67 WRONG REQUEST?

We were very happy my husband took care of me till term andas the gods will have it i had another baby boy our family was ecstatic he grew up very mature for his age, was way ahead of his peers and we became the envy of all.

In his seventh year he became very withdrawn, he would not interact much with his peers and was always staring at us like we offended him, we kept on asking him what was upsetting him but he said noting that he was just sad.... as Mrs Rukewe continued on she wept bitterly ....soon ..my very active child became a shadow of himself, and became terribly sick we started taking him here and then there for solution, they all said he had to tell us how he is feeling or what was wrong for them to know how to begin his treatment, but for some reason our son refused to say anything at all. A day before he passed on I was trying to feed him when he suddenly asked me with almost crazed eyes mo ...ther! mother....!!

My son am here what? tell me please? my heart was broken from his pain.

Don't... Do..don't ....you....you...love me? he forcefully asked me.

I could see how he was putting so much effort to ask me this, tears poured out of my eyes and I answered him that, that he was my pride and shield why won't I love him eh? I love you so much my son.

Do ....do mother...please mother do something ....I...

Then it was as if his strength left him, I cried my heart out, no one could help us, my son needed to tell us something that can help us help him but he just couldn't and the next day he passed on, a day after his seventh birthday.

Mrs Rukewe totally broke down and cried, narrating this made her recall the whole incident afresh and it reopened fresh wounds, now her husband comforted her and decided to continue the story.

The pain was much for us that for a whole year we refused to have a child by not meeting each other again, but we loved each other and we wanted to really have our own child, soon the pain reduced and people started telling us that the children were those that 'come and go back' and that we needed to mark them when next they came, meaning when next we had a child, soon after we were expecting again and as usual we were excited but it was a bit toned down as experiences of the past still hunted us, at term she gave birth to a very beautiful girl, it's as if the goddess of beauty visited our home this time, however, due to past experiences we called in a healer and a seer who came and made some incisions on her face, back and chest and a black paste mixed with some other things was rubbed onto the incision and after all of these we were told that she will grow up and take care of us, she grew as the others intelligent as they come and very beautiful anyone who hasn't seen her before, seeing her for the first time. must exclaim what a beautiful girl whose child was she?but .....but when she turned seven just like the others she fell ill and with accusing eyes she passed away too....

We don't understand any of it, why does it seem that they held us responsible for their deaths? we couldn't even cry as tears refused to drop we just picked her and buried her like the others and quietly moved on with our lives, when she started expecting again this time there was no excitement at all, if not that we didn't know which child will come and stay we would have removed ithhmmm! he also came and we didn't even celebrate it, we knew it was them again as Ehi came with the marks given to our last female child by the healer and seer, we watched it till now, we love our child but we know he too won't stay like the rest for he also is quiet intelligent and smart and you can see he is a handsome child and very energetic, mature for his age, but Ehijiator is also exhibiting the same signs as his siblings.

For how long can we keep loosing our children we don't know what has brought about this kind of punishment, is it not even better for us not to have had them just for us to bond only to loose them??? I don't want to marry another wife, my friends and family has already pressurized me but am not willing I love my wife too much but now even my wife is of the opinion that I should get a new woman I don't want to but she says that's the only thing that will make her happy but I known it's her grief talking.

At this Mrs Rukewe started another bout of crying.

You need to stop crying, let's reason together, I know its painful but the reason why I came here with Ehi! is to find solution.

Are you much calm now madam Rukewe? because what we are saying now needs your clear mind, Mr and Mrs Osaro Erharuyi the problem was from the very beginning, the foundation of your supplication was wrongly laid.

You see during your narrative I got to pick out that the problem was from your request, which I don't blame you for as a lot of us have made that mistake several times and we don't know that; that is what is hindering our request from the Almighty. In your case you, you even had that one chance to request for what you really wanted but in your desperation you requested for both what you needed and what you didn't need at all.

Here let me explain it, when the priestess asked you what you wanted, you and your husband here already decided that your request will be for a child, but when you got there you requested for firstly "a child" meaning you limited your chances of having other children.

Secondly, you requested for 'any child" meaning the goddess could give you a lame, blind, sickly, dumb, deaf, mentally challenged or any other deformed child, but you were lucky the river goddess had only fit children highly gifted children and she didn't want to strike her children with any of those deformities.

Finally, you asked to be given a child that could even 'come and go back' and that too seven times, you made that mad plea seven times, in your jumbled supplication you said even if it be a child that will come and go back and you repeated it seven times. Let me explain it to you, you requested that even an ' 'abiku' child was good enough for you seven times, that is why you have them but due to your request they must return at seven.

If these had continued it would have ended at the seventh time but then that wouldn't have happened as you would have grown old by then and would not be able to have children again.

Considering he is the fourth by the time you will have the fifth and if you are lucky the sixth you would have grown so old you can't get pregnant again, reason being that you should be in your sixties by then.