Owetu
"Oh, I'm not getting on that!"
I'm currently convincing Xaya to get on the donkey carriage and she's fighting back like a little child. This is the only way we can get to my grandmother's house faster. Dark clouds hover around the corners of the village signalling heavy rain.
"You need to or I'll leave you here. You'll get lost in these woods. No one will find you."
Yeah, I won't leave her here but I have to tell her whatever just to get her on the carriage.
"It'll start pouring soon. Better hurry up. If the Drunk Mistress lake fills up. You might not reach your destination."
The driver speaks up, his voice breaking due to the warm gust.
She peers anxiously over at the cart for a few seconds before getting in sluggishly.
"You are so difficult."
I reinforce and she mugs me. She steps on tiny pebbles on the metal surface as she acknowledged every motion the cart made.
"How do you feel?"
I ask picking pebbles out of inquisitiveness. Xaya glimmers to herself. However, her eyes told a different tale. I can tell there's a lot on her marbles.
"I don't know. Lonely?"
She replies truthfully I presume.
"I don't know if I should feel awful or joyous. I don't know what has become of me. "
She continues while I watched her carefully.
"How old are you Xaya?"
She looks at me like I've raised a dumb question.
"23?"
"This is a depressing stage in time where we all don't even know what is going on. And by the way, I was asking about how you feel being on the cart, but go on."
She rolls her eyes and we laugh at it. One thing I've noticed about Xaya is that she's a conventional description of spoiled. All stubborn and irksome but I love her. That's my sister.
A warm breeze brushes over my bare shoulders as an old man pushed his old bicycle along the gravel road. The damp hay he tied to the bicycle certainly made it too hard to control. He waves at us and the driver waves back.
"Speed up a little. It won't be long until it starts raining."
He warns. The driver nods in appreciation and did as told.
My stomach grumbles due to starvation. I haven't had anything to eat since the day we left Reed's house.
After what felt like hours, it starts showering. My clothes clung to my soaked body. The tiny smile on the driver's lips vanishes. I know that indication. It's not a good one.
Xaya
"What's wrong?"
I ask, concerned.
The man doesn't answer. Instead, he focuses on the figure approaching. He is similarly tensed. I can tell.
It's a herd of cows and a slender man herding it.
They exchange greetings. Their voices can barely be heard.
"He said we should turn back now, the lake has surrounded the land and we cannot cross it or we will all drown."
He yells and my heart drops. I wipe my face to process what he just said.
I watch as the man draws the donkeys in the opposite direction. Owetu isn't even present cognitively. She's conceivably asking herself the same thing.
Worthy
Pop and I are unwinding under a huge Baobab tree. Shielding us from the heavy rain. I scan the figure heading in our direction.
A senior man moves towards us as he pushed his bicycle.
He greets and we welcome him.
"Why are you under the tree? The sky is covered in dark clouds and flashes of lightning are bolting. "
The man says.
"Hello. My name is Momka. Where are you headed to? The road far ahead should be flooded by now."
"Have you maybe met two girls along the way?"
Pop enquires impatiently.
"Yes. I've met a lot of people along the road. Men, women and children."
"No, I mean two young beautiful girls. Both slim with white strings around their wrists."
He persuades and I attempt to hold him back.
"Yes. Like I said I met a lot of people."
Momka explains softly. He too is running out of patience.
"You are not helping. Dude, have you seen two girls on your way here?"
Pop declares. Momka grabs at the handle of his bicycle and walked away.
"Now you've chased him away."
"Man, I'm going back!"
He blurts and I watch as he heads towards the direction we came from.
____________________
