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Piko the Curios Owlet
A short story about snow.
By Kat Smith
Once upon a time, there was an owlet. A curious little owlet, whose name was Piko. Piko
was not like all the other owlets.
All the other owlets asked "Who?", but Piko always asked, "Why?".
Piko was curious about everything. Piko wanted to know why flowers grow. Piko wanted to know why
Piko couldn't touch the moon. Piko wanted to know why the wind blows. But most of all, Piko wanted to
know why it snows.
Then one cold winter day, Piko went out to play. Piko saw the snow falling down. Piko watched
the snow falling on the ground.
Piko asked, "Why does it snow?".
So, Piko flew up and up and up. Until her wings were cold and numb. Piko landed in a tree and noticed
her wings. They were covered with little-frozen things! Piko wanted to know why they were covered in
little frozen things.
Suddenly someone asked, "Are you here to see me?".
Piko turned to see, there was a big owl sitting in the tree! There the wise old owl stood on this
very cold day. They sat and talked on the snowy tree branch. Piko looked down at the little-frozen
things. The little-frozen things had turned into little-wet things! Piko shook the water off.
The wise old owl scoffed, "You're getting me all wet!".
Piko looked up at him and asked: "Why?".
The wise old owl just blinded at her.
Suddenly Piko asked, "Why does it snow?".
The wise old owl laughed, and he explained right away, "Snow is rain when it's too cold for rain.".
Piko asked, "so, the raindrops freeze and turn into snowdrops?".
He replied, "Why yes, then those frozen raindrops float down to the ground.".
Piko asked, "Why does snow get wet? ".
The wise old owl asked piko, "what do you think happens when it gets warm again?".
"It melts!" Piko exclaimed!
"Do you know what they call those frozen raindrops?" he asked.
Piko hopped up, "Snowflakes!" Piko exclaimed!
Piko was happy!
Piko thanked the wise old owl, who said, "Please come again, my friend! ".
So, their visit had come to an end.
When Piko looked around, Piko's wings were all dry!
Piko looked up at the wise old owl and asked, "Why are my wings dry?".
The wise old owl asked, "What do you think water does when it gets too hot?".
Piko hesitated... "It... It steams?" Piko asked.
He laughed, "Hoo, hoo, hoo! Yes, it turns into steam!".
Piko thanked him again and walked down the branch, Piko began to fly. Piko flew down and down and
down. Until Piko's red scarf dragged the ground. Then Piko stopped to look around.
Piko looked at the snow on the ground. Then Piko looked at the snow falling all around. Piko looked at
the clouds in the sky and Piko looked at the leaves in the stream floating by.
Finally Piko said, “Now I know why it snows, but there are so any more things I want to know! But all of
that will have to wait. I'm afraid it's getting very late.”.
The end.
(Note: Piko is a Hawaiian word that means snow. Also, I avoided using gender terms such as him or her because Piko intended to be a young non binary owl. This is kind of written to be a children's story. I originally was going to name my owlet snowflake but reconsidered. I thought it might make the story too confusing. Also I elected to use the term owlet rather then baby owl. I'm hoping this will eventually be an educational children's book.)
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and consider my work. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Ms Katarina Maxine Zoe Smith BA
P.S.
If your interested here's the rest of my idea for this story.
From this point on is some ideas I had for the book. My favorite books from when I was little had things
like this, things you could discover as you got older and read the book on your own. It felt like these
books grew with me. Things like a facts page, find the hidden image, about the author, what inspired the
book, and a website for further reading. It seemed like every time I went back to these books, I found
something I hadn’t seen or read before. It kept me coming back to them even through high school. I
want this to be a book that parents, and kids enjoy reading, something they read over and over. I’d love
to hear what you think of these ideas.
Facts page:
Piko is derived from pikoi, the Hawaiian word for curious.
Owls!
1.
A baby owl is called an owlet.
2.
There are 200 different species of owls.
3.
A group of owls is called a parliament.
4.
Most owls eat insects, small mammals, and other birds; however, some eat fish.
5.
Owls have powerful claws called talons.
6.
Owls can turn their heads as much as 270 degrees. More than all the way around!
7.
Owls are far sighted; they cannot see things up close very well.
8.
Owls are very quiet compared to other birds.
9.
The color of an owl’s feathers helps them to blend into their environment.
10.
Barn owls have heart shaped faces.
11. Piko is a moon faced barn owl.
12. Piko is derived from a Hawaiian word that means snow.
13. Piko is non binary. That’s why we never call Piko he or she.
Snow!
1.
Snow is a type of precipitation like rain or sleet.
2.
To snow the temperature must be at or below 32 degrees.
3.
The size of a snowflake depends on how many ice crystals connect together.
4.
Most snowflakes are made up of about 200 ice crystals.
5.
Snowflakes have 6 sides.
6.
80% of the worlds fresh water supply comes from snow and ice.
7.
Snow is actually clear; it looks white because of the way the light hits the ice crystals.
8.
Thundersnow is when it snows and there is thunder and lightning.
9.
Heavy snow is called a snowstorm.
10.
No 2 snowflakes are alike.
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