"After Dark in the Playing Fields" is a short fantasy or ghost story by the British author M.R. James. It was first published in the tenth issue of the magazine College Days dated June 28, 1924.
The action takes place on the playing fields of Eton College, the college of which M.R.
While walking across the playing fields late at night on Midsummer evening, the narrator suddenly hears a hooting sound. He looks up into a tree and sees an owl. He points at the owl with his walking stick and playfully asks, "Was that you?" The owl grumpily replies that of course it was the one who hooted. The narrator's walking stick seems to remind the bird of a gun because it asks him to drop it. When the narrator expresses his great surprise at having encountered a talking owl, the owl says that it is only to be expected on Midsummer evening. The narrator wants to take the opportunity to have a conversation with the owl. The bird grudgingly agrees.
