HONIE LOIE (THE CHILD OF A BIRD)

NOVEL TITLE: HONIE LOIE (THE CHILD OF A BIRD) CHAPTER ONE THE FAMILY OF PA MUSA There was a man born in the village of Mongerewo Upper Banta Mokelleh Chiefdom long ago. He was very huge handsome man that married to a very beautiful wife. His name was Musa Lebbie, he has a beautiful wife call Mrs.Lombeh Lebbie, and she gives birth to two boys and four girls. Their name was Marie, Tenneh, Iye, Musa, Osman and Hawa.Musa Lebbie was a very hardworking farmer together with his wife. Farming was the only means of sustaining the home and the children. All of them were highly trained in the process of farming except Iye and Osman who were later sent to school to gain education to take care of the rest of the family. The father once said you don’t aim a bird with so many stones; you aim it with one stone. Though Musa Lebbie was industrious in farming and his wife they can’t let all the children to goes to school at the same time because of the mindset that school is for those that are in the city and the burden would be too much on them. The rest of the remaining children work hand in hand to support their father earlier in the morning. They have to go ahead at the farm house and does some amount of cleaning in the farm house especially Musa the male child of the father who the decided that he should learned Arabic in the evening as times goes by. Pa Musa hand over him to an Arabic teacher who was called kamor Aluseni. He was one of the learned people in Arabic in the village of mongerewo and beyond.Karmo Alusine once said you don’t teach a child by playing with him. Karmo Alusine.. I have a lot of Arabic learners from the village and the surrounding. Their parents have hand over them to me I have so many kids because it is a blessing in a family and to the father. Iye and Osman later went to school at Mattru Jong for a formal education while the rest of the children were laboring in the farm for their education. Their father only wants to concentrate on the two of them as he always said Iye and Osman are our focus now, we cannot send you all to school at the same time we need you around us to help us till the ground together for your brother and sister who have gone to school. You all can’t live us I and my wife can’t handle all the school bills. Marie. it will be risky for us as a girl Since we have to move to strange land for educations our constrains would be much. It would not be like our village where we can access things, we want so easily let see what would come out of our brother and sister. The village of mongerewo was establish by few people in a forest but it was later change as times goes on and think about bringing it in a spacious place where access could be made that is the passage of the vehicles. The reasons being they realized of cannibals around their surrounding village attacking people what we can do said Pa Musa. Let us move and decide earlier his voice was heavy most people fair him for that. The chief needs to be aware of this to set up our men for any suspicious and strange things in this our community, should be handle immediately for proper intervention. Early in the morning Pa Musa get to the chief and inform him about the issue. Chief, Chief said Pa Musa I have gotten information that eaters of blood are around our surrounding village. By then the ancestors of Mongerewo were so sharp, alive in battle when this announcement was made it was like a wide chain it spread faster by the town crier. The town crier calls upon the young men and old men with wisdom. The young men were ready to listen to the old men advice for them to succeed in their plans. As the assemble together Pa Musa was asked by the chief to say a word when he was able to calm the people. Firstly, of all my people we have realized that people are in our chiefdoms that are call eaters of flesh and blood. This information is spreading in our chiefdom widely like a fire I Pa Musa the hearer of birds has been informed by owl that the people are to come slowly through by business to settle in our town and invite those people during the night to take away some our youth and children so be warned if anyone is been catch having stranger in his or her home without the awareness of the chief neither be business men or any other person that come to settle in our land, to access the other villages we need to be informed. The Mendes are good and kind hearted people that welcome stranger but this time round everyone has to be watchmen to save their lives. They so much believe in farming and survive through the occupations of farming by encouraging strangers how can the despise the advice from their elder which is for their own safety. They put strategies also how to unit with their neighbors though it was not easy to abide due to their crops after harvest the goods that business men would be interested and access them. Cassava and rice planting it is done yearly and harvested for their consumptions. Cassava can be formed into a lot of products by the people of Mongerewo. Pa Musa was able to do all this because of the kind of woman that he had that is very much hard working. It was amazed that she sometimes helps her husband in the farm even works that are men duties. For her it does not matter she would still involve in doing it. Musa Lebbie was born as a twin in his family to his mother and father. His twin brother died at early age. He was the only one that was left to his father and mother due to early death of his twin brother at an early stage. He was the only one that was left to his father and mother. It was early after Pa Musa and mama Lebbie met that his parent passed away. when they were growing up his twin brother was call Osman. Osman was a very good hunter of his days at an earlier stage he was very unique before he goes for hunting, he would already know the animal he is going to kill today. He was very powerful in hunting that makes him unique among all his colleagues. He also interprets dreams and saves people from the witchcraft powers when they are attack. He sometimes used a specific leaf around the town. According to him every leaf is created for a purpose and for the use of man. Osman sometimes disappear when he met with hard battles in the forest. Pa Musa father and mother were also a twin and him too but in their own case mama Lombeh was not a twin but she came from a family that are very powerful in leaves. They know all the names of leaves in their village Gbadavulahun two miles away from Mongerewo. Mama lombeh father and mother were a very powerful healer in their leaves which mama Lombeh was able to learn little bit of it she was not actually concentrated in doing business from Gbabato, Mattrujong, and Bonthe. Mamalombeh was highly involved in selling of fish for the sustenance of her family and also in farming. She has to schedule herself very well in doing this one. Pa Musa family was well known and great, they were customer to mama Lombeh in buying of fish, when they wanted to buy the fish, they can praise mama Lombeh a lot. She was actually very hard working in her business. She always sells like this “my people come and gather everything, your cassava is at the farm oh oo, and you need something to add to it. Cassava the major and everyday food to the people of Mongerewo. Those who usually buy fishes from mama Lombeh does not know how to hunting with dogs or set up traps. There were lots of animals in the forest and bush of Mongerewo which led some to even just arrive in the town doing the morning hour. The men would seriously rise and took their sticks. They would not use their cutlasses because some may want to hold it with their bare hands. They women would be shouting and running in the village from the animal even if it is harmless. They can’t face it like the man, no animal has ever arrived in the village of mongerewo and goes back to the forest alive. No matter how he could run faster. The town was also filled with men who are very good in running. There were also men who have trained their dogs in hunting, no matter how there are animals they can’t fear in the forest except the wild pigs. The forest was all-around Mongerewo village by then. There were four streams that people go there to fetch cool drinking water at any time and uses it for domestic works. Mongerewo people believe in their streams water so cool and pure according to them. By then there was no clinics, no school, and even market. They have to do one to one business with their goods in case the business people arrived in town if the business people knows that you have these goods like plantain, or banana was so much in their village in a way that almost every household have it at the backyard of his house. Pa Musa was having two sticks of orange at the backyard of his house two kola nut tree, coffee, cocoa, yams were also at Kpayewoma. Mama Lombeh said this was their first settlement before coming together at the new location of pa Musa and his friend to settle in Mongerewo. Kpayewoma was a place that people can’t hunt with their dogs in the bush. It is going to be a coincident if anyone decides to goes there and hunting because the dog would be captured by wild pigs or chases the dog out of the forest. This particular bush woman can never try to be there alone. A man has to accompany them; any man that wants to work there has to believe in his cutlass and ability to run. Big snakes like boma were also found in this forest that why only few families have to do farming there with cautions. When working in this farm they have to be attentive and cautious so much because so many times they have encountered these wild pigs. It comes in times in Mongerewo when the chief has to warn people not to be in the bush alone and banned women from fishing their alone especially when there are no men with them. The men were advice to have a sharper cutlass and one for any attack you can hit on his nose because his body might be very strong. Musa once said to his friend “hmm one day my father sent me to fetch water when I was getting their walking slowly, I hear “who?” that is how they interpret the sound of the pig. The said he would always ask the person before he chases you. It would ask one, two, three the one round up to four be ready to run faster as you could. Musa the younger child of Pa Musa was telling them this that anytime the wild pigs asked one “who “he would not allow even for it to make it twice, he would run away with a speed even the water, he would not go and fetch at the streams any longer because they also go there sometimes and drinks water from there. Musa friend asked how do you know that it is the black pig that was there when you heard that sound. he said it had happened with me once his father sent him to fetch water at another side of the stream opposite the side he is fetching the water when he heard who?’’ Musa said he also said who is there? He was surprise to see the bush shaking and heavy sound of the pig asking continuously...huh, huh huh……he run and don’t know how to run He does not want to run straight away to the farm house because his sister where there He think faster of a tree, he normally climbs big one He went their quickly drop the bucket he was holding and fly like a bird on the tree and sit up there breathing seriously watching the pig passing round. It was like he was in hell fire “he said “his friends burst into laugh. He said this was really like I was death already because the way I saw his mouth like a caterpillar machine. I know what lessons I have learned from them which I don’t want it to be repeated any longer. That is how I was saved from the hand of those caterpillars in the bush.