Eagle Eyes

• Nicola Sheedy, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2011

Jonathan walked out of his busy office building, starting his way home from work with a cheery whistle. He had had a wonderful day at the office, with his boss hinting at a promotion in the near future.
As he turned into the alleyway that was an efficient shortcut to his apartment, he heard another cheery sound besides his own whistling; the sound of a child laughing. Jonathan looked up to see a small child playing in an open window five stories above his head. Smiling at the happy sight, Jonathan’s mind wandered back to memories he had from his childhood. He focused back into reality when he heard a sharp squeal. The child in the window had lost its balance and was about to fall to the ground! Jonathan sprinted to reach the falling child, but at the back of his mind, he knew it was too late. He blinked once, and to his amazement a slightly built young lady appeared under the child, easily catching it in her arms. Jonathan skidded to a halt in bewilderment, frowning at the woman as he tried to think if he had seen her before. He concluded that he mustn’t have seen her because he was concentrating on the small child. The lady gently placed the crying child on the ground, nodded once to Jonathan, then turned and fled around the corner. Jonathan, wanting some answers, ran after her, calling out, “Wait!” but it was no use, when he rounded the corner she had completely disappeared. His brow furrowed in confusion, Jonathan started back towards the child to see if it was injured. Thankfully it wasn’t, and he returned the child to its worried parents.
As he began to walk home again, he realised there was something nagging him about the young woman, something in the depths of his mind, just out of reach. Jonathan’s gaze snapped up to the sky when he heard a sound not normally heard in the middle of the dense urban jungle, an eagle’s cry. Watching the eagle gracefully soar in the bright azure sky, Jonathan remembered what was so strange about the slight young lady.
Her eyes were golden, like the eyes of an eagle.