They Could not Fly
They could not fly.
It was during the rainy season. A season cherished by all, a season of blessings from God, a season for making babies. Many believed that when it’s cold and raining, babies are made because everyone is in the house and what else will they do other than make babies.
It was evening in the land of Taita hills, darkness, rain, and lightning spread through the village. All families were in their homestead, either settled around the fireplace to warm themselves or in their beds sleeping.
The rain came down heavily, farmers were happy, and their land was sipping enough water. The rainwater roared down the valley, and for the next eight months, cows, goats, and sheep will have enough water to drink from the valley.
People stayed in their houses, it was always dangerous to go out when it was raining, and someone could be washed away by the raging waters.
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The family of Mr. Gozi was still awake, they were all seated around the fireplace roasting goat meat. Mr. Gozi was busy telling stories about their family history and why they are unique from others. Gozi’s family had a secret that no other people knew except the family members only. They had special powers, powers used only for self-protection, they could not use the powers for wrong intent. They could use their powers to protect themselves, protect what they have, and also feel danger when it’s coming and start preparing beforehand.
Mr. Gozi cleared his throat as he continued telling his grandchildren and other family members about their roots. “We are the only family in this region with special powers, we can do a lot with it, protect ourselves and what belongs to us. Never in your life try to hurt anyone using these special powers because you will be disappointed, it won’t work.”
Outside, the rain continued pouring heavily, and Gozi’s wife Rebecca became worried about the rain. Their sons Orengo and Mike went outside to check what was happening, the rain threshold that day was abnormal. It rained with anger, it had been raining for the past five hours, and instead of reducing it increased its momentum.
The rainwater came down from the mountains and washed everything away in the fields. Orengo ran back inside the house, “Dad, I think we may have a big problem today, this rain is not usual.” Gozi stood quickly from the fireplace picked up his huge torch and headed out, “What is unusual my sons, rain is just a blessing from God.”
He beams the torchlight all over the field and back up to the mountains and became restless instantly. Something terrible was about to happen and there was no time to alert all the villagers, especially those who stayed down the valley.
Mike looked at his father’s face, “Dad, what is happening, is the village safe, is the village going to be swept out by floods?” Mike was always direct and never knows how to keep calm when trouble arrives. “Son do not worry, the water has lost its course that is why it swept the fields.”
“We need to alert the people then, as quickly as possible, should we scream and let people know?” “No son that would give people the wrong message. The best way is to go up the mountain and ring the bell inside the shrine, that’s the only way people would understand that the village is in danger. You have to go first and ring the bell and hit the drums too so that people know the urgency of the situation.” Always the bell and drums were used to pass quick alerts or messages to the people of Taita.
Mike and Orengo were in their late twenties, mature enough to understand what was happening. Their father Mr. Gozi had taught them how they could use the powers they had without raising unnecessary attention. Floods began but people did not know, they were in the comfort of their homes. “Sons, be fast floods will start soon.”
They flew up the sky and balanced themselves using their hands, this was another power the family had. Gozi looked up at his sons as they disappeared in the darkness towards the mountains. The shrine was well built with stones and placed itself on top of the hill overseeing all village valleys. Taita people went to the shrine for rituals, celebrations, and many other things concerning their welfare.
Rebecca was very worried, “We need to let people know, and we can fly to their homes and alert them. Some must be dead asleep, they won’t even hear the bell and drums. The rain and thunder noises will stop the bell and drum sounds from reaching everyone.” Gozi nodded his head in agreement, “We shall do that, but we won’t manage to cover the whole village. We cannot fly for long remember, and it would be risky if other people get to know our secret. We may end up being rendered outcasts and not heroes, our children won’t be treated well by the community. Just gather the necessary things and let the young put on warm clothes as we prepare to take them to the shrine. The waters are increasing speed and the rain is becoming stronger, soon the water will get into our house.”
This made Rebecca more worried and moved around the house frantically trying to gather the necessary stuff that they could carry for the family. Gozi was outside the house also worried about the village, how would they go up the mountain for their safety? He walked all around the corridor as he beamed his powerful torch across the village as if telling them to wake up. In his head, he imagined all possible ways he could save the village but none came through, they were all invalid. These were extraordinary times that needed extraordinary moves, he waited eagerly for his sons to ring the bell and hit the drums and maybe people would wake up.
“Have they rang the bells?” Rebecca came out of the house asking. “Not yet, darling, they must be struggling to open the door, they will manage soon.”
“Are you sure people will be able to hear the bells with the interference from the rain, especially those down the valley?”
“Please, can you just calm down that is the only option we have currently.”
“We should fly around and try to wake them up and at the same time avoid them from seeing us flying. That would be better, especially for those down the valley. We have to do something for our people, if they all die and we could help some our conscious will haunt us forever.”
“Well said, let us wait for Mike and Orengo to come back and hatch a formidable plan of how we shall do this without raising unnecessary attention.”
“Okay, that would be great my darling.”
Back in the mountain Mike and Orengo had arrived, and the shrine was closed with a huge padlock. Orengo was pissed, “Who keeps the key to the shrine? How on earth do you lock a shrine? What if I want to talk to the gods at night, what will I do?”
Mike smiled at his brother wondering why he always gets pissed off with petty issues. “Get out of the door and I will show you how it is done.”
He stretched his hands out without touching the padlock, he gazed at it with widely opened eyes and produces some harsh sounds, and the padlock clicked open. They looked at each other and smiled and went into the shrine without breaking anything.
The shrine was dark and very quiet, it was very quiet you could think the spirits were having a holy ritual session. They rushed up quickly and rang the bell hard for ten minutes nonstop. Orengo went ahead and started hitting the drums and Mike rang the bell hard.
Orengo did it vigorously, “Hey, do you think this would work, will people hear us?”
“Probably, I am not sure about it but let us hope it would work.”
After twenty minutes they stopped and looked down the valley to see if people got the message. Mike moved closer to the window panes, “Come and see, some have heard us look there are several lights from different homes.” “Oh yes it worked, it worked.”
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They jumped at each other and hugged in happiness, as they did this they had the sounds of horns being blown. Blowing the horn was another form of communicating in the village, this helped to alert the neighbors as the sound could not go further beyond. Within minutes the whole village was loud in horn blowing and screams. They could not fly.
Others were heard screaming, “Floods, floods, floods, get out and use the higher paths and go up the mountains!!” “Floods, floods, oh God help us, we do not want to perish like this, have mercy on us.” They could not fly.
For a moment Mike and Orengo got emotional as they heard their people screaming mercilessly. They got back to their senses, left the shrine open so that people can come and take refuge, and flew back to their homes.
At home, they were ready to take the grandchildren to the shrine. “Well done my sons, it worked well, now we need to take the children to safety fast, then you come back here. Be careful, no one should see you flying.”
They gathered all six kids, Mike and Orengo plus other cousins took one kid each and flew them to the shrine. Rebecca joined them at the shrine, they were the first people to arrive in safety. She lit her oil lamp for light and the young men flew back to the house again. As they were on air Mike said, “It is always amazing to fly without wings, we should be doing this frequently.”
“I always do this in the middle of the night to train myself to be great and efficient with my powers.” one of the cousins replied. “Really, you mean you always do this?” Orengo chipped in. “Yes, I do” “Next time you should invite me please, this is fascinating.” They all increased speed through the heavy rain as they flew back to the house. They were already very wet, but they had warm clothes waiting for them at the shrine. Water had started coming into the house very fast.
“Thanks for coming back.” Mr. Gozi said. “You mean this is real we are having floods?” Orengo reiterated.
“Yes, now listen we are going to try and help people, but we need to protect our family secret. So we will cover our faces with masks and not talk to anyone. Our task will be guiding people through the unflooded paths towards the mountain. We shall be using the torches to light the paths for them. In case you see the young ones you can help them or those who are drowning.”
They covered their faces and bodies properly and looked like guardian angels, went out, and locked the house which was flooded all over. Outside people screamed for help, many were helpless, and the waters had no mercy. Some houses were already swept away to the valleys with everything and everyone in it. The spirit of death was loitering in the village and harvesting as much as it could. The animals were not left out, they prayed for help from their Gods too, but still, they were swept down the valley. They could not fly.
Mr. Gozi and his sons helped where they could but others were washed away. They could not fly.
