The Chisisi Omen

© Michael L. Emery

2600 BC

Chisisi was a curious Egyptian boy.
Not only curious in his wonder about things but also in the sense that few people understood him.
His mother was the only person he would speak to without having to be spoken to first, and he greatly feared his abusive father, who called him names and never expressed an ounce of love toward Chisisi.

He rarely played with other children, preferring instead to have animals and insects as playmates.

Chisisi would sit for hours sometimes and simply watch with fascination at flies around a decaying animal, or watch lambs graizing, or observe the flight patterns of birds.

One day, while sitting on a rock and watching two scorpions fight, a dragonfly landed upon his shoulder. It caused him no fear at all...in fact, he reached up and held out his finger for the dragonfly to climb onto, so he could see it more clearly. He marveled at it's greenish-blue body, and how the wings looked like an infinity symbol. Chisisi had never seen a dragonfly this closely before, so his delight was beyond description. It stayed with him for several hours, until he had to go home.

That night, he dreampt about the dragonfly and going on greaty adventures together. It was the first time in as long as he could remember that he had such a nice dream.
That next morning he told his mother about the dream, and she told him how beautiful it sounded. His father however made fun of him, saying he was being a dumb little boy who should be doing things that would make him a man.

"Why do you hate what makes me happy, Father?" Chisisi asked.
His father replied with a slap across Chisisi's face and telling him to never disrespect him again.

Chisisi ran away, crying, and headed far away from home.
He stopped at a large rock and sat upon it, the tears not quite gone.
Suddenly, he felt something upon his knee. It was the dragonfly!
A feeling of calm came over Chisisi. It was as if all of his pain, all of his fear...simply vanished.
He talked to the dragonfly, explaining what his father had said and how mean his father is to him. The dragonfly of course was not able to speak, though it did seem to Chisisi that it understood him.
For the next few hours, he and the dragonfly sat upon that rock; Chisisi talking and the dragonfly listening.

Then, he heard his father's angry voice calling him. Panic filled Chisisi's body, surely he was in very big trouble. Though he did not want to, he climbed down from the rock and walked to where he heard his father's voice.
Chisisi's father told him to get home and that it was time to put an end to these daydreams and little child behaviors.
Chisisi did as he was told and walked back with his father. As they walked, he glanced back to look at the dragonfly...but it was gone. Chisisi felt completely alone and very scared.

When they returned home, his father grabbed his arm and pulled him to Chisisi's room.
Tears filled Chisisi's eyes; his father only came into his room when he was punishing him.
Cowering upon his bed, Chisisi saw over his father's shoulder, and there was the dragonfly, sitting at his window.
"Help me!" Chisisi said inside his mind, hoping the dragonfly could hear him.
Then his eyes widen in fear, as he saw his father raise his hand to strike.
However, his father just stood there, hand raised back, and looking over at Chisisi's shoulder with a mix of anger and confusion.
His father tried to speak...yet no words would come out. Then his father's hand came down.
Chisisi stared at his father, wondering what was happening. Then he stared at his shoulder, where his father had focused his attention, and saw the dragonfly sitting there.

Without another word, Chisisi's father turned away and left the room.
His father never again brought pain to Chisisi's life.

Depending on who you ask, the story of why the sight of the dragonfly made Chisisi's father behave as he did, varies from "it was a sign that the gods disapproved" to "the dragonfly had mystic properties, which caused Chisisi's father to feel the pain he was causing and he became 'transformed'" to "The dragonfly was death, and had gavin Chisisi's father a glimpse of his own demise inside of his mind."
Throughtout the many tellings of the story though, one thing has remained the same; a dragonfly upon the shoulder of a person in pain, is an omen of change.