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the hunt
Lizard hunt
It was hard for the old lady to walk. Step by step she kept on caressing her small bums. the blood veins and hand joints formed a spectacular architecture in her palms. Her nose were scavenging for oxygen from trees in a dry plain. “Never give up, never give up” she hymned while panting. This was Mbuya Chikwana. The scotching heat burnt her cracked heels, the only thing which to seemed to bother her at that moment was a pierce from a huge thorn which gnawed her skin. She took it out; her skin was too tough to be ravaged by this thorn. Mbuya Chikwana kept on walking leaving trails of blood behind her. She looked under the trees; there was no stone which left unturned.
“I am tired of feasting on soil, my stomach is bloated” Mbuya Chikwana muttered. After locking her eyes at the blue sky Mbuya Chikwana said “the clouds had locked up our source of life in them, without rain there is nothing edible in this land”.
After three years the rain never fell on the rich soil of Umsasa, as a result people like Mbuya Chikwana were victims of hunger. The fertile earth was cracking because of dryness, all the vegetation had turned brown. The cloud of nausea overcame Mbuya Chikwana she fell under a tree to gain strength and to prepare herself for the long march. Mbuya listened to her stomach which was playing its roaring, rumbling music. The old rolled around after feeling a tight unmerciful squeeze from her roaring intestines. “If there was rain maybe I would get water and continue with my hunt”. The nearby bore hole was 6km from the shade which gave her comfort.
The old lady was aroused by a rattling sound from her slumber. The sound turned into foot steps. A widow still in her mourning garments approached her and respectfully knelt beside her. “Hello Ambuya the lady greeted her with a wide smile”. “My child come closer the old lady” replied with a graceful tone. “The windows of heaven have closed and this unmerciful climate has left us with nothing” Mbuya Chikwana complained with a faint voice. She grasped her tattered dress which was dyed by the red soil of Umsasa and wiped her forehead which had trenches of wrinkles “ My child can you give me anything to relieve my hunger, I am exhausted of eating soil, I can’t even go to the toilet” Mbuya Chikwana begged the widow who was still kneeling beside her. A widow wore a sad face and said “ the baobab fruits which give us our daily meal is finished, so me and my children are licking dry lips”. Mbuya Chikwana tried to maintain a cheerful voice to comfort a young widow. A creepy voice escaped her mouth “the government stole the food which our saviour United Nations gave us and sold it to people in town and neighboring countries” Mbuya Chikwana explained. She gazed into air and ruthlessly dug her nail into her skin scratching the dirty off it vigorously. She continued “God will punish those snakes for fattening their back accounts with our food”. The widow stood up and left the old talking alone.
Mbuya Chikwana managed to pick up her frail body the garment which hung on her body seemed to be too heavy for the old lady. After struggling for 2km through wrecking bushes the smell of a smoke attracted her. A twinkle of fire caught her attention. This came from a nearby mud hut. The pain in her dry throat was torturing her. Mbuya approached the hut to seek for water to quench her thirst. A ferocious barking dog led her to a halt. The growling forced her to be courageous and face the scary beast. As she passed through the wooden gate which was open the dog pounced on her, tearing up his garment. “bruce stop that” a voice lashed through the hut and the animal regained its manners. It accompanied t he old lady to the hut waving it fluffy tail. “can I have water” Mbuya Chikwana asked looking at the man with sick eyes. The man dipped a metallic jug inside a rusty bucket and gave her the water. Mbuya Chikwana gulped the liquid, making slurp sounds with her face full of relief. “tha-n-ks” she said “ do you have anything for my rumbling stomach the pain of hunger is killing me” the old lady asked swallowing a painful lump in her throat. A man screwed his head which erupted from a dark big coat. Mbuya Chikwana left the home with a sad face licking her dry, chapped lips which were covered by a white layer.
She moved faster, desperate for anything. A stone nearby gave her hope. Her tough palms rolled the stone, her face grew wider and she flushed a hopeful smile. “Maybe I will get a rat” she thought. A big spider popped underneath, her hands were shaking as she held it. “This is poisonous she threw the spider on the red, hot soil”. A faint voice came from her lips “if there was water in the river, I was going to feast on a toad or a frog”. She continued “in the olden days we used to feast on meat and vegetables, but now the earth is bitter we are eating all this rubbish” the old lady spoke alone. A big rock supported her weary back; a big brown spot crossed her eyes just in a second. “Ah a rabbit” Mbuya Chikwana exclaimed. She gathered all her strength and tried to race a cute creature. The animal was too jumpy and witty for a poor, hungry old woman. Mbuya Chikwana fell on a thorn, unfortunately she lost her meat.
A slight blowing wind overcame the scotching heat, the cool weather caressed over Mbuya Chikwana sweaty body. The rolling of stones never ended for a persevering lady. She tore a bark from the mopane tree and munched it slowly to relieve her hunger. The sun was setting but her hopes were still high. A 30cm lizard crossed on her feet. Mbuya Chikwana crushed it its head with a huge stick. The poor creature rolled as the lady strucked for the second time. Its stomach was ravaged by a thorny stick and eggs were hanging from its rough body. Mbuya Chikwana bent her aching back and picked up her gift from God. She planted a kiss on it, ignoring the jelly eggs which were dropping from the creature. Mbuya Chikwana was guided by twilight and a white moon through out the bushes. Howling sounds of an owl accompanied her in a lonely dark. Noises from laughing hyenas filled up the air, this made Mbuya Chikwana to panic, she walked as fast as her feet could carry her.
Mbuya rushed to his one hut which was erected down the hill. A spark of fire gave her hope; at least she knew that her orphaned grand children were still awake. “what did you bring for us” Tawanda who was 3years old asked hugging his grandmothers legs. Mbuya Chikwana prepared a hearty meal for her self and her four grand children. The children waited impatiently their ribs sculptured in their top less bodies. Mbuya Chikwana shared the lizard among her grand children. She only managed to get a tail. In her daily prayer she emphasized on the on the sentence “give us our daily bread” because she believed that God will provide for her again.
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