BEAST OF BOURNVILLE

“ When there is life, there is hope”, they say, but hope we know begets purpose. It all began many years ago, in the city of Bournville in Birmingham, with gunshots in the air, bullets rustling over crooked roof tops. Screaming, with women and children bracing themselves over old cargos.  It had been a very deadly war between Birmingham and Scotland, which was at its brink, and death could speak to fear in her face when a loud cry came from a thatched house in Bournville. With tears rolling down her eyes, Siri, with a baby in her arms. “It's a boy ", she said. Smiling, she looked at Ava and handed the baby gently to her while she sobbed, putting her face down.  At this point, male children were taken from their mothers once they turned twelve, to aid in this endless war.  Thomas walked out briskly, looked up, like one speaking to the sky. Begging for an idea on how to save a loved one,  he went back inside and beckoned to his wife, “Ava!! our boy won't grow in thorns ", so he named him George. Three years later, the undying wish of Ava had come to play.  The war subsided but the squaddies in charge at Bournville, popularly known as the Greyhound, kept the people from the attacks of the Redheads, ‘ a group of high-sensed soldiers from Scotland believed by the people of Birmingham to wonder the earth, causing havoc in cities and countries.  At this point, they had formed a society of deadly weaponry that shook every country they invaded '. Out of boredom from joblessness after the war, the greyhound bullied the neighborhood. Charging them with the crime of conspiring with the Redheads.  Rumor has it that during the war the Redheads from Scotland had mingled with the women at Bournville and bore children hiding in the neighborhood.  The squaddies continued in their act, stripping the people at Bourneville of their sales and goods. So one day, on the eve of the day. Duncan, the head of the greyhound, ordered a raid on Bournville. They raided every home in Bournville until they batched into the house of Thomas. Thomas gathered his family together when they heard screams of women and children from the neighborhood. “Ava, come, take Siri with you and protect the child", he called on his wife. “ Siri, bring the couch closer" ,Ava called to her maid.  They were so confused, knowing that the Greyhounds were close by.  After hiding his family in the room, Thomas took a garden fork and stood by the door to wait for an attack. He has to protect his family even if it comes to giving his own life. A minute later, a hard bang on the door. Thomas became alert and raised his garden fork over his head with vigour.  “Bring it down," Duncan ordered one of the squaddies. “Boom", a push kick straight to the door and it fell flat. As soon as the first soldier stepped in, Thomas hid himself and waited till they all entered the house. “ Who's here?" Duncan shouted as he looked around, perceiving something fishy. “Bam!!" Thomas banged the neck of one of the intruders from behind. He swung the garden fork swiftly like one skilled in action. After dropping four men, one of the hounds stabbed him from behind. “aah!!" He exclaimed and fell on his knees. At this time, Ava and Siri were in the room with little George.  Ava closed George's mouth tight to keep his loud cry from the notice of the Hounds in the sitting room. When Ava heard the shout of her husband, Thomas, she shrugged and her hand moved from George's mouth. “papa" a loud cry came from the room. Duncan heard it . “ Who's there?" , he asked with a loud voice. “Search the room you fools", he ordered his soldiers.  “ Baaaaam! " The door fell as Ava was trying to close her son's mouth. ”Come out here", one of the soldiers shouted at Ava, pulling her by the left arm.  Ava had hidden George but when he saw his mother dragged on the floor, he ran out to her. Siri quickly stretched out her hand to pull George back. While Siri struggled with George to pull him back to hiding, the Hound soldier that was dragging Ava saw them. “Hey! Little Wolf," he said with a cunning smile as he looked at George. George kept looking at the sword scar on his face like one that saw a ghost, until the soldier left Ava and walked toward George.  “Come here little wolf", he said , and carried George laughing like one from the woods. “Let my son go", Ava cried out while hitting the soldier on the left leg. Then the soldier frowned back at her with George on his right hand.  Angrily, he slapped Ava and she fell back like she fainted. Siri got scared and rushed out to help her sit up. “Argus, Come, go check on Moose, that fool is wasting my time". Duncan asked one of his soldiers to go into the room because Moose was taking time already.  Quickly, Argus walked into the room. On getting to the room, he saw Moose carrying George. “Hey!! Man, what's going on?" Argus said to Moose as he looked at Ava on the floor with Siri kneeling beside her trying to give help. “Just a little stubborn folk" he made a dirty smile while he talked to Argus with both hands tossing George up and down like he was trying to put him to sleep. “Up you rebels", Argus said to Ava and Siri while they were pulling them out.  “On the floor, you bloody civilians", Duncan shouted at Siri and Ava as he looked at Thomas. Later, one of the squaddies in his house started adjusting his pants  as he walked towards Ava.  So, Thomas tried to stand up in opposition to protect his wife. Duncan turned back and cited him from his left eye. Duncan smiled, out of defense, he gave a spin kick straight to his chin that knocked Thomas out. Straight away, Duncan ordered his boys to bring everything expensive, excluding their cooking utensils. He laughed with an evil cheer on his face.  On their way out, Duncan looked George in the face, and said, “ Little soldier boy, freedom comes from war and death”. Out of fear,  George ran quickly into the arms of his mother as Duncan proudly walked out  of the house.  With a fierce look, he said to the old cranky gardener that was lying outside on his right,''this war is not over”. It was the first time George had experienced such a dreadful combat, so confused, he cried and held tight to his mother while she tried resuscitating Thomas.  “George, go get me a bowl, fill it with water and a towel" Ava said to George. Meanwhile, the neighbors learning of the incident stayed in their rooms because the squaddies had punished those that tried to intervene in their affairs.  “ Oh dear ", she realized George was still a toddler after he stood there moping and crying. So, she ran to the bathroom herself to get the towel and bowl of water. A few minutes later, after he gained consciousness, ranting and shouting with tears rolling down his eyes, Thomas fell on his knees after the squaddies drove off.  The next day, Thomas stood on a hill top with thoughts of revenge cruising his mind. Looking at the empty sky, he wondered as someone patted his shoulder on the left side.  Quickly he turned to see who it was. “ I learnt of the attack", William said. Thomas, shocked, looked and saw that it was his brother William, ‘a soldier from the war’. Then he sobbed bitterly as William consoled him. 5 years later, George was coming back from his friend's house when he heard a gunshot close to his house. He shrugged, and walked towards the sound when he cited his mother pulling off her jacket and fell to the ground, crying, with the neighbors consoling her.  George ran at her abruptly. On getting close, he bumped into something on the ground. It felt like someone was lying on the ground. So he turned to his right side, wondering what had put him down.  As he  raised his head, looking to his right. It was a man lying helpless, chest down-faced in a pool of blood. He moped and blinked his eyes twice.. Slowly he got up and dusted his clothes.  George was astonished, so he walked the other way for a good view. “George no", his mother beckoned to him, coming close to stop him from identifying the body.  But George quickly looked at the face of the person he bumped into on the ground, . “papa” !! "papa”!!, he screamed as he patted  him on the back. George cried bitterly.  Ava quickly hugged George, trying to pull him from his dead father. “No !! Papa" , George continued while he tried to reach the ground from his mother's arms. It was the most sorrowful day anyone would ever experience. George kept thinking about the sound of the gunshot again and again as Ava took him in with the help of the neighbors. Suddenly, Ava screamed, with water dripping from her skirt and her lips tightened, "hmm!!!", she exclaimed, "Suzan", she shouted.  Suzan  ran toward her, beckoning the women around, “ Please come, I think my sister is in labour ”, she said, as she ran toward her Ava.  At this point, Ava's pregnancy was due and she was placed for labor by the midwives that were around that day. George was so stressed and confused, not knowing what to do, ‘ his Father's body is lying dead in front of their house and his mother is inside the room in labor’, he thought. Indeed, it was a dreadful experience for George, so he stood there until he heard a cry, like that of a female cat from the room where his mother was. '`huh! ?”, he wondered and seldom walked close to the room to see what it was. On getting to the door, he put his right ear close to the door to hear better. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the door nub. Suddenly, he adjusted. One of the midwives opened the door and saw George below looking so confused.  “ Oh" she moved aside. George opened his eyes with dried tears on his round cheek and an amazing smile when he saw his mother sitting on a chair looking at a child in her arms. George ran toward her quickly. On getting to her, he slowed down and wiped the catarrh on his upper lip with the back of his thumb. “ Come say hi your sister" … Ava called on him with tears rolling down her chin and a sorrowful smile when she saw him coming.  Ava walked out with the baby in her arms. On getting outside, she gave the baby to the midwives and fell to the ground. She lamented over her husband's dead body, wishing he were alive to see his second child. Later that day, some men in black hats  drove in. “Your husband was a strong man" one of them said to Ava as they consoled her and drove off with the body.  George did not understand what was going on. He looked at his mother so confused, he wanted his father back. “ Don't worry George, everything will be fine ”, Ava said to George like she understood everything that was going on. A little boy he was, all he wanted was a happy family. As soon as the news of Thomas’s death got to William, he drove down to see Ava. When he got there, she was crying with the baby in her arms. “Oh dear, she's such a beautiful girl”, he said, referring to the child in her arms, smiling soberly. She looked at him with disdain when he tried to calm her down.  Ava shouted at him and engaged him in a loud argument. George could hear them arguing from outside. He wondered what was going on so he ran in and saw his mom crying bitterly. “ “What do we call her?" Ava asked. “Beautiful Isla”, William said, in tears, “her name will be Isla". He took a deep breath and  replied with more boldness as George ran to him and hugged him.  A week later, friends and extended family came to see the baby and to mourn with Ava over the death of Thomas. Haven consoled everyone in the room, William took George with him, “ you'll be with me from now on boy , a promise I made to your Dad should anything go wrong" and they drove off to Olton.