The Beginning

Part One

Twambo

The faint voices of a woman woke her abruptly from the sleep she had fought so had to acquire. “It couldn’t be,” she thought to herself as she tried to gather her thoughts and the little energy she had left to walk to the mouth of the cave. “How will we survive?” she heard as she reached her destination. The voice she heard sounded familiar, but she could not quite place who it belonged to for she had never heard another woman speak before.

Had she gone mad? Were the shrubs she would often eat making her hallucinate on the possibility of there being another woman besides her? She did guess that he would create another like her, but she never thought of seeing his next great creation. Had the other woman defined her maker as she had? Did she too feel like she was created to please his male creation?

“I have to see her,” she thought to herself as she stepped out of the dark and stuffy cave she slept in every time the sun set. As she moved towards the sound of the voice she abruptly stopped as she heard another familiar voice. It was him, the other being that she was made to please. Why was he out of the garden? Did he disobey just as she had or was this some sort of test by the creator?

She could not walk further because that would mean seeing the only human she knew and hated so much, but she had to know why he was out. It was then that she realized she was naked. This was a strange feeling because she had never noticed the nakedness of her body. She had to find something to cover herself before she approached him.

As she looked around on how to cover herself, she approached the small body of water that she often drank from. It was then that she decided to create a paste from the soil and water with which would cover herself. As she covered the areas, she thought necessary, she noticed another human staring at her. She figured it was her own self because the image mirrored her every action.

For the first time, she thought of how she looked. She noticed that her skin blended quite well with the paste she covered herself with and that her hair was as coiled as the sheep she had reared in the garden, except hers was as dark as the panthers in the garden. She drank some water and decided to be on her way to meet him.

“Idris how are we going to raise him?” the other female voice asked as she slowly touched her stomach in exhaustion. “Quite!” Idris responded as he moved away from the other female and approached her. She suddenly felt this cold air surround her as her feet rooted themselves to the ground. He had seen her and the ghost silence that roamed between them was so grave that the other female seemed to feel it too.

“Idris, is that her? Is she Twambo?” asked the other female.

“Yes Nchimunya, this is Twambo.” Idris said as he broke from the cold trance that enveloped them both. As Twambo began to shift her gaze to the other female whose name was Nchimunya, she immediately noticed the contrast in their looks. Nchimunya’s skin was like that of the clouds and her eyes were the color of the sky on a rainy day. Twambo noticed too that, unlike her hair which stood up and was full, Nchimunya’s own fell to the sides of her breasts. Perhaps the only thing similar between them was the dark shade of their hair.

 “Why are you out?” Twambo asked finally gathering the courage to ask the burning question. As she looked at Idris, she never imagined being this timid because the hate she had for him gave her the nourishment to live. But looking at her now, one would think she had met the reason she lived.

“It does not concern you Twambo” Idris replied as he began to move away from Twambo and walk towards Nchimunya. Twambo wondered if Idris resented her as much as she had, or was he simply hurt that she had rejected him? She had to know why they were out Twambo thought to herself as she finally collected the shattered glass which rested in her inner core.

‘How do you know me?” Twambo curiously asked Nchimunya and she too moved towards the woman.

“Do not set foot near her Twambo. You might pollute her with your sinful thinking” Idris said viciously as he grabbed Twambo by the wrist and began to move her away from Nchimunya. Twambo expected nothing else from the man she was originally created to be with.

Suddenly, Idris let go of her wrist and looked at her with a look she could not quite place. Was it remorse? Twambo asked herself, or perhaps it was a pity he felt for her. “I shouldn’t have done that, and I apologize for my aggression,” Idris said as he placed his hands to the sides of his torso. “I just never thought I’d see you again and I was caught off guard” he added.

Twambo could not believe that he has apologized for his actions, and she guessed perhaps Nchimunya had a positive impact on him. It also dawned on Twambo that both Idris and Nchimunya were covered in what appeared to be the skin of a lion. Did they too realize that they were naked? She asked herself and why it suddenly dawn on them that they were naked?

Nchimunya

She was beautiful Nchimunya thought to herself as she first glanced at Twambo. It now made so much sense as to why Idris could never stop living in her memory. Nchimunya could not help but feel the inferiority she felt in the garden before meeting him.

“You should stay with us Twambo.” Why did she say that Nchimunya asked herself? Did she really want to live in exile with the woman she was created to replace?

“No, I’ve managed to leave alone for so long and I might be a bother to you both” Twambo replied as she looked directly at Idris. The way Idris looked back at Twambo filled her with much resentment towards herself. How could she ever live up to the great Twambo if she could not even get him to look at her like that? He looked at Twambo like she was the very air he breathed and was afraid that if he took one more breath, she would vanish.

Nchimunya longed to be looked at like that from the very moment she was created. After she was told Idris would be hers forever, she was filled with this sense of fulfillment that would haunt her for the coming nights in the garden.

“It’s no problem and it would be best to live together especially now that the creator has released the animals from the garden,” Nchimunya responded as she looked at her growing stomach. As she touched her stomach, she felt a sudden kick coming from her stomach. “Idris, I felt the baby move!” she exclaimed with excitement as Idris rushed to her side.

The way he touched her stomach made her feel as though perhaps there was a chance that he might love her.

“I felt a kick Nchimunya! Come feel the kick Twambo, it’s incredible” Idris added as continued to feel her stomach. He will love me she said to herself as she continued to feel the kicks coming from her growing belly. The mere fact that she was going to have a child before Twambo gave her the motivation to keep up.

Twambo rushed to Nchimunya’s side with complete fascination as she too felt the movement. “Oh my, I wonder how it feels,” Twambo said to Nchimunya as she placed her hands on her own stomach.

“It’s a peculiar but amazing feeling. Perhaps one day you might experience it.” Nchimunya said with a shocked look on her face. She did not intend for her words to come out as harshly as they did.

“I highly doubt that I will ever birth a child because the maker will not create a man for me to lay with” Twambo responded with a look of disappointment as she stared towards the direction she came from. Maybe she was thinking of going back to the place she was staying in since the exile, that would benefit them both Nchimunya thought to herself.

“You are right about the animals, I guess it would be best if I stayed with you guys for some time,” Twambo stated much to Nchimunya’s dismay. Nchimunya wondered if the look of disappointment showed on her face as she nodded her head in agreement. “It will just be until I figure out how to navigate living with the animals, and then I’ll leave you two,” Twambo added as if knowing that Nchimunya was displeased with her statement.

“I guess it’s settled then, we will all stay together for some time” Nchimunya responded in agreement.