Author: Nyakallo Lephoto

He leaves behind a pregnant wife and two daughters. A maverick, they say he was. His demeanor was only paralleled by that of a wild cat. Never loud, yet calculating and cunning. Ruthless, the kind you don't want to make enemies with; for, like a Ninja, you won't see him coming. But now he's gone. Even the mighty succumb to this fate unshunable.

He lived in tight corridors, tip-toeing so as not to step on the wrong toes; for he existed amoung the most poisonous of snakes and beasts with the coldest of hearts.

Never seen during the day, but it lives still. She only hears it at night. The wild flip of its wings as it takes off signals only one thing: someone has taken their last breath. It's the Black Bird that feeds on souls that just left bodies that once lived.

They say his German luxury sedan's brakes failed, hence he lost control of it and drove over a cliff. It had just been a few days since it had gone for major service. At 45, his was a pre-mature death. One fitting to match his pre-mature birth, some argue. Though he hit the ground running and achieved much at an early age, he started a family very late; at the age of 35. Prior to that point, his life was riddled with failed relationships. Many a times he wished death upon himself, but it would not grant him his heart's desires. Only when life was worth living was his wish granted.

Right that instant, when he lost control of his vehicle and it rolled and bounced over rocks, the Black Bird took off the roof of her garage. Whenever it kicks the corrugated roofing making that cranky sound and violently flip its wings that leave a cold air beneath its wings. That chill that's reminiscent of the temperature at a morgue, lets her know a soul has just departed.

Posing as a personification of the pride of death, with its chest out and boastful yet silent chirps, it lands and takes what belongs to the afterlife. Behind, it leaves tears and wails of those tied to the departed. It transports from the living to the dead and makes no return deliveries. Wise words say a living dog is better than a dead lion. The dead know nothing, the living know one thing for certain; the Black Bird is watching them, thirsting for their souls. One day, they, too, shall succumb to quench its thirst.

A five hundred thousand rand German engineering genius plunged into a valley. As it descended, so did bits and pieces of breath trickle down like sands through the hour-glass. He met his fate, it got yet another meal. He lived with knowledge it will one day end, it lives each day with hope it's the last for someone. His unborn son will never meet him. It will wait for the day it takes his soul too.

image sourced from art.com

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