Nearsighted Nighjars

When Gowon awoke that morning, something felt off. There was an itch on the back of his neck that he couldn't reach with horn, ear, foot or tail. Had he rolled in thick mud yesterday and forgotten about it? He didn't think so. 

If I were an elephant, I could use my trunk to feel it, or grab and stick and knock it off, he thought. Maybe I should ask Deka for help.

Deka was a lovely lady elephant, a grown adult with no children of her own but who was busy helping raise her siblings and nieces. Gowon had never met a female so lovely, sweet, beguiling... and he was terrified to tell her. But still, she was the most obliging elephant he knew, and perhaps she would help him with whatever was on his neck.

Before he got more than a dozen paces, a voice croaked out from behind his ears. "Hey! What's going on?"

Gowon couldn't see who was speaking, and he certainly didn't know what was going on, and he answered honestly. "I'm not sure. Who are you? Where are you?"

The lump on his back shifted, and he realized that someone was nestled up there. "Are you the owner of this kopje, sir? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I just built me nest up here last night, I didn't think anyone was using this boulder." 

Well, that shed some light on the matter. "Madam, are you perhaps... a bit nearsighted?"

The voice on his back stiffened. "I resent the implication! I'm not that old! How dare you wake me up in the middle of the day and accuse me of being old!"

She must be some sort of noctural kopje-dwelling bird then. "I hate to inform you, madam, that I am not a kopje and my name is Gowon."

That earned him a moment of contemplation before she responded in a much calmer tone. "Oh. I see. I apologize for the inconvenience and I'll take my leave."

And yet she sat for another moment. "Madam?" he asked, kindly.

"Oh, it's just... I spent all night building this nest up here, you know, and I'm not as young as I used to be. I don't know if I could build another one..."

Gowon sighed, but smiled. "How about I give you and your nest a lift to the nearest kopje, madam? Then you won't have to remake it, just move it. Would that be easier?"

The bird nearly trilled with pleasure. "Oh that would be wonderful! How could I ever repay you?"

"Oh, perhaps next time you could ask your kopje if its a kopje before you build a nest on it," he chuckled, and started on the long trek north with his nightjar passenger.