We find the owl at the very edge of our woods the morning after the storm. Wings flight-frozen and round eyes glassy. I touch its feathers lightly with my fingertip and I’m surprised because they still feel real even though the owl has slipped away somewhere else and Dad is already digging a hole for it in the rain-soaked earth.

I lift its body and it’s huge in my hands but the hollow bones do most of the work for me and I almost think the owl might shake the stiffness from its feathers and fly away. I really don’t think this one should go into a hole in the ground. I say that to Dad and he says that it’s the circle of life and that now the owl will become part of nature again. Feeding the soil with its flesh and growing the roots of plants from its feathers.

Dad shifts the last of the dirt with his spade and sits down at the base of a tree with a huff of air that smokes around him. I put the bird in the hole and mark it with a smooth pebble so I’ll always know.

After we’ve buried the owl, we walk all around the woods and clear the worst of the damage from the winds and the rain. The damage isn’t as bad as it’s been before and it feels like the storm has cleaned everything back to being new and fresh. I use my hawk eyes and search the ground in flicks and sweeps and I find treasures in the rain-raked earth just like always. Pieces of pottery and something that could be a Roman coin. I slip them into my pocket and they bump against each other to tell their stories to me, but I’ll listen later.

I help Dad load the best of the fallen branches on to the trailer so we can cut them for fire wood or maybe a bonfire, and then we drive over the muddy paths and back to our house.

【小题1】What do we know about the owl when the author finds it?

A．It is already dead.	B．It is hidden in a hole.
C．It is too stiff to fly away.	D．It is trying to flee the woods.

【小题2】Why does the author mark the hole with a pebble?

A．To facilitate future visits.	B．To show sympathy for the owl.
C．To keep the site clear of plants.	D．To draw the attention of passers-by.

【小题3】What message does the author want to convey by mentioning the owl?

A．Storms make trees take deeper roots.	B．In nature’s embrace, time stands still.
C．The darkest hour has only sixty minutes.	D．With every leaf’s fall, a new life emerges.

【小题4】What does “I’ll listen later” in paragraph 4 reveal about the author?

A．Money-driven.

B．Wonder-seeking.

C．Artistically talented.

D．Emotionally mature.