Nwa eke got caught.----continued

Nwa eke tried to hide in a corner in the chicken coop when daybreak came since she couldn't crawl away unnoticed. Unfortunately, she was noticed when the young vacationers trooped in as they always did, to check out the turkeys and ducks. They were rowdy and did not look where they were going. Nwa eke stayed very still to avoid being noticed, hoping that she would blend in with her surroundings. But they saw her anyway, letting out a loud shriek.

They ran frantically shouting and pointing towards the chicken coop, to the main house where their grandfather was relaxing in his recliner after breakfast. His older grandchildren, mostly college students were lounging in the palour with him, watching Nigerian movies which they love. On this particular morning, they were watching "Ukwa" for who knows how many times, and laughing at the gimmicks of the actors and actresses.

Their young cousins burst in, panting and ran straight to the old man. " Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa, there's a huge snake in the chicken house." It's huge, it's huge, they panted, gesturing with their hands to show how big. They remembered he wants them to speak igbo to him, and they changed to " aguo, aguo, (agwo). The double consonants remains problematic. That got the attention of the movie watchers who jumped up from their seats at the mention of a huge snake. They dashed outside behind their cousins, yelling and beckoning to the late sleepers to come see the huge snake in the chicken coop. Before long, the courtyard was filled with young people, their parents, some still in their nightclothes. There was a big commotion as people ran towards the chicken coop. There was cautious exitement in the air. Nobody knew what was hiding in there.

Gramps can handle it, after all he is grandpa and he had told a lot of stories of his adventures from years gone by.

Gramps to the rescue.

The old man got up from his easy chair, took his cane and came outside. For a ninety year old man, he was still in good shape and the grandchildren sometimes forgot his age. It is usually assumed that grandpa or gramps as they call him is invincible, knows everything and is not afraid of anything. He walked towards the chicken coop with his cane which he did not usually carry all the time. The crowd parted for him to pass, but the younger children continued in front of him as if they were not afraid anymore since gramps was behind them.

"Bia umu azia putanu grampa n'uzo" a voice called out.That was one of the college age grandchildren showing off his Igbo speaking skills. All of a sudden, igbo speaking broke out, from the youngsters visiting their grandparents, trying to outdo each other. " E-ye, putanu n'uzo osiso" " Unu ara anu ife, isi opupu (okpukpu)." I n'edebe isi ka monkey." Pronouncing (kp) or (gb) is always a big challenge for the igbo speakers.

At the entrance of the coop, the leaders stopped and moved aside for gramps to lead the way. They pointed at the corner where the snake's tail was visible. The old man looked around carefully, scanning the floor carefully before venturing inside. His sight was not as good as it used to be or as good as the children with him. He could not see very well in the dark corner where the snake was hiding. He looked back and asked for a flashlight or torch. " Wetanu torch, wetanu torch somebody yelled and the children echoed it over and over. A torch was rushed to grandpa as he moved cautiously closer to the corner, with one daughter close by flashing the bright light. He saw the snake and beckoned with his hand for all to hold back. There was silence, one could hear a pin drop. He peered until he saw the snake's head. "O bu eke." he declared, obviously relieved.

"What is eke?" What is eke?" broke out. Grandpa explained that eke is a non venomous snake, which keeps rats and frogs away. sometimes they come to eat eggs too, which was why this particular eke was there. " Will you kill it?" a voice asked. No! grandpa answered. I will remove it and take it to the backyard and release it to go back to the wild. The news was passed on the the people who couldn't get close enough and a commotion broke out at that grandpa was removing the snake with his hands.

Gramps got the eke to wrap around his arm, like his father showed hime many years ago when he was a child. He had lost his mother at a young age and hung around with his Nnaa ( as he called his father) a lot. He learned a lot of neat things from his father. He had told told his grandchildren stories of his adventures and times with his nnaa,and of the parrot his Nnaa owned who would perch on the compound wall by the ozobi and anounce who was passing, by singing out their names, or repeated what they said next time they came to visit, sometimes embarrasing people who had said bad things.---------

To be continued-----

Nwa eke wrapped tighlty around gramp's arm as the crowd trooped towards the backyard gate.

There was some concern that gramps may be constricted and he was aksed how tight the snake was holding on, just in case they have to get it off him, if the snake started acting up. Gramps let one or two people touch to find out. The snake felt like steel, they declared, eyes bulging with surprise. There was really concern in some quarters by this time.