Sunset. The golden glow of day slowly dipped beneath the horizon, and the sky that was once so surely blue flashed pink, orange, and purple before it slowly settled to inky black. Pinpricks of white starlight and the crescent of the moon above provided the only illumination. 

Below this black and white sky laid a field of long grass, gray in the moonlight. It laid motionless, until the whole field moved, subject only to the whims of the unpredictable wind. 

And on this field of gray, there were trees. Few and far between they were, but their enormity fairly compensated for their scarcity; textured trunks stretched to the sky before bursting into a vast canopy of green. But all was painted in ashen hues by the night. 

Below one such tree lived a mouse. His fur was a light brown, speckled by bits of white and the occasional crumbs of dirt that clung to his luscious coat. He lived alone and often grew tired of the lack of company. But he was young, and the loneliness was what he had been used to for most of his short life. And besides, it was time for his evening stroll. 

The owl opened his golden eyes. Inside the tree hollow, he awoke, surrounded by a mess of branches and dry grass. He looked out at the moon, cocking his head ever so slightly to the side. He wondered how it stayed so high up in the sky. Where were its wings, he often pondered. And why did it choose to stay so isolated? Loneliness wasn't a good feeling, as the owl himself knew all too well. After years of living alone, the lonesomeness had started to grow unbearable. But thoughts could wait for later. Now, it was time for his evening hunt. 

The mouse popped his head slightly out of the burrow beneath the tree. His suspicious eyes darted back and forth, but all that was visible was the tall grass. He quickly scampered out of his little burrow and into the thick forest. The trail was challenging for a creature of his stature, but he expertly weaved between the blades of grass and through the sea of gray. It was dark, and the path was always uncertain, but he enjoyed walking. Walking allowed him to think and to distract himself from his apparent lack of company. 

The owl launched from the tree hollow, quickly extended his wings, and deftly glided on the light breeze. Each flap of his wings was silent as he scanned the field below. The mass of monotone gray moved so perfectly with the wind; it was as if the Earth itself was breathing. But somewhere in that consistent waving mass, a blade of grass twitched as if pushed by something. 

The owl turned to the movement midair and circled the blade of grass as it moved again. The owl suddenly swooped down to his target, his body folding to an aerodynamic shape. But before a single feather touched the waving grass, he shoved his talons into the plant life, hoping they would find their… aha! The owl felt a warm, furry mass in his talons and landed in the grass, prey in tow.

The mouse was understandably frightened by this turn of events, as he wasn't used to being grabbed so suddenly. His face nearly scraped the ground as the owl decelerated to a halt. He felt the cold embrace of the owl's talons, squeezing the crisp night air out of his lungs as the owl brought the mouse to his large, golden eyes. 

"Hi there," said the owl. "I am so sorry about this, but I fear I have to eat you now. Do you have any last words, or…" 

The mouse was taken aback by the owl's manners but pleasantly surprised. He looked into the owl's eyes, which squinted slightly in an apology. 

"Well, first of all, thank you for asking," began the mouse. "It has been a while since I have met another polite gentleman. I am beginning to fear that men like us are becoming fewer and further between." 

To this, the owl could not help but interject.

"I couldn't agree more. I like to say that I am as polite as I am…" he paused. "Well, to tell the truth, I don't have many other character traits besides my politeness…" he shrugged as best he could. 

"Well neither do I!" exclaimed the mouse. "What a delightful coincidence!"

"Well…" began the owl, "while I am rather hungry, maybe I could reconsider my dinner plans tonight. Anything for a fellow gentleman." The owl's grip loosened, and relief spread through the mouse's body as his feet reunited with soft earth. 

But before the mouse could scurry away, the owl spoke again. 

"But… ah… look. There's just this one thing." 

The mouse turned back to look at the owl.

"Go on then, what is it? "

"Well, every night, when I fly over the fields to hunt, I see this large, glowing, golden shape. Lately, I've been hearing rumors about these sharp-edged structures. From what I've heard, there's treasure inside, but it's guarded by something called a 'who-man'; I've never dared to explore this structure, but perhaps if I had a companion, I could?"

The mouse thought for a moment. 

"If there's treasure involved, then certainly!" the mouse replied. "My schedule is clear for the next little while. Besides, anything for a fellow gentleman!"

The owl ducked down, lowering his body to allow the mouse to climb onto him. 

"Well then! There's no time to waste!" said the owl, ecstatic. "Hop on my back, and I'll fly us there." 

The mouse trotted towards the owl and took the most powerful leap his little body could muster. His paws latched onto the owl's feathers, and the pair shot up into the sky. 

As the owl glided high above the grass, the defined silhouettes on the ground blurred into a single dark sheet as their speed intensified. Then, out of his eye, the mouse spotted a smooth white structure that emanated an inviting, golden glow. Its sharp edges and even proportions contrasted starkly with the flowing grass and the surrounding nonuniform trees.

"There it is!" hollered the owl, beginning a slow, steady descent to the canopy of a nearby tree. 

The mouse looked down as undefined gray returned to reassuring familiar lines and shapes. The grass and trees looked strange from above, the mouse decided. They were so small, and yet seeing that made him feel smaller in comparison. 

"So these… 'who-mans' you speak of, what are they like?" the mouse asked when the pair had safely landed on a stable tree branch.

The owl shuddered slightly.

"Well, I've never encountered one for myself, but from what I hear, they're simply horrifying. As large as ten or so owls! No feathers or fur! They have pink skin and four long limbs, even though they only walk on two!" 

Now was the mouse's turn to shudder. 

"I don't know if any treasure is worth facing that sort of horrifying beast."

"I don't know about that," replied the owl. "After all, such large monsters must have vast stocks of food to sustain their mass…" 

The mouse's eyes widened in excitement.

"With that kind of food, we'd never have to scavenge again!"

"Exactly!" exclaimed the owl, equally as enthusiastic.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" asked the mouse. "They may be uncivilized, uncouth even, but perhaps we can reason with these 'who-mans' and convince them to portion off some of their food for us?"

"My, what a splendid idea!" replied the owl.  

As their discussion finished, the owl dropped from the canopy and glided to the ground. The mouse hopped off his perch upon the owl's back. The ground seemed so large again, and the grass loomed familiarly tall. As the two slowly trotted towards the white construct, the grass became shorter and shorter. Finally, their paws and talons met only hard, dusty dirt. 

They looked up at the massive structure, which simply dwarfed them. Its shape was uniform until it formed a point at the top. Just off the center of this point, a rectangular column billowed some kind of cloud into the sky. The glow that enveloped the structure escaped through a small transparent square on the construction's side. 

Was it a tree, they wondered? But there was no canopy. Was it made of stone? But its surface was so smooth. Never had either seen rock form such a shape. How was its white hue so pristine? And why was such a strange object making clouds? Yet despite its size and mysterious nature, its warm light erased any hint of intimidation from its aura.

"Do you think the who-mans built this formation?" asked the owl. "And why are clouds coming from the top?"

"All I know is that it's certainly larger than any tree I've ever seen," replied the mouse, shocked by the structure's scale.

"Unnatural is what it is," muttered the owl, shaking his head from side to side. 

The mouse looked up at the owl.

"How do you suppose we get in?" 

The owl paused. In his excitement, he had failed to plan for that essential step in their journey. 

"I… don't quite know," he admitted. "But I'm sure we can figure it out. Civilized gentlemen such as ourselves should have no problem with this task," 

"I agree wholeheartedly," said the mouse, trotting in the most organized fashion he could manage. 

They had finally reached the sheer, white face of the structure. It was so smooth, yet its surface seemed to lack any shine.

"Well, I guess we'll just…" the owl was cut off by a faint click from within the box. The glow that peeked through the structure, bathing the world in gold, suddenly stopped. The world was gray again, and the white formation stood eerily tall. With its glow gone, it almost seemed to glare down at the owl and the mouse as it towered over them. 

"That doesn't seem good," the mouse remarked nervously. "Why do you think it stopped glowing?"

"I'm not certain, but maybe if we can get their attention, the who-mans will let us in?" asked the owl. 

"My, what a splendid idea!" exclaimed the mouse. "Use your beak to peck at it!"

The owl hopped up to the face of the structure. Its surface was so perfect that he didn't want to damage it. But what other choice was there? The mouse scurried up beside him. 

"Go on then," said the mouse, expectantly. 

The owl sighed and began to rock his head back and forth, hitting the once-white surface, now smoky in the moonlight. A sickening 'craCK' could be heard, and the mouse flinched with every peck. 

Just as the owl was about to hammer his beak into the smooth surface once more, a faint 'click!' sounded from within, and a familiar, golden light filled the world again, driving back the dark of the night. 

The owl stepped back, surveying the damage that he had done. Surely enough, a deep dent, revealing what appeared to be wood hiding underneath a coating of clean white. 

"So it's made of wood?" the mouse asked, confused. 

"Maybe we can ask the who-mans to explain all of this," sighed the owl, his mind tired of mystery. 

The mouse's ears suddenly perked up, swiveling subtly from side to side. 

"Do you hear that?" he asked, turning up to look at the owl. 

The owl remained silent in concentration. 

'Thump. Thump. Thump.' 

The sound got louder. 

'Thump. Thump. Thump.' 

It was as if the ground was shaking underneath their feet now. 

"Do you suppose it's good if it sounds like it's getting closer?" the mouse asked. Suddenly, the noise stopped. 

"It seems its progress has halted entirely…" the owl remarked cautiously.

creeEEAk! 

Suddenly, a massive panel opened on the side of the structure, directly in front of the owl and the mouse. On a surface that had once seemed so smooth and flush, the owl began to make out clear lines and distinct shapes. The panel swung fully open, and a giant, pink-fleshed, four-limbed creature stepped out. It loomed over them, its brown eyes bearing hints of confusion and tiredness as it squinted at the pair. 

"I… I simply cannot believe my eyes!" exclaimed the owl, struggling to angle his head to view the strange giant. 

"A real, live who-man!" gasped the mouse in disbelief, finishing the owl's train of thought. The who-man continued to stare, confused. 

"Do you suppose we could communicate with it somehow?" asked the owl, still straining to look at the who-man's head. 

"WE… WANT… YOUR… TREASURE!!!" the mouse squeaked as loudly as he possibly could. The who-man continued to stare in confusion. 

"Do you think it's inviting us inside?" asked the mouse, cocking his head to the side, attempting to look past the creature and into the structure.

"I'm not entirely… sure?" replied the owl, still bewildered by the towering beast. But all of a sudden, the who-man seemed to recover from its confusion and began to shout, jumping up and down while frantically waving its upper limbs at the owl and the mouse.

"SHOO!!! SHOO!!! SHOO!!!" it bellowed. 

The mouse was frightened, and the owl frozen in fear. 

"Run! Run! Run!" shouted the mouse, his tail lightly slapping the owl as he turned to flee. 

The owl recovered from his initial shock and followed suit. The who-man, however, seemed intent on being rid of these pests. It ran slowly and groggily at the pair, but with such long strides, the owl figured it wouldn't be long before the who-man caught them. 

"SHOO!!! SHOO!!! SHOO!!!" it yelled once more. 

"Run faster!" the mouse turned back to shriek at the owl, who had started to lag.

"I'm terribly sorry, but running is decidedly not my strong suit!" the owl hollered back. 

The mouse stopped dead in his tracks.

"Why aren't we flying then? You seem to do that quite fast." 

"Brilliant!" exclaimed the owl. He, too, stopped abruptly and bent down. 

"Climb on!" He shouted. "And quickly! We don't have all day!" 

The mouse scampered as quickly as he could and leaped onto the owl's back. 

"Go! Go!" the mouse squeaked. The who-man was gaining on them now. Its strides had stopped, and it raised a limb above its head, prepared to strike down the two. The owl's wings suddenly extended, and they shot into the air, the who-man's attack barely grazing the owl's tail feathers. 

The owl began to glide at a steady altitude, and the pair breathed a sigh of relief as the landscape blurred into a single sheet of gray, just as it had before. 

"That was horrifying!" exclaimed the owl, breaking the windy yet peaceful silence. 

"We faced down a real live who-man!" shouted the mouse to no one in particular. 

Finally, their descent began as the owl spotted the grand canopy of the tree that they both called home. He descended slowly before touching the soft earth outside the mouse's burrow. The mouse hopped off and thanked the owl. 

"It is quite rare to meet a gentleman such as yourself around these parts." 

"I'm sorry that I wasted your time, not to mention endangering us both…" the owl began to interject. 

"Don't even mention it!" the mouse cut in. "This was strangely the most fun I've had in a while."

"I hold the very same opinion!" the owl exclaimed. 

"Maybe we could do this sort of thing again?" the mouse asked. "Save for the almost dying, I suppose?"

"Why of course!" said the owl enthusiastically. "I would love nothing more." The two sat there and looked to the horizon, where a golden glow began spreading across the sky. 

Sunrise. The night's eerie gray was slowly driven back by the welcoming colors of the new dawn. The sky that was once so unchangingly black and white flashed purple, pink, and finally, a bright blue. The long grass and the towering canopies of the scarce, giant trees shed their dark pallor for a deep, verdant green. The mouse and the owl looked at each other and then back to the golden horizon. It sure was nice to have a friend. 

THE END