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FIRE AND ROCKS 1(short story)


It was a few minutes past 1pm and the weather was severely hot and humid. I removed the thick sweater i had on and tieid it about my waist. I could already see my destination from afar off, so I heaved a sigh of relief. My legs could barely and I felt like throwing up. The sea sickness had reduced but my stomach growled as I was unable to eat anything throughout the 2 nights trip on the boat.
I entered the only visible structure before me on the tiny island. It stood proudly, fenced with rocks and a big gray gate that had not the slightest touch of beauty. It screamedof defense than welcpme. I rubbed my elbows to wipe the beads of sweat clamping my forehead and with faltering steps I approached the gate. There were soldiers at the gate and none said a word to me aside from the mechanical way they opened and closed the gate. I guessed they were expecting me. Inside, I walked quite a long distance before I saw a house 'the dispensary' , its sign clear enough on the stone billboard. I couldn’t muster enough courage to ask anyone for directions as they all stared at me like I was some alien fallen from sky.
After perambulating for a while, I asked a young lady, should be in her teens maybe, her skin was a deep but shiny black and her eyes were beady. She said nothing and only pointed to the direction of the dispensary that was right before. I wanted to tell her no, I had to see the village head or king (whatever they called him) first. But I decided against it not wanting to further confuse the innocent young lady.
I walked in and immediately everywhere went quiet.

“Hi” I said slightly smiling to no one in particular.
“”You are the doctor from Nigeria?” an elderly voice said from behind. I turned. Startled by the fluent, mildly accented English. So they do understand English afterall. She tilted her head when she looked at me. I noticed the look of contempt immediately.

“Yes …ma” I said hesitantly. Run away immediately.
She said nothing. No welcome, no damn thing! She just, like the others, kept watching me like I was some statue. My palms were turning sweaty by now so I wiped them on my jean trousers. It suddenly occurred to me how different I looked. A quick glance around and I noticed for the first time no one was fully dressed up, if not for a piece of rag that didn’t much to cover their unclothedness. The guards on the other hand, they were three of them in the room. They stood like robots. They on the other hand wore full uniforms, a light brown plain khaki.
I heard foots approaching, it sounded like they hoofs of horses. Then it stopped. I expected to hear horses whine so I would finally know it was all a dream. But I heard none.
About three guards or soldiers now rushed in. a huge man walked in after them, closely followed by a younger, fine looking man. The latter duo were dressed in some funny looking costume. Everyone except me bowed to me. I didn’t need a sorcerer to tell me who he was. He looked towards an impaired man who was still seated, jis eyes shooting daggers at him and instantly the man got to his feet and almost fell back before another person took his hands and assisted him. His gaze turned back to me and my mouth went dry.

“Welcome to Bende hills Dr. Kate. A land of fire and rocks. We hope you’ll like it here?”

Run away now. The voice came back again.
“Thank you” I replied confidently, trying my best to sound confident.
My gaze shifted from the beast infront of me to the young man beside him. And I can swear I saw him smirk. What was that supposed to mean? I should have listened to my guts and ran away when I could. I looked at the guards. None of them smiled.

A bell rang loudly, and stopped.
What was this? A school or something.
“Just in time for lunch” his hoarse voice announced loudly. “Dr. Kate, we’ll be honored to have you join us for lunch”.
“thank you sir” I muttered. Not sure how to react to everything. It however, still baffled me how good their spoken English was.
He nodded and they exited as dramatically as they had entered.
The remaining people (I had thought were sick) started scrambling out, pushing and squeezing their way out. Outside, they filed up into a line and began marching! They looked so thin, they could fall and die.
I joined at the end of the line, more out of curiosity than the growl rising in my stomach.
As I followed gently behind. A guard marched right to me and pointed to where the king stood on a balcony a little afar off, he was beckoning on me with his hands. I nodded and followed.

To be continued..

FIRE & ROCKS II
The hall or glorified hut rather was big and poorly lit, I could barely make the faces of the people seated by the large rectangular table. All eyes seemed to be on me as I walked in. but what repulsed me the most was the putrid stench emanating from God knows where. It was a mixture of smelly feet , concentrated sweats and some weird weed or strange tobacco.

“Come take a seat” a familiar voice called. I stood unmoving “ No thank you” was all I could manage to utter, trying my best to peel off disgust from my voice.

When the waited for an explanation. I replied with, “ I think I’ll prefer the public diner”

I was surprised when he didn’t object but instead said “Let the lady do as she pleases” then the guards immediately led me out.
It was so noisy and busy in here. Unlike in the previous hall, the hall was large with dirty walls. The people scrambled all over the centre were five big pots stood, with about ten plump women serving the dishes. The children leaned forward each with a plate, pushing one another. As soon as the liquid-like meal dropped into the iron bowls they ran off and went to squat or sit on the floor while the slurped over.

I scanned around the busy hall and as expected, the guards stood at every corner, stiff-jawed like statues, though they held whips, they didn’t look like they wanted to use it. I turned to see a lady coming towards me with an iron bowl in her hands. She wasn’t smiling. No one had smiled to me afterall. They either looked too frightened or too arrogant to smile. She extended the bowl to me bowing her head. Thank you I said not patient enough to see what the food looked like. I tried to tell her it’s too much and that she should reduce. She was gone before I could lift my head. I dipped a finger into the strange broth and took a taste. It tasted like nothing I’ve had before.

I turned to see a kid looking fondly at me, or rather at the bowl in my hands. I motioned for him to come. I could see he was scared. So I went to him and insisted he took it. After much hesitation and looking around, he reluctantly took it and began to slurp it. I enjoyed how he gulped it all in before belching loudly and we both laughed.
Back at the dispensary, I was given a room in which I was to live in all through my period there. It was a single room, tight and poorly ventilated with an adjoining restroom which served as both a bathroom and a toilet. The whole house would hardly contain two people at a time. But I cared nonetheless, I had no plans whatsoever to spend another day. I took a table cloth from the small table and began wiping off dust from my backpack and shoes using an oil lantern as my only source of light. I managed to shower with the stinging cold and felt a little better by the time I hit the bed. Ignoring my growling stomach I tried to shut my mind like my eyes to sleep, but sleep betrayed me. Then I heard a sound from above my head, it definitely came from the window. I waited and rightly, I heard it again. This time, there was no mistaken, someone was there. I didn’t want to wonder anymore, I stood and peered closely. I saw the silhouette of a man in the dreadful darkness. Without warning I opened the door, and the figure came in. I felt no tinge of fear partly because I knew who he was. It was the Prince. He held something in his hands.
“I’m sorry to come uninvited. I thought I should bring this for you” he said calmly but firmly, extending a parcel to me. We stood an inch from each yet I couldn’t hear his breath. He wasn’t the least tensed and it irked me.

There was no point pretending not to be hungry. So without wasting I opened the bag and brought out what was inside. It looked and smelled edible.

“Thank you, you can go now” I tried dismissing him.

“Sorry my lady, but my custom considers it impolite not to wait on a guest.
Such chivalry! What the hell is he feeling like? I thought
I sat myself on the bed, leaving him standing, while I began to eat quietly. The bread tasted of honey and pure milk. He watched me and I swear I saw him smirk!


To be continued...

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Tags: Africa, Culture, Fiction, Short Prose, Short StoryCategories: Short Stories, Uncategorized
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PUBLISHED BY THEOLAHSMUSINGS
Hi, I'm Grace. I'm passionate about God and relationships mean a lot to me. I love books, cats and sunsets. View all posts by theolahsmusings

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