The Man And The Checkered Ball

Chapter 2

I turned and ran into the hut shouting "Ma! Ma! There was a strange man outside! Ma!" but she only replied by saying that it was early and that I should go back to sleep. I gave up and lay back down on the floor, but there was no way I was going back to sleep, I couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened.

Soon life went back to normal but one morning a few weeks later the man came back. This time another man with him, it was a quiet morning and I had just returned from getting the water from the well when the two men and the warthog walked back into the village. I walked straight up to them and asked who they were. The new man spoke our language and introduced me to Chris Walkers, a wildlife photographer who wanted to take photos of his pet warthog in our village. There were many strange words that the man said that I didn't know the meaning of but what I found stranger was that the man with the black box still couldn't talk properly but the other man could. I was very confused. The man that could talk properly said his name was David and I finally understood what was happening. Chris would say something in his odd language to David and then David would say to me in proper language what Chris had said. I wasn't sure why Chris just couldn't talk to me directly in proper language but I guess it would work. I then told David that he should go and talk to the Chief. At first the Chief was startled at the sight of the men but once I had explained to him who they were he told me to go away so that they could talk. So I did.

It was a late afternoon by the time all three men came out of the chief's hut and I wondered what they had been talking about for so long. The chief then called everyone in the entire village to gather round, I hurried over and stood right in front of him. He explained to everyone that the men were here to take photos of the village for his job at a 'magazine'. I had never heard such word but I ignored it and kept listening. He said that the men would be here a long time and that we should be nice to them. I was scared yet excited about how the men were going to learn and adapt to the way that we live. I had so many questions to ask them but I was exhausted, I slept soundly that night.