THE EAGLE'S RAZOR(JUSTIN LAGAT) Long time ago, the hen and the eagle used to be great friends. They used to visit each other regularly. Whenever the hen’s chicks saw mother eagle approaching, they all ran towards her in excitement and the eagle would gracefully land in their midst bringing with her presents for them; mostly fish and insects. At times, mother eagle would come with her chicks and as they chatted with mother hen, their chicks ran and played about as though they were siblings; in fact they all resembled each other. At the end of the day, mother Eagle would gather her chicks and take them back to their nest.

Once in their nest, mother eagle would take out her precious razor blade and trim her chick’s claws. She did not want them to harm mother hen’s chicks while playing together. Apart from that, she also wanted them to look tidy and presentable. She would then gather the chicks under her warm feathers and they would all sleep soundly over the night as they looked forward to another exciting day ahead.

At the same time, mother hen’s chicks would also be chirping comfortably under their mother’s feathers missing the eagle and her chicks. They also looked forward to the following day when they would meet the eagle and hoped that she would come along with her chicks.

One day, mother hen watched the chicks playing and noticed that the eagle’s chicks had claws that were well trimmed and started wishing her chicks also had their claws as beautiful as those of mother eagle. She asked the eagle how she took care of her chicks’ talons and the eagle told her about her precious razor blade which she would not bring out of the nest because she feared losing it as it was the only one she had and she knew not where to find another one.

“Please, my dear friend, just lend it to me for a day only and come for it the following day. I promise I will hold it till you come; I will never misplace it”. The hen pleaded with the eagle.

“Alright, I will bring it for you tomorrow. But, if you lose it, you will see my true colors”. The eagle promised.

True to her words, the eagle brought the razor to mother hen the following day and as the evening approached, she trimmed her chicks’ claws. She slept the whole night with the razor tightly held in her beak. But early in the morning, she went to search for insects to bring to her chicks for breakfast. When she saw a lot of insects, she started running after them from one place to another and in the process she dropped the razor blade which had hitherto been in her beak but which she had forgotten all about. She soon collected enough for her family and went back to feed them.

While taking their breakfast, the eagle arrived. She asked for her razor blade and the hen could not recall where she had placed it. The eagle was very angry. The hen pleaded for her to be patient as she tried to find where she had placed it. She went out and started scratching cow dung among other litter she came across hoping she could find the lost razor. She kept searching for a very long time, but to no avail. The eagle really got infuriated.

“From tomorrow, I will be taking away one chick from you every day until you find my razor. Keep searching for it”. The eagle threatened, and flew away leaving the hen and her chicks startled.

From that day, their friendship came to an end. Every day, the hen keeps scratching cow dung, mud and litter hoping that she will one day find the eagle’s razor blade. The eagle, on the other hand, has vowed never to stop taking the hen’s chicks until she finds her razor.

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