Prologue (1)
"Oh Oluwa, god of the forest, what a beautiful maiden I see in the green grass over there!" Babida the lumberjack exclaimed as he took a minute break from timber cutting. The reason for his sudden pause: a thin and black-skinned eighteen-year-old girl with curly hair, holding in her right hand a basket full of mushrooms. Her name was Suzie.
She was sent to the woods by her grandmother, big momma - like she tenderly called the old woman - to fetch mushrooms for the dinner soup.
She had her back turned and was totally focused on her task when the woodsman noticed her. She was worry-free searching for the white Button species and sorting them out. She was throwing away those that caused sickness and putting the good ones into her rubber-made basket for the elderly's favorite meal.
She bent graciously to pick up the mushrooms and while doing so, her pink silk mini-dress moved upward, exposing, even more, the charms of her hairless legs. The skirt featured cords at the waist fastened on the front side in the form of a butterfly knot.
Babida the lumberjack was subjugated and the short pause he was taking, mutated into an eternal moment of infatuation. The steel ax he had held in the palms of his strong hands for the past two hours slipped and fell on the ground covered by plenty of tiny pieces of wood.
"Hi, there!" He cried out from the top of his lungs.
Struck by the high decibels of the logger's voice, Suzie looked behind her, eyes wide open and the left hand on her chest, then deeply sighed, and took two steps back.
In front of her, was a sweaty thirty-something years of age tall black man with a herculean body that he was proudly displaying under the hot sun of the afternoon. He had pecs as massive as Mount Everest and possessed nurtured biceps displaying an impressive number of veins.
"Who are you?" The young maiden Suzie shouted in panic.
"What are you doing here?" She added while continuing to move backward.
"Sorry Miss, my intention had never been to frighten you. Please pardon my nonmanners!" Babida the lumberjack replied to her with a softened tone.
Not quite sure how to react to the stranger's assurance of coming in peace, the young maiden Suzie rather chose to walk away.
"Anyway, I am leaving now," she said to him as she sped up her exit from the bushes.
"A moment, please! May I at least know your name?" Babida the lumberjack responded to the young woman while flashing a bright smile.
"What for? I said was on my way. Did you not hear me?" The young Miss Suzie retorted then started running away, her basket full of mushrooms in her hand.
Babida the lumberjack extended his right arm in an attempt to stop her but it was too late. The beautiful unknown girl had vanished away as fast as she could.
Deeply disappointed, the woodsman sprung, fists closed, then screamed.