It has been a long time since the residents of Peace village were treated to such a humorous incident like that of the burying of Happy the monkey. Monkey belonged to the children, though no one realy knew which child she belonged to. The children had built for him a small house,like a kennel, right in the midle of the village. The story of the burying of Happy began when the children woke up to find him dead one Saturday morning.Being Sarturday, most of the children did not go to school and so had enough time to prepare and carry out the burial.
The children were convinced Happy had died of malaria, after all she never slept under a mosquito treated net. Plus, Happy had apparently exhibited all the symptoms of malaria the day before.The children enumerated the symptoms one by one. First there was fever,then vomiting,then lack of appetite, yes it was obvious what had killed Happy.Word was sent all round so that everyone will be aware that Happy was dead and so that no one will feel bad about not being invited to take part in the preparations of his burial.Happy was buried in the evening, but first his wake.
The wake took place outside the house of Happy as the burial preparations continued.Tom, nine and the eldest was in charge.He was helped by Esther who was the woman of the house.Esther welcomed the guests by ensuring their comfort with a cup of tea. The children arrived at the wake in bits, some crying silently while other downright howling.But it did not matter as there were people set aside to comfort the mourners by hugging and patting them on the backs as they mumbled their condolences.
“I knew she was going to die,” said one girl as another arrived with a packet of suger and some milk. “You knew,” the newest arrival asked in surprise. “Yes I knew,” the answer was given in a wounded voice. “Happy appeared to me in a dream and told me goodbye.” Ofcourse all this was makebelieve, the children were repeating snatches of conversations they had heard at the wakes they had gone to.
The male children were dispersed to go make a coffin and dig the grave. With rolled sleeves they dug a hole behind the kennel and made a coffin using cardboard. Inside , special girls had been selected to wash Happy and dress her in burial clothes.Waya waya they imitated the sound of splashing water, then swish swish they combed her. Finally they applied lotion all over her body and dresssed him in her white burial dress. There was a bit of a fight here since the christian children wanted Happy to be buried in a suit. Anyway, since there was really no dress they settled on the rags which were not even that white.
Soon the time for viewing the boby came. The male children had outdone themselves. A clear polythene paper had been fitted to the cardboard to act as a viewing glass. Even though the polythene bag was not clear the children exlaimed like it was the clearest glass they had ever seen. Most of the children claimed that Happy had smiled at them as they viewed him. They also insisted that he had opened his eyes and stared at the village bully when his turn came to see the body.Seemed like Happy still remembered her number one enemy. As a result the bully was banned from going to the burial ground.
Everyone knew that coffins of sinners are very heavy because of their sins. The children swore that Happy had been lighter than a feather.The chidren moved with Happy around the village as they gave her a final tour around her beloved village. Wuui Wuui cries could be heard as the children lamented for their departed comrade. The female children provided the most theatrics, hands on their heads or akimbo, some bending,they made the loudest noises.
Near the burial ground another fight erupted, the muslim children were adamant, woman were not to go near the grave. “But they needed to throw sand,” the other children persisted, “and who will faint beside the grave of Happy and comfort the men when they pressed handkerchiefs to their eyes and cried silently” In the end it was agreed that all children go and that both a bishop and sheikh should preside over the ceremony.
The eulogies were long. Never had the children have such a sweet and funny friend.Happy never hurt even a single soul, instead she had provided joy. She had been strong, courageous and honest. They would miss her and remember her always. Then it was ash to ash and dust to dust.Everyone poured a handfull of sand,two women fainted and many men pressed handkerchiefs to their eyes and cried silently. The women patted them on their backs and made soothing noises. As they left the grave, they placed a big cross on the grave. No one complained, after all the children had watched enough Nigerian movies to know that the cross always makes the devil take to his heels.
Time has passed since the humorous burial of monkey.The children have forgotten the story. But some of the parents still remember and laugh.
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