The ancient beginnings

Daily bread.

Achol sits on a rock near her cave by the lake side, looking at the setting sun you can see the reflection of the sun on the water, beautiful orange rays cover the evening sky. This is what she loves about her spot, sun rise and sun set can be so beautiful and vivid here even though her cave have somewhat carry bad memories of some mysterious man , why he matters is not yet clear like come on the guy did not care about her feelings just like everybody else it should not be a new thing or even hurt for that matter but it does.

Her encounter with certain Malok brought her so much trouble, let's see Ayak did not want to marry the man but she could not stand her cousin taking the attention of a rejected suitor who does that, that is right Ayak does. Today had been one of those hectic and busy days, waking up before the c**k crow for the second time, feed the chicken, milk the goats, sheep and cows, collect the eggs to boil them for breakfast, she goes back to feed the kids, lambs and calves, boil the milk for breakfast after the separating the gee and milk from last night, put fresh milk in the gourd, makes yogurt for the children in the calabash. 

She sets the animals out hunting for fresh dewy grass at sunrise, when everyone woke up, she had just finished collecting water for the day and she is now pounding sorghum for lunch under a tree, fetching vegetables was done last night. It seems today will not be one of those days her uncle and cousin find a reason to mock her all day for her inability to complete her daily tasks in time.

'' looks like someone has finally learned to do things right without so much as a push from me or father as usual, bravo sister am so proud of you. ''

Ignoring her totally, Achol focuses on the task at hand, her  flour is reducing rapidly thanks to Ayak who thinks it is funny to cook and give away her flour that she has made, dried and stored for emergency. So now after getting done with lunch she will have to pound more kilograms of sorghum for both supper and storing, not mentioning about having to collect vegetables you see during this season where the rain has just started all crops are still too raw for consumption so people have to depend on nature some trees and plants actually get fresh leaves around this time and they are the perfect food for this time of the year.

She gets done with supper pretty quick, she brings the animals back to the kraal, milk them and stored the milk, feeds the young animals insure that there is hot Water for bath by the time her uncle gets back from the village square, she is done before sun down.

That brings her to here now on her favorite spot in the whole wide world, it is a bit far from settlement but that is what makes it fun really here on a rock, you can hear the frogs in the lake, wild animals moving about in the grassland either retiring for the night or looking for a last minute meal that is the beauty of life in Africa, Achol actually fears human beings more than wild animals, animals for one are expected to behave like well animals human beings on the other hand are expected to behave in a certain way but they do another and say the next so they are indecisive, slow, manipulative, judgmental, pretentious and  well that is a long way to go, she made peace with nature , the evening breeze carry the smell of earth and the lake so refreshing, after a long day of constantly being on her toes she does deserve to relax a bit and that is exactly what she is doing under the pretext of collecting vegetables and tamarind, it is so good with millet for porridge and maybe fresh milk if needed.

She is always planning the meals of the day water and every other thing for the household, much as she would love to share household chores with her beloved cousin Ayak but that is only wishful thinking, she is the princess of the family, the light of the village and the beauty that every young man wants to marry so yes working in the household is not in her nature.

She makes sure every young man that seek her  hand in marriage gets to know that she will require servants to serve her, servants that do not exist in this era where every person have so much work load of their own to ever consider serving any one , from cultivation to harvest, livestock raring to child up bringing.

For the past two weeks it feels like someone has been watching her every move, every where she goes there is that nagging feeling of being watched looming upon her. It has intensified today, this time with dreadful thoughts accompanying it, it could be paranoia. No one knows her hide out well apart from that Mr stranger who is not coming back any time soon or ever for he has no business here or does he?

Though some part of her wish he could just come back for her in any form he wishes, being in injured or just passing through without so much as a word she just wants to make sure he is fine now come on who is she kidding, she just wants to see him with that in mind she sets out to head home but before she can leave her spot there is a figure standing before her.

He is a muscular man, three beads line about his neck, a simple crown good looking but not like her perfect stranger, hold horses when did he become her perfect stranger' 'focus Achol you have a strange man before you in the middle of the forest far from civilization so yeah you are in tight situation, do not keep taunting yourself with that man you know nothing about' she thinks to her self.