[b][/b]The machetes were glittering against the bright sunny afternoon. The bearers were definitely under the influence of something but I couldn't say what it was. Some of the boys were bare-chested with the simmering hot weather accentuating the sweat pouring out of the sweat pores. I didn't know exactly what was happening. Initially, I thought they were there to exhume the corpse of their buried friend but it became obvious as they advanced that they were there on a different mission. They got to the freshly covered grave and danced round it singing and chanting. I noticed that some of them were carrying bottled drinks with unconfirmed liquid content. That could be the secret of the energy being exhibited.

It was later established that they were there to pay the last homage to one of their own. He died a youth and such death could be painful both to the surviving family members and his friends. The young man leading the procession had some yellow palm fronds tied around his head, wrist, and waist. He was more like the choreographer- the beats were in sequence with his body movements. Suddenly he took some short sprints, braked suddenly in order to kill his momentum, and then went through the cycle again. He turned sharply and pointed his machete towards a tall palm tree in the compound. There were screams from the crowd urging him on. He ran towards the tree, grabbed the trunk, and started advancing towards the top; with the unbranched stem in mind.

This move was met with disapproval from the onlookers and mourners. They knew he was going for the top of the palm tree to dismember the freshly grown yellow fronds at the middle of the unbranched stem- and no palm tree survives this. One onlooker was even sadder because the palm had three bunches of palm fruits on it. They were a few weeks from getting ripe. He said to me, “this is much like killing a woman pregnant with triplets”. The boys went about their tasks with no qualms. The leader got to the top, performed some acrobatic moves, grabbed the freshly grown fronds, and dislodged them from the tree- he was dropping them from the height, one after another. The mood everywhere was sombre except for the boys singing and gyrating to the music. “It is done”, the same elder beside me murmured.

I was sad when I left that day. I was told that the owner of the palm tree was a widow. The palm fruits were a source of income for her. She made palm oil from them which she would sell to put food on the table. I thought, ‘they destroyed the tree and the owner in one stupid moment’.

A few months after this incident- five months to be precise- I was at the same location for a funeral ceremony. My first interest was seeking out the very palm tree that they tried to murder the last time I visited. To my greatest surprise, the tree survived. I noticed that the fronds were growing again. This signified a sign of life. I sighted about two small bunches of palm fruits sitting by the side of the unbranched stem. ‘The woman they could not kill is now heavy with twin babies’, I thought. I smiled, took a picture, and went about my major reason for the visit.

REFLECTION
Your dreams are still waiting for you as long as you are still alive and breathing. The times could be tough and naysayers could be all around you. But nothing happens until you have served the purpose you have been destined for. Go and fulfill your dreams and be unapologetic about it. The boys thought they had the survival of the palm tree in their hands. They did all they could to determine its fate. But it was not yet time- it survived and bore new fruits. It is given that there are a lot of people waiting for you to fail but like in the palm tree story, it is not within them to decide how your life pans out. Listen to the heartbeats of your heart and seize the reins of life.

Those enemies might be scheming for your life, but always remember that your life is bigger than all of them.

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