Gifts Given By the Ocean can also be taken back.
After the death of the Village Head, estranged cousins Mandeeq and Shermake reunite at their Grandfather's funeral where their fathers fight over who would be the Heir to the village. With tensions ru...
ag waxaa u liita ma toshe, ma tashade iyo ma tashiishe
~The worst man is he who never sews, never consults and never economizes~
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MANDEEQ
Mandeeq wasn't sure when the thick feeling of dread had settled in her stomach, but it felt like a heavy syrup clinging and soaking her down to her core. The ceremony was unlike any other she'd been to. She'd never seen so many people at a funeral before, wailing, holding each other in their grief.
As much as it crushed Mandeeq to see her grandfather give away to nature, she knew that she had her people through it. It was such a large display of anguish and human distress, but the closest the community had ever been for a long time. Despite the sorrow in her heart, it offered some solace that she wasn't the only one who loved him. She wasn't the only one who cared.
Some would approach her, offer her their condolences, though she didn't know much about what to do with them. "He went peacefully," she'd say, as she hugged the woman who would always bring him fresh camel's milk from her herd. It was the only comfort she could give, and she didn't know how to feel about that, knowing that she herself didn't know if her words were true or not.
But even Mandeeq wasn't naïve enough to forget what the death of her grandfather also entailed. The choosing of a new head.
Certain that she didn't want to stick around for a second longer, she found her shoes quickly in the women's section of the mosque. She then scurried out with the teenagers disinterested in politics.
Mandeeq's problem wasn't a lack of interest. For her, leaving was an act of self preservation. She wasn't going to allow men vying for power to poison her memory of the day. Besides, she'd caught a glimpse of her estranged uncle, Guled, in the men's section. He looked like he was ready to burst with... pain? Anger? Mandeeq wasn't sure what kind of turmoil he was going through, but she was going to make sure she wasn't in the line of fire.
Mandeeq wasn't sure she could blame him, however. He'd lost his eldest, Tawfiq, to the sea. Then some of his brothers didn't turn up to the funeral. Namely, her father. Mandeeq still had a hard time imagining her father turning his back on his brother. It disturbed her to even consider.
Is this what men did, when it came down to pride? Turned their backs on their own blood? Despite her reservations about her uncle, she could never really blame him for his resentment of his brothers. She would never know how one could abandon their own brother that way. She wouldn't wish that kind of loneliness or betrayal on anyone.
Thunder clouds had started to form despite the air still being humid, and Mandeeq prayed that her father and mother would find her quickly. She looked up from her thoughts to find a boy she recognized, around her age, staring down at her with a look that was hard to read.
