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I pocketed the branch unsure both of why I did so, and why the man had been carrying it. Thoughts raced through my mind as I absent mindedly forgot about the slice of pizza I had wanted. Who was that man? What had he meant by me "being ready"? Surely he had to have been insane. What right minded person speaks that way to a complete stranger? And who were those men chasing after him?

By the time I had snapped out of my thoughts I was already at Miss Argus' door step. I had paid careful attention to making sure that no one, especially Miss Argus' annoying children, saw that I was carrying something new in my pocket. I walked up the steps, my face hung down, and I didn't even notice Miss Argus standing there as I walked right into her.

"And where have you been? You are twelve minutes late. You know I need that washing for when I go out tonight." She had said in an angry tone. I of course knew that by "going out" she just meant hanging around by herself at the coffee shop when she told her children she was out on a date with her "admirer".

"I, ummm, I…" I was trying to figure out some story that would explain why I had been late.

"Well out with it already. It's not like I have all day" Miss Argus said, her face turned a light shade of red, making her look like a tomato.

"I'm sorry Miss Argus. When I went to the cleaners the attendant hadn't realized that there was a butter stain in your sweater and wanted to fix the mistake right away. She offered to remove it right there without any extra charge. I thought that since it was your favourite sweater, that you wouldn't mind if I was a little bit late. I'm really sorry" I said, happy that I had come up with a reasonable answer for her.

"Fine then, whatever, just get in the house. The dishes need to be washed" she had said as she pushed me in the door, past the gawking eyes of her children.

I was glad she hadn't pushed about my lateness anymore. I didn't want to give her any reason to doubt where I had been, and I most certainly didn't want her to get a hold of what was hidden in my pocket. After I had washed the dishes, swept the floor, made the children dinner, and hung up Miss Argus' washing, I was free to head to my room. I took a few slices of bread and a can of vegetable soup up with me to enjoy my meal in peace and quiet. And of course, I had wished to find out more about the mysterious man and the tree branch.

When I was up in my tiny attic room, merely big enough for my old rusty bed and night stand, I laid stomach down on my bed, the food sitting on the floor beside me. I took the branch out of my pocket and ran my fingers around the tip. It was eerily smooth for a piece of wood. It was as if someone had polished it. As I twirled it with my fingers the strangest thing happened. I had been lazily staring into space, twirling the object, completely forgetting about the day's occurrences, daydreaming about the man from the streets and what his story might have been when all of a sudden red sparks shot from the branch. I dropped it instantly. What on earth had happened? Hopefully no one downstairs had heard the disturbance. I waited with baited breath to hear any movement from downstairs. And surely enough the grunting sounds of Miss Argus' eldest child Margaret could be heard at the base of the stairs.

"What on earth do you think you're doing up there? Creating all that racket." She bellowed from below.

"I just stubbed my toe that is all" I said, it was the first thing that had come to mind.

"Oh good, you deserve it for being late today. Mother almost made me wash the dishes. You know what happened last time you had Mother make me do the washing." She said as she walked back to watch the tele.

"Phew, that was close" I had said aloud. I bent over to pick up the branch, which had rolled under my bed. When I looked back up there was a strange bird sitting on the windowsill. I had attempted to ignore it but it continued to stare at me. As I went over to bang the window in attempts to get the bird to leave, I noticed another bird of the same type sitting just down the roof from its fellow friend. These were a different type of bird than me usually saw here. They must have been owls by their looks, but surely I had never seen another owl like these two. I made it to the window and rapped on the glass. Neither bird moved. In fact they seem to be wishing me to open the window. Surely they couldn't have. But that would explain a lot. In fact, as I think about it now, they were probably willing me to open that window. As I reached for the latch, the pair seemed to get excited. I watched them for a moment and they calmed down, so I felt it safe to open the window. With one fell swoop they had both landed on my bed.

"What on earth?" I exclaimed to the birds. Both of whom now sat, very comfortably I might add, on my bed. One on the pillow, the other on the footboard. I hadn't really been paying attention to the little details of the birds, more along the lines of trying to figure out why they were there. As I stared unfocused at the bird on the end of my bed, I hadn't noticed that the other was slowing inching towards me.

"Ouch! That hurt" I said as I nursed my bitten finger. "What did you do that for?" That was when I noticed it. Was it really what I thought it was? Could it really be? Could that really be parchment tied to the bird's ankle?

I had reached forward and untied the paper from the small bird's foot. It was as if this was what they had been waiting for. The second the knot was undone the birds took flight. Out the window they flew and were out of sight within seconds. My hands had shaken a little as I unrolled the paper. "What a weird day" I had thought to myself. What I read on the parchment left me shocked and intrigued.

"Meet me at the pub just around the corner. 10pm sharp. Bring no one, just yourself and that wand I left you. Ask no questions. Tell no one. That's 10 pm sharp. Be there. This is your only chance"

What on earth did this mean? Why had two owls delivered me a letter? Who was telling me to meet them at a pub that late after dark? And what did they mean by "your only chance"? The note had left me in a state of bewilderment