Inevitable Forces Of Nature
The forces of nature that kept the wheels of Utanko turning never seemed to fail or disappoint. Sometimes they were sweet and kind, and other times they were uncaring and brutal.
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The morning dawned bright and beautiful, the sun rose early and smiled warmly and affectionately, bathing Utanko in rich, golden and glorious rays. The birds chirped happily and spread their wings in the sky, warming themselves in the golden rays of the sun. Butterflies perched atop blooming sunflowers and warmed their wings. The snakes came out too, stretched along pathways, fangs ready and alert, they too soaked the blessings of the sun. It was undeniably beautiful a day, but in the shadows cast by the sun, evil lurked.
The dry season, accompanied by dusty winds and characterized by dead leaves and cracked forest floors was a force of nature to reckon with. By late morning, the sun was not just smiling, it was roaring with laughter. Most animals sought shelter in dens, burrows and trees. The dew that collected in the early mornings were long gone, back up into the skies. The only semblance of any moisture was mother Ghawa, another force of nature.
Between the dry season and Ghawa, there had always been, season after season, a push and pull. Two forces of nature battling each other for supremacy. Ghawa had managed to always, quietly, calmly and effortlessly win. But this season, something wasn’t quite right.
The three cubs tingled with excitement when they saw Pem enter their den, they thought it was going to be a day of endless play and fun. A second look at Pem’s slow menacing walk, bared teeth and risen back hair caused them to instinctively back away and ran to the farthest corner of the den.
The most brazen among the three, Yenyi, shielded his two sibblings, Laruzi and Zinzim, and prepared for the inevitable. Pem lunged at them; Yenyi was the first to go, his baby teeth and under-developed claws were no match for the jaws of many moons and many hunts; he didn’t even have time to howl for his mother, his death was swift and brutal, one bite to his throat and he was lifeless, tongue hanging out. Pem flung his lifeless body across the den, and made for Laruzi and Zinzim.
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Everybody knew Laruzi was a coward. She was afraid of her own shadow, mice scared her, she even feared the pieces of carcass their mother brought into the den. But today was not one of her cowardly days, she did not intend to go down without fight; she let out the loudest howl, calling for Cjon to come home and save her and her brother. And then she and Zinzim made a run for it, with Pem at their heels, it was a frenzied chase in the den.
Zinzim got cornered and strangled, unlike Yenyi his death was slow and painful. Pem stepped on his throat, and while he suffocated, she disemboweled him. With his heart still beating, Pem left him for dead and with her bloodied paws, she made paw shaped blood impressions all over the floor. This gave Larunzi the chance to make a beeline for the exit, but there, she ran into Sidfe and Edan who bit into her little back and left her for dead.
Cjon heard her babies’ call and ran to her den as fast as her legs could carry her. Cabuk followed closely. They didn’t get there early enough, Larunzi had only enough breathe in her to mutter, “Pem”, before closing her eyes forever.
Ey and Rosah perched atop a tree and watched the strange activity on the ground. Rosah chirped excitedly about ‘the big well’ and wondered how humans managed to stop Ghawa long enough to dig such a huge hole. Unlike Rosah, Ey was silent and sad, she knew what this was. “This isn’t a well Rosah, it is a dam”, Ey said, “it will only spell doom and damnation for those of us downstream; humans seem to love these dams, but they are not good for us animals”, she continued.
“Don’t be so dramatic Ey, it is only a big hole and a tall wall, once these humans are done, they will leave and life will continue as usual”, Rosah responded. “Give it time young bird, you are about to learn a very difficult lesson about these two legged, furless, featherless enemies of nature. Babone was the exception, all humans are evil”, Ey responded. With that, the two birds headed home to Utanko.
The impregnable Ghawa, the Goddess that flowed eternally began thin, and in some parts the bed on which she flowed began to show. The inhabitants of Utanko had seen many dry seasons come and go but none ever seemed to affect Ghawa like this. In the fight between the two forces of nature, the harmattan appeared to be winning this time around. And not one to start fear mongering, and also wanting to stay out of the hyena mess, Ey had not told a soul about the catastrophe happening upstream.
Thirsty animals from both sides of the river flocked to a particular spot to quench their thirst. The crocodiles took advantage and preyed on animals big and small, this was fattening season. Themba, the greatest and oldest amongst the crocodiles, took it upon herself to train the young ones on how to hunt; it made sense, after all this was their season of plentiful.
“When the forces of nature work in your favor, they works really well but when they don’t, they don’t. Learn to take advantage when mother nature is in your corner and learn to survive when she isn’t,” Themba taught her students.
The young ones were more than happy to oblige her, after all it was Themba, fearless, experienced, wise and old as a fossil. Among her eager students was the beautiful Mummin, Themba’s great-great-great granddaughter and Themba’s favorite.
One day Mummin saw a strange animal drinking from the river and decided to attack, she wanted to impress Themba and cement her position as the most intelligent student. She failed woefully, she was too naïve and weak for her chosen target, King Kunti himself; thus the predator became prey and targeted prey became the predator. King Kunti killed Mummin with the help of Kumarti his first son and Kusanda his wife, they dragged Mummin out of the water onto a nearby hill and tore into her flesh.
The notorious Kuntis had arrived and made their presence known.
Themba watched the killing of Mummin unfold from a safe distance, she was wise enough not to intervene. She didn’t live this long because of rash decisions. And she knew a lost cause when she saw one. The forces of nature had set something oddly familiar in motion and Themba did not like it.
And thus Themba shed tears, but nobody knew for sure whether it was an outpouring of emotions, and thus tears of sorrow, or just the lubricating of a crocodile’s eye.
TO BE CONTINUED
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Oh, dear. This is so sad. I could not read the entire story.
“Crocodile tears” – wow! There it is.
I read your Ananse story yesterday, and it kept niggling at me, why “Ananse” seemed so familiar to me. Turns out, we told Ananse stories around the campfire at Girl Scout camp back in the day.
Such suspense!
All the twists in plot and suspense! Love it!
Ooooo such sadness in this one!