Exceptional Sheriff Daniels Is Saved By An Owl Newspaper (Cody Schroder Story) by Brett Matthew West ~ Family Story ~ (fiction) writing prompt entry Artwork by Lilibug6 at FanArtReview.com

"Wet, weak and lost in a blizzard in the Nordstrom Wilderness, I followed the hoots of an owl as my last resort to survive. Sit down. I'll tell you the story," Sheriff Daniels told Cody. He noticed the daily edition of the Astatula Gazette was not on the kitchen counter. When Cody saw the picture on the front page he'd thrown the newspaper in the garbage. Now, the sheriff's proclamation grabbed his attention. Sheriff Daniels chided him, "Listen you sawed-off scalawag. Just because today's Saturday doesn't mean I don't want to keep up with the world." Cody fished the newspaper out of the garbage can and laughed. He hadn't yet eaten the eggs and bacon Beth cooked him for breakfast. He stood still and looked out the kitchen window in the direction of Jason Browne's house. The neighbors all considered Jason a problem because he played his electric guitar headbangingly loud. Cody knew Jason wasn't going to do anyone real harm. He found a stool at the counter and plopped down. His ears ached to hear the sheriff's tale. "I dropped to my knees in the dark searching beneath the deepening, falling snow for traces of the snowshoe tracks I made leaving camp that day. Nary a one," Sheriff Daniels began. "The storm blocked the starlight?" Cody asked. "I felt a penetrating chill and became fatigued. A signal of hypothermia's pull. I knew I was lost alone in the wild." "You told me before you used to trap." "Any furbearing animals I could. Too dark to see, I'd gone five miles to check a beaver trap. That's when I heard the owl hoots. One that'd hung around my camp for a couple days." "So, you followed the owl?" "Every ten minutes or so the owl hooted. That was my only hope of survival. Out of options, I had to follow the bird. He perched over me. But, then stopped hooting." "Did the owl start up again?" "From a different direction. Plodding through the trees, I decided to risk following it again." "How long did it take?" "Unsure. All of a sudden my knees banged into the woodpile next to my tent. That's when I knew I'd made it." "Why'd the owl change directions?" "It kept me from plunging off a steep cliff above Rainbow Swan Creek. That owl took me around it." Awe and wonder settled over Cody. "That night, twenty years before you arrived on the scene, something mysterious happened I can't explain." Sheriff Daniels stated. Playfully, he mussed Cody's baby-fine blond hair and said, "Swallow your grub you pj-wearing, barefooted, turkey. You got Little League later." "Gobble! Gobble!" Cody smiled. Writing Prompt Fiction Story ~ READ ALL RULES!!! No vulgar words, sexual terms, murder, ghosts, or profanity allowed--no warnings No Stories about Christmas or Christmas Day/No stories about adoption of children OR a human in the hospital/hospice care with little time left to live MUST be about HUMANS Minimum of 400 and maximum of 450 words No writing on the ONE picture that's allowed /No animation with picture or music One color of font only Author Notes This is Evan, by Lilibug6, selected to complement all my Cody Schroder stories. So, thanks Lilibug6, for the use of your remarkable picture that provides Cody such an easily recognized face on FanStory. For those new to my Cody Schroder books and stories: Sheriff Brock Daniels - Long time Sheriff of the small West Texas town of Astatula. Beth Sorenson - Sheriff Daniels' fiance. Brought Cody to Astatula. Cody Schroder - Born on FanStory. Cody is the twelve year old ward of Sheriff Daniels (who eventually adopts Cody). Suffered the first ten years of his life in extreme physical, mental, and psychological abuse at the hands of his "biological sperm donor," as Cody calls him, Earl Anthony Schroder. Earl Anthony Schroder - perished in a head-on vehicle collision with a guardrail, at 93 miles an hour while drunk, after a night of bowling in Palo Pinto, Cody's hometown.

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