One morning at Forman Christian College, Maryam Khalil entered her office and encountered one of the most magnificent things she had ever seen.
Khalil told The Dodo, “I spotted a lovely owl near my cubical. He was in the hands of one of my coworkers. The cutest thing we’ve ever seen in an office setting was that.
The baby owl had wide, yellow eyes and a downy coat of gray and brown feathers. Khalil had come across plenty of birds during her morning and evening walks on campus, but she’d never been so close to one before.
The little owl had fallen from his nearby nest during a heavy thunderstorm, and Khalil’s colleague scooped him up and brought him inside to dry off. Since it was summer, the office air conditioning was on full blast, so they wrapped the baby bird in a soft cloth to keep him warm.
The small owl quickly became the topic of conversation at work, and everyone was distracted. But despite the commotion the owl had caused, he appeared to be in complete tranquility.
Khalil recalled, “When he started looking about with his beautiful eyes, I put him in a box in my lap. “We fed him during the day while he dozed off for a bit.”
Khalil and her coworkers located the owl’s nest after the job was through and gave him back to his mother.
For two years, Khalil didn’t see another wild animal in her office until an adult owl surprised everyone by flying into a lecture hall during an evening class. There was something about this owl that seemed familiar to her.
“This wasn’t a baby owl, but he looked charming while winking at us,” Khalil said.
She wasn’t sure if it was the same owl, but she’d like to think the little baby she helped so long ago is still out there living his best life.
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