34 What could be wrong?

Still on the bed, cold, bitter and lost, she began questioning her decision "What have I done? Was this the right move? What am I going to do? How am I going to rebuild my hut? Where am I going tomorrow? Maybe I should have just allowed him to have his way, I would have stayed here at least till he renovates my hut. How am I even sure that he would have ever renovated her burnt home. She had previously gone on two different occasions to ask him about the hut; he kept promising to contact the builders but till this night nothing has been done.

She was still contemplating on those questions when it occurred to her that a man who claimed to be madly in love with her and was willing to rape her while she slept would certainly go the extra mile just to get her where he wanted her. He even claimed to be the first at the scene. That was certainly why he has refused to rebuild her hut. Nnadozie is a wolf in a sheep's clothing; he wasn't an upright man like she previously thought. Certainly, he was the one that set her hut to ruins and not the gods; which means her bird is free from her previous accusations.

"My fathers!" She exclaimed "What have I done? I was just too quick to conclude that the bird was evil" she said to herself. Then stood up and began pacing around the hut thinking of her next course of action. She took a quick look outside to discover that the moon was full and in the right position for the gods to rain down blessings upon her. Right now she has nothing to lose, so she made up her mind to retrieve the bird and make use of it this very night.

Having concluded that, she stormed out of the room and made her way to the ancient tree. As she raced in the silver light to the ancient tree, she could not shake off the thoughts that maybe the bird was no longer there. What if someone discovered it and allowed it to escape? What if it died from hunger? Oh, my ancestors look not at my mistakes and do allow the bird to be there, alive and healthy she prayed.

In less than twenty minutes Ego was already at the venue. The mortar was still as she left it, though the pestle was no longer upon it. "Ha! I am finished!" She lamented; "Someone has tampered with this bird," she said tensed and already picnicking. She slowly walked to the mortar, deepens her hand under the mortar and grabbed the edge and raised it up.

She was greeted with a decayed smell which crushed her spirit. Disappointed, she slowly dropped the mortar back down and followed suit to sit on the bare floor; soliloquizing "Oh Nwaza is dead, why was I this foolish? What was I thinking, that made me believe that this bird was safe here? Cold, hunger and boredom must have killed it".

She began feeling peppering sensation itching around her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. She just could not believe that the bird she risked her life for was no more. What was she going to do now? Going back to beg Nnadozie seemed to be the only option. If she could just get him to forgive her and agree to marry him, then everything will just magically go back to normal.

Having agreed to do just that, she stood up, pushed the mortar, collapsing it and exposed what was beneath. Decayed flesh and feathers filled the ground with a newly dead rabbit while Nwaza stood over it covered in dry blood stain. Terrified, she hurriedly pulled away from the bird, but suddenly was all smiles when she noticed the shinning line on its leg. Her joy knew no bound; she just couldn't believe that her Nwanza was still alive. She gently bent down, cajoled it to see whether it will attack but it didn't. She grabbed it; it gave no form of resistance like they already knew for ages.

Wasting no time, she walked away from under the shade to directly face the moon, raised the bird up like a newly won trophy and began in a very loud voice "Nwaza I need money; so I can rebuild my hut that was destroyed by my brother-in-law".

Few seconds after the conclusion of the request a violent wind began cutting through trees and grasses towards her with high velocity then washed passed her disturbing nothing but her hair. This was followed by multiple fierce thunder claps then a long bright lightening. The thunderclap must have awakened all the birds in the vicinity as different annoying and shape sounds made by them filled the air. It was like playing all the musical instruments known to man in an unorganized way at the same time for just one audience. The thunder roared again, this time causing the birds to start hovering over in circles high above her head. With every passing circle, their speed increased and they kept descending. The thunderclaps intensified though Nwanza remained calm although.

Ego could no longer brave out the irritating sound; it was driving her insane, her vision was blurry, head pounding, ears almost bleeding, and hands heavy like she was carrying the mortal, not the bird. She bore it for another minute expecting the blessings any moment instead three long minutes past and nothing occurred; not even one cowry was lying on the ground. Frustrated, she took down the bird and immediately all the worrisome birds disappeared, the thunder died down, lightning followed suit.

What could be wrong? Did she say the words wrong? The gods must be angry at her for abandoning their gift? Maybe it is not to be done out in the open? Still pondering on what went wrong, she began hearing what sounded like a colony of bats screeches approaching her with high speed. They were already swooping through surrounding trees and bushes coming towards her. In less than a minute, tens and thousands of bats were flying so close that she could feel the air from their flapping wings; the cloud above became darker, the screeching sounds became reverberating. She needed no one to tell of the pending danger; she took to her heels.