The Grand Blade

The hen and I used to be friends. Buddies. Tight pals. We were close. As close as sisters can be. 

We used to keep each other company as we exchanged tête-à-tête all day long. We raised our children together. Several mornings, my younglings and I would fly from our nest on the lowest branch of the baobab tree and join her and her chicks down below to plan our day before parting to hunt. 

I remember during these times my young teaching hers to fly, a thing they were never able to successfully master while her's taught mine to scratch for their food on the ground, a task that bore mine to their core. 

We hawks are born for the thrill. 

I know you might never believe stories of our closeness because of how vigorously she clucks warning her chicks to hide when she spots me up in the skies above, her feathers robust ready to fight me. Or maybe by how I swift down below and grab her little boneless chicks and make them a yummy meal for my tummy. 

Vicious, I know. Cold, I know. Undeserved, maybe. Unforgivable, I know. 

But you have no idea what she did to me. The anguish she caused me. So let me tell it to you. 

My grandfather was the king of the skies. The Grand Hawk they called him. 

Every bird in the sky and every animal that roamed the earth knew of him. The small ones would bow in respect. Many would hide in fear and awe whenever they saw his shadow soaring above them. 

He also owned a razor blade that we hawks used to sharpen our claws with in readiness for our hunts. It had also been passed down generations from father hawk to father hawk. It was a blessed blade. The Grand Blade we called it. 

Even though we had several other blades, getting a chance to use the blessed one on our young was a thing we mother hawks looked forward to. It was a privilege as its blessings, the blessings of several lines of grandfathers helped them learn to hunt faster and brought more successful hunts. 

I had told my friend the hen about this blessed razor blade many a time. 

" Why don't you borrow it and come with it sometime and I can use it to sharpen the claws of my chicks. It might help them scratch the earth better which will help them find food faster. And they can grow quicker and be strong," she has asked me several times. 

I had agreed. She was my good friend after all. But only on the condition that she would take good care of it while also keeping a good eye on it until I would be back to collect it. I didn't want to lose a hawk heirloom and I was also breaking a core rule by sharing it with an outsider. 

But it wouldn't hurt as long as nobody knew and it would be returned safely I thought. 

I borrowed the blade from my grandfather when it was time to sharpen my young ones' claws again and brought it straight to my friend the hen then went on my hunts. 

As she had many chicks, I told her I would come for it the next day. 

" I'm here for the blade. I hope the sharpening went well," I told her as soon as I landed. 

" Oh, it went well. Let me go and get it," she said as she went to her nest. 

I had been standing there waiting as our children played together without her coming back for a while. That's when I went to check on her and found her scratching all over the ground. 

I knew something was wrong. 

" Where is my blade?" I shrieked. 

" Oh, I can't seem to find it where I placed it. Maybe the young ones took it and played with it. You know how children are …" 

I panicked.

I was well aware she knew the importance of this blade. And that I had passed on the opportunity to sharpen my young one's claws so that she could hers. How was I to go back and tell my grandfather, the whole clan that I had lost the Grand Blade? Or worst still that I had lied to him and sent it out of the clan? 

" Find it! Find it now!" I chwirked. 

She kept scratching and scratching everything around her but came out with nothing. 

In more panic, I grabbed one of her chicks and carried her back to my nest. 

" I shall return her once you find my blade." I shrieked again. 

"Not my child!" She shrieked back attempting to fly and fight me but I had already flown away. 

At sunrise, a messenger was already at my nest. 

" You have overstayed with the Grand Blade. The Grand Hawk wants it returned immediately!" 

I quickly flew to the hen again who was still scratching the ground. She clucked for her chicks to hide when she saw me. 

It was clear she had not yet found it. 

I flew swiftly and grabbed another of her chicks and returned with it to my nest. I hoped it would motivate her to find the blessed blade. 

Several days had passed and she hadn't found it. I already had three more of her chicks. The clan had already banished me for losing the blade by now. They also took my children away, leaving me to soar the skies alone. 

I am still determined to find it. 

From up above, I usually see the hen still scratching the ground. I have been flying down below and grabbing her chicks ever since. 

I will never stop until she finds my blade.

And that way I can bring it back home and be welcomed back to my tribe.