"Remember where I have brought you out from."
(Written).
(Edited).
•...•
She sat in her hut on the throne-like chair, her gaze seemingly startling, but unfocused. As she stared into thin space, her mind drifted through different flashes of memories, until she locked onto one in particular. Her mind's eye flashed into that piece as she went through the memory lane of the past.
Ah yes, she was still a fledgling at that time, so young and bubbly. The female smiled at her younger self as though she was there, as she watched on in silence and contentment.
The younger her tried climbing up a tree after she had passed by a bush path she found by chance. She looked up at the imposing tree in defiance as if she were a warrior, ready to defend herself if it struck. She huffed in annoyance as she came crashing down again, with her bum landing harshly on the forested ground. Yet, she didn't give up. She tried and tried, till it was mid-dusk, so she had decided to take a short break. Not wanting to stop, she stood up again, dusted herself, and tried again. Her small chubby fingers latched onto the jagged, protruded edges of the tree trunk as she claimed, slowly and steadily.
Her little feet hooked unto the base of the tree and she moved onward, carefully positioning her toes and fingers so as not to slip.
She almost did slip though, as her fingers slid past a hooked end, leaving only her one hand hoisting her up. As nimble as a monkey did she quickly reacted to that mistake of hers, pulling up her dangling hand to hook at a higher end of the tree trunk. Finally, she got to a branch, and looking down, she almost wanted to come back down. Almost.
Her dirty and bruised face broke into a warming smile after she had jumped to the branch closer to her, letting her feet hang in the air, to which she later swung her small frame like a pendulum (back and forth) to build up momentum as she swung her right leg over the branch.
She stabilized herself, and seeing that the branch might not hold on much longer, she hurriedly pivoted unto the adjacent tree branch, before the other one broke off. A sense of satisfaction and contempt surged through her as she smiled once more. But alas, her victory did not last as an animalistic piercing shout echoed through the forest.
No! It wasn't that of an animal, she realized after it resounded throughout the bush again.
Ma!!
Her Ma was calling her. She answered from where she was sitting too unbothered to care and partly because she didn't want to face her Ma up-front.
“Girl!” Her shout sounded from below the tree. Startled, she fell and was rewarded with a nerve-wracking pain throbbing her small body. Her Ma didn't care about what pain she was in as the woman pulled her by the hair and screamed at her, saliva spewing on her face. She turned her head slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by the woman, as she slapped the small girl.
Her Ma's words were being muffled by a ringing sound in her head until she was being shaken by the woman.
“— Huh?! Didn't you hear what I said?! You stupid girl, you aren't meant to climb a tree!! What are you, a monkey?! Gods above, you will not kill me”. The woman shouted and proceeded to take her back home, with her hand firmly grasped at her hair. The younger her tried to wiggle out of her hold, but it tightened more.
She watched this scene with a frown on her face, except that, it was unknown what she was thinking. Anger bubbled up within her at the younger her wanting to be free for once, only to get beaten up when the small-framed girl was dragged into a shabby-looking hut.
That scene flashed through her mind as another resurfaced, and in this particular envisioned memory, she ran away from her parent's constant taunting, crossing the border of her clan towards the Onwuigwe forest.
Some said that a King had once gone there, saying that the people were afraid of entering something they feared was unknown. It was a challenge he took upon himself, that after four days, he would return.
After many preparations by the dibias and appeals of the gods before he went on with his quest, the past King went into the forest and failed. He never came back after the fourth day, that's how the name stuck to it.
The forest is tagged Onwuigwe because anyone who enters there never comes back alive. Well, that's if they come back after entering and surviving there. Rumor has it that evil spirits of all sorts roam the forest and torment those that enter it by crossing the boundary of their clans, either by manifesting physically or enticing you to do their bidding and whatnot, thereby killing that person in the process.
Yet, either way, no one; absolutely no one, has made it out alive.
Then how do the tribes interact to some extent you say? Because of the underlying truce between each other, they had allowed for the crossing between their boundaries to go where they wanted to, under the condition that there mustn't be any kind of conflict of interest between each member clan.
But now the question is, would this truce be broken because of a young female's actions?
That day, her Ma had continuously been degrading her, and her being fed up with it, ran away, not knowing where she was headed, only wanting not to see their evil faces.
‘They are bad people.’ The younger her thought to herself.
Only when she stopped did she realize that she didn't know where she was again. Curiosity took the better hold of her as she wandered into the lush forest, barefooted. The chirping sounds of different birds blended into a cacophony of melody, and the thin rays of the sun being emitted through the tall, leaf-broad trees made it look like a fairytale.
She laughed loudly in delight and ran around, not noticing when the forest had become still.
Deathly still to say.
Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine after she had noticed the unusuality of it all when she heard a call that sounded like her Ma's. She wanted to go to the sound of the voice before it stopped and immediately changed to that of her Pa's. The young girl knew that something didn't add up until it clicked after she remembered the bedtime story her Ma had told her to prevent her from running away, ever.
The young girl's smaller frame trembled in fright, and then, with her mind working in overdrive at the animosity around her, she ran.
She ran and ran to gods know where, but it looked like she was running in circles. The girl suddenly skidded to a stop, before she tumbled into a cervix in the ground. Its sides were uneven, like an area after an earthquake. Looking deep into it, she hesitated at jumping, knowing well enough that her small legs might not reach the other side.
She turned and decided to walk around it. After walking for what seemed like hours, she finally arrived at the other side of the canyon. She turned her back to the canyon to gaze at the sight before her, and she gasped in shock and awe that something like this was in this place.
Two tall trees stood about twenty feet apart from each other, and a white lapper was tied to the middle, creating something like a curtain to an entrance.
Wanting to explore more, she decisively bent her tiny stature, after pushing through the curtain as her eyes inspected everything and anything. Several statues were made of mud, with holes in some, where eyes are supposed to be, along with calabash of different sizes being crafted.
‘It looks like what Ma called a shrine’. At that thought, she saw an old man sitting on the ground in front of what she would call an altar, with his eyes closed.
“I was waiting for you,” The man spoke to her. She jumped up in shock and looked at her back before she turned to the man again.
“No one has ever made it this far. Maybe you were directed by the gods themselves”. The man muttered to himself, then opened his eyes, and she was scared at what she saw. His eyes, which were supposed to be white at the sides and brown or black in the middle, were white, as though he had no pupils.
He chuckled; “Scared? Don't be my daughter, come sit down”. He said as he patted at a nearby bench, and she sat down, not before thanking him.
“Uncle, you said you knew that I would come, how did you know?”. The female asked, not able to withhold her insatiable curiousness.
“As inquisitive as always”. As she cocked her head in confusion at the word, he continued, “I was sent a message telling me of a young female that would come here. Look, child —” He said abruptly. “— this world is spiritual.” And the female frowned at him for diverting so quickly.
“Uncle, I don't understand. What do you mean by the world is spiritual?”
“Three stones are being thrown at the ocean. The first stone bounces on the water, before it sinks, while the other sank immediately. The third stayed afloat on the ocean. Why is that, child?”
‘Stones? What is he saying?! Stones can't float on water, they are too strong!’ She acknowledged.
The girl shook her head in denial and confusion; “... Uncle I don't know”.
“It's because of their nature. The first and second sank because that's how they were created to be. But that's the problem, girl. They shouldn't have acted according to what they were created to be, but rather find a deeper purpose for their existence. Now, tell me why the third stone didn't sink?”
She paused to think, using what the man had told her just now. “Because it found out the meaning of it being created?” She answered, unsurely.
“Good!” He praised. “The first two were strong on the outside and inside also. But the last one was strong on the outside, but as hollow as a feather on the inside. It found out its purpose amongst others, and followed it! Tell me, if it deviates from its meaning in life, what would happen to the last stone?”
Although the female was puzzled by these random questions, she still answered, “It would sink like the others, after forgetting its role among the rest?”
“Very brilliant!!” She smiled at the kuddo's, feeling proud of herself.
‘Ma wouldn't tell me these. She'd always curse me... sometimes I wonder if she was the one who birthed me’. The young girl thought back to the proverb the old man had said, but she couldn't connect what spirituality had to do with it.
‘Maybe it's because he is staying here... Yes! It might be playing with his brain, that's why uncle is talking nonsense —’
She zoned back into the conversation after she noticed that she'd spaced out, “— why you were born, child.” He said in a grave tone. “Don't let grief cloud your judgment against others. Only through this way, would you stay afloat in the passing storm”.
“What does it mean, uncle?”.
Instead of answering her question, he shooed her off, telling her that she wouldn't hear those scary voices again. And truth be told, she didn't.
When she found her way home still confused at what he had said, her Ma and other people were gathered at the small hut. As soon as she was sighted, her Ma shot her a withering glare, before she covered it up with a smile in front of the others.
That day, after she told her Pa and Ma of what had happened, the older woman's face was pale, and they looked at the girl as if she was a monster. She hadn't seen the uncle again though, even when she had tried going back, which led to her receiving more beatings.
She never knew why they saw her as an evil being, even up till now, when she's grown up.
Letting the memory fade away, she entered her sleeping chamber, and the only thing on her mind were those words of the uncle she nicknamed 'wise old man' before she slept off.
‘... stay afloat... passing storm...’
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You guyz are lovely
★Onwuigwe forest: Death of a King forest.