My Little Angel Flies Back Home in the Name of Winged Termites

And to know that it ended in my neighbors' pot is heartbreaking

I am a mother of 5.

One of them has become a little Angel.

I am a mother of a little angel.

Whenever you hear this title; “Mother of a little angel”, it means that the woman had a child. But that child is dead. Some women are mothers to more than one little angel.

The use of Little angel gives a kind of consolation to the bereaved Mom. I don't know about others. But this title gives me the feeling that my dead baby is in a better place, serving as a little angel.

Like I said earlier, I am a mother of 5 but one has become a Little Angel. He lies quietly in the small grave beside my window.

He died as a result of childbirth complications.

He had broad shoulders and weighed 4.2kg at birth. He was supposed to be delivered through a Cesarean Section.

The hospital killed my baby.

It was a case of shoulder dystocia.

I was left in the hand of inexperienced nurses.

It was an experience I loath so much to remember. But, thank goodness, I didn’t lose my life in the process.

My baby’s head and neck came out and his shoulders got stuck.

The doctor was not on duty. The nurse had her one hand inside my birth canal and one hand on the phone. She was asking the doctor what to do and the doctor was directing her via phone call.

She did what she was told to do to the baby's shoulder and he came out after a long trail. But he didn't cry.

She was told to dislocate or fracture the shoulder but she also broke the baby’s spinal cord.

That was how we lost him hours after birth.

At birth, the baby took my whole look; the reason I wept my heart out when we lost him.

I saw my long nails in his, I saw my full hairs in his, I saw the woman I am in the boy-child. But I lost him immediately.

At home, I chose a spot where he would be laid beside my window. He was made a beautiful wooden casket and laid to rest into the mother soil.

That was four years ago.

Something happened last night and it took me back to the memory lane; the whole memory of my dead child came flashing again.

I woke up in the middle of the night as usual. That is the time I have chosen to do all my writings.

I noticed swam of winged termites perching and flying on the glassy window. My reading Lantern was attracting them. I tried to disperse them but I noticed they were coming in large numbers.

I went out to trace their source and lo, they were coming out of the grave; the grave of my little Angel.

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I have heard a lot about Flying or Winged Termites.

“A flying termite swarm near the home nest could indicate a large colony in the yard or some other nearby location”.

I know it is a seasonal insect. Rainy season signals its coming. It is always seen in the middle of the night. Scientifically, it is known as Macrotermes bellicosus.

I went to my neighbor the following morning to narrate to her what I saw and I got another shock.

My neighbor, my best friend was eating the winged termites. They gathered so many last night.

She presented some to me. When looked at it, I ran to the bathroom to throw up.

My little angel has flown back home in the name of Winged termites. But to learn that it ended in my neighbor’s pot gives me another heartache.

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