The One Armed, Three Legged Chair

by Joseph Vincent

rock. Soon, many other birds joined him on the rocks all around the fire pit.

  “It is completely cool.” Zair said looking at the Omach who was still looking in disbelief.

  “It is as if there was never a fire in here.”

  The Ozure put his hand on the Omach’s shoulder and said; “Come brother, let us have a look.”

  They walked slowly to the fire pit and looked inside. The Ozure shook his head not believing his eyes. The Omach knelt down next to Zair, reached in and felt the ashes. They were cool… no heat at all. There was no evidence at all that there had been an inferno, only moments earlier.

  “How can this be?” the Ozure asked.

  “I am not sure,” the Omach admitted.

  Then there was movement in the fire pit. The center seemed to ripple and move as if it were a pool of water and a pebble had been dropped in the middle. The birds that saw this, were frightened and all flew away to the safety of the nearby trees… all except Zair.

  “Do you see that?” Zair asked looking at the Omach and then the Ozure. “The ashes are moving.”

  The Ozure came up slowly, pointed to the spot in the center where the ripples started and said; “It looks to me that there is something in there, under the ashes. Brother, do you see what I am seeing? Do you see?”

  “I do brother, I do,” the Omach replied. “I wonder…”

  Leaning all the way into the fire pit, supporting himself with one hand on the other side, the Omach blew lightly. The ashes stirred and floated in the air and with his other hand the Omach waved them out of the pit. After a few more breaths and waves, the Omach slipped his hand into the ashes and lifted out a small body.

  “Oh my!” Zair jumped up and down with excitement. “Omach is that want I think it is? It is, it is Ozure… it is the little bird Zandoh. He burned up in the fire trying to save the chair’s leg.”

  “But he does not look burned up,” the Ozure said kneeling next to the Omach.

  “He is not burned up,” the Omach said moving back with the little body cupped in his hands. He raised the bird up and closer to the Ozure and asked him if he would like to do the honors.

  “The honors? I do not understand,” the Ozure responded.

  “My brother, just take a deep breath,” the Omach said softly, “and blow gently upon his body.”

  The Ozure did as the Omach instructed and blew lightly all over the still, ash covered body. The little birds left talons opened and closed. Zair gasped with excitement at the sight, and the other birds chirped and cheeped loudly.

  The Omach smiled and touched his brother on his shoulder… “One more time should do it,” he said.

  “Are you sure?” the Ozure questioned.

  “I am…”

  The Ozure again took a deep breath and blew lightly over Zandoh’s body. This time not only did his talons move but he opened his eyes and sneezed a small cloud of ashes right in the Ozure’s face.

  “Bless you Zandoh!” Zair, the Omach and the Ozure said at the same time.

  Zandoh looked at the three and popped up on his feet. The Omach held out a finger that the little bird quickly jumped on. The Omach lifted the bird to his ear; “What? Did you say that you want me to tell the Ozure thank you?”

  The little bird chirped a little cheep. The Omach waved his other hand over the bird’s head and said ‘powie’.

  “I think you should tell him yourself.” The Omach moved the little bird closer to his brother… “Go ahead… tell him”

  The Ozure reached out a finger. Zandoh jumped right on and tilted his head from ‘side to side’.

  “Do it Zandoh,” Zair said flying up onto the Omach’s shoulder. “I know you can. The Omach made it so you can talk, like me.”

  Zandoh looked at the Ozure and the Omach and then back into the Ozure’s eyes. “Thank you Ozure for what you did.”

  “You are welcome my little friend,” the Ozure said feeling happier than he had in a very long time. “But I am not exactly sure what I have done.”

  The Omach reminded him… “You shared the breath, from the life within you. There is now a bond between the two of you that can not be broken, not as long as the two of you breathe.”

  “But, I saw him burn up in the fire,” Zair said still confused.

  The Omach looked back at the fire pit. Zair was right, he saw Zandoh fall into the fire as well. He had no explanation. There was nothing he could say. It was one of those moments that just happen, that he found the only response worthy was gratitude.

  “Zair,” he explained, “at times like this I have learned that the best thing to do, is look up to the sky, spread out my arms and just say ‘thank you’.”

  And that is what they did, all four of them. The Ozure and Zandoh, the Omach and Zair. They looked up to the sky, raised their arms and wings and at the same time said ‘thank you’.

  Then there was a voice from off in the distance… “Hey, what about me?”

  “The chair!” The Omach and Zair said at the same time.

  “Oh my,” Zair said. “We forgot all about the chair.”

  The Ozure turned and looked at the Omach. “Oh brother, do you think he will ever be able to forgive me?”

  The Omach smiled and answered, “I do not know, I think you should go and ask him… Zair, would you mind showing my brother where you left the chair?”

  “Of course,” Zair said and started slowly over the small hill to the west. “He is over here… Follow me.”

  The Ozure started after Zair. The Omach and the other birds followed but the Omach made sure not to follow too closely… He watched the Ozure go up and over the hill and then…

  The chair saw the Ozure and started yelling… “Help! The Ozure found me! Help! Help”

  Zaaxim flew up next to the Omach who was trying as hard as he could not to laugh.

  “That was a dirty trick Omach…” he chirped. “You knew what was going to happen.”

  “Yes Zaaxim I did,” the Omach hurried is pace.

  Zaaxim cheeped laughingly and flew away.

  Zair flew down quickly and told the chair of the Ozure’s change of heart.

  “It was the bleeding stone that made him evil.”

  The Ozure knelt down and picked up the chair’s eye-board in one hand and his ear-board with the other. “He is right chair,” the Ozure said apologetically. “I am so sorry I broke you up and scared you so… but I was never really going to throw you in the fire…”

  “It is true chair,” Zandoh said perched nicely on the Ozure’s shoulder.

  The chair looked at the Ozure and then the little bird… “Oh great,” he said, “another talking bird. And just where is the Omach?”

  “I am here,” the Omach said smiling widely as he came over the hill.

  “Brother,” the Ozure said holding the mumbling chair pieces. “You knew he was going to react that way… and you sent me anyway?”

  “Yes, it was a bad joke.” The Omach confessed and touched the top of the chair’s eye-board. “I am sorry chair, but it had been such a frightfully stressful day, I thought perhaps a little humor would lighten the mood a bit.”

  “Humor?” The chair even in pieces scattered about had no problem giving the Omach attitude. “You think that was humor? You just wait until the next time you try and sit on me… I just might move out of the way and laugh the whole time you are falling to the ground! Now that would be humor!”

  “I am sorry chair,” the Omach said again but knew the chair had good reason to be angry.

  “Well,” the chair said looking away, “I might forgive you if you… put me BACK TOGETHER!”

  “That is a great idea,” the Ozure said. “And since I was the one that broke you into all of these pieces, I shall help.”

  “I could think of nothing nicer,” the Omach said looking forward to rebuilding the chair with his brother,

  Zandoh whispered in the Ozure’s ear… “There is no need for him to yell.”

  “I think I might if I had been thro
ugh what he went through the last couple of days,” the Ozure admitted.

  The little bird on this shoulder nodded his head… “Me too I guess.”

  Zair hopped of the bush he was sitting in and landed on the ground near the chair’s ear-board. “Come on we need to carry the bits of chair back to the Ozure’s hut.”

  The Omach reached out and tried to take the chair’s ear-board from the Ozure saying, “Here, let me help you brother.”

  “Oh, I can carry these,” the Ozure replied. “Maybe you could help the birds and grab a leg or two.”

  The chair turned his eye towards the Omach… “Oh please Omach,” he said sarcastically, “If it would not be too much trouble… I would appreciate you grabbing a leg or two!”

  The Omach laughed out loud and slapped his knee. “There would be nothing I would enjoy more than to grab your legs!”

  The birds swooped in after the Omach picked up two of the chair’s legs and gathered up the rest of the pieces. They all headed for the Ozure’s hut feeling good about the day and looking forward to putting the chair back together. When the last two birds dropped off the last of the chair all of the birds settled in the nearby trees and watched.

  After the Omach and the Ozure laid out all of the chair’s pieces, they started with his seat. The Omach sharpened the grooves and the Ozure tended to the notches that would fit inside of them. They made sure all the fits were snug and were not going to splinter when joined. The Omach made a sort of glue from tree sap and powie powder. He dropped a few drops in each groove before tapping in the notches.

  When the seat was all assembled and setting up, the Omach meticulously started with the