29 Joy atlast

Ego passed out in fear. Fortunately, she came to when the reptile was almost off her, she could feel its scaled-belly slowly rubbing against her bare chest; it was now in between her breast and its forked tongue touching her chin. Above, over her head, was the couple, with hands stretched out still seeking for her blindly. A piece of wet rotten flesh fell from outstretched hands and landed on her face, some on the snake; this agitated and made it lunge for the source of movement hence off her. Its loud hiss made the zombie couple dive for it but it slithered away with them in blind pursuit. For once, Ego was grateful to have encountered a snake!

She remained still and motionless on the ground until she was certain that the snake and the couple were no longer within a listening distance. She got back on her feet, dusted off and then blindly searched for her mortar. From within it, she took out two sizable rocks and tinder that she kept in there in case of an emergency like this one, smashed the rocks against each other and after few trials got her flames back on. She hurried off to complete her journey but as the adrenaline wore off, she started feeling the pain of the pestle that had fallen on her leg. It was so serious that she was finding it difficult to walk; she had to drag the leg that was hurt. She wondered how the pestle could cause her such pain and concluded it must have something to do with the darkness. She thanked her chi, whoever was looking out for her and for saving her once more from the dead couple and the evil snake.

Now at her final destination, she wasted no time in placing her torch stick, properly placed her mortar and commenced pounding; making sure it produced the "Koko kokoo, koko kokoo, koko kokoo" rhythm. As soon as she began pounding, birds of different shapes, sizes, colours, and kinds began trooping in from all corners of the darkness, some from this world and others not. They were eating from the grains that fell on the ground. The air was filled with different bird sounds; strange and known sounds permeated the air. Still pounding, she searched with her eyes for the nwanza but it was nowhere to be found. Ego wasn't disappointed, all she need do was beat it louder till all the corners of this world and the other heard it.

After what seemed like ages, and with her hands already getting weak, she sighted the approaching nza. Every other bird including the Eagles and more fearsome birds all made way for it; it was obvious that the spiritual father had landed. It landed with wings upright to display pride and superiority. Nwanza is usually a small bird but this particular one that just landed was different in size, it was the size of a young African fish eagle, but was still of the same distinctive appearance.

She immediately took note of it and made sure it had the white shining rope attached to its legs. She increased the pace and volume of the pounding, enticing it to advance toward her. Once it was near enough, she swiftly grabbed it while the other birds took off. It made no noise nor did it struggle, as if already knew it was in no danger of any kind.

Ego with the bird in hand, her joy knew no bound; she didn't know whether to shout, sing or dance. She just shut her eyes and raised her face up to the heavens, thanking her Chi for her success. When she opened them, the crescent of the sun's disk was widened and the moon was passing away. Slowly light began to spread everywhere. Everything was returning to normal. The colours were all returning. Gradually she could feel warmth returning.

The villagers were all coming out from hiding to observe the environment; their fears were mitigating and their faiths getting firmer as everything was becoming brightly painted. All the glamour and beauty was returning. In a matter of minutes, the earth gave the impression of vivacity.

Ego was excited, joyous; she was in rapture. She quickly packed up all her stuff and kept the mysterious bird inside the mortar, covered it with some pieces of leaves she came with. Positioned the mortar back on her head and began the journey back home. If not for the pain in her leg, she would have actually danced home singing praises to her maker. Instead, she increased her pace while dragging her left leg.

She recalled what the old lady said that she wasn't going to return whole from the journey. She was still thankful that it was just pain in her leg. She just couldn't believe that very soon her life would be turning a new leaf; all she had to do was to wait for the full moon and made a request. To think she had gone through all the trouble without even considering what she would ask for when she finally possess the bird.

She couldn't think of what she needs now that would make her happy forever. She knew money was needed to make that happen. A husband that would treat her like Nnanna and who would make her feel alive again. He would also provide her with lots of children who would help out in farm work and other chores. She prayed right there that the gods should not punish her with a set of twins. Twins no matter the number was seen as an abomination, they would be thrown into the evil forest and left to die. It was believed that a woman should only give birth to one child at a time and not more like a goat. Once it is more than one, it was no longer seen as a blessing but rather a curse from the gods.