THE GODS OF WAR

RESIGNATION

Now nearly human, I began to notice where I was.

my father's house was a 3 storey duplex.

we occupied the last floor, while the other floors were rented out to our neighbors.

our home was very decorated with arcs and pillars, in semblance, it's an equivalent of a palace.

I had a room to myself wherein my cot laid.

and oh, I almost forgot to mention that as soon we were home alone, I spoke.

it was quite spectacular, I'll recount the tale to you, but you see, even now, I am still not certain as to what emotion both my parent felt when and while I first spoke. whether it was pride, surprise or sheer horror, I still can not make out.

it happened a couple of days after I had been named AMOYE by my father - meaning, the little wise one, how they managed to pinch that should owe to the little wonders of my birth .

that sunny afternoon, I laid in my cot playing away in my head.

my father sat in front of the TV listening with rapt attention, watching with keen interest and reacting with the vigor of a concerned citizen to the news on a discuss about a government policy that was made bill earlier in the day.

and though the air conditioner was fully functional, the atmosphere was rather stuffy, so the windows were opened and the cotton blew away to give room for fresh breeze. my mother was in the kitchen making what would be our lunch, my cot was faced to the window and so I stared blankly Into the sky enjoying it's serenity.

and from nowhere, this wind built up, making quite a racket

my mother, sensing this from where she was - my father on the other hand was so engrossed with the TV and his imaginary friends with whom he debated - came out to close the window and to turn away my cot into a better and supposedly safer place. as she made her way to close the window, a black falcon flew straight into our home and almost immediately came to perch on top my cot, a little above my head.

to this, my mother nearly screamed her lungs out, she lunged with her hands in front, shooing and waving her hands frantically in a bid to make the little black falcon leave. my father, caught by the surprise of this drama rose to his feet and matched towards my mother in hurried steps, he too gasped at the sight .

he immediately striped himself of his brown leather belt hoping to whip the unmoving and unconcerned little bird from of my cot - at first I wasn't worried about my mother's dance of fear, but now, this man, my father is a man with brute strength and acute precision so I couldn't let him land that hit on my new friend. I opened my mouth and said

" my dear father, please do not hurt my little friend" without stopping to consider the magical effect my tiny little voice has had on their brains or the scunge that has lined their faces, I continued "he is just a little bird that had lost his mother a few days before now and in a order to seek shelter from this raging storm, he had ventured in here. you have a child of your own, please do not snuff out this little fella's light, please."

my mother sank into the light cushion on the floor, she had this blank expression and was so out of earth.

my father seemed to catch himself sooner than I expected. he said - stammering, " so you can talk huh?"

to which I replied "of course I can, I had kept to myself since the day I had been born for fear of how you or anyone else would react " seeming to have found his voice, he probed further " and how did you know that this little bird had just lost it mother?, do you perhaps understand animal language?, why weren't you scared like every other child would?, why?"

I had to cut him off, since he wouldn't stop himself. I said " father, I knew it lost it mother because it told me so - in a soft coo - to which I smiled and giggled lightly.

"I don't know how, but I have since the first day, understood every animal I had come across"

"I wasn't scared because I knew it wouldn't hurt me. father may I keep him as a pet, I'd like to call him OJU - meaning, eyes. "

my father - if he was shocked, he did a good job at masking it said " AMOYE, you can keep him if you want, but only if your mother agrees "

it was only then that I remembered my confused and delighted mother, she too had regained her composure and unlike my father began rolling out instructions, she said " I am so happy you're special, I knew you were special the moment I held you in my arms for the first time. listen to me now child, you mustn't speak, never in the front of anyone but your father and I " to which my father added "many other people will call you an abomination, and I do not want that for you at this early age."

my mother continued " I appreciate your reserve from the beginning, but more than before I want you to keep to yourself whatever you learn, do not make remarks or give reactions to whatever you see or hear, only your father and I should see or hear you like this . I am not so good with pets, so make sure you keep your little friend in check and I'll be sure to dote on you both " she ended it all with her usual warm and broad smile .

my father then chuckled and said " do you think you can read " "I don't know father, I have never tired it."

"don't you think we're pushing him, but it will indeed be wonderful if he can "

like a shot put thrower, my father hauled me up from my cot and the whole family went to watch the TV.

almost immediately as I saw the words run by, I began to make sense of them and I pronounced them.

my parents were over joyed and they kept tempting my limits with more complex and much more difficult words, all of which seemed a piece of cake to me. and only when the burnt smell of my mother's food sweep across the whole living room did she run off leaving me and my dad to continue our chit chat test, all while OJU sat on the couch by my father.

a few moments after, my mother came in with a bowl of eba and okro soup garnished with a ton of assorted meats.

before that day I had stuck to feeding on my mother's milk, but, now, things are different. I made known my desire to eat of what my parents ate, at first my mother opposed my proposition for fear of me choking on any little bolus of such a heavy food - but with much persuasion from my eager father who is bent on testing the limits of my strangeness, resigned to giving me a trial.

and there is how I began to talk and eat, as if I were years old.

oh, I failed to mention that I did not crawl, stagger, nor did I lean on any near surface for support to stand but immediately decided and started to work that very day.

whatever my parents felt then and there, I know it had no bounds, for they looked at me with awe spelt across their faces for days to come.