Instalment 2 - Instinct

Instalment 2

Nyasi lit the night fire for the small village although it has not yet grown dark. She was accustomed to the almost blanket-like nightfall that would occur regularly so the timing of the task wasn’t unusual to her. The fire not only helped as a light and cooking source but kept them warm in the cool night breeze with the added benefit of keeping the mosquitoes at bay.

Nyasi could feel the tension mounting in the village as they awaited the return of two of their members. It was a long journey to the valley from the hills and it was rarely made. The villagers had owned their hillside land for centuries and had hardly seen the need to venture away from the area. The winding road was an unwelcome addition and they did their best to keep from being viewed from it, not that it was used much these days. Solwani and Nilozi had sworn to make their journey to the valley as far from the roadside as possible and no doubt they were coming back the same way.

The elder of the village, one hundred year old Zani, had been unwell for some time with the witchdoctor’s remedies not taking effect to cure her hence the decision was made for Solwani and Nilozi to venture out in search of help. The villagers wouldn’t usually allow the use of western medicine but they had heard from travellers that the cures were almost magical so they had to take the chance. Zani had been the mother of the village for so long and with her spiritual link to the ancestors, the villagers believed that she was the one keeping them out of harm’s way.

“The soil is almost saturated, the pain in my bones tells me that our time is coming”, Zani preached as the village gathered around the fire for their evening meal. Nyasi didn’t understand this and because Zani was so much older than her seventeen years, she dismissed this as an elder ranting. “Solwani and Nilozi will be the last hope for us, let us call to our ancestors for their safe return” and with that croak, Zani collapsed back onto her mat, her exhaustion making her incapable of holding herself up against gravity.

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 Copyright © 2011 Marilyn Curzon

Instalment 1 - Instinct

Instalment 1

The cooler hills, relieved by the cover of trees and their altitude, lay just beyond the scorching heat of the quickly browning savannah grasslands. In a land that was once a colony, now having gained its Independence, there were some similarities to the western culture that remained which could be seen in the decaying furnishings and markings associated with the winding, pot-holed tar macadam road that lead up into the hills. Other than that, in this part of the vast country, you could almost mistake it for an undiscovered land.

Making an ascent through the hills provided, a view to the lush valley beyond wherein lies a man-made dam housing the country’s only hydro-electric power station fuelled by the force of the river from the thundering waterfalls beyond. There is stark contrast in perception of civilisation between the savannah hills and what lay in the valley. It seemed, as if forgotten, the savannah hills had been left for nature to reclaim.

As African legend tends to tell, animals seem to form the basis. Now as could be seen, before the hills, the animals of the grasslands frolicked but never once, despite the crippling heat, had they ever ventured up into the hills.

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Note: This blog has Creative Commons License for all works created.
 Copyright © 2011 Marilyn Curzon

Note: New Short Story 'Instinct'

I've started to write a new short story 'Instinct'.  I'll post the first two instalments shortly to give you a taster ...

Also see my Creative Commons License for all works created on this blog.