Rings & Knots

A strange land

Ndubuisi's car cruised between the fog which in turn created very tiny droplets of water on his screen. This was the afterdeal of the intense hailing that they had persevered through. His eyes were dim and tired but he rejoiced in the thought that it was only a short distance that he was required to cover.

His children were now awake and their mother Nneka had given them some of the snacks she had saved in her handbag. Nkem ate hers slowly with her eyes glued to the window while Jude played games with his mother's phone.

It had been one of the longest journeys that his family had ever been on but it didn't matter as long as it brought them to safety.

Many bush parts sandwiched the tar roads their car plied, however, there were very barely any cars on the road with them. This made Nkem wonder if there were even humans living in the area their father was headed to.

A very tall signpost made out of wood and with the words inscribed on it faintly visible to the eye stood beside the turn that her father made and she struggled to read the words. The road that they had taken this time was covered with a mixture of mud and coarse yellowish fine-grained sand. There were thick bushes on each side, containing a mixture of very tall grasses, a plethora of bamboo and very long palm trees.

Birds hopped excitedly on the stems of trees while squirrels made their way to various leaves of the palm tree.

"This is not daddy's village" Jude whispered turning Nkem's attention back to their parents.

"It is not?"

"Of course not! I can remember a bit about the roads and this place seems like an evil forest" Jude continued in his hushed tone. Nkem could hardly remember what her father's hometown looked like, but if her brother was sure they weren't headed there, they should be concerned.

"Jude, what happened? Why did we leave?" 

"I don't know but I think it has to do with daddy's work" He replied quickly hoping that her curiosity would be quelled immediately, as his sister was a nuisance when it came to hampering one's peace of mind with unending questions.

Nkem remained speechless as they continued, letting her mind do the talking and questioning to figure out the reason behind their sudden movement.

Jude's laughter drew her out of the momentary lapse and she followed his gaze to the naked children who ran behind them as if they were in pursuit of the car.

It was almost as if they enjoyed being outside with barely any piece of clothing on them, something her mother would never agree to.

"The gods must be crazy part two" Jude declared as he continued in his boisterous laughter. Nkem even caught a smile or two from his parents. Maybe they were indeed headed to a place of no civilization. 

She looked back as the children stopped their pursuit and started waving instead. This was because the vehicle had gone a considerable distance and they could not keep up. Nkem waved back at the children with a smile but she doubted if they could see her.

Her brother quickly admonished her hinting that it was wrong for her to try and communicate with the strangers. Jude spoke of them in a condescending tone which was unwarranted as they seemed like children who just wanted to play.

Did it even matter that they were strangers? They all looked pleased and harmless.

Nkem turned her gaze back to the window where she watched the leaves and some trees dancing to the tunes of the wind. The abundance of trees made it seem like they were surrounded by forests but she began to see as they went by, structures that showed that humans were indeed part of the unknown land.