Alira, the Question-Keeper

Alira The Question-Keeper Barn Owl Tarso Metatarsus (Perching Bone) • The Whimsical Dear Ones

Caretaker Cairrowyn says:“Some questions are feathers. Some are stones.Alira knows how to tell the difference.She won’t chase riddles for mischief—she asks because it matters.She’s young, yes. Still learning.But she watches everything.And when you’re too tired to find the right question—she’ll ask it with you.”

Alira says: “Hi.I’m Alira. Barn owl, mostly. Book nest, entirely. I came from a library tree where the leaves turned themselves and the wind was always muttering something important. My siblings practiced pouncing. I practiced listening. I learned the sound a question makes before it has words.Sometimes, it sounds like a hinge creaking.Or a breath you didn’t mean to hold.

I didn’t leave because I was lost. I left because I had a question too big to stay quiet.And even now—if you’re out there wondering something fierce,if you’re curled up under a question too heavy to carry alone…I’ll find you. I’ll sit nearby. I’ll ask with you.

Not for answers.For understanding.Because some questions aren’t puzzles. They’re doorways.”

Caretaker’s Note:Alira doesn’t rush to fill the silence.She honors it. She helps you find the real question—the one under the panic, the pride, or the pretending.She reminds us:Uncertainty isn’t failure. It’s sacred ground.And the right question, asked with heart,can change everything.