Bongani woke up that morning with a feeling that something big was going to happen,he rose from the fur where he slept and opened his door to a bright sunny morning.
Took charcoal ashes,brushed his teeth and washed his face in a drum five feet away from the rondavel where his family stored their food.
Prepared his fishing tackle and journeyed upriver.
A kilometre away from home,the atmosphere started changing,the wind was warm,the trees made a flute like sound and all the birds flew away as if something had startled them,on an ordinary day,this would have alarmed him,but he was in too good of a mood,to be distracted from what he had believed would be a great day.
And finally he arrived to his favourite fishing spot,he loved this part of the river because he was the only one that fished there,legend has it that it was blessed with tons of fish and also sacred,the people from his village believed that,the fish in that part of the river weren't meant for human consumption.
He set up his gear on a first throw,it hooked onto something heavy,excited about his luck,he started pulling,thinking he had caught a lunker and even grabbed the tail with his hands whilst faced down,he felt a strong presence in front of him,the hair at the back of his neck stood up,he titled his head and found a mermaid staring at him.
Fearing for his life,he dropped the tail and ran as fast as he could,but the presence he felt whilst holding that tail,was just over his shoulders and as he was about to climb the mountain that would lead him to the nearest village,the mermaids whistled in a manner that he couldn't ignore,he stopped and she spoke.
Come and remove this hook from my tail,I won't hurt,but if you continue running,I will haunt you for the rest of your life and everything you touch will amount to ashes.
He thought of his family and without any further resistance,he returned and removed the hook from her,she dived back into the river and he made his way home.
He went mute for a week and when he finally opened his mouth,he spoke about that day's events and how he couldn't sleep at night because he saw her each and every time he closed his eyes,he said she wanted to be his wife,she promised him wealth,but he had to return and dive into the river,remain there for eternity as the watchman that will protect the river and all it's constituents.
