Detestable Bird

By Adeel Ahmad

Grandma ‘s stories were always mentioning a detestable bird , with which disaster came hand in hand on the village . One day the Babies insisted to their grandmother to tell them its tale ,She said that the bird’s abominable soul is as brutal as a hundred years old demon whose heart is filled with nothing but darkness. In the past, the tribe and the tribes around had been exterminated by such mythical beasts and this was one of them … Millions of men silently sitting in the serenity of their homes were consumed by the fires of hate that the bird spits upon it’s victims . From the wrath of this demonic animal spirit, no one is safe; no man, no woman, old or young; no one .

Several days later the youngest grandson found his Grandma sitting anxiously at the edge of her bed in the early hours of the morning. Her face was white as snow and anxiety dripped from her every gesture. She was moving the prayer beads in her fingers quickly as though trying to hastily make contact with the divinity to deliver her some miracle ..

Maybe her woman’s intuition had seen the unseen and had indicated to her that death had seen her house .

The redness in her eyes and her face, turned white as snow, made her grandchild scared. He asked the last question his little angel head would ever compute .

” Grandma , what is so ‘ detestable ‘ about the detestable Bird ? ”

Grandmother went still for a moment. She started to tremble and her pupils spread as if the looming darkness had crept in to her eyes and drained the shine away . She shouted at her Grandson to remain silent, gesturing with her finger on her lips that he shouldn’t even name that beast . Grandmother used to say that even the mere mention of the evil will sent the invitation to the Evil incarnated beast on earth to come find her little paradise and set it ablaze .

Conflicted and confused to the unfamiliar omens his Grandma was concerned about, the little grandson stared out of the window at his father . Standing in the premises of the house, his father was looking at the sky with wonder, one hand over his eyes to shield from the sun’s glare, his eyes wandering in the heavens with concern . The Grandson cried out , ” Grandma , Detestable birds ” .

A huge Bird; the detestable, terrible giant; was lunging towards their home and it’s figure was now growing rapidly .

At the sight of her absolute nightmare coming to life, the prayer beads shattered and the beads rolled all across the floor . She gathered up all her strength, jumped out of her bed without her walking stick and limped towards her grandson. She took him in to her embrace and said her shadah …made her peace with God and closed her eyes…..Silence; absolute silence. All her life flashed before her eyes …She felt a sudden vibration and in the blink on an eye she was free and light and delivered of all her pain …

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems manufactured predator drone fired two hell fire missiles at it’s designated target in the remote northern area of Pakistan along the border of Afghanistan. The victims were added to the list of wanted terrorists. Bonuses and under the table money were exchanged between some Government agencies of both the countries. A heartless protest vigil was announced in Pakistan’s news media. Lucifer in Washington Dc added another chapter to the Myth of the Detestable bird. Humanity sank a little further into the bottomless pit of eternal shame.