...by Tijjani Muhammad Musa
Her flow of thought was interrupted by the baritone voice of the house owner who was standing at the door leading to the balcony, where the roofers were busy cutting the long span aluminium roofing sheet to size. He must have come to inspect the works as well as check the progress made so far. "Look at him" she thought to herself "Who would have thought such a kind looking man would be so inconsiderate?" She hissed after the question, visibly disappointed.
"They said he had an architect design and is supervising this building works. But don't they teach them environmental conservation in their course of study? As a designer, I'm sure they did, because even the architects in our dove specie are taught how not to tamper with nature as much as possible, when erecting a structure. But men destroy shelters of their own people without care to relocate them ahead. It'll be a tall dream to expect he will do that in our regard. But more importantly, he is suppose to be a Muslim..."
Suddenly, she heard him say to the roof technicians "Ahaa, there is a dove that has built a nest at the end of this roof eave. Please ensure that you do not cover up her nest and thus render her homeless" as he pointed at the location of her nest. "AlhamdulilLaah! He remembers. May Allaah Bless you" She uttered a silent supplication for him. ”That's got me saying 'Yippee!' So, he's as good as they repute him to be? Where's Hubaa? I need to let him know everything would be alright. Ooops..."
She remembered how they had separated and remorse overcame her. She wondered where he might be at that moment and regretted having shouted at him the last time he came back. But he deserved it, another voice within her mind said. Was he trying to tell her about this succour and which was why he came to her coyly smiling and full of confidence? How did he know the man was going to take their plight into consideration? "Anyway, I need to find him, soonest" she concluded.
"So, where do you plan to transfer the nest to?" the house owner wanted to be certain no harm came upon the bird's home. "Emmm..." the senior amongst the two technicians considered. The subordinate instantly pointed at the raised water tank platform and said "Why don't we place it next to the water tank, there" "Yes" agreed the other without thinking. Clearly, he wanted the client away from the scene.
But rather than leave, the house owner said "How can you put out it out there, open to the sky. Don't you see it's the rainy season, the sky is cloudy and about to rain any moment from now? Once you put it there and the rain falls on it, it'd dismantle her carefully constructed nest. We can't have it there. Besides, even if it doesn't rain, when it is night time, the dove would become easy prey to the stray cats roaming the roofs.
"Wow, I'm impressed. Didn't know humans can think like that" the lady dove above heard herself cooing excitedly aloud. "Ok, may be not all of them are stupid. At least, this one has something upstairs" She peeped to take another look at his countenance from her vantage position. "Anyway, I'll leave you guys to sort things out. We have to locate where we will put the nest, free from any harm. Just like the bird ensured for itself" Hmmm, nice.
Confident that nothing will happen to her nest, the dove flew out in search of her partner. Meanwhile the workers had gotten to her nest groove in the dove's absence and with care and precaution one of them dislodged the bird's house and found an egg firmly secured with intertwined twigs in a recess, in its middle. "Hey, the nest has an egg on it!" he promptly declared and his colleague said "Well, do be careful so it doesn't fall out please. I don't want to incur the wrath of the man of the house"
So, they placed it temporarily by the side of the water tank as they earlier proposed. A short while later, the house owner returned and even before he could say anything, they quickly offered an explanation that, as a temporary measure they have removed the nest and relocated it to the deck near the water tank in order not to delay their progress. But soon as an appropriate location is found, they will move the nest to it. Satisfied with their effort, the man left them to continue.
Meanwhile the lady dove still hadn't returned. Soon the clouds gathered and began to cover the already grey, sunless sky, which was fast becoming a masterpiece artwork of ash and shades of grey. The rain was threatening to pour down any moment then. Suddenly, rain drops huge as leaves started falling in splatters from the sky. The house owner, conscious of the danger facing the animal's home quickly climbed upstairs, accessed the water tank concrete deck, removed the nest and relocated it into one of the bedrooms at that level.
To be continued... 2/4 parts
(c)2016 Tijjani M. M./DesignWorld INT'L
All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved
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