Short short stories by
Geraldine Elliot

1
The Ram And The Leopard
Perfect! An ideal site! There could not be a better place, quiet, secluded and good shelter from the sun and wind, and water in the stream below. I shall build myself a house here.
Bira, the Ram was delighted and indeed, he had reason to be for he had chosen well. A little knoll rose high above the jungle and near the top , a level patch of grass offered a perfect site on which to build.
Tall trees spread their gracious branches over the place, rocks gave protection from the wind and rain, while a clump of purple vetch proved that the ground was sweet.
No wonder the Ram was pleased that his search for a building site in an unknown stretch of country had been so handsomely rewarded.

Determined to lose no time in getting to work, Bira shouldered his axe and hurried back to the forest for he knew that the first thing he must do, if he wished to build a house, was to cut some fine straight poles.
He had not been gone for long when nyalugwe, the leopard, approaching from the eastern side, climbed up the knoll on to a rock and found himself gazing down on the little grassy patch that lay, snug and invitingly below, " What a charming spot," said he, whiskers twitching with appreciation, "An ideal site for a house. Indeed i think I'll build a house here. It is a most delightful place!"
Nyalugwe considered for a moment. Building a house meant a lot of hard work and he had never seen a better site, so, having madeup his mind, he went back to find and axe with which to cut some poles.

Yurme, bunsky, lekinz

Blip . . . Blip . . . Ber-lip! Down came a tree, felled by Bira, the Ram. Carefully he trimmed it, lopping off the branches, lifted it and carried it to the grassy patch and laid it down beneath a rock. Then he returned to cut another pole.
In another part of the forest, Nyalugwe, the Leopard, swung his axe, blop . . . blop . . . Ber-lop! And down came a tree which he trimmed and carried to the knoll.
And he was about to lay it down in the shade of a tree when he saw one pole already lay beneath a rock.
"well!" he exclaimed. "what a bit of luck to find that here! It will do splendidly for my house." And Nyalugwe laid his pole beside the first one anf ambled off to cut a second tree.
Blip . . . blip . . . ber-lip! Another tree fell and Bira the Ram, trimmed it and carried it to the site, put it down, looked at the three poles and scratched his head in a bewildered sort of way.
"surely I've only cut one pole-or have I cut two? I suppose I must have, for there they are!" Bira was extremely puzzled but he wasnt going to waste time just because his memory is unreliable.
Off he went to the forest to cut a fourth tree.

Blop . . . blop . . . berlop. "whew!" said nyalugwe, the leopard as he mopped his brow. " warm work, this " he said and rest before carrying the tree to the building site. "Thats three poles cut" thought nyalugwe and sure enough three poles were lying on the ground, yes but he was still carrying a pole!
"one, two, three and one am holding. But thats four poles, how can this be? He put the fourth pole down and looked at it hard. Then he started counting again. "one, two, three .........still four. Have I cut four poles? No" Nyalugwe was quite sure about this, so he tried to think of some explanation of the mystery.
The obvious one was that the place was bewitched, a most alarming thought and quite the last he wanted to believe.
There must be some other explanation. He sat down quickly and thought again and soon and answer presented itself. The spirit of his ancestors had come to help him, of course that was it, what could be more likely? Naturally his ancestors would wish to help him build his house.
Greatly relieved and comforted, he jumped up and hastened off to cut more poles. With the spirit of his ancestors to help him he'd have enough to build a house in no time at all.

*spread mat*

grap a sit gham#,sip my satchet water# i dey front o.

Ritababe i don land

Somewhat beautiful- the language.
I like that it's folklore, better paragraphing will do no harm, and so would re-editing the story. Too many minor typos.
Well done.

Bunsky:
Ritababe i don land

welcome

Bunsky:
Ritababe i don land

welcome

nicholausian:
Somewhat beautiful- the language.
I like that it's folklore, better paragraphing will do no harm, and so would re-editing the story. Too many minor typos.
Well done.

tnx

ritababe:
Y.urme, b..unsky, l...ekinz

Present Ma

"Four poles! Four poles!" sang Bira, the ram as he climbed up the site and laid his latest tree down.

"one, two, three, four.......and mine five!"
Bira sat down abruptly and gaze at the five poles.
He didnt like it, the place must be bewitched, but that was the last thing he wanted to believe and he hurriedly remembered that bewitchings never did anyone a good turn like helping them to cut poles so, of course, that could no be the explanation.

"By the spirits of my ancestors, I wish I knew what to think" he exclaimed. And, as if in response to this request, the spirit of his ancestors supplied the answer.

"Of course! It is they who have come to help me, what could be more likely? Bowing his head in relevant gratitude, and greatly cheered by his ancestors' concern for his welfare, Bira the ram jumped up and returned to his work with renewed vigour.

By the time that night had fallen, there were sufficient poles stached on the grassy patch to build a fine big house, and Bira the ram lay sleeping after his long days work, he dreamed of a hundred snow white rams wielding a hundred shining axes and felling trees that reached from the forest to the stars. And in his sleep he smiled hapily, for it was wonderdul to see his ancestors all working so hard and to know that they were helping him.

Nyalugwe the leopard, also smiled in his sleep as he dreamed of a hundred leopards, more spotted and more beautiful than any he had ever seen, and some were felling trees and some were cutting grass and some were actually building a house, and in the middle of the house, one leopard the handsomest of all, sprawled in idle grandeur and nyalugwe knew that this leopard was himself.

Next day, Bira the ram rose early and cut some bundles of tall grass with which to thatch the house and when he reached the building site, he was amazed and delighted to find that the spirit of his ancestors had already been at work and that the first poles for the framework of the house were standing in the ground.
Inspired by their example, Bira quickly erect the remaining poles, the went away to fetch more grass.

Hardly had he gone when nyalugwe the leopard returned. He too had risen early, come straight to the site and, after knocking a few poles in the ground had gone off to get himself a drink, secretly hoping that while he was away his ancestors will continue the work and do at least much as he had done.
He wasnt disappointed, his ancestors had apparently completed the framework of the house and had also cut some grass.
This nyalugwe began to weave between the poles to form the walls, but soon got tired and went away again, hoping that his ancestors would finish the job.

lekinz:


Present Ma

welcome
cc. Psalmwise

lekinz:


Present Ma

welcome
cc. Psalmwise, yinks89

ritababe:

welcome cc. Psalmwise

i dey comed beans nvr done wella

lovely storyline

Nice piece .... ***Spreads mat, come and continue what U ve started ***

com ND finish ya Tory nah

Psalmwise:
com ND finish ya Tory nah

since nobody come pay interest nko?

we are waiting

ritababe:


since nobody come pay interest nko?

no worry just paste am ghost mood naim den dey di

Wassup na?
Finish the story nkwanu!!!!