake through the night thinking about how they might use the particles against the Hawks and what needed to be done to secure the area.  Her mind was telling her that she was the one who had found the particles in the first place and who had shown it to the others.  But now Sensei was standing in front of the group as if she had been the one to discover these mysterious particles.  Rosalie was silent and withdrawn avoiding eye contact with Sensei as she spoke.   

At the end of the meeting, it was beginning to get dark, the group was hungry and they decided to look for food.  They formed groups and spread out to look for mice for the Owls and fruits, vegetables, and nuts for the others.  Rosalie went off by herself to look for food that would suit her, not finding the current menu very interesting.  

As it was becoming dusk, she walked into the bushes toward where she had found the particles that made things turn invisible.  As she walked she could hear the branches creak in the wind.  The creaking sound of the branches reminded her of when she would walk in the woods at her home.  She stopped to listen and looked up at the branches to see them sway in the wind.  There was sadness in her stomach.  Clouds moved in over her above the branches.  

Then she heard a voice.  It sounded tired and depressed.  “Rosalie, what are you doing?  Nothing is important since it will all pass anyway.”  Rosalie looked around and could not see where the voice was coming from.  She felt very tired and confused, as if a weight was on her.  She sits down and then lays down to take a nap.  Things go dark.  Seconds, minutes or maybe hours later she hears rustling and isn’t sure if it’s a dream or real.  

The rustling becomes closer and closer until something soft knocks aginst her and falls off to the side.  She hears the something say “Excuse me!  Excuse me?”.   Rosalie sits up and sees the Little Owl on its side.  She rushes to the Little Owl and hugs him tightly.  The Little Owl is squished in her arms and says “I couldn’t find you and went looking for you.”  The Little Owl said “I brought the Horse who’s behind me.  Horse, Horse?  We’re over here”.  The Horse walks up and nuzzles Rosalie on the neck.  

The Little Owl says “We brought you some food since we didn’t think you would like to eat Mice or some of the other menu items”.  Rosalie looks in the Horse’s pack and finds cheese, water, French bread and an apple.  She hungrily takes out the food and eats.  They then all walk back in silence to the camp.  Rosalie did not mention the voice that she heard among the bushes.  

The Plan

Sensei asked Rosalie to bring one of the branches back to camp so the Owl could look at it more carefully.  She used her axe to remove one of the smaller branches from the trunk.  As she chopped at the branch, dust again began to settle and partially landed on each of them and as before where the particles landed they became invisible. 

They walked back to camp with the branch and gathered with the rest of the Owls around the fire.  The other Owls looked up in amazement to see that part of Rosalie’s arm was missing and the Little Owl’s beak was gone.  They exclaimed “What happened? Have you been hurt?” Sensei then told Rosalie and the Little Owl to shake the particles from themselves and as they did Rosalie’s arm and the Little Owls beak re-appeared.  Rosalie said “The dust particles from the branches of this tree cause whatever they land on to become invisible.  I have one of the small branches here.”  Sensei asked Rosalie to collect some of the particles in a small jar so they could be examined more closely.  She took a small transparent jar and a knife from the Horse’s knapsack.  She took the knife and cut a small wood chip from the branch.  It landed on her arm but did not cause her arm to disappear.  Sensei observed what was happening as she worked with the branch.  Rosalie then took her axe and began chopping at the branch and this time she captured the wood dust that floated in the air.  This time the wood dust caused whatever it landed on to disappear.  Rosalie took the particles she had collected in the jar over to the fire so they could be inspected more closely.   

Sensei asked her to rotate and tilt the jar.  As she did random dust particles  shimmered in the light of the fire.  Sensei then said, “I believe these dust particles are in fact tiny, highly reflective mirrors that bend the light around the object they sit on making the object look as if it has disappeared.  I had read in scientific journals about the theoretical possibility of such particles but no one has been able to create them experimentally.”  Everyone was silent for several moments, staring at the particles in the jar as they randomly sparkled depending on how they reflected the light from the fire.  Rosalie then gasped and said “This is remarkable!  We can dust ourselves with these particles and use them as a cloak to make us invisible.  We can then get past the Hawks and find the Little Owls parents.”  The other Owls were in enthusiastic agreement. 

They talked into the night around the fire discussing the particles and the cloak of invisibility that they could make to evade the Hawks.  The wind began to pick up and caused the fire to dance in the wind.  As it got later they decided to put out the fire and go to sleep for what was left of the night.

In the morning Rosalie awoke with a jolt remembering that she had not put a lid on the jar with the particles.  During the evening the wind had knocked over the jar and it was on its side.  She saw that the jar was visible and knew that the particles must have been swept away.  She was hoping that a few remained so she took the jar to the fire that they had made in the morning to see if she could see any particles shimmering in the light of the fire.  But the jar was empty.  She was disappointed but knew that they could get more particles from the branches in the shrubbery. 

As they sat around the fire eating their morning breakfast Rosalie said “We’ve found this remarkable substance now we need a plan.”  Before she could continue Sensei spoke saying “I had thought through the night and have come up with several things we need to do.  We don’t know how many branches have these special particles so we need to find that out.  We also need a way to carry the particles with us so we can use them when the Hawks approach.  And then we need to mark the area so that we can return to this site when we need to replenish our supply of particles.”  The Horse stood off to the side and sniggered to itself thinking this sounded like a lot of work.  

Optical particulates

As Rosalie ran onto the bank she excitedly said “Look we’re invisible!”  The Owls on the bank became confused and said “What? Who’s there?! Who’s invisible?  Are you friend or foe?”   The Little Owl says “Friend, friend.  It’s Rosalie and I who’ve become invisible but we don’t know how.”  Rosalie then says “I think the branches have some magical powers that turn things invisible”. 

Sensei walks over to the voices of Rosalie and the Little Owl and says “That’s nonsense.  Branches don’t have the power to turn things invisible.  There must be some logical explanation.  Show me the shrubbery so we can understand what is going on here." 

With the Little Owl still in her arms Rosalie takes Sensei by the wing and they disappear into the shrubbery leaving the rest of the Owls and the Horse behind.  The three of them walk when suddenly Rosalie stops and says “These are the branches that made us invisible.  When I cut the branch with my axe I could see wherever the particles land it becomes invisible.”  Sensei then told her to cut the branch.  She took her axe and began chopping.  Again the particles scattered this time landing on Sensei’s wing.  She stopped cutting so they could observe if anything happened.  Rosalie and the Little Owl exclaimed “It happened to you too!  Part of your wing is missing.”  Sensei calmly looked at its wing and said “Indeed, it appears to be missing but it is most certainly still there.”   Sensei then spread its wing and vigorously began to flap, releasing the particles and its arm begins to appear.  Rosalie then vigorously shook herself and the Little Owl and they too began to re-appear.