OGRISM TAIL.

OGRISM TAIL

By Idris Musungu.

Chapter 1

Abednego, a young energetic boy in the only village of 'Namamali', a lively boy worth emulating. He had a certain irrefutable logic about himself that was so fascinating. Most people in the village couldn't afford to be away from him due to his personality that was promising. He was brought up in a robust family and vigorously lived with great dreams and visions of getting married and raising up a healthy family, just like his parents.

"Having a brilliant family is the most vital thing on earth," he amicably figured out to.

As time went by Abednego began to focus on how to get a family of his own.

"One day I will marry a woman of my dream, and when I do so, I will make sure that it lasts for a lifetime," he pondered upon himself. Though there was a challenge with Abednego's parents, whenever he made friends his parents would ask him not to trust them and have close relationship. According to his parents, his being sensitive might get their child hurt easily, so they asked him to maintain distance with people. So Abednego never made friends. He would share his thoughts, feelings with his parents most of the time. But as he entered teenage life he found it difficult to share his feelings with his parents anymore, as they were bit conservative. He lacked self confidence and proper communication skills, which often would result in misunderstandings. Abednego found it difficult to express himself. People's comments would carve on his mind making a scar. To avoid people's comments he tried to be a perfectionist. Later, he became obsessed with perfection. He never shared this with his parents thinking that this might make them unhappy. All these feelings were buried deep within, having no one to share with. Abednego thought his wife, when he gets married, would cure his loneliness.

Barely a year after, Abednego met with Nina, a young beautiful girl, who would later be Abednego's wife. She was a jovial girl coming from Abednego's neighbouring village. They later met at dinner, an informal gathering done yearly in the outskirts of Namamali village. They had atended almost a decade earlier. Throughout the evening, they found each other again and again. Nina loved Abednego's easy laugh.

"He liked my smile," she amicably said to herself.

It was obvious they were both interested. They were the last to leave. A week later, Abednego asked Nina out. Nine months later, they walked down the aisle and pledged their lifelong love and faithfulness to each other. It was a traditional marriage that was attended by almost everyone in that small village of Namamali.

This young energetic boy Abednego knew marriage would bring change, but change — even when expected — can still be surprising and unfamiliar. They are different; their personalities echo quite opposite voices. The girl was invigorated by time with villagers; while Abednego leaves a new group dazed and overwhelmed. They couldn't get enough time with each other. Depression began affecting Abednego, it was piercing his heart deeply like a hot knife through butter.

The paradox is obvious yet quite mysterious. At times, when they were talking, Nina felt so understood — like he really "gets" her. The way they were interacting made her feel as if they were cut from the same cloth. Then, a small shift in tone, her eyes water, and Abednego says the unthinkable,

"You cry a lot." Suddenly, Abednego is alone — and want to be! How could one statement instantly distance them and leave him blankly starring at the same person that, only moments before, he had been savoring? But to his wife tears represent devastation or catastrophe. His moist cheeks and brimming tears frighten and confuse Nina.

Even unwrapping their wedding gifts was an eye-opening experience for Abednego. The couples returned home from our honeymoon to a living room overflowing with presents. It was unlike anything they had seen before, and Abednego was ecstatic! It took them days to get through this generous bounty: pots, dishes, linens and more. It warmed their hearts to realize that each gift had been hand-selected by friends and family. By day two, they'd established a pattern. Abednego would unwrap. She would squeal with delight and record the gift information. He would organize the pile and return with a new present. Finally, they unwrapped the pot followed by other sealed vessels in soft goat skin, now it was Abednego's turn to smile.

It hit Abednego that the entire ritual of wedding gifts is more for the wife. In jest, his sweet wife picked up her three gifts and said,

"Well, at least I got three things," they both laughed. The kind of life they were going to live is what mattered little to him, but Nina didn't that it mattered to him. Abednego playing along, even participating in the unwrapping, proved to him he was invested and trying. She was learning how to better love him, and Abednego was learning what life can mean to him, he knew difficult times were ahead, difficult moments that can't be explained. They were living in a terrible land, a terrible village governed by a cruel king, Imboko. Abednego saw it wise not to disclose any secret to Nina, her wife. He knew that she will not be able to grasp it, so he chose to keep it to himself.

Abednego loved that after so many years of waiting to wake up next to his wife, that he now does, despite the warnings that someday he will get tired. Waiting for his wife wasn't passive; it was active. He prepared, anticipated and hoped. His life didn't begin when he met Nina. He already had a life, a life he was readying and expecting to share with another. He couldn't wait for a wife to complete him. He would be his complement. He knew God could fulfill him; it wasn't going to be his wife's job to meet his every need. Daily, he made choices to create a life that another would want to become a part of — and he had the faith that one day, a woman would join that life. When you have longed and hoped for someone for such a long time and she's finally here and real, the joy in having your heart's desire doesn't soon diminish. Their lives are now intertwined. But there was still much more hidden in the closet that would eventually unfold.

Despite the fact Abednego wanted a family of his own, there was much more than that in the village of Namamali. The only secret that he was supposed to reveal to the wife before it was too late. The land was crying, the land couldn't make their life better, it will only make their life bitter. No male child was kept buy the parents, boys were king's object, the now reigning king known as Imboko. Imboko was a horrifying leader whose leadership was filled with blood.

Will they enjoy their marriage, that was the question that lingered Abednego's mind.

Though marriage was valued in Namamali village, but the king was making the life of every villager bitter. It was real on a dreary Wednesday afternoon when Abednego returns from working in farm, he was dead tired. He entered in their hut, closed himself in before he proceeded to bed. So many issues had preoccupied his mind, many families were destroyed by the king in that land. Now he is married but has kept the secret away from the wife.

"What if she finds out," he wondered

People were being killed every now and then,

"Probably Nina, his wife or even himself could fall a victim," thoughts crossed his mind. He looked up at the soot strand, hanging above his head touching their grass thatched house. Though Nina loved him, yes, but she was in a wrong land, a land that could easily open up and swallow her at any given moment. He felt sad for her. He dreamed of one day liberating the village from that cruel king, he saw himself slaughtering the king as the whole villagers applauded him.

"What a brilliant day will it be," he admired.

Years went by and Nina's love and her husband grow stronger and stronger. After fifteen years of staying together, something strange was taking place in their love triangle, Nina wasn't conceiving. This became as a shock to Abednego. Nights became nightmares,

"There's something amiss in this marriage", Abednego thought.

"What could be happening, could I be a problem, Oh, no. It cannot happen, it,can't be that way," he refuted.

They have been living together happily but when the issue of not having a child crossed Abednego's mind, he covered his head and began to soab uncontrollably. Her wife Nina couldn't think of it anymore. When she think of high hopes she had, dreams and visions of raising up robust family, she became so sad.

"What did I do to deserve all this?" She questioned.

" wish I could tell her how I feel.

..I wish I could tell her how I feel," Abednego retorted.

"In the morning, I cant take anymore, but I have to, I have to tell her. Yes, I will tell her how II feel, she is my wife, I know she loves me. I have no objection but to tell her how I feel.," he said to himself while feeling worried.

Nina's husband walked silently towards there hut, Sat down and started pondering in his heart

"There, yes there, like an escaping shadows of darkness that room behold of you." He said to himself.

"The light touch her exquisite features, long dark hair past her shoulders, her lips as red and flawless as a bloom rose, eyes so captivating that shocks all my senses, you are flawless in every way imaginable, you are my burning desire, my endless love, and yet the most beautiful and good hearted suffers a mental disorder." He thought about her, expressing his deeper love to Nina her wife.

It wasn't known how long he took outside there, but when he stood up to go around his checks, he realized that time had really gone so first. The moment he made a move towards the door of their hut, there she was, a girl standing looking outside their hut. He knocked but she didn't seem to hear so He opened the door, stepped in and as he did she turned her head and gave an angelic smile, his heart melted he was so stun by her natural beauty he forgot what he was doing there he probably was sitting here for like the whole afternoon before she approached him and asked,

"you must be exhausted?",

"yes, yes, no, I mean YES!"

Abednego was nervous never in their life has he ever seen a mortal goddess stand before him so amicably, despite the fact that they were in deep challenges of living together for fifteen years, as wife and husband but without getting any child.

"Is there anything we can do to have a child?" He asked. She turned, looked outside the window of their hut and said,

"No, there's no any other way."

"How could she say no?" Abednego pondered.

"You don't have any idea on how we can get a child?" He went further to asked.

"Yes, but I have a mom and dad, I will reason out with them." she said.

" Why don't we think of any other vital way instead of consulting them?" He asked.

"Sure, that's a great observation. I've been thinking about it since I've been here." She told him.

"Good, but what hell are we going through?" Abednego asked. He resolved in his heart that no matter what happens, he will never leave his wife Nina to suffer the shame of barrenes alone.

"Whatever that happens to my wife, Nina, I will never leave her." He softly said.

He proceeded to walk out their but she grabbed his arm and told him how much he appreciates his love. She also promised to be faithful to him and never to despise their marriage. Towards the end of sixteen years, Nina run to the husband while holding her tummy.

"Guess what!" She exclaimed.

"I am pregnant!" She shouted at the bottom of her voice, then she said,

"Well my dear husband, it is a pleasure. If only I would of met you in a different setting". I couldn't really say anything you see I'm the shy girl when imelody just to carry the tummy, funny I think." She marvelled.

Chapter 2

Three Months later it was all smiles. The waves of jubilation was ringing in the air, celebration was heard everywhere. There was joy in the life of these two couples who had stayed for so long without a child. Abednego couldn't believe how the heavens downed on him with search great blessings. Life was now real in their eyes. It led to all the prominent people in the village of Namamali to visit them, including the highly esteemed chief. Presents were brought from all corners. Sorrows were turned into joy.

"Nina, Nina, daughter of great land". Women would be heard singing. What a joy was it on the land for Nina, Abednego's wife to conceive after patiently waiting for all those years. It was a great joy indeed that filled the entire land of Namamali. Abednego couldn't sleep that night, it was so hard for him to fall asleep, he was just thinking about her, about Nina's pregnancy

"what can I say, how can I act, what should I do, every time I enter the sleep realm I see her face and I get a burst of energy. The joy of being a father, what a joy. I am so happy, I will be a father." He murmured.

"Is he a boy or a girl?" He silently asked while gazing up in the sky at the blazing moonlight. The next morning his eyes were burning and his head was pounding from another sleepless night, but he got up as fast as he could get up, he even got to the farm an hour early. Three hours went by without no sign of him leaving the firm. He was going crazy himself. The thought of having a knew born child were freshly lingering in his mind. A moment later he was back in the hut sitting next to her on the floor. It was horrible for him to see her like this, he felt like crying his feelings were unexplainable. His thoughts race of Why and a million answer unsolved. His heart race as if he was having a panic attack of reason his longing to see her all the time and seeing her here with a promising belly of a expectancy. Then she turned her head from sorrow and grief to happy and tearful.

"What happens now if we get a girl or a girl?" He asked,

She said she didn't want to take her herbs because it clouds her thoughts and makes her seem like she will vomit out the pregnancy. Abednego reasoned with her joyously and told her that he was comforting her because she was thinking too much.

"I always think about you Abednego, that day I first met you, I couldn't sleep. I stood up all night just waiting to see you the next day. Abednego, I thought of you as well, I've never in my life had problems sleeping until I met you." She blatantly told him. Three hours past and he cherish those hours, he was making pictures memories every time she smile, scratch her head, fixed her hair. Finally, he stood up and proceeded to walk out. He felt lovely hands of what soft and desire combined grabs mines then she asked,

"May we join hands as we walk?"

"Of course Nina." He responded.

She laid her head upon her chest embracing one of her hands with both of hers. Her sensational smell full his nose of exotic images he never been to. As they walked they approached the inner room in the house. She gave him a kiss on his cheek then she smiled and left the lights that enhances her feature to a shadow and darkness room where a small square window lets some sun lights enter. He head back to the outside room reserved as kitchen and as soon as he head back, the memories lingered in his mind. So fresh like a morning dew. At night Abednego couldn't sleep at all. It was another sleepless night, this time he was thinking about when will she get out and if she would still talk to him or if he was just about the pregnancy. Whatever he was to her, he didn't care as long as if he was at least next to her as a loving and caring husband.

The next morning he had forgotten that she had openly told her how much she loved him and how much she will work to her utmost ability to bring up their family in a robust manner. It was really a beautiful piece of open dialogue between a husband and a wife. He took something from his skin pocket, placed it inside of an old bag hewned in a goat skin and placed it next to the bed. He was having a lot of work in the farm, so knew that the farm work wouldn't deter him from being closer to his wife, no matter what. Her wife Nina was sitting on a chair gazing at the pregnancy, she must have forgotten to comb her hair that day because it was a mess but she looked dashing. He approached her she looked up at him and smiled. She began telling him a story about a wolf dog saving peoples life,

"Interesting book." He said to her.

"It really is. I love stories that has anything to do with any animal, it's my passion." she said.

"Would you like to walk with me outside, it's a lovely day?" she asked.

"Of course." He said.

"I have something to show you." She said smiling. She grabbed his hands led him outside. In the middle of this square fenced in yard was a tree, not a very big tree but a small one. She was starring at the tree then she started a very low whistle, underneath the tree roots Abednego could see two round small eyes with pointy tiny ears and as she proceeded to whistle out came this flying squirrel. She kneed down and open her palms to this tiny creature, the squirrel seem to know her because in an instant it jump right towards her into her palms. He had seen her smiled before but never like this. She told him she found it one night that it must of glided in from one of the nearby trees and couldn't get back out so it was stuck here, she told him his name and what she feeds him and that everyday she comes out of their hut to play and talk to him, how she's going to bring him home when she gets out. It was magical almost like a movie. Abednego checked on the shadow to determine the time, he kissed her wife goodbye. She let him go and she started to skip

"You make me feel like a little girl." she said. She head back in their hut, took her herbs and headed outside. 30 minutes past and Abednego had not come back,

"He has stayed long." She thought.

She went and Sat on the bed looking onto an invisible being just talking to herself. Later Abednego came back and could hear her. He went a little past the door to the window, stood there and kept quite. He could hear her say,

"He's everything I looked for my whole life." Then a long silence like a ghost was answering her back.

"Since I met him I feel so much better, he keeps my hallucinations at bay." She answers back to her invisible friend.

"I will continue to see him I don't care what you say leave me alone!" she's screaming at this empty space in front of her.

"He's coming back, my husband, yes my only husband. I can't wait to give him him a child. Baby boy, perhaps. Yes, I' am going to see him, your dead anyways leave me alone." She started crying saying these last words to her ghostly friend. He walked in as she turns her head smiling with teardrops escaping her eyes, he,brushed her hair back and wipe her tears and she told her that she wants her to leave her alone. He left their only hut and head back towards the back of their farm. He decided to take a stroll around their farm. As he was almost near the stream where Nina fetches water, he looked back and she wasn't in her doorway window. He felt crushed and quickly rushed back home. At the door of their hut he felt a cold breeze flow up in his system. His knees became so weak. A frenzy hit him hard and he just stood there with mouth agup. He loved Nina so much, for fifteen years without conceiving and now she is pregnant. It was like a beginning of their marriage. His love towards Nina, his wife was growing stronger day by day.

"She is the only bird in the nest of his heart." He said to himself. He recalled how they met and how they promises they made never to leave each other. The reminiscent was as clear as Crystal.

Chapter 3

Abednego was standing there for like an hour thinking what could he have done at her ghostly friend. Hours past and it was night time, so he decided to go to sleep early and nothing still the same her face, her face, her face is all he could see, he could feel it's another sleepless night.

He woke up the next morning to a soft snoring of Nina.

"I probably only slept for 3 hours." He marvelled. He was thinking to himself maybe he was just nervous, so he rushed to get dress and head out the door. He reached in the farm ready to begin cultivating their grown yarms but already Nina had likewise wakeboarding up and followed him to the farm. He saw her, she glanced at him and started running towards him. When she reached him he was embraced with every muscle she produced wrapping her arms around him and she looked at him and whispered in his ears,

"I'm sorry I just had a phase, please don't let my craziness phase get to you I really don't mean what I say."

He just looked at her and wanted to pour his feelings to her, he wanted to kiss her, embrace her, with every thought, feeling, liquid, with every human physical and mental energy he could produce instead, he looked at her and said,

"It's ok."

So she embraced him for like 10 minutes until one of the neighbours, who happens to be their friends walked in and she released her grips. The neighbour came up to her and asked,

"Will you accompany me to the market?" She replied,

"No."

When the frenzy died down she decided to rush back to their hut. She later on came back, changed in a knew skin the husband brought for her the previous day he came from the market and she asked him if they could go outside and see her friend. Abednego was in his heart plotting of how could grab her hands, what could be the most romantic way to do it, as soon as he found a way she grabbed his leaning her head on his shoulder and her hands embracing his. They head towards the furthest corner of the river. They were so ebullient, Abednego wasn't ashamed anymore, he knew soon and very soon he shall be a happy father.

Moment later they came back to where the squirrel lives. She whistles and out comes her friend, she asks the husband to give him a try. He reached his hand out and glides towards him. She leans her back on the tree with her hands folded behind her, he approached her and she said,

"I've never been so happy before, I never knew that one day, at search a time like this, I will be carrying my first pregnancy. I always lived behind bars ever since the villagers began insulting us, saying that we are barren and that we can never have a child. Kiss me my dear husband, now that I can prove to the entire village that I am not barren. Show me what magic lives behind it."

He moves in closer lean his head towards her closed his eyes and he could feel her heat among her lips as it approached her tender lips. He couldn't believe that their shame was finally turned into joy. They were the happiest couple. Everything about was awesome. The cloud of joy was hanging above their heads. When he was just about to kiss her,

"I' m I even worthy of this?" He wondered. Justt a little closer and the same neighbour came running towards them. So he pulled away thinking that the neighbour might be having a good report for them. They both run inside before they could be seen together alone, she runs to get her herbs while he entered the latrine that was adjacent to the main entrance of their home. The neighbour decided to wait there until 8 minutes passed over. She took her time inside the house before she came back.

"Where were you the other time you were to take me to the market?" The neighbour asked.

"My husband couldn't let me go anywhere." She responded back. The name of their neighbour was Anifa, Anifa is the eldest daughter to Mwanaidi. Their father's name is Musungu, the only neighbours that loved this couples. After a conversation that lasted for 4hours, she approached the doorway window and waited for her husband who was still outside to come and kiss her. She laid her lips upon her doorway window and when he came in he leaned in and they both could feel each other life force even though a tiny hole. She pulls away and keeps her eyes closed for a second then she opens it and she starts to cry and says in a tearful voice,

"So it wasn't only your lips, it was all of you I've felt though a kiss."

He placed his hands on the wall, she placed hers on top of his husband.

"This moment right here will haunt me another sleepless night but I don't care I lose my sanity just so I could be with her." Abednego said to himself. An hour passed and they still standing at the same spot, all silent.

"I feel asleep." She told him. So he led her to the bed and left her to sleep.

" I just wanted to stay with her all night long before tomorrow." He murmured. So hours passed and she still in her slumber so he went to check up on her animal. He came back later opened the door and on her night stand is a piece of roasted cassava. He took and ate it. He was so indulge, he stayed near the bed until she woke up, her gently breathing process as she grasps her air has him breathing the same way, she hypnotise him in this tiny hut by her flawless beauty as she lays asleep, hours pass and it was soon be the end of today and as he stood to leave to the other end of the hut, she awakes and gently grabs his fingers and says,

"Please tell your family about our pregnancy..I've never had one even so I could imagine one day they will come and find we have a bouncing baby boy. Tell them, tell them you about to be a father."

He approached her and lean over and kisses her head. She replied,

"I love your kisses." He smiled at her then left.

It was now the sixth month, just three more months and her will be bringing to this young family a bouncing boy. He organized to visit his uncle who was living in Mukunyuku village, a real rocky place. He boarded a donkey with a sack of yarms and headed to his uncle's home. The whole family's there were surprised to see their nephew they yelled at him joyously. He came all the way from Namamali village to his uncle's home to bring news of his wife's pregnancy. All the way from Namamali, just to see his uncle, what a surprise and even with all his uncle's family here, he felt alone, alone without her. It was 12a.m. and everyone one was there thanking him for the good news he brought. He was so calm, thoughts of his wife back home crossed his mind. His uncle noticed coldness in his voice and asked him what's wrong but he told them that he has,to go. He left the house bid the whole family bye and hurriedly left. He boarded his hired donkey, it was long and hectic journey. He was estimating to arrive back home in the wee hours of the night. Sometimes he would whistle, Sometimes he would just sing love songs. The wife's love and the thoughts of having their first child had completely engulfed his mind. From a distance he could hear a sound of waves coming from a river, though he wasn't sure of the way back home. He has visited his uncle only twice, the first time was when he was still a child. This was the second time after so many years. His sense of direction was pretty horrific and there was a time he was in a very remote part of Mukunyuku village. All was going well until he realized he was in a really, really remote part of the village and pretty soon realized he was also on an incline. His poor sense of direction and his infantile relationship with remote roads inadvertently led him deeper into the forest. There there was no sign of any houses or people around him. The only thing he could hear were noises of wild animals. It was already dark, the noises got stranger, and there was definitely no lake in sight. It was getting darker, his hired donkey was so exhausted. Something was going to jump out and eat him alive. He eventually stopped worrying gathered guys and commandeered the donkey pretty fast pace just hoping to get out of there as fast as possible.

Several minutes later, he finally see a familiar way leading him out of the intense forest, so he got back on a known trail and just a few kilometres up, he saw the sign where he missed his turn for the forest. He got back to the track and sackled the donkey for almost 4 hours without a site of his hut.

"What if I was to be eaten by a wild animals in that forest, what would wife do, what about the unborn baby?" He wondered. Darkness had totally covered the land, it was almost not easy to see the road. He garnered all the guts as a man and sackled the donkey all the way. From a distance he could hear waves of the river. Immediately he knew it was the river that is near their farm. He sighed a sigh of relief realizing that he is finally home. By now the moon was up, it was already shining brilliantly.

He found her looking outside the window while the moon reflects her beauty. He knocked and she turned her head and smiled and embraced him. He took some herbs he brought from his uncle and placed them on her night stand. While he was doing this she covered her month with disbeliefs, he asked her to take and prepare them. She was full of joy.

Chapter 4

After few months of waiting to give birth to a long awaited child, Nina woke up in the morning, went to the latrine and saw the baby's umbilical cord hanging out of her vagina. She ran back to the house horrified. Abednego called his neighbours who in turn came back with a midwife.

The midwife confirmed the baby had passed away. They were devastated and heartbroken and cried for weeks and weeks. The pain of losing the only child after waiting for fifteen years without conceiving was harder than anything they'd ever experienced. But they still didn't want to give up on their hopes of being parents. So they decided to try again for their second baby and Nina was again pregnant very quickly. The second time round she didn't feel happy or excited. She had bad anxiety and bouts of depression that came and went. She couldn't smile, she was crying a lot and she confided in her husband telling him she didn't think she wanted this baby. He told her it was natural and normal to feel like that after going through what she'd previously gone through and that as her pregnancy progressed she would start feeling better – and he was right.

They went to the midwife at 19 weeks and were told that baby had bad kidneys, fluid around the heart and lungs and it was very likely baby wouldn't survive once born. But they were also told to wait until she was 20 weeks and see if by miracle anything progressed. They got to second month and she had felt baby move and kick so they were positive things were looking up. But once at the midwife they were told again it wasn't looking good, baby was just too poorly. So they made the decision that the baby had to come out. She had the first cup of herbs and then went back to the midwife some hours Later.

This time round has been ten times more hard for her. It was an emotional, sad, irritable wreck and it never seemed to be getting any easier, just more manageable.

"I don't know what the future holds for us, but it is motivation for me when I hear other people's positive stories about recurring miscarriages and then going on to have a healthy baby in this village. It keeps me going and I try to be positive about the future. We want to try again and don't want to ever give up on our dreams of being parents. Yes it's one hell of a journey, it's emotional, stressful and frustrating." She said sadly.

Nina was in deep frenzy, she didn't know what to do, all her hopes and dreams of having a family was being shattered by miscarriages. She would cry all night long, the world wasn't favouring her. When she thought of her friends whom she grew up with raising their children, she would soab uncontrollably.

As weeks went by, she had severe headaches, abdominal cramps, back pain, foot swelling, heartburn, morning sickness, bouts of alternating constipation, diarrhea and gas. She didn't know about pregnancy, but those symptoms weren't an every day occurrence for her before getting pregnant. So if any of those things suddenly happened to her and she hadn't had a period in ages, she would have thought,

"Hmm...something must be up. Time to get a pregnancy confirmation from a midwife!"

But that's not at all what happened to the first pregnancy she miscarriage. She went back to the midwife who later confirmed to her that she was expectant. The baby in the womb was okay. What a joy.

Chapter 5

Abednego's hut was so congested with villagers who had gathered to celebrate with him the news of her wife's pregnancy. Hululations could be heard everywhere in the compound. Finally when the day of welcoming the child came, almost everyone was prepared.

After giving birth to her son Kipili four years ago, Nina lnew what it felt like to be pregnant. But she says this time around it was totally different. Her period was still regular until last month, and she felt totally fine until the day of her son Kipili, when she woke up with sharp stomach pains. She called her husband to come home from farm because she was feeling ill. Moments later, her water broke—that's when the couple realized she was pregnant and called the midwife. She barely made it into the the hut, for she was sitting outside. In fact, two pushes and her son was out! Can you imagine? Most of women in Namamali village have pretty excruciating birth stories with hours and hours of labor involved. Two pushes and you have a baby? Unbelievable! And he was no little thing! Over nine pounds, and you didn't realize you were pregnant? All I can say is wow!

The most shocking thing, though, is that this pregnancy was with a lot of difficulties within the first two months.

After the pains became increasingly strong, She took long strides to the house and before the midwife knew it, her water broke and the husband realized she was pregnant. Nina ays her period kept coming, she didn't put on any weight, and never had morning sickness. Can you believe someone wouldn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor?

Nina nursed her baby while crying. For 15 hours per day. Five hours a day, she cried while doing other things: washing and folding baby clothes, feeding herself, walking slowly around their farm pumping pathetic amounts of milk out of her breasts, worrying. Worrying. Worrying.

For one hour a day, she sang to her baby and told him he was amazing, and for 3 hours, hopefully, he slept, always restlessly.

"Shouldn't I be pumping right now? Or worrying?" She asked herself.

"I don't know what she has to be sad about. She has everything she ever wanted. If I was her, I would be so happy." Abednego said softly.

"I don't know what she has to be sad about. She has everything she ever wanted. If I was her, I would be so happy." He spoke again, this time raising his voice a little bit.

"How many times have I replayed her comment in my head?" He wondered.

Depression comes in layers:

There was the original sadness,

the layer of letting my baby down,

the layer of failing as a wife,

the layer of wanting to die,

the layer of guilt for wanting to die,

the layer that I was a bad feminist for being weak,

the layer that I thought motherhood would make me happy but it didn't so maybe nothing ever would,

and the layer that nobody wanted to hear about it so nobody really loved me.

With Abednego's comments, a new layer piled on:

"Her sadness was her fault; someone else in her place would be happy."He figured.

But was her sadness her fault? It wasn't her choice to be prone to depression. The herbs in her body, in her brain, weren't her choice. It was a secret hidden in the land of Namamali village that made her sad, and she ended up sad. So sad. So lost. But it could've happened to her, to anyone.

That secret took her over. She was chasing marriage and motherhood. She had it. She wanted it. But something somewhere was a miss.

"She didn't get married and pregnant soon after, and I think she's mostly happy now, but I really don't know. Ever since her comment, we haven't been as close." The hhusband lamented.

"I have everything she ever wanted. Everything she ever wanted. Now what could be eating her mind?" He asked blinking his eyes.

Nina wanted to be a mom: a desire that was firm and pure in her childhood, then shaky and elusive in her early 20s. By age 30, she hungered again for a baby, particularly baby boy; She couldn't wait.

But as much as she wanted a child and to be a parent and giving birth to a baby boy, it doesn't mean becoming a parent and giving birth to a baby boy was to make her happy in this village of Namamali. There was a secret that was hidden from her, a secret that was revealed to her the day she was giving birth.

"Fulfilling a goal is never a promise of happiness in this village." The person told her.

"Particularly when you give birth to a baby boy." The informer told her.

Chapter 6

Nina wasn't happy with what she heard from her informer. She felt even more alone, like she couldn't speak honestly about the hard time she was having like she was supposed to hide her tears.

Yes, she wanted to have a baby boy, then she had a baby boy. But it didn't make her happy. At least not right away. And certainly not in a way where happiness took over and blocked out all the other feelings.

Her kid was incredible, but that doesn't mean life stops being hard.

Life is complicated. Feelings come and go. They merge with each other and pop up in surprising times.

"We're never going to get everything we ever wanted because what's happening in this village." She said between her soabs.

"I've been jealous too, and I've probably been the hurtful friend, without even realizing it. None of us can be perfect, but we can make a choice, to be honest about our struggles, and to get through them together."" She went on speaking to herself.

Abdnego had hidden something horrible from her.

It all started with an innocent "hello" during their first meetings. Nina spotted this handsome, well-mannered man from across the room who immediately drew her in. His voice made her fall for him even more. Before She new it, she had a full on crush on him. Not knowing that the only man who made her tie a knot would definitely hide something sinister from her.

We spoke every day since then about everything and nothing. However, most of their conversations never touched what she came to hear later after so many years of giving herself to him as a wife. Well it didn't seem like much of an inconvenience until she noticed how little she knew about him. However, he was quite the romantic. He didn't let their conflicting schedules get in the way of him showering her with love and making time from her.

This didn't happen without incident. He couldn't wait for an open slot so he went directly to the point of luring her into marriage and his something sinister from her.

"This is the worst decision Abednego made in a long time." She told lamented.

By then, Nina couldn't resist his charm. She wasn't surprised that she had a crush on him.

Although Nina learned more about him during that period than she did in all the months she had known him, She thought it was a good idea to finally confront him to disclose to her what he had hidden for that long since they got married.

"I just wish I had known this earlier." She marvelled.

"Right! I' am ready to fall for that trap of endangering my child."She harshly granted.

Later that evening a gigantic looking man opened the door and Nina could sense the tension but she couldn't quite place her finger on what was happening. They all calmed down due frenzy, her eyes followed the man closely but her husband shifted his eyes and looked at the baby.

What happened next put Nina in shock, that she blacked out temporarily. The baby was grabbed from her hands by the gigantic man, throw him in the air six times and said some incantations on him while spitting in the child's face. The man was casting spells on the child. It was breath-holding. The child emitted a short loud cry which led to a sudden involuntarily holding of his breath. He became rigid followed by transient loss of consciousness.

"What's the meaning of all this?" Nina shouted angrily at his husband.

Abednego jumped from from where he was sitting like and before Nina could grab the child from the man she was met with a hot slap that sent her slamming on the floor. It was a horrifying scenario that stole breath from her. She lay mum on the floor for a couple of two hours. She couldn't believe that the man she had entrusted with her life could turn out to be so violent to her.

His eyes were red, he was furious, his face was like someone who had swallowed a9 bee and was trying to get rid of it.

Abednego wasn't taking any chances by her wife obstructing the man from carrying spells on their only child whom they have waited for all those years since their marriage. He recounted the historical persecution of the villagers who adamant from search activities. Those who were against it were forced to skin their child alive and eat the flesh. Later they were persecuted. He had kept in the dark about it his whole life. Now the truth is coming to the surface and resistance will ignite horrendous death and members of her family will receive the worst punishment imaginable, burning at the stake. For this reason, she had no otherwise but stay low and to wait what will befall her only child.

There was no turning back.

The land of Namamali was a horrible place, it was ruled by a king who wasn't taking matters to chances, he was building his army from new born baby boys. He had men on the ground whose work was to monitor any pregnant woman in the village. They were to monitor her from a close range and with the help of midwives they would get reports.

Someone was sent to cast spells on the born child and if the child is a boy he was taken by force from its parents and taken to the king's palace to be trained to serve in the king's army.

Most of the children never made it.

The king had one of the most respected and fierce fighting forces of their era. Nearly all aspects of daily life revolved around the king's army. From the time a child was born to their end, they served the king and its armed forces. The boys were expected to be perfect, both in other villages and on the battlefield. Their civilization worked as a gorilla war, preparing them to be their best for whatever challenges they faced.

They were flogged, starved, and forged into warriors. They wrestled, exercised, and shaped themselves into beings of grace and fortitude.

Victory was everything and defeat was not tolerated. Historically, Namamali has been known as a crucial village. The boys becoming such a military juggernaut didn't just start when a youth enrolled in the kings army. A child was groomed his entire life to grow into a warrior hero; the kind of hero that would become legend in the world's histories. They concentrated on both physical fitness and mental fitness and from the age seven till eighteen, they were in a specialized secluded village system. It was a process that began at birth and ruled the lives of children.

To understand how the villagers raised their children, you first have to understand why they raised them that they were forced into the army and what kind of culture the Namamali villagers was. They were ruled by a cruel king who never spared anyone that didn't adhere to his commands. He was in charge of the entire army and religious and judicial affairs. This village was a highly controlled village. Everything was strictly controlled. The king made sure you married, had children, and if it is a boy you surrender it to king's army. The child wasn't yours anymore.

This control of the child's life started immediately at birth. From the moment a child was born, they were tested to make sure they embodied the image of a warrior. Immediately after birth, a child was dipped into a bath of hot boiling herbs to test its strength and fortitude. The king believed that a weak child bathed in hot herbs would convulse and die. If the child passed this particular test they were then taken by the father before a group of elders. If the Elders found the child deficient in any way (Frail looking, Deformed etc...) then the child was taken into the interior forest in a glade and left to die.

From birth till the age of seven a child lived with their parents. The child was raised by the king's selected midwife to overcome its fears as a child. During the day the child accompanied their father to a shrine where they performed a sacrifice, being on a hunt, etc. Children didn't wear any shoes as a way to harden their feet and make them move faster. They only owned one garment per year as a way to toughen them to the elements and were never fed on bitter herbs.

After the shrine stage, the boys joined the "Omfulu". The Omfulu was the circumcision system that the boys were enrolled. The boy never lived with his birth parents again. This started when the king appointed officials who were good in casting spells. These officials assigned the child to a group of 60 other boys called an "Okunani". The "Okunani" was run by another army youth, "Okusimba" of around 20 who helps them develop into warriors. The boys eat at the older woman's home and at night "Okunani" quizzes them or teaches and has them sing songs of war and history.

During the day the children stay in the hot boiling sand, taken to a cliff, taught how to skid down the cliff and wrestling. The boys slept on beds of reeds as to further strengthen them and desensitize them to pain and were regularly whipped. If they cried out during these whippings they were punished again till they could suffer in silence the whipping. This lasted until the age of 16.

At the age of 16 the boys begin further training for war in something called "Shiembekho", translates as "secret thing". Shiembekho was basically a war waged against any invaders.

The boys would hide in the woods during the day and come out at night and kill any invader they found. This was done as a way to teach the boys survivability, stealth and adaptability in the wild. It also desensitized the boys to killing and helped keep the overwhelming muggers. That is the kind of life Kipili was going to be exposed to, living in the bush like a bush man, eating bitter herbs and wild animals. It was so terrible. Her mother still lying on the floor and wondering why it was hidden from her.

The soabs were uncontrollable, the thoughts of being burned on stake if she refused scared her. After the incantations the gigantic man tied a red ribbon on the left hand of the child and shouted loudly.

"We have found him, a great soldier in the land of Namamali, now the king will be happy, but you waman you will have to face the consequences of trying to hinder from doing my work."

Those words made Abednego's heart to skip a bit, he knew that the moment the king will get a report that his wife wanted to snatch the child away from his man, it will be over, they will come back for her and they she shall be flogged and burned. He figured on what to do.

"Even we say that we run, there's no where to run to. All the unimaginable king's army and his informers are all over. There's no way to run to and no place to go." He wondered.

"I'am going to take the report back to the king, but other strong men will come back to take the child." The man said as he handed over the child back to his mother. The trembling mother took the child back.

Chapter 7

Nina was really affected, She suffered from chronic, lifelong depression, it affected her and even the husband every day.

Family members quickly learned that they couldn't depend on her for emotional or physical support. Abednego became family's caretaker.

While their marriage years are far behind them, Abednego was haunted by memories and the emotional effects of her wife untreated depression. He looked back at how they fell in love and saw a burdened, sensitive and anxious woman. He was a perfectionist, an over achiever, always trying to get her husband to notice me, always longing for his acceptance, love and attention that just never came her way. It wasn't until they got a child that he realized it wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with him; rather, she was emotionally unable to do so. She was stuck in the dark, deep hole that she wasn't able to bare.

Nina was sickened by the sight of her husband when she thought of how secretive he was to her. The next day she looks at him and starts crying and reaching. Her husband puts her to bed and gives her some sleeping herbs letting her sleep through the following day. The next day she tries to resume her duties, but her baby Kipili playing like a tiger, scratches her. At the sight of her blood, she locks herself in the hut and calls her husband.

"This kind of mariage does not always bring me happiness I expected." Cried Nina.

"Could it be that a number of people feel trapped in their own marriages like this one?" She screamed. Nina was a sorrowful woman. She was among those who experience such unfortunate. The marriage was a torment. All the time, she suffered grief and sadness. She was like the kind of the women who are imprisoned in their own marriages and even more so in their own minds. It was terrible, something you couldn't fathom.

Nina was still young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even certain streng but her marriage and the secret that lied behind had taken the spirit and energies away from her as a young woman. She had thought with a shudder that life might be long but she never thought that freedom was an option in her life.

When she learned of the husband hidden secret, she just accepted it and went on staying there with no option. In a different situation, the sight of her husband made her so sad and sick. Her life was so oppressive for her. She feels the burden of love and hatred at the same time.

One evening he summoned the husband and disclosed all that was eating her up. She reminded him since sixteen years of their marriage and yet he had hidden to her that it was mandatory for every family in the village to surrender their new born babies to the king for military purposes. That she had been questioning whether he loved her as she felt so unloved – so much so that she occasionally asked if it was wise for him search secret from her. She also felt he was avoiding her since learning the truth. He had assured her every time that he did love her, which made her feel happy that things were fine but being slapped so mercilessly showed something different and send a signal of a brutal husband.

However, he had a gut feeling that something wasn't right but because he reassured her that he did so to protect the entire family from the crucial punishment of the king, had he known that she wanted to hinder his messenger from casting spells from the child, she began to question her own sanity. She became ill, had panic attacks and anxiety. But she wondered why he was going out to the shrine with the baby so much without involving her.

Originally, when she confronted her about that, he was adamant about it.

Nina saw that the world fell apart. She was utterly distraught.

"You were my world – my friend, my only lover – and you had completely betrayed and hurt me to a degree beyond my comprehension." She told her.

"After a week or so, you twisted the knife yet again and admitted the slap was to protect me from being killed by the king. You fooled me so well. " She shouted.

"You continue to treat me despicably. You do not show any remorse or regret for what you have done, nor do you show any emotions or feelings towards me or my well being – you act as if nothing has happened and not once have you cried. You have told me that you hadn't loved me properly for quite some time, which I am extremely upset about as you never brought up the problems in our relationship so that we could have tried to work them out. We had been together sixteen years and that's a lot of memories to throw away. Everything is so hurtful. I am devastated." She cried bitterly.

Whatever Nina was saying, it got into Abednego's nerves, he couldn't take it anymore. Those words were like a hot knife through butter. The thoughts of hiding to the woman she loved crossed his mind, he hated for who he was made.

"A reject." He said feeling depressed.

"Perhaps a reject, a form of a man with chicken brain. Perhaps that's what I was made of. The gods must have created shortly before lunch, the lunch swines were whistling when he was making me. To leave his workshop in hurry, he left me incomplete." He cursed.

He couldn't want to think of hurting his wife. The only woman of his dream.

"I have no words for you, my dearest, – I shall never have – You are mine, I am yours. Now, here is one sign of what I said: that I must love you more than at first… a little sign, and to be looked narrowly for or it escapes me, but then the increase it shows can only be little, so very little now." He turned to his wife and whispered regrettably to her.

At first he only thought of being happy in her, in her happiness: now he most think of her in the dark hours that must come, he shall grow old with her and die with her, as far as he could look into the night he could see the light with him: and surely with that provision of thoughts he needed to turn Nina with fresh joy and renewed sense of security to her.

"And how will you protect us, how will you protect me and Kipili from the brutal king of your village. I don't want my son to be taken away from me." She told him.

"As I, received already so much, much, past expression! It is but … if you will so please, at worst, forestall the one or two years, for my sake; Kipili will come back to us, will one day as I can be now of myself, and why not now be sure? See, love, sixteen years are gone by, we were in one before giving birth to Kipili.

I want to assure you that I will protect you and our own son, I ' am sure I will. Will you tire me then? Now, you tell me what is told; were you not to me, in that dim beginning of love a joy beyond all joys, a life added to and transforming mine, the good I choose from all the possible gifts of the gods of Namamali village, for which I seem to have lived, which accepting, I thankfully step aside and let the rest get what they can, of what, it is very likely, they esteem more, for why should my eye be evil like that of our king, why should I grudge that, giving them, I do believe, infinitely less, he gives them a content in the inferior good and belief in its worth.

I should have wished that further concession, that illusion as I believe it, for their sakes, but I cannot undervalued my own treasure and so scant the only tribute of mere gratitude which is in my power to pay. Hear this said now before the few years, and believe in it now, for then, dearest!" He tried to explain to her the love he has towards her, and the assurance of how he will stand to defend her and the child from being taken away from them. He flexed his muscles and resolved that no matter what, he will not let anyone take their child away. He had to prove to the wife the love he had for her and apologized to her what had taken place. In the evening they all retired to bed and fell into a deep slumber.

Chapter 8

Just weeks after Abednego assuring his wife that he will protect her and his child from being taken into the King's terrible army, he came up with a plot on how to run and where to run to for the safety of his family. It is a terrible state that forces him into a deadly situation. Rumours of a coming for his child war are winding their way between the castle walls of the king and Abednego feels the pressure quietly mounting within the village soon, it becomes clear that deserting the village may be his only hope of saving his family. But the further Abednego is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far. Will he ever be able to return home again? Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his wife and the child?

The stunning second thrilling thing on a roller-coaster ride of persecution and murder, thrills and peril, as they journey with the runway villager puts him in frenzy. So he decided to consult a magician in Igodo forest. He knew by doing so, he will be given super powers that will them invisible.

He took off in the wee hours of the night to journey to Igodo forest, promising his family to come back with protection powers. The forest was a no go zone, it had ferocious animals and evil spirits. It was known as "an evil forest", many that went there never came back and those who managed to come back were strack dump by the gods of the forest so that they wouldn't be able to talk to anyone and disclose what they encountered, later they ended dying a horrendous death.

Now, Abednego found himself found himself in an endless forest. He had no idea who he was, he thought it was a dream. He was motionless, he could feel sweat running down his face. The pain he felt was uncontrollably horrible. He wished he was home where his family. He shed treats of despair before he got hold of himself and stood up. His legs were stiff as a rock and his vision was blurry, he wiped his dirty hands across his sweating face. His vision was suddenly clear and he took a better look at the forest: a dark devastate scene.

From a distance he could hear eerie sounds, the sounds started getting louder and louder. It followed with a laughter that was so horrifying.

From a distance he could see something like a child's figure, then it suddenly vanished into a thin layer of smoke. He gathered some strength and started walking on a narrow path leading downwards, again he could still hear the eerie sounds as if they coming towards where he was but went silent all of a sudden.

As he gathering strength to keep walking his legs protested against the idea and he wanted to collapse. Suddenly, he saw someone standing in front of him a few feet away. It was a horrifying black figure. He stumbled backwards and fell over a log. When the shock was over and he got back up, the figure was gone. Abednego was astonished, he slapped himself on the cheek to confirm he was the reel Abednego or someone else. He assumed it was illusion and kept walking.

He walked down this path for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, he walked down, then he turned around and was walking down the path that actually led nowhere but went deeper into intense forest and about 500 metres from he had fallen, he started hearing the screaming.

He thought it was a moose, It was the first thing that came to his mind because it was rutting season…when they mate.

But as he heard more of the screams, he started to change his mind.

He started trying to think of what that was, and he couldn't figure out what it was.

He kind of thought it was a wolf, but he didn't know. He has never heard a wolf sound like that before.

Abednego has been an occasional hunter since he was young, he has never heard a sound like that before.

He has heard many animals, like bears, rabbits, but he has never heard this. The noise got louder and louder until he became aware of the noise, he lifted his head. He decided to go check it out. The noise became very loud. He walked towards the bush and peered in. Nothing. A second glance on a tree beside him he saw some writings,

"He killed us, he has no escape."

Questions ran through his head, he was confused and scared. Night came and the forest grew darker and colder. As he was trying to find a place to take a nap due to exhaustion, he heard noises once again in the dark. The noises seemed to be coming farther away. He slowly stood up and looked but due to total darkness, he wasn't able to see anything. Nobody was there. He ignored and laid down in his back his eyes flickering into the dark. The sleep was almost catching up with him when he sported someone, the same figure he saw before, but this time it was standing closer. He could examine the figure more closely, this was creepy. He trembled.

While still looking, he see another figure of a man coming out of the woods. Very tall and its face was covered. His eyes instantly met his. He was already looking at him. His dark eyes locked on his. The face was horrible,He wasn't smiling. He didn't know what kims of people they were, but he knew something was wrong. It was in his eyes. He gasped deep breath and looked at the ground figuring on how to run before they caught up with him.

He quickened his pace a little and before entering the woods slyly looked back. They were walking in a funny awkward way.

"This is terrible." Abednego said in his heart.

The path through the woods was invisible, and the pathway exit opened into another field that led to another set of woods. Complete, crippling, absolute fear worked its way like electric through every layer of flesh. He'd never encountered search kind of people before or since, but he knew what it was.

"Probably the gods of Igodo forest." He thought.

He took to his heels and run as fast as he could. Abednego was running for his dear life, the thoughts of dying in this evil forest engulfed his mind. He running helter skelter, he didn't know the way out of the forest, but he was determined not to die or to be eaten by the horrible forest.

He had looked back several times while running and he hadn't seen those figures following him. For a second he froze.

He sprinted for a couple minutes before taking a sharp left turn off the path into the trees. But he couldn't see anything. Tree branches were catching on his skin clothes like fingers, whipping and scratching his bare legs so bad he bled. He ran and ran his lungs protesting in painch, while his heart was throwing itself against his rib cage trying to escape.

He couldn't anymore. He threw himself on the ground behind a particularly thick trunk. His back against it, knees to his chest, hand thrown over his mouth to stifle his laboured breathing, desperately trying to pump air into his lungs for the next sprint. He listened for the first time. A few seconds pass silently. Then he heard the eerie sounds again followed by heavy footfall snapping twigs behind him and about 20 feet to his left. He dared not to look in case whatever it was sees him.

He heard a deep voice exclaim,

"where are you…I know you're here…I saw you."

He clasped both hands across his mouth to stop his scream escaping.

He could hear him moving around. He panicked and found enough courage to slowly peak from behind the tree. The thing was about ten feet behind him, less than 20 feet to the left, with his back to him. He moved back and his eyes searched the area around him. He picked up a pretty heavy rock and carefully checked on him again, his back is still turned but he's searching through the trees, hunched down lower to the ground now. He make a snap decision and with everything he had left he threw the rock behind him and to the right. It clattered through the branches of the trees and made one hell of a noise. He watched him immediately bolt in its direction. Laughing. He really laughed.

Abednego paused a little hearing his footsteps get quieter until he thought he wouldn't be so visible to him if he moved and threw himself forward. He ran, trying to put as much distance between themselves as possible but he was also aware that he was getting further and further away into the interior forest.

Chapter 9

Two more weeks and the king will come for the child. Nina was alone, with only his child Kipili, a very poor person that had no one. She had knocked on every door hoping to herself that she would be listened to but they all laughed at her and shut the door. No one wanted to associate with them anymore, the whole village knew that she had tried to protect her child from being taken away. So they knew what would befall them, if search a family has been marked by the king as valueless, no villagers was supposed to associate with them, otherwise, you fall a victim and be burned on stake.

Days were turning into nightmares, she had not expected that her husband will take that long. Though she wasn't aware of what the husband was succumbed to in the Igodo forest. She a worried woman, the only person who was to save them from the cruel king was her husband. He went into the evil forest to consult from the witchdoctors who were known to be the spirits of the living dead, the spirits that were known to make people invisible from their assailants.

Nina was rest assured that Abednego will come back with great news, news of victory, victory from the crucial king who was on a mission to take their child Kipili away from them.

She watched the sun rise. A breeze gently lifted her hair. She used her hand to put it behind her ear, her eyes thoughtful as she thought about the road that brought her to this point in life.

"Things sure have changed so suddenly. Since the birth of my child Kipili, I am the only woman who has been ostracized in this village." She regrettably spoke to herself. Later on while sitting outside her hurt, a neighbour came,

"Hello." She greeted her.

"I have seen you hanging out here every morning." She said. Nina looked away. The neighbour watched Nina for a moment.

"I haven't seen your husband since the gigantic man came to cast spells on your child." She went on. Nina noticed a sarcastic not in her. She got up, not looking at her, she said,

"All kinds."

Stood up and left to the house.

"Why was she talking to me? I don't know her, we are strangers. Besides she will be just like the others and leave me alone when she is done with me."

This happened for the next couple of weeks where the other neighbours would try to talk to Nina, but to no such luck, though that was about to change.

Abednego was really exhausted and thirsty, he knew there had to be a stream somewhere close.

"If I find the stream I can follow it as it borders the land and ran parallel to some of the footpaths." He said.

He ran, he ran and ran until the trees finally cleared and he could just make out another field through them on the other side. He thanked the gods and pushed himself a little bit further till he was out of the trees and the ground disappears from below his feet and went ahead over shoulders down the stream embankment. He crashed into the water below, his open mouth and lungs filling with muddy water. As he splutter it out he felt both relieved to have found the stream and terrified he has been heard.

He slowly made his way downstream as quiet as possible, listening out for him the whole time as the stream borders the woods, looking up periodically just in case. After a while, maybe half an hour, he noticed the trees begin the thin out and realised this is the edge of the woods where he would have been exiting and where the pathway connected to the original one he had started on. If he ran he could get home in less than 20 minutes.

As quiet as he could he dragged himself on his stomach back up the embankment warrior style, wanting to stay as low as possible. He peeked over the top. He could just make out the opening of the woods exit path about 50 feet away. He sat and scanned the forest line for a couple minutes. His eyes trying to make out movement despite it now being pitched black. Nothing. He couldn't hear anything either. He pushed himself up and sprinted as fast as he could across the field onto the pathway. He knew the gate he had entered through was in the adjoining field. It really wasn't far! he was so happy!

"Nina will be taken away, do something for her and the little child Kipili." came a screech from across the field.

His legs nearly gave out then and there. He had been waiting for him. He turned his head and saw him sprinting out of the woods at full pelt. Abednego screamed and pushed himself further, tears coating his face. All he could do is run. He crossed into the main field now and he could see the moonlight shining off. He was faster than him and getting closer, screaming at him the whole time about how he was going to slit the throat. He ran and ran, pushing himself up and over the bush. He dared look as he made the turning. HE WAS STILL FOLLOWING HIM. He raced through the trees and up the path to a large rock, he hid in the shadow of the huge stone. He lay still in the darkness, not daring to make a single sound. He chewed on his tongue as to insure that his teeth not chatter, ignoring the taste of her own warm, salty blood. He dared not make the softest whisper for fear of unsettling the creature which was hissing and cursing. He awoke hours ago to a faint breeze, which tingle down his spine, rattling him and suddenly was shook by a hot burst of air rushing against his skin. The shock of the chill and sudden burn startled him as he awoke to the sight of bright yellow-green eyes that watched over him that night. For hours now, he had gripped a sharp big stone, depressed on her tongue and has been sweating drops of terror from his skin. He felt the heavy yellow glow press down upon him like a mega-tonne. He began to grow tired and his eyelids dropped and he was finally at rest for the first time in hours. He walked stealthy without a sound, his demonic intruder was face to face with him; in this moment he shrieked out a primal scream of sheer terror which the creature bathed in with great pleasure, as it seemed to feed on her very fear.

The hairs on the back of his neck pickle, sending an icy shiver down his spine.

The creature pulled his entire body rigid, his heart pounds fiercely in his chest and he desperately wish it would stop beating so loudly. A strangled scream tries to slip his throat but he is paralysed with fear only the smallest cry escapes.

It started to crouch to fit to where he was. Its silhouette looks of a tall, gaunt man but he knew deep down it's not human. He want to scream out to but his voice doesn't seem to work.

The dark figure in front of him takes a step forward towards him.

His eyes widen in terror. The creature is covered in what looks like rotting scarred flesh, its fingers have long claws, sharper than knives. Its mouth is just a gaping hole in its scrubbing face, and where its eyes should be are nothing but empty rotting sockets, but there is no doubt in his mind its staring directly at him.

He snap his eyes shut as tightly as possible, pleading with himself to

gain strength and jump. His blood was pumping through his veins. His heart was beating so fast he can hardly hear much else.

And then he hear another one scratching on the side of a rock.

The sound reminds him of fingernails running down a chalkboard. Trickling fear rises through his body. Too afraid to move, he shift his eyes towards the sound of the other

He see it. Crouched by the tree clawing at a plunk. It's so close he can see the maggots squirming inside its eye sockets. It slowly starts to rise, towering over him, reaching its clawed fingers for him. He feels a spasm of fear and find his voice as he scream hysterically for his life.

Chapter 10

Since Abednego left, Nina and the child have been facing oppression and as a result, she has been in hiding away from villagers. For her, her family was always her first priority. Because her my mind, her family were her responsibility. The child depended on her to take care of her, and teach her. She gives the child them more of her time than she ever gave her husband. And she is moved by it.

After the supposed attempt to get the child from the gigantic man, she has been labelled as a dangerous woman in the village.

When the king's men arrived at her house, with the intent of talking to her husband in order to arrange for the child to be taken to the palace, they did not find him, they found her instead. They threatened to take her away to the gallows. But they left promising to come back. But not before they told her that she had one day before they came back for her son. So that night, she grabbed her child and fled. She was put on the most wanted list. Ever since the whole villagers were looking for her. The king gave orders that whoever find her they shall be exempted from kings harsh Labour.

She wondered if the husband, wherever he was in the evil forest, knew what they were facing. She looked all over in the outskirts of Namamali village searching for someone to give them hope of having a chance in life, someone who would be a reason for her to try to survive.

But what she found was not that, what she found was people who after a point, were also after her. From what she understood, the reason for this is that it is not in her husband's village best interest, or there are certain king's agreements between some families and their new born babies.

Nina would talk, and cry together.

Unfortunately, not before long, the king's in Namamali village used their power for their benefit and named her dangerous to king's leadership. The king was cruel, those who went against his principles were all arrested. They were left starving and dying. They finally arrived in someone's home who accepted to risk his life by hiding them away from the king. They couldn't go outside, there are two people in the home who of the good Samaritan who helped them take care of their necessities. But they only came when they were in desperate need, afraid they are going to be followed and get caught.Nina had nightmares about her husband Abednego, she was worried about him being in that evil forest, not knowing what could befall of her.

One night she fell asleep, her host friend said she heard her. She had been whimpering in her sleep and when she walked over to check on her, she could see tears rolling down her cheeks. She shook her and shook her, saying her name louder after each effort. When she awoke it was all of a sudden and with a scream. She is not sure who it scared more. Her friend told her the moment she opened her eyes she locked onto his and she looked possessed, or haunted.

She looked like her soul was not in her body. She was visibly shaken by the experience. At this point Nina felt obligated to explain to her how it had been going on for since Abednego left to Igodo forest, that she couldn't sleep, that the feeling was everywhere.It was worse that night. She had even more trouble pulling herself out of the dream that night. It felt like whatever was watching her was able to get even closer, so close in fact she could smell it. The thick musty smell of decay and death loomed heavy as she awoke. She was barely able to lean over the bed before puking violently all over the mad floor.

She has also tried herbal supplements. Nothing has worked. She was afraid to sleep alone because if she can't wake herself up someone has to be there to make sure it doesn't get her.

There was always fear. She didn't know what had happened to Abednego, she really went through emotional days of her staying alone with her child. Not being able to live as a free person. As a woman, having to ask for personal necessities. And having to wait for someone to bring a bit of food every time they are starving, it was very exhausting.

"I am tired of waiting to see my husband I am a human being, a mother, a woman; I think I deserve all of this.

I AM VERY TIRED, I THINK IT'S THE END OF THE ROAD FOR ME

Why? Because I am tired. Tired of running, of living a frightening life, being separated from my child and not being taken to die in the woods just for the selfishness of a king. No, I am tired of living like this. I am broken down, tired of this kind of miserable life." She lamented.

The whole village was searching for her, every villager had surrendered their boys to king, but she was the only one who had gone into hiding.

The king had imposed heavy measures on them if they didn't find this disturbed family, this disturbed woman and her only child. In one weeks time and the gigantic man was to come for the child, but they were into hiding. No one knew the fate of Abednego, neither his wife.

Abednego's wife was indeed tired, not only mentally, but also physically. She was emotionally sick. From doing too many crafts, crying too much, and having visual problems along with feminine disorders, it wasn't something to think of. She had developed continues bleeding, and cramps. Therefore, she always felt very weak and sluggish.

She took all the medicinal herbs she could and tried different types of natural treatments, but she couldn't see any results. She couldn't go to the native doctors due to the outside situation. For the whole week her rescuer searched for a native doctor who would come and treat her but they couldn't find one. As the taboo was, a native doctor was not required to go to a patient, the patients are the ones who went to the native doctors because the native doctors had a shrine where they performed their magical healings.

At the beginning, Nina's problems were bearable. Her concern was to have her husband back and villagers who could listen and understand her. She wanted someone to make them feel like they were not alone, some one to help eradicate the pain that was eating her like a rotten wound. During this time, she experienced two very serious heart spasms, she lost her ability to speak twice, she had had multiple nervous breakdowns, but she never lost hope.

Anywhere she went, informers from the king followed. She had to move around, so she asked those she thought to be friends if she could stay at their homes for a couple hours. No one welcomed them. But they understood.

For days now, She had toothache; she tried dealing with it by taking herbs. Her teeth broke, so She tried shaving them down by all means possible. She put banana leaves in her mouth while eating. She even tried getting rid of her teeth by hitting with a stone. She tried living without help, because she didn't have the courage to ask, just in case they said no.

TWO OPTIONS

Overall, she was done. She was tired. She had two options;

Her first option is to turn herself to the king and get killed, and get killed.

Her second option is waiting for death, or blindness, or suicide.

NOT BEING ABLE TO DO ANYTHING

Not being able to do anything, being trapped really hurts her. She lost what makes her human. She had wanted to die many times.

She felt as if her life was not her anymore.It was hot everywhere, no place for Nina to run to. The king had positioned informers everywhere, until the scheduled day for Nina's child to be taken to the palace for training as a killer soldier.

Imboko is a king known in the village of Namamali as a cruel king, everywhere he passed by, you were to bow down, he was termed as 'the god of Namamali village'. It will be remembered when he did the worst by ordering men, women and children to be skinned, boiled, decapitated, blinded, strangled, hanged, burned, roasted, hacked, nailed, buried alive and stabbed.

Those who never adhered to his orders were brought down in his court by his troops for torturing and slaughtering in front of him. He was referred to one of the evil rulers in human history. His last invasions was remembered as bloodshed battle because he invaded a certain kingdom from the countryside and slaughtered the entire village in their wake. He never spares a single person where he invades.

He rose to the kingly sit after killing his brother.

"There, where I have passed, the grass will never grow again," he remarked on his reign.

One evening Nina waited for his friend who was hosting her. It was not in her friend's mind to stay till late, knowing that she was hiding Nina in her house. Till sunset she had not returned home, Nina was worried. A cold frenzy blow up in her system. She relied on her friend for food. Since there was no any food in the house and Nina's child, Kipili, was crying all day long due to hunger, she got up, took an old shrimp bag and off left to the market. The market wasn't within reach, it was far away from the home, about four hours walk.

As she was still pondering, she heard someone crying outside the house.

"She is no more...I have never seen anything like this, this is terrible!"

Nina walked stealthily towards the door, holding her child in her hands perfectly. She opened the door and to her surprise she saw her neighbour's friend standing there. She was startled. A knife in a hand, trembling tremendously.

"Run...!" She yelled at Nina.

"I said....r.. run for your life!" She shouted on top of her voice and later poked the knife harder in her chest, blood gushed out splashing in Nina's face.

"R....run...f..or your..li."

Before She could utter the last word, she slammed on the door way and fell down heavily her head smashing on the metal object used to shut the door. Her head crushed and the brain splattered all over the doorway.