By Jackonia Otieno

One Saturday afternoon, three boys went to hunt birds. Kaliph was in the lead though he was the shortest. He was older than Luke who was only eleven. Steve was the youngest, yet the tallest but fearless. This afternoon, they had decided to go hunting instead of swimming.

“I must come back with two weaverbirds,” boasted Luke.

 Kaliph responded that if Luke came back with a weaverbird, then he would kill three doves. The boys lumbered up the dusty path. Steve was busy whistling. They branched into the forest and started aiming and shooting but killed nothing.

Kaliph said, “We are not lucky; let’s go home.”

“Why should we go home so early?” retorted Steve.

 So the boys decided to venture deeper into the forest for the remaining hours. They aimed and missed. Then all of them noticed a dove perched on bush some metres away. They aimed and shot.

The bird took to flight but fell with every flap of the wing. One stone had hit it. All the boys ran after it.

“I killed it!” They shouted as they followed the bird.

They rounded a bush and saw the bird running away. They even ran faster cursing. Steve was panting behind the other two. Just as the two boys ahead thought they were catching up with the bird, they stumbled and fell.

They dusted themselves and started running again but Steve, who was behind them, told them to wait.

They obliged as he rushed towards them, but he stopped and looked at something then moved back.

Luke shouted, “We will not stand here the whole day waiting for you.”

“Do you know what is here? It is the bird,” Steve lied.

Curious, the two boys quickly moved back but noted something unusual — some movement!

“It is a python!” exclaimed Luke and Kaliph as they took to their heels towards home.

But Steve did not run. He had realised that it had a bulge in the centre. It had swallowed an animal so it could not attack again. He called his two friends but they had disappeared.

Shaking his head, he followed the dove and captured it before it died. Monday would be a story day for the three boys at Kaza Moyo Primary School.