Last night Mark brought home his not-quite friend, Blink the Great Horned Owl, for a sleepover. Blonk was due to fly out of Pensacola (not using his own wings) for a trip to Washington State and, although Zookeeper Mark is no longer low man on the totem pole but is still a lower man on the zoo totem pole, he was tasked with getting Blink to the airport in the dark hours of the morning. Blink is a very cute owl with a very severe attitude problem and has the worse personality of any of the owls at the zoo. (Gee, I wonder why theu are sending away...far away?) Blink spent the night hissing at us. (Yes, owls hiss; they're just not as professional about it as snakes.) Willow, the aged cat who is older than dirt, did not appreciate spending the night in the same room with Blink.
In honor of Bl;ink's stay with us, here's an episode from World's Best Short Stories, featuring Theodore Pratt's "The Owl That Kept Winking." Not much is known about this program, but there were a number of similar programs on the radio airwaves at the time, including The World's Greatest Short Stories, which aired for ten years on NBC. The tradition has been kept alive today with shows such as NPR's Selected Shorts and a vast number of podcasts.
"The Owl That Kept Winking" first appeared in Esquire, June 1944. It was reprinted in Martha Foley's The Best American Short Stories 1945. It is a simple, fifteen-minute tale of a Florida farmer trying to brak the spirit of an owl that has ravaged his chickens.
Enjoy. (And enjoy your trip, Blink!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEl_XFTkKVA
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