Topaz flapped her wings and leaped across a gap of about a foot to another branch. She gripped the small branch tightly with her talons and looked back at her father, Jack, to see if she'd done it right.

He nodded. "Topaz, I think you need to stop worrying about whether you're going to fall. You're not going to be able to fly if you keep thinking like that."

Topaz ducked her head, ashamed. In the low light of the night, any creature other than an owl would hardly be able to make out her fluffy owlet down and heart shaped face, characteristic for Barn Owls. She had been afraid of falling from the nest since she was born. She knew her mother or father would catch her if she fell, but still she worried.

"Here, I'll show you how it's done." Jack flapped his silent wings and glided softly over to a branch a few feet ahead of the one Topaz was on. Topaz opened her wings, and tried to feel the air under the fluffy chick down. She thought she felt a pillow of air under her wings, and flapped them quickly down, but it didn't work.

She tried a different tactic, bending her feather-covered legs, and springing up. She flapped her wings frantically as she launched herself to the next branch. It was farther away than the one before, and therefore was harder to get to.

She closed her tiny talons around empty air. She barely had time to react before she tumbled head over talons toward the soft, fern covered (but in this case terrifying) ground. She beat her fluffy, gray wings, but the few orange flight feathers she had were no use. She closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.

Topaz heard a whooshing noise, very quiet even to the incredible ear slits of Barn Owls. She opened her eyes, and saw that the ground was only a few feet away. She spread her wings, doubting that they would do any good.

Then the owlet's gizzard gave a lurch, and she was soaring, high above the ground. "Wow..." she breathed. The forest of Ambala was amazing! The bright green deciduous trees stood out among the dark green pines. The full moon caught the immense leaves of the oaks, reflecting its silver beauty. Topaz suddenly knew why other owls loved flying so much. She would have liked to feel the same.

She looked up to look at the sky, and met a familiar pair of gleaming black eyes. "See why you shouldn't be afraid?" Jack asked, his eyes glittering with amusement at her amazed expression.

She churred, though it was hollow. She had believed for a second that she was really flying, all by herself. How wrong she had been. Her father had caught her, and carried her here. Now, his talons, firmly set to make sure she didn't fall again, carried her home, to her warm nest in a large oak.

He set her down in their hollow. "I think that's enough branching for today," he hooted in the low rasp of a Barn Owl. Topaz nodded sheepishly. She walked over to where her mother, Jill, was preening Quartz, her sister.

As Jill started to preen her as well, her brother Agate begged Jack to take him hunting. "Please, Da? You said you would!"

Topaz's Da churred. "Yes, I did make a promise, didn't I? Come on."

Topaz watched enviously as Agate and Jack took off, spiraling in perfect circles until they were out of sight. Topaz wished she was able to do that. She sighed.

Soon Jack and Agate came back empty-taloned. "We may need your help, Jill," Jack said. "The prey is awfully hard to catch tonight."

"Be good," Jill told the chicks. "No trying to fly by yourselves."

"Yes, Mum," Quartz answered. Topaz nodded. She walked to the edge of the hollow to watch as her Mum, Da, and brother launched into the air and spiraled gently around in circles.

"I wish Diamond was still here, don't you, Topaz?" Quartz peeped.

"Yeah," Topaz hooted absentmindedly. Diamond was their sister, the oldest in the brood, and she had left the nest about fourteen days ago. Quartz was very timid and shy, which was probably why she wanted Diamond back. She did not trust Topaz to protect her.

Topaz gazed out over Ambala. Their oak tree was the tallest in the forest, about 65 feet tall, according to Mum. The hollow was about 45 feet up the tree, still high enough to be even with the tops of the normal-sized trees.

Jack, Jill, and Agate became specks in the distance that grew smaller the longer Topaz stared at them. She wished she could fly like them. Why did she have to be so scared of floating effortlessly through the sparkling sky? Why must she be discouraged from soaring by the sickening sensation the thought gave her? She hoped she would get over it sometime, but she knew that whatever time she got over it, it would be considerably far from now.

Then a thought came to her. She tilted her heart-shaped face back and forth, as was fairly normal when she was thinking about something. What if she could somehow bring the time in the future where she got over her phobia a little bit closer? What if she could practice branching whenever her parents were out hunting? It just might help the small owlet conquer her fear.

Keeping her eyes fixed on the point where the specks had disappeared, Topaz carefully gripped the edge of the hollow with her feathery talons. She looked down at a branch within jumping distance, and her vision swirled and blended. The ground was so far away. A memory was pushed into her mind's eye, a memory of falling, falling, getting closer and closer to the ground. She shook her head, and her vision focused once more on the branch in front of her.

"Topaz! What are you doing!" Quartz squeaked. "Topaz, you know we're not supposed to-- eee!" Quartz squealed as Topaz leaped into the air, flapping her fluffy wings, and landed on the branch she had been aiming for. She sqeezed her eyes shut, only opening them when her heart stopped pounding.

There was another branch just above the one she was on. It looked rather thin, but Topaz figured it would be able to support her weight. She crouched, then jumped, flapping as hard as she could to gain some lift. She closed her talons around the branch, and was surprised by how tiny it was. It was actually thinner than she thought.

No sooner than she had thought that, she heard a cracking sound. Topaz gasped as the branch broke and she fell through the air. She tumbled head over heels, then a thick branch knocked the wind out of her. She found her footing and stood up, breathing hard.

Topaz knew she had to get back to the hollow. She could barely see the specks in the distance, but she knew they were getting closer. She focused on a group of branches that led up to the hollow and started jumping up them. When she got to the hollow, her parents and brother looked about the size of a pinecone. She hoped they hadn't spotted her.

She jumped the last branch that led up to the hollow and sighed, relieved to have a solid floor beneath her. "Don't you dare tell Mum and Da," she said to Quartz, who was watching her with wide eyes.

"I-I won't," Quartz promised.

Soon enough, Jack, Jill, and Agate were gliding into the hollow and asking if the owlets were okay. They dropped two voles and a rabbit and did not seem to be suspicious of Topaz.

When dawn broke over the horizon, Topaz could rest easy, knowing they had not yet found out about what she had done while they were away.