CHAPTER TWO

Taking a deep breathe, he stretched his right hand and uprooted the 'Uru' plant.

All of a sudden, blue whirls that burned with soot-free combustion swirled out of the plant he was holding, his eyes widened as he froze in shock and stared at his right hand.

What on earth was going on here?

His heartbeat increased and he could not move even if he wanted to. He felt like there was an explosion of energy within. This was completely new, he had never felt this way in his entire life. As the phase of shock subsided, comes fear, he threw away the plant and watch the blue fire begin to form something. He was so scared, he wanted to run but he still could not. His heart was pounding hard against his chest. He knew part of the reason why he was stuck in place was his curiosity, although he was scared, he still wanted to find out what was going on. In fact, something was drawing him closer to the blue flame. The atmosphere had suddenly became darker. The once chilly air that surrounded me as he left home just minutes ago had suddenly became muggy. He had started to sweat profusely.

After some few more seconds, a creature that looked a lion with a goat's head in the middle of its back and with a tail that ends in a snake's head stood before him. Its eyes shone blue. It was thrice his size and it looked directly into his eyes, like it was trying to pierce his soul. He had never seen anything like this before, neither has he heard of one. It was new yet so familiar.

"Jael," he heard a shrilly voice call. He turned around and scanned for the source of the voice. The pitch was abnormally high for a human but still what else would make that sound. There was no one in sight. By now the farmers should be passing by on their way to the farm but somehow there did not seem to be any other life around except for him and of course the creature that stood before him.

His attention had switched back to the being. It seemed to look like it was smiling, which was naturally impossible. How can an animal smile? Was it even an animal? It definitely was since he could clearly see a lion's head and then there was a goat's head in the middle of the lion's back and a tail with a serpent head. It was a combination of three animals. How was that even possible?

Everything felt surreal. He pinched himself to be sure he was not dreaming. Could it be that it was not his birthday yet? Maybe he was still sleeping in their wrecked hut with his dying mother. It was probably a dream. What if his mother was still healthy and all these while he had only been dreaming? He winced in pain as he felt the impact of the pinch. He thought he heard somebody chuckle. He looked up to find the mysterious creature still peering at him. 

"Jael," the voice called again. This time he was sure the voice came from the creature in front of him. It was looking at him as it said the word. He tried to talk but hus throat had gone dry. He did not seem to be able to use his voice.

"Jael," it said again, now he was sure it was coming from it since he saw it's lips moving. He wanted to tell it that was not his name. Was that even a name? This was the first time he was hearing it even it if it were a name.

"Do not be scared, Jael. I will not hurt you," it spoke, its voice was feminine yet still shrilly and too loud to be natural. He wanted to tell it that he was not really scared of it anymore. He wanted to ask it what it was and what was going on. He wanted to just open his mouth and talk but he couldn't. It was not everyday you wake up in the morning to find your farm produce ruined and then at the brink of taking your own life, a strange creature appears.

"Come here," it said, as the goat head in the middle of it's back nodded at him to come closer.

Just because he could not find my voice did not mean he was foolish enough to go closer to it. He needed to get composed and find his way out of here.

"Jael, you can not deny your destiny. Come closer."

What destiny was it talking about? He had no destiny. He was doomed to be poor and wretched. He knew he could never have a normal life. What destiny?

"Come closer and I will tell you what to do to find your destiny," it said and he was taken aback because it seemed like he answered the question on his mind. Could it read minds?

The only luck he had was that the creature was not trying to get closer to him. It maintained its spot like it was so sure he was going to walk up to him. It was so confident. Then it was about to receive the shocked of its life because he had no plans to go closer, rather, the opposite of that was what was on his mind.

"Do not run away from your destiny, Jael. Do you not want relief from life's agony? Do you not want a better life for yourself?" It asked.

This was really a point where he wished his mouth would just open so he could ask it what it knew about what he was going through. So he could ask it how it was possible for a life like his to get better. So he could at least ask it to stop fucking calling him Jael.

That was not his name! He was wanted to scream. But instead he remained quiet as a mouse.

"Do not let the evil one win again this time Jael, fight for what is right," it said, compassionately.

He had no idea what it was talking about but one thing was sure, he needed to get out of this place. For the first time in forever, some of his muscle finally decided to start working. It was not the muscles around his mouth, it still couldn't work yet, it was the muscles in his lower limbs. He sprinted out of the farm and did not look back to check if the creature was after him. 

While running, he saw some farmers with their wives and children going to the farm. He wondered where they had been all this while. They gave him some weird looks, but it was nothing he was not used to. They must be wondering where he was dashing to this early morning. He did not stop running until he was sure he was in the backyard of their hut. He collapsed on the floor, with his back against the shabby walls trying go catch his breath.

He could not fully process what just happened there.

"Ben? Is that you?" He heard his mama moan.

He knew he had to answer before she started to panic but his throat remained dry. He tried to cough and see if his voice would come back.

"Who is there?" His mother asked again. It must really painful for her to speak, since she moaned in pain after every sentence.

He got up and walked inside the hut.

"It is me Mama," he finally croaked out. The hut smelt of sickness and wretchedness. He felt like puking. There was nothing in his stomach, so he wondered what he was going to vomit out.

"Why are you back to early?" She managed to ask.

He could not give an answer as he gagged and ran out of the hut for some fresh air. The air in there was sickening.

"Ben, are you alright?" His mama called from inside the hut.

"I am fine, Mama," he answered from outside. "I just need some air," he said, honestly.

She became quiet. He wondered how miserable she must be feeling. If he felt bad enough to want to take his life, he wondered how much pain she had been going through. She lost her husband and instead of mourning the loss, she was accused of killing him. How tough it must have been for her. Imagine after the luxury that came with being a rich man's wife to be reduced to an abandoned poor widow with a son to cater for. On top of it all, being struck with cancer with no hope for surgery due to lack of money.

The more he thought about what just happened, the more curious he became. Could it really have given him a better life if he went closer? Was it even real? Was it still there at their farmland?

There was only one way to get answers to those questions. His curiosity got the best of him as he said to his mother, "I will be going back to the farm." He heard her mutter a reply.

He scurried back to the farm. If it was real, he needed to find out if it could really make his life better. All he wished for was for it to heal his mother. He knew he was beginning to think like a crazy person. To anyone that sees him, they might think he was becoming mentally unstable with the way he was muttering to myself.

As he got to the farm, the place looked normal except for the ruined crops that still broke his heart as he checked around. There was no sign of a lion or a goat or even a snake. Could he have imagined things? Maybe it was not real. Was he going crazy? Was poverty literally driving him nuts?

He spotted the big oak tree where he stood holding the 'uru' plant just moments ago. He walked to the place. Taking a deep breathe, he plucked another 'uru' expecting to see another whirl of blue flames. To his surprise, nothing happened. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. He started to debate on whether to end his life like he had earlier planned or not.

The lion head creature might not be real but what if it was hie subconsciousness that was trying to tell him not to give up. It was very silly of him to assume that none of those things happened because he could still feel those blue shiny eyes piercing at him. 

What was it saying about not letting the evil ones win? What destiny did it say he could not deny? Why did it keep calling him Jael? What does it mean? What was it? What was a creature with a head of a lion, a goat head on it's back and a serpent tail? What the hell happened earlier?

He had so much questions which he could not find answers to. The thoughts of finding answers in the internet popped into his head. He had no mobile phone, neither does his mother. She sold hers at a point when she could not afford meals. As for him, he was not buoyant enough to afford a phone. He decided he would pay a visit to Sahel town. They had a library in his former school where he could easily have access to the internet. Maybe he could sneak in without anyone noticing. Besides, he still had his student I.D.

Before preparing for his visit to Sahel, he needed to find something for his mother to eat. He did not know how long it was going to take him. He hoped that she does not need him while he was away. He was always scared that one day he would come back home to meet her corpse.

He had little money with him that he could use for transport. He could not even tell his mother about the farmland. Except he wanted to be the one to drive her to her grave.

Could things get better? Or would it keep getting worse?