The Great Flood (part One)

Want to read a story that is so intriguing and gripping that you almost can't believe it didn't happen.....then the story of Anjola is just that story.

I was at home when the Great Flood besieged our land. That evening, as my hands frivolously searched for dirt and small rocks that lay beneath the heap of beans Mami had asked me to pick, I noticed the environment's aura change suddenly.

The heavens had grown grey hairs that wouldn't have worried us had it not turned pitch black in minutes. I stared at the vast sky of menacing clouds that loomed over our heads. Everyone in the village seemed to be doing the same thing, everyone with a different expression on their face.

Pa Anjola looked frighteningly worried, like someone who had been told bad news the day before and was now watching it take place. Mami was running after two of the goats that she had unwittingly let go of while watching the bitter sky. Dare sat in an open hut, drinking the day's elixir of life, oblivious to the scenery, which everybody stopped to notice. But the children, the children went about, unmoved by the event, chasing each other like cats and mice in an open field.

And there I sat, my eyes twinkling in wonder and awe. As daring and gloomy as it appeared, there was a certain surrealism about it that had me transfixed on the spot, almost enchanted. It started as a rush of wind, so strong that it kicked the mighty tray of beans that was stuck to my lap and sent it to the floor, spilling the contents.

Instinctively, I rushed to pick them up. I guess I did that out of fear of Mami's beating rather than the shock of the wind being able to throw a tray of beans from my lap. Pa Anjola, Mami, Dare, and the children began to run towards the direction of their home while I still sat there picking the beans one by one.

It started to fall with distinct alacrity. My lap cloth was soaking wet by the time I picked them all up. I ran into the house and locked the door behind me. My family stayed cooped up in the living room. Pa Anjola sat close to the window, pouring libations on the ground and mumbling. Dare stood with his back on the wall and his lips hugging the rim of the wine keg.

The kids had gone to sleep, and Mami was walking towards me."Paaaa!" I think that was the sound I heard when she slapped me. She proceeded to unlock the full strength of her fury, and I, very unhappily, bore it. Then one of the kids screamed with a voice that still troubles my heart...