Owl Elfie

It's late afternoon. „Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo,“ echoes from the beak of Elfi the owl. „What a hot day,“ she grumbles softly to herself, turning her head all the way around. Everything is quiet. Wonderful. „I'm not really well-rested with this heat, but at least now I can go hunting in peace,“ Elfi chatters to herself. She lives in the Star Forest. It's called that because the most beautiful starry sky can be seen from here. On clear nights, you can spot the Milky Way, the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, and... but suddenly – what's going on?! A strange smell is in the air, followed by children's voices. But where is all this coming from? Elfi gets up from her old treetop and flies in the direction of the voices. They are coming from the big mossy rock. As always, the owl can rely on her good sense of hearing. Within seconds, she reaches the children and immediately understands the situation: there's a small fire burning here. Oh no! What a disaster! By now, Peter the squirrel, Susi the rabbit, and Ludwig the deer have also arrived at the mossy rock. „What are we going to do?“ Susi asks, beside herself.

Elfi’s thoughts spin in circles: „Fire, forest, children, rocks, water. Water?!“, a flash of insight shoots through Elfi: „Of course! Water is flowing from the rocks here!“ She gathers all her courage and flies to the children. They are standing in a semicircle, searching for reception with their cell phones. Well done! How can Elfi get their attention? But one girl, little Lina, has already spotted Elfi. She watches the owl curiously. Elfi flutters to the buckets the children had brought to collect pinecones. With her talons, she grabs the handle of a bucket, flies with it to the rock crevice where water is flowing, and fills it. At least, she tries. It soon becomes too heavy. But Lina is already coming to the rescue and holds the bucket steady. „Clever child,“ Elfi whispers, knowing full well that the girl doesn’t understand her language. Lina takes the filled bucket and pours the water over the flames. „We’ll help too!“ Now the other children also grab their buckets and fill them with water. After a few minutes, only a puddle and scorched grass remain of the small fire.

„Hooray! We erased everything!“ The children jump around and hug each other, overjoyed. The forest animals are at least as happy and cheer for Elfi. Now it's Lina who summons her courage and goes to Elfi and the animals. „Thank you, owl! You saved us from the fire. As a thank you, I give you my favorite pink bag,“ Lina says happily and hangs the bag around Elfi's neck. „In the bag, you'll find my address. Send me a postcard from the Star Forest,“ the girl adds. „I'm from Hamburg and want to remember you and Tyrol forever.“