Flower For My Daughter

He knew that the time would come any day when his first child would be born into the world. He had been wearing a smile on his face every day since the day he was given the news by his wife. A pregnancy – finally! After years of trying and failing, the gods had finally answered his prayers and the fruit of his loins was about to sprout into the realm of mortal existence, an heir to call his own, a child that he already loved more than anything in the world. It was a dream brought to fruition and he was more than ready to be a father.

It didn't seem possible because of how many failed attempts he and his wife had had. He had been advised by friends and family to put his beautiful Eruvwu aside and remarry so he could father a child with another woman but due to his unending and undying love for her, he refused to take another wife, despite it being allowed in his culture and despite his wife's approval in her desperation to see her husband happy.

Now, here stood Ikolo Ubogwu, the greatest hunter in the land of Umiagwa despite his older age, standing by the riverside with his large pail that he used to syphon the fresh water. Usually, Eruvwu did the water fetching but since she was heavily pregnant, Ikolo took it upon himself to do everything on his own, just so she could be as comfortable as possible. He filled the pail up and was ready to return home when he heard the sounds of scampering feet running towards his direction.

"Ikolo! Ikolo!" A man called out to him.

He turned to face his caller and saw that it was his best friend, Ugbeyan. He reached him and was out of breath because of how far he had run.

"Ugbeyan, what is the matter? Why are you screaming my name so loudly?" Ikolo asked.

"It's about Eruvwu. She's gone into labour. Your child…your child is on the way," Ugbeyan said happily.

"My baby? My baby is about to be born?" Ikolo asked with immense joy but he didn't even wait to receive an answer.

He immediately dashed out of the Guyi River and made his way to his home so he could witness this momentous occasion while Ugbeyan carried his pail of water and ran behind him. Ikolo made it to his house just in time and ran into the hut where his Eru was birthing their firstborn child. He went to her side and her eyes lit up with joy when she saw him.

"Ikolo, my love. You're here," she said softly, exhausted from all the pushing she had been doing.

"Of course, I'm here, Amakashe," he said to her, a word that meant 'Angel', his nickname for her.

"I wouldn't miss this moment for anything in the world."

"The child should be here anytime now. It's already crowning but I'm going to need you to push as hard as you can, Eruvwu. Can you do that?" The midwife asked.

"Yes, I can," Eruvwu nodded affirmatively.

The midwife gave her the green light and Eruvwu pushed as hard as she could, screaming in pain as she forced the child out of her womb, finally birthing her baby which to her, was the greatest achievement in her life. It was a difficult birth but it was well worth it and as soon as Eruvwu felt her baby slip out of her, she felt free of her burden, a mother finally, a wife thoroughly.

"She's a beautiful little girl. Congratulations to both of you," the midwife said as she wrapped the baby up with a blanket.

Ikolo was overjoyed to see his child. Like every other man in Umiagwa, he would have preferred his firstborn to be a son but considering his circumstances, he was quite content with a girl. He couldn't wait to hold her, to feel her and look at her face which he was certain would be just as beautiful as that of her mother's. Unfortunately, his joy was about to be short-lived when he noticed the strange look on the midwife's face.

"Ediri, is everything alright?" He asked the midwife.

"She's not crying. She's supposed to be crying but she isn't. I've already pinched her several times but she remains silent and her pulse is very weak. Your child is sick, Ikolo and by the way it looks, I don't think she'll make it," Ediri answered.

"You can't just say that, Ediri. Maybe she's not crying because of something else…she'll be fine, won't she?" Ikolo asked in desperation.

The midwife didn't respond with words, just a look in her eyes that spelt chaos and loss.

"She's fine, right?" He asked again.

"I'm sorry, great hunter, but she is not fine. At this rate, she will die in a matter of days, possibly a week or if the gods will it, two," Ediri answered.

Ikolo couldn't believe his ears. How could the gods be so cruel as to give him a child he had prayed for so long, only for her to be born sick and dying? It made no sense and just as he was devastated by the terrible news, Eruvwu felt worse and covered her face in shame, thinking she had failed as a wife and as a woman.

"It's okay, Amakashe," he held her and made her look at him, "She'll be fine. Whatever may be wrong with her, it will be fixed and we will have our child. I promise you."

He looked over to the midwife, "What can be done to save my child?"

"To know the answer to that, we must first know what is wrong with her,"

.

.

.

And after that day, the next five days were spent by Ikolo searching for a way to heal his newborn daughter that he hadn't even gotten around to naming. He took his daughter to all of them and spoke to everyone he could find; every healer, every herbalist, and every Ohworébo (Native Doctor). They all gave him the same diagnosis, which was that she couldn't be saved. There was no explanation for her ailment, no known name for her sickness and no known cure. They all said that perhaps it was not her fate to live and he should be prepared to let her go.

The physicians prepared a herb for the baby to take to try to extend her lifespan but it was only delaying the inevitable. Eruvwu had given up hope that her child could be saved and so had all the members of their family, everyone but Ikolo who kept searching for a cure from nearby towns but he was met with the same answer; she couldn't be saved!

On the sixth day after his daughter was born, Ikolo was returning from Uvwie, a neighbouring town that he had gone to in search of a cure. He was disappointed yet again and had his tail between his legs as he trekked back home, fighting to hold back his tears. He could see a crossroads in front of him that led to four different directions and it was known in his culture that a crossroads with four distinct paths is the closest a man can get to the gods. If you pray right in the middle of it, your prayers have a better chance of being heard, and possibly answered.

Ikolo reached the crossroads that would take him back into Umiagwa but before walking the path, he stood in the middle and decided to inquire to the gods about his terrible fate and question why they had done him so wrongly.

"All my life, I have tried to be as decent as possible. I have been a good person and everything I have, I had to work hard and honestly for. I don't ask for much; just this one thing. Why can I not have this one thing? I may not be spotless but I am clean and I do not deserve this fate – my wife does not deserve this fate and neither does my little girl. You have to save her, you have to! I will do anything you want. I will give you anything you want. Just please, show me a way that I can save my child," Ikolo screamed into the sky with a lone tear streaming down one of his eyes.

He waited for something – some sort of sign that he had been heard, some sort of signal that something was being done to help him but…there was nothing and this further enraged his already enraged heart.

"I have served you faithfully all my life and now that I need you the most, you abandon me? How dare you?!"

Ikolo was losing his composure and was only a few reckless words away from renouncing the gods of his land. He realized this and before he could utter another word that he would regret, he regained his composure and took a deep breath. There was nothing else he could do so he decided to head back home to spend the days she had left with her.

Just as he turned around and took a few steps forward in the direction of Umiagwa, an old man sitting on the ground, right in the middle of the crossroads suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. Ikolo turned around and saw the man and he could tell immediately that this was no ordinary man.

Ikolo wasn't sure what to do. Should he keep walking towards his home or should he go back and speak to the strange man? He decided to walk over to the man to see what was in store for him and just as he reached him, the man called out his name.

"Ikolo! Oyivwaro! Why do you remain silent? You demanded help and now you ignore the only one that can help you save your child?"

Ikolo was shocked that this man knew him and knew about his predicament. His fear of the strange man immediately dissipated, for he could tell that this was an agent of Oghene and he moved closer to him.

"How do you know me? How do you know about my dilemma?" Ikolo asked the strange man.

"How I know about you does not matter. However, only I know about the only thing in this world that can save your daughter's life," he said.

"What is it, wise one? Tell me, please! What can save her?" Ikolo asked desperately.

"Have you heard about the tale of the Odjuvwu Ododo; The Heaven Flower?" The old man asked.

"No, I haven't. What is it?" Ikolo asked.

The old man began to speak about the Heaven Flower. He spoke mostly in adages and parables but Ikolo was a learned man and he could decipher what the strange man was saying. He spoke about the legend of the Heaven Flower and its incredible healing properties.

The Heaven Flower was made by Oghene, the father of all the local deities. It was said that Oghene, from his throne in the heavenly plane, witnessed the decline of man due to illness and disease and was saddened by it. He sought to help his creation and so, with the fall of teardrop from his godly eyes onto the earth, came the growth of a massive field of the Odjuvwu Ododo. The humans were grateful to their god for his help and they made remedies from the flowers that cured every known sickness that plagued them and there was peace in the land. But, as is the nature of man, the powerful coveted the power of the Ododo and sought to have it all for themselves.

Wars were fought and lives were lost in the battle for dominance over the Heaven Flowers. In the wake of the wars, the flowers were destroyed…all but one; the last Heaven Flower. It was told that the flower was taken to Éku, an evil forest filled with the most horrific of creatures and spirits that guarded it. All who sought the flower could venture into the forest to find it, but only the pure of heart would be worthy to pluck it out of the soil and take it out of Éku. For generations, the brave, the desperate and the greedy all ventured into Éku in search of the magical flower but none was ever able to make it out alive and the flower remained lost…yet to be found by the pure of heart.

"I don't know if you are worthy but I can tell that you have a good heart," the old man said.

"Are you certain that this flower can heal my daughter?" Ikolo asked, wanting to make sure before embarking on such a journey.

"This flower was made of the essence of God. Of course, it can heal her but, you must know this; Éku is no ordinary forest. It is filled with the worst of things, the worst of spirits, terrible spirits that would make a grown man pee himself. Whether or not you're pure of heart won't be all that would determine your survival or your success and the chances that you'll make it back alive are little to none.

"I know of many others that have been in that forest before. They never made it back out and the few that did never regained the full strength of their minds. It will take only minutes of being in there for your mind to become unhinged. The only reason a few men made it back alive was that they were cowardly and ran out before they had gone deep enough into it."

"What may happen to me does not matter. If there's a slight chance that my daughter can be saved, as a father, it is my duty to try," he told the man. "Thank you for this information. I must go now. She doesn't have much time."

Before he left, Ikolo asked one final question, “What does this flower even look like so I could recognize it if I find it?”

“You’ll know when your eyes behold it,” the old man replied.

And with that, Ikolo ran back home to get prepared so he could venture into Éku to find the Heaven Flower and save his daughter's life.

"Good luck, Ikolo Ubogwu! You will most certainly need it," the old man said before vanishing into nothingness.

* * * * * *

"This is madness, Ikolo. I know what she means to you but you cannot seriously be considering this. It's a suicide mission," Ugbeyan shouted after his friend who was marching to the entrance of the forest.

"I've made up my mind already, Ugbeyan. If my own mother and my beloved Eruvwu couldn't convince me otherwise, then you're surely not going to be able to either," Ikolo told him.

The brave hunter was clad in his warrior's attire, made of snakeskin and sheep's fur. He had a spear and a musket attached to his back, a small bag of provisions around his waist and a machete in his hand. He also had a series of spiritual protection (juju) tied all over his body to protect him from the evil spirits that he was sure to encounter in Éku, given to him by the chief priest of Umiagwa.

When he told Eruvwu about his discovery of the Odjuvwu Ododo, she was astounded to hear about its existence and amazing healing properties but her astonishment turned to hopelessness when he told her where it was to be found. Éku was well known all over the lands as the one place no man dared venture into for it was a place of torment and death. Eruvwu begged her husband not to go, promising to give him another child despite not knowing if she could, just so he wouldn't risk himself but Ikolo's mind was already made up.

This was his first duty as a father, his first act of fatherhood and despite his fear for his life, his love for his daughter and his determination to save her was stronger and he decided to go. He would not be denied a lifetime of the joy he felt when she had been born. He was hungry for it. He craved it more than anything and by the strength of his will, he was determined to have it.

Ikolo arrived before the forest, standing by the edge of the entrance. He hadn't stepped into the evil land yet but he could already feel his soul being tormented by its toxicity. Ugbeyan was afraid for his friend and tried once more to dissuade him from going.

"Please Ikolo, don't do this. We can find another way,"

"There is no other way, my friend. She needs help now and the sooner I go, the faster I will return, and the quicker she can be saved," Ikolo said to him.

For friendship and brotherhood, Ugbeyan decided to put himself on the line as well, "At least, let me accompany you. Together, we'll stand a much better chance of finding the flower and returning with our lives. You are a capable hunter and a great fighter but you are just a man going up against ancient spirits. You cannot do this alone,"

"No!!!" Ikolo protested immediately, "The best way you can help me is by staying here and taking care of my wife and daughter. Help them with whatever they need and keep my daughter alive until I return," he urged.

"What if we can't keep her alive? What if she doesn't hold out?" Ugbeyan asked.

"You must find a way to prolong her life," Ikolo placed a hand on his friend's shoulder; "You must keep her breathing no matter what. Do you understand me, Ugbeyan?"

"I'll do my best, Ikolo," he said.

"Thank you," he replied.

"Good luck, my friend. I will pray to the gods that you find that flower and also, for your safe return,"

Ikolo nodded at him and turned back around to face the eye of the forest. He took in a deep breath before taking the first step which took him into Éku. He kept moving forward, one foot in front of the other until he got deeper and deeper into the forest and disappeared out of Ugbeyan's sight.