Smart Sindara, Folake, and the Funny Owl of Jos

Smart Sindara, Folake, and the Funny Owl of Jos

It all started with Folake’s mysterious voice note.

“Sindara, you won’t believe this—there’s an owl in my grandma’s ceiling in Jos… and it laughs.”

Smart Sindara, ever the curious genius in purple polka dots, paused mid-bite of puff-puff.

“Laughed?” she repeated, eyebrows raised. “Owls don’t laugh, Folake. They hoot.”

Folake’s voice cracked through the phone again. “This one giggles. At night. Like Aunty Bunmi when she reads gossip blogs.”

Operation: Owl Investigation

Sindara packed her polka-dot suitcase and arrived in Jos with her trusty recorder, goggles, and a packet of chin chin for science-related snacking.

Folake greeted her with wide eyes. “It’s still up there,” she whispered. “Last night it cackled when my uncle slipped on palm oil in the kitchen.”

“That owl is petty,” Sindara said, impressed.

They crept into the living room. Grandma Bisi sat under the ceiling fan, eating boiled groundnuts like nothing was wrong.

“Good evening, Grandma,” Sindara said. “Is it true there’s a laughing owl in the roof?”

Grandma shrugged. “Ehen. It laughs, it judges, it might be my late husband reincarnated. Who knows? You want rice?”

The First Encounter

That night, Sindara set up “Operation Hoo-Dunit.” She placed motion sensors, her voice recorder, and even Folake’s half-eaten meat pie as bait.

At exactly 2:17 AM, a creak echoed through the house.

Then:
“Kekekekekekekeeee!”

Folake shrieked from under the blanket. “IT’S LAUGHING! Sindara, IT’S LAUGHING!”

Sindara pressed record, heart racing. The sound was like someone’s uncle watching failed dance auditions.

And then—a tiny owl poked its head through the ceiling tile, wearing… wait—was that glitter?

Sindara gasped. “Folake, your owl has BLING.”

The Mystery Deepens

The next morning, Sindara reviewed the audio.

“Definitely laughter. But why?”

They consulted Uncle Dapo, Jos’ self-proclaimed animal whisperer, who wore a cowboy hat and spoke in bird puns.

“That’s a Jos Giggle Owl,” he said dramatically. “Rare. Mischievous. It only laughs when humans embarrass themselves.”

Folake’s eyes widened. “That explains why it laughed when my cousin’s wig flew off during prayer.”

Uncle Dapo continued, “Legend says if the owl laughs at you three times in one week, you’ll lose your slippers mysteriously forever.”

“Folake,” Sindara said, serious. “You’ve lost four slippers this week.”

Folake gasped. “IT'S TRUE!”

 The Grand Plan

Sindara set her final trap. She dressed Folake in a ridiculous outfit—church hat, pajamas, and rain boots—and made her dramatically read out old text messages from her ex-crush, Tobi.

From the ceiling: “KEKEKEKEE!”

But this time, Sindara launched a soft net upward. The owl flew out—revealing a tiny device strapped to its back!

Sindara caught it and gasped. “A mini Bluetooth speaker?!”

Turns out, Folake’s prankster cousin had trained the owl using biscuit rewards and installed a speaker playing laugh tracks from Nollywood comedies.

Folake’s jaw dropped. “So the owl was just... trolling us?”

Sindara laughed until puff-puff came out her nose.

 The Final Word

The owl was released into the wild (with a tearful goodbye from Folake), the Bluetooth speaker was turned into a science project, and Grandma Bisi calmly resumed her groundnut-eating like none of it had happened.

“Next time,” Sindara said, wiping owl feathers from her polka dot notebook, “can we investigate something normal? Like a talking goat?”

Folake grinned. “Funny you say that. Uncle Tunde just bought one…”

Sindara groaned. “Here we go again.”

Enjoy the sound track to this story…… Until next week, stay smart and confident!