Why Bats Are Blind

• Irina Halliday-Osovskaya, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

In the far long past the things were different. The trees could move and the water could talk; the land created mountains by its will and the stars could choose their position; while the owls were perfect in casting spells and the bats had super vision.
One day bats were boasting about their supervision so much that they woke up the grumpy old frog-mouth owl Frank. His eyes flashed open like lightning, but too wise to fight and too tired to act he went back to sleep. He had already given them a warning, but they only laughed at him.
Not long after, the tiny pups were learning to fly and bumped into Frank’s tree. The old owl was furious. Frank fluffed up his feathers forming a frightening frill around his neck, hopped off the hollow tree with hiss and trumpeted, “For disturbing the animal kingdom 24/7 you shall pay with your excellent vision! You should have heeded my warning!”
The bats tried to fly away, but couldn't because with every second their vision blurred more and more... Disoriented, they flew chaotically bumping in everyone.
The chaos continued turning sunny day in the twilight with thousands of bats screaming and struggling in the air. Well, till Frank was annoyed by this as the blind bats nearly crashed into him.
So he decided to soften the spell, “Fine, I will give you a way to navigate. You will not SEE but HEAR the objects.” As these words were said the bats screamed out of joy till they realised that they had lost their super vision forever.
There was only one bat left who could see because he lived 200km away. As a tiny pup, he was saved from a big fire and brought up by a family of barn owls. His name was Jimmy Barn. He was very smart and learnt from the owls a lot. Jimmy could cast and deflect spells; he mastered the owlcraft and even could turn invisible. While Jimmy was invisible, he makes a noise only bats can hear.
Hearing that Jimmy nearby, the bats started cheering. Frank, wondering that was happening, prepared to cast another spell. At the second Jimmy showed himself to Frank and rebounded his spell. The Old Wise Owl had to dodge his own spell! Then Jimmy cast another spell back. Unconscious about the spell hurdling towards him Frank got hit.
While Jimmy was walking away, Frank attacked the brave bat. Jimmy reacted naturally, he grabbed Frank on his beak and slammed him on the ground. Frank, feeling defeated, flew away and was never heard from again.
All bats shouted and cheered, but Jimmy couldn't return their vision. Instead, he taught them not to crash into objects using sound.
In the far long past, when the things were different, the bats were able to see once better than anyone else could, but they were punished for boasting. The bats lost their super vision and have to make their way through using echolocation.