The Early Years
Niteowl was born 12,000 years ago in an alien spaceship somewhere on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy. After reaching the third planet from the star XG1326830682, known as Earth to its primitive inhabitants, they hovered near Mars investigating it. When it became apparent that the primitive Homo sapiens were advanced enough in space technology to detect their distant observers, the spaceship decided to leave the XG1326830682 system, leaving behind a few special agents disguised as humans. Niteowl was switched with an Earth baby in the early hours of May 31, 1990 in a strange mitten-like formation known as Michigan to its residents.
Although she struggled with the human communicating methods for a time, Niteowl quickly displayed her unearthly intelligence. Reading by the age of 3, she picked up a pen (or rather a pink marker) around the age of 5 and displayed her lyrical prowess with an ode to her room.
I love my room
My room is full of gloom
I love to read my room
Reading my room
In elementary school, she abandoned poetry and crafted stories of magnificent brilliance. In the short-lived but fascinating "Horse Lovers" series, Niteowl and some humans whom she had chosen as her earthly companions ("friends", if you will) went around and saved unfortunate equines from predicaments such as freezing in Alaska and being burnt in China.
However, her masterpiece did not come until 3rd grade. There, she wrote "The Double London Adventures", a riveting mystery where she and a new Earthly accomplice travelled to England and were hired by the Queen to track down the thief of several important objects.
She continued to hone her craft in the coming years, writing the whimsical "Treasure the Underwear Eater" and the short fantasy "Another Place, Another Time". She also returned to lyric writing, with a stirring political anthem inspired by being sick in bed in November 2000.
The Florida Recount never ends
And it goes on and on, my friends
Some people, started counting votes
Not knowing what they were
And now they'll keep on counting votes
Forever just because
The Florida Recount never ends...
Middle school was a dormant time for Niteowl, filled with bland journal entries, a bout of depression, and sheer lack of creativity. The only writings during this time were required for school and not terribly remarkable. Except for the one about the girl from Pluto, a desperate attempt to reconnect with her alien origins.
The Golden Years
In the fall of 2004, Niteowl discovered poetry with "Hall of 100 Mirrors". Shortly afterward, she joined Writing.com, where she found an ad from the mysterious Nathan Caldwell (whom she suspects of also being a secret alien spy). Clicking on it, she found the Young Writer's Society, a place where young humans could gather and share their literary works. She quickly felt much more at home here than she did in her earthly residence.
In those days, she fancied herself a fantasy writer, envisioning entire series of novels. However, her impatience got the best of her, and she eventually went back to poetry and song lyrics.
Her greatest legacy on YWS, however, was not in her portfolio, but in her "gifts". Niteowl started handing out these collections of smileys in December 2004 and has handed out over 1,000,000,000,000,000 emoticons to otherwise smiley-less children. Little do the recipients know that in these miniscule faces lies the code that holds all the secrets of the universe.
Unfortunately, there came a time when the pressures of being an Earth adolescent became too trying for even an alien as gifted as Niteowl. She was forced to say goodbye to the Young Writer's Society, believing that she would never return. She even started to abandon her writing.
Luckily, there was a class called Writing Center. In this course, she perfected the art of tutoring the masses of a suburban high school. In addition, she received valuable advice on how to hone her own skills.
One ordinary day in early March of 2008, Niteowl received a "Topic Reply Notification" on an ancient piece that she had critiqued in bygone days. Curious, she opened it and felt a flood of lovely memories wash over her. She decided to return, hopefully for good this time, and her pen (and keyboard) flowed once more.
Currently, Niteowl is working on a novella (you can read more about it in her blog "Niteowl's Lovely Ramblings") and continuing to author poems. She also has some short stories she is debating posting. Now 12,017 years old, Niteowl is confident that she will pen even greater works in her very promising future.
