Zander gazed at the magnificent creature before him. It was huge, too huge for him to even think of it as a bird, and it had the biggest unblinking eyes he’d ever seen. On top of that, it boasted a fearsome hooked beak—he’d learned at school that birds of prey had those in order to tear meat. 

Zander ran. 

His heart beat so quickly that the sound of it roared in his ears. At any moment, he expected the terrifying creature to land on him and tear him with its sharp talons. 

But he made it back into the house and slammed the door shut behind him. Sasha rushed into the living room almost at the same moment and Zander nearly collided with him in his haste. 

“Hey!” Sasha said as Zander buried his face in Sasha’s stomach (the highest he could reach) and began soaking his shirt with tears. “What’s wrong?”

Zander was only able to mumble a few words like “bird,” “scary,” and “outside.”

“Bird? Oh, you mean Damian the owl?” Sasha patted Zander’s back. “Don’t worry. He’s friendly.”