in the rise of the dark

the sage

The heavy light seen from afar dropping like a big rock on fire was eye catching, to say it was late in the night makes it scary. It caused some sort of jitters, on a second we thought we were under a sort of an attack, on the other hand from where and who? Then we decided to check it out and ran toward the direction we saw it. Disappointedly, no one we met claims to have seen it, seeming to us that we are making a mountain of anthill with air, we decided to go back home. But the thought of what I saw will not let me rest. Sarahdina, was convinced that it might be nothing but I was so sure of it. Tomorrow, as we are set to, my dad will be moving us back home to our country, he has spent according to him the last thirty eight years of his age in Morocco, having moved to the place with his father, mother and two siblings as a teenager. Five years ago his father died, and his mother died five years after they arrived Morocco, his two siblings had since moved to Harare in Zimbabwe and Tunis in Tunisia with their husbands after marriage, and according to him, its time to go back home, after making Morocco home for years. If its just for the people, their culture style of life and what have you we would have continued with our stay there in Morocco, but for home sake and all that we've got back at home especially making sure that our heritage is not lost, home we are going. Though we always have been visiting, but father want us to move permanently, and can visit Morocco when we so wish to.
. . . . .
Sarahdina and I are well known in the neighborhood, we are referred to as taw'am, which means "twins" according to my father apart from the fact that we live in the same compound, we were born on the same date, she came few minutes after I did. We attended the same primary school, and only time can count the number of which we fought, we were always disagreeing to issues until we gets to its roots and solve them. We are awaiting our admission now to the university, but I have one regret looking at Sarahdina. In our first year in the secondary, we had a misunderstanding over who killed Mohammad Ahmahdine Al-Farouk. She said it was the vigilante group formed at the time and I argued that it was the Moroccan armies, the argument got heated up so much that she slapped me and asked that I talk trash, and so told her what I knew she hated so much to hear from me. Sarahdina always start the fight whenever I say, I hate you to her, and she always get the beating, still she does start the fight. On the day, I pushed her to the floor and struck her with the soft drink container in my right hand, and so she passed out leaving a big gash on her forehead. I congealed that day, fear gripped me to the very last corner of the marrow, so shocked that I couldn't move for a while, and the ferocity at which her blood was popping out was so heart rending. In a whisk I got myself back and was applying any and everything to resuscitating her, then I lifted her up on my shoulder out of the building, where I got some help from passersby who took us to the hospital. I got the beating of my life that day from my father who was so enraged. Sarahdina was okay, her father or any of her family did not raise any dust, maybe because of the relationship between the two family, or that they are just a good people, though I just think they are just good people, not just them but Moroccans generally, wonderful people, but my dad warned me sternly to keep off the Moroccan girl or he kill me, and for two years we stayed away even though we see on a daily basis and she was the most hit, most times I see tears escape her eyes after passing by me. My dad is a very good and easy going man, but if he warn us over anything, and the devil wants to punish you, by helping you go contrary to his orders, wow, response will be too much for one nation to handle for you. I just finished writing my second semester exam of the junior high three, exiting the exam hall when she called me from behind -Somadina- the sweet melodious voice is undisputable, very akarajastic, never mind. Akarajastic is the term used by locals in my village, to qualify a thing as being too sweet. Akara is the Igbo word for pancake, I love akara very dearly, especially with bread and tea, or akamu. Akamu is the Igbo version of custard so natural, more natural than custard, hundred percent corn and water, unlike custard that contains larger percentage of chemicals, artificial than nature.
I stopped on my track, with my head bowed, my eyes were closed and jitters all over me. I began immediately to form up what to tell her should she confront me with the allegation of not caring about how she has been coping, I was ready with my own excuses and accusations. I cuffed my fists raised my right eyebrow, my muscles flexed, and my legs shaking. I was waiting for her to speak up but she wasn't saying a thing, instead, I heard sounds unpleasant to me confronting my ego. I turned to find Sarahdina in tears, sobbing. I threw my arms around her. Am sorry Somadina please forgive me. Though I felt relieved, that she did not confront, but guilt enveloped me. I apologized to her and ran my index finger down the scar on her face. We promised never to fight again, but we always argue things out and thus was easy for us to handle our disagreement, and solve stuffs together. My dad was shocked that I went against his order and the first to do so in the family, I was ready for his assault, after all this is Sarahdina, but to my utmost surprise, he did not cause a jibe.
Sarahdina, wanted to be a lawyer but went against her choice of profession, because we are just making up and thus wanted us to make up the lost years, by switching class to my science class. I desperately want to be a scientist, and was happy when she told me she'll be switching to my class. I always pay good attention to whatever am doing, knowing Sarahdina is watching or knows about it, especially when she is around me.
Our first day in class, drew us more than closer to the class, the teacher was good, he endeared us to science, starting with telling us names and deeds of past great scientists. After the class, Sarahdina thanked me for modeling science to her. The next day, the teacher walked in wearing a gloomy face, such that is so sympathetically. -students- he began, with his face so droopy, and looks so forlornly. - we have succeeded in wrecking the world - at first we all were lost, we don't understand what he meant, and were looking at each other, like what is Mr Salahadine saying. - the report we are getting now says that the ozone layer is becoming weaker and weaker by the day - he realized that we are still at a lost - as a student and especially science students, you should and must listen to the daily news, and do that to the letter - I sure want to understand what he is driving at, so I started by asking him what ozone layer is and how it concerns us. - ozone is above the earth, right before sun, and its work is to filter whatever the sun is throwing at us here in planet - a boy in the class I don't really know who, because I sat at the front row with Sarahdina and question flew to Mr Salahadine from back, demanding to know why we human are to be held responsible for the weakness of the ozone instead of the sun who have been heating it up. - the sun can neither weaken or destroy the ozone layer because it doesn't have the wherewithal - and from the back again a question came again, demanding to know how we can when the ever blazing sun can not. Mr Salahadine, continued, - we exchanged the natural with the artificial, and must pay the price of working to be God than living under God. God created the world and placed everything where and how is best to be, but we chose to manufacture plane and fly like birds, cars, bikes, microwave oven and other man made things, we burn stuffs, recycle a lot and these the ozone layer cannot withstand and thus got weakened by the very people he is working, fighting and struggling to protect, now we are as human so lazy that we can no longer do without this things, and they are gradually nearing the destruction of the planet called earth. Maybe until we completely ruin it all, then we will do something drastically about it, we burn gas everyday and so on and so forth and the ozone layer is crying, and we say we are happy people, when we are suppose to be mourning- Mr Salahadine as we call him, is the proprietor of our school, in his mid seventies, but will not quit teaching, I've never seen or heard of a man so passionate about teaching. He told us to in our little ways quit smoking up the earth, even though it in a very small way. - sir you are a well respected man, you can help educate the world in this danger facing us all -
The first day in class was great, but the second day so derailing. Mr Salahadine, help us to understand that, if man is not careful he might evolute. According to him, we might become a kind of strange animal, and maybe ape will evolute to man, then they will have to keep us in the zoo, to be able to control us. Quoting Mr Salahadine - maybe some of us will act so strangely, that other will have to define a means to living, or even became a kind of beast - the first time I saw an adult weep was Mr Salahadine. He wipe his tears. - my dear students, we are our own enemies - Mr Salahadine, said to us, that we are busy fighting wars, fighting over nothing, - man is so greedy that he's blinded to the very fact that, no matter how we fight for anything, work for anything, greed for anything, they are all but vanity - he walked to his table and sat on it, grabbed the glass of water on it and gulp everything down in one take, we were all perplexed and somewhat scared already. Sarahdina was crying, only then it occurred to me, that virtually everyone in the classroom carried a heavy face, and all the girls crying, all but for Islamiyah, a very strong willed fellow. Mr Salahadine, paced up and back the class and it balcony, before standing by the door. - we hustle day in day out to make money and be wealthy, and so be rich so to win respect - he strolled us a bit then continuing. - while we all wants to be just rich, some are fighting to be known as the richest man on earth, and thus manufacture all sort of terror, all manner of evil, to keep us all in Ransome, this days man invent ailments for man, and also produce the cure. People are after being rich and popular at the expense of mother earth, if we are not careful, some day we may all get choked up -
. . . . .
We lived by the coast of Morocco, and night is falling so we decided to go no further, Sarahdina, then asked me in a quiet tone, if I think its the sage's fear. That's what we all call Mr Salahadine.