A Heart In Flames

CHAPTER TWELVE

Back in Sabasu, it was getting to the end of a century since Oma and his wife sailed off. The villagers had waited and waited. Day after day, they looked towards the direction of the huge tree but never did they see it going down. The hope of many people dwindled every passing day until they lost hope completely. The Great Savant died ten years after Oma and Mansa left the village. The town crier died four years later. And almost all the people that saw Oma and Mansa sailing off to the island died one after the other. It was only one person, the chief of the village, the one who succeeded the Great Savant remained of that generation. The story of Oma was told to children, and children passed it on to their grandchildren. To the villagers, Oma and Mansa did not succeed. They had perished, many thought. Few others still believed that Oma and his wife were alive and that, they would accomplish their mission no matter what.

Early morning of the last day of the century, the oldest man in the village who succeeded the Great Savant called the new town crier, and tasked him with an announcement. The town crier went to work without delay.

“Oyez, oyez, oyez!” the town crier's voice was heard on the streets as his bell rang. “Men and women, boys and girls, young and old, please hear this important message and act on it.

“Our respected chief of the village want us all to gather at the village square this morning for a very important discussion. Hold on with your breakfast, and do not bother to take your bath before you come because, the discussion will subdue our hunger pangs and render our sense of smell inactive. Come one, come all.”

The villagers acted quickly on the message that was delivered to them. They rushed to gather at the village square to listen to what the old wise chief had for them. The town crier stood among the crowd with his bell—he didn’t go home after he was done with the announcement; he didn’t want to miss a word of what the old, wise chief was going to say.

When all the people had gathered, the wise chief climbed the podium at the village square, and before he spoke, he turned to the direction of the huge tree to see whether it was going to go down at the time, but that was only his wish. The huge tree still stood firm, far away in Mookoo. His strong hope of seeing the tree go down before his death then got to an end.

“People of Subasu,”he started, and cleared his throat, “receive my greeting not with cheers but in silence.”

The people murmured for awhile. They did not understand why the wise chief asked them to receive his greeting in silence early that morning. Something bad was about to happen? They couldn’t guess.

He continued after the murmuring. “Today and this hour marks exactly hundred years since a beautiful young couple from our village set off to Mookoo to hew down the evil tree so that calamity will cease befalling mankind. I was young then, but now I am grown; I am very old and frail. I am one hundred and fifteen years old and, very soon, I may depart this world into my grave. It is now very clear that the handsome Oma and the beautiful Mansa whom everyone in this village has heard about have perished. They did not succeed in their mission because, as you can see, the evil tree still stands strong on the evil island. Maybe, they did not reach the island where the tree stands—a monster or a wizard might have killed them on the way.”

Many of the people sobbed when the wise chief mentioned that Oma and Mansa might have perished. How the villagers wished they had succeeded; Oma would have become a hero and Mansa a heroine, and they would also have brought peace to the whole world.

“It is sad that their mission was not accomplished and they have lost their lives in addition,” the wise chief continued, “but they still remain heroes because never has anyone embarked on that mission. They wanted to save humanity, they wanted to sacrifice their lives for everyone. For this reason, let us raise two statues; one for Oma and one for Mansa to commemorate them. The statues will also encourage anyone who will someday embark on that mission to save mankind—the person will know that his or her sacrifice will not be forgotten.

“Help, everyone, please help and let’s build the statues to commemorate the most courageous, beautiful, and loving couple that ever lived in our village.”

The villagers quickly organised themselves to build the statues when the wise chief ended his speech. Many did not even care about their empty stomach. Their zeal to raise the statues was strong. The construction began. Women and children fetched water for the construction. Men dug clay soil and cracked stones. And builders started the foundation. The people worked hard, and after two weeks, two huge statues were completed. The statues were made to look like Oma and Mansa. The statues stood at the village square with their faces towards the huge tree that stood on the evil island.

The wise chief then held a ceremony to remember Oma and Mansa at where the statues stood at the village square. From that day, news about Oma and Mansa and what they intended to do spread throughout the world. People from far and near visited Subasu to see the statues and to learn about the loving couple who wanted to defeat evil and safe humans on earth.

Three months after the statues were built, the wise chief died. The villagers buried and mourned him, and elected a new chief to lead them in the affairs of the village. Thus, the generation that saw Oma and Mansa embark on the deadly mission passed; they all died without seeing the mission of Oma and Mansa accomplished.

The countdown to the end of the millinium continued. Disaster was going to strike definitely, many thought.