Wild beast
In the previous chapter: Nile keeps getting nightmares about the village he lives in... he's not at ease, he promises his mom that he'll give it a shot. then, completely out of the blue, the three friends find a young Nile monitor hidden in a bush!
"Oh my!" Ade shrieked and took a few steps back. Imari's eyes were zig-zagging between Nile's petrified face and Ade's mixed expressions. "what is that thing?" Imari asked, in a bewildered tone; the monitor seemed irritated: its menacing forked tongue was slicing the air and its tail swung violently. The only thing was... it was not attacking them!
"This... this is a Nile monitor, I've read about it in the book your mom gave me; the Nile monitor-scientifically known as 'Varanus niloticus'. It is a reptile that can be about a meter and a half long, wow, I can't believe this one came so close to the village! Normally they're on the other side of the river, near the forest!" Ade explained, half stupefied half intrigued.
Nile was still in a little moment of shock, the animal had totally startled him. "why isn't it attacking?" He finally asked " look at its back paw!" noticed Imari, it was bleeding! The reptile had a deep cut on its left paw. Ade gasped "we gotta call your mom!" Nile told Imari " on it" he answered and took out his blue phone. Imari's mother, Mrs. Adebisi was a vet. Waiting was frightening as the reptile was torn between defending itself and suffering from the injury. The more it moved, the more it hurt itself and it was going wild! A few minutes later, Mrs. Adebisi came down to the river with some of her colleagues. Imari had quickly described the situation on the phone, however when she saw the reptile with her own eyes; it was clear that her son's words were not sufficient. The other vets were also horror-struck at the beginning but they quickly recovered. Nile watched as the crew surrounded the monitor, then used a sort of gun to shoot a net over the monitor. The Monitor seemed pretty much trapped in the net until... it started to hiss and whistle like never before and it broke free from the net! The vets decided to go with another method: trying to lure it into a cage with bait.
Ade, Imari, and Nile kept their eyes peeled as a man took out a huge Nile perch. Someone else put a cage about half a meter in front of the reptile, then the man with the bait started waving the fish in front of the big lizard. The monitor was highly interested in the fish and momentarily forgot about his injury. That's when Mrs. Adebisi had the idea of injecting an anesthesia injection with the Nile monitor, that way it would be easier to bring it to the 'River Nile Animal Centre'. She quickly consulted with her colleagues and they agreed. The man with the bait continued to distract the lizard while the others discreetly made their way to the Nile monitor's back. It was perfect synchronization: at the exact moment that the monitor got the bait, the vets injected about three injections, then it only had a minute to aim its tail at one of the vets and swish- it hit someone. The big lizard was asleep.
"Ahh!" screamed Mrs. Adebisi and so did Ade at the sight of her falling into the river. Imari sprinted to his mother and with the help of Nile, Ade, and some of the vets, they pulled Mrs. Adebisi from the river. Thank God it was not a deep spot! "Mom!" Imari cried out, clearly panic-stricken "you ok?" Mrs. Adebisi was soaked and had a bruise on her arm but she smiled brightly. "Well, I guess that's what you get when you try to help a wild beast!" she remarked and everyone laughed.
Imari was glad that his mom was alright- and that they were able to handle the Nile monitor.
Ade was highly impressed by the way the vets used bait and an anesthesia injection on the monitor. She studied the way they worked, the way they communicated. They were calm and consulted together to achieve their common goal. Adelaide wished to become a vet when she grew up, helping friends from the animal kingdom- a kingdom below us. Living near the Nile makes her feel linked to nature. To her, living amidst nature awakens her senses and makes her feel close to her creator- God.
As for Nile, he was not sure what to think. He was in the presence of a flesh-eating lizard and it even hurt Imari's mother! But then, the vets handled it with absolute patience and co-operation. Nile wished he could always be patient, perseverant, and generous- it sounded hard. It was time to start.
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