NOT A KANGAROO -THE THING INSIDE TH E BUSH MEAT___I8TH OCTOBER

Today's #dailyprompt is not a kangaroo. But that is exactly what the hunter told my uncle.

My uncle Emeka is a hunter in our village near Awka. He has been hunting for 22 years. He knows every animal.

Last week, he came back from the bush by 4am. He was shouting. He carried a big sack, something inside was kicking and crying like a baby.

"Wetin be that!" my aunty shouted.

Emeka said, "I shot it. I thought it was a kangaroo. But it's not a kangaroo. I have never seen this before."

We all gathered. He opened the sack small. Inside, there was an animal with long legs, it was standing on its tail, its eyes were red, looking at us. It was not a bush rat. Not a rabbit. Not a kangaroo. It had small human-like hands.

My grandmother, who is 91, peeped inside and screamed. She fell down.

"Close it! Close it!" she shouted. "That is not an animal! That is a child that was cursed! In my time, when a woman does bad charm, her child becomes this! It's not a kangaroo! If you kill it, its mother will come for all of us!"

We all ran back.

My uncle carried the sack back to the bush. He said he opened it near the big iroko tree. The thing jumped out, looked at him, and said in a small voice, "Thank you."

And it jumped away. Three jumps and it was gone.

Since that day, my uncle has not gone to hunt. He said every night, when he sleeps, he hears jumping around his house. Not footsteps. Jumps.

Yesterday, he saw small footprints that are not human, not goat, not dog, around his window. The footprints were facing his house, watching.

He told us, "What I saw was not a kangaroo. But it was not an animal either."

We have told the church to come and pray for his compound this Sunday.

I swear, I will never eat bush meat again...........

IMAGE SOURCE AI