Sisyphyra

What I Saw 04

Sisyphyra is now on webNovel

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yelling to a bunch of misfits usurping my baby sister's bowl of toys carved out from the fallen branches of abscessed trees suffering from an ailment yet to be discovered. Of course, they laughed at my outburst

"Just leave us alone, we don't want any trouble" I tried again taking a step back as they kept advancing by a step towards me. I couldn't fight them all though mama had told me not to fight. I grabbed my sister's tiny light-complexioned hand and squeezed her hands gently. She pressed back. Slowly, I carefully roamed my eyes around its socket for an exit, the easiest way. It's far, farther away from where we were.

"What do I do?" I murmured, I felt the wheels in my brain turning

On the spur of the moment, my eyes twinkled as a smirk lit up my face. Feela, one of the guys in the group who had a gap tooth on his front teeth moved closer trying to intimidate with his gangling figure despite carrying the bowl of toys. I abruptly stopped and took a forward step towards him, he was surprised, to say the least. The shock made him lose his footing and I snatched the bowl and thrust it into my sister's hand immediately

"Run! Home!"

Seeing her running away from us, I turned to face the juveniles. They welcomed me with heavy blows crashing against my face and stomach. I struggled to put them off which I eventually did after many failed attempts. Running away was an act of cowardice though I intended to fight. Rounding a corner, I contended with the first person. A kick to his leg sent him wailing to the ground. I continued running, more of them followed. Another came closer grabbing on my clothes, I dragged him by his clothes and pushed him against the tree, he fell unconscious. I thought of ways to discard their tail on me and the only way was to get lost in the woodland but I remembered to mark my paths with a piece of my cloth. I quickly tore my sleeve into pieces. Knowing this might lead them to me, I decided to confuse the markings. Deeper into the forest I went and the situation kept fuming words in my brain.

"It just doesn't make sense, it's just for a toy. They should stop already" I thought.

Getting to an open field, I stopped running and lay in wait for them. I sat on the dirt waiting. Feela was the first to appear, he stared menacingly at me which was unpleasing and unbecoming. His face etched out a mischievous smirk often seen in scheming individuals like Pa. Dede. Then Julibe joined us.

"What to do now, Feela? My Da wants me home" he stared at his surroundings, afraid.

Feela spared him no glance as all his attention was on me.

"The sky is changing, Night falls soon. Make up your mind. This no staring game" Julibe stated.

"You scared, Go!" Feela turned on me holding his right hand in a fist.

Of course, I knew he wanted to fight. So I sprang to my feet immediately and readied my stance.

"You, son of Zona. Think you were high and mighty than us all. Where's your Daddy now?"

As he aimed for my face, I swiftly swiveled beneath dodging the harassment. I instead sent him railing to the ground with a punch on his stomach. Julia rushed to him and helped him up. Aggregated, he pushed him away and helped himself to his feet. He came advancing again, his legs wobbly.

"Can we just talk about this?" I attempted reconciliation. Taking pity on him.

And of course, he replied once again with a peal of mocking laughter "No, you punch me already. I want punch too"

"He's ready to talk, let's make a bargain, Feela" Julibe pleaded.

Feela's face scrunched up with more anger and I think something darker like hate reflected in his brown eyes. Only God knows what actions I had made to get this response from Feela. We had nothing in common, not even with Julibe as we were no longer friends. His parents are not friends with mine neither are they, enemies.

"Feela, you know we could talk about this" I tried again.

"Nothing to talk about, Zaire"

"You was known, it wasn't his fault" Julibe pitched in.

"It wasn't his fault, he was better dead. Why me brother?" Feela countered

"What are you saying, what's going on?" I was so confused by their exchange.

"You killed me, brother, now you pay" Feela grabbed a stick and advanced on.

Julibe watched helplessly. Then a javelin whistled past Feela and hit the tree beside him. Our eyes darted straight to the intruders. They had all surrounded us. We are at their mercy. The markings on their exposed chest revealed who they were. Feela realized the situation took off but an arrow arched on his back brought him down.

Julibe knelt to his feet in resignation. A stocky wide-faced man holding a gourd knocked us out with his feet. I could feel my body hit the hard ground and my eyes refused to open. At that moment I knew this was just the beginning.

***

Zeneba ran as if her life depend on it. She had never seen her brother look so frightening. He was angered. She clenched firmly to the bowl of toys in her tiny hands as she glanced back to see him being pushed and beaten to the ground. She was almost turning back but Zaire's words "Run! Home!" prompted her to increase her pace and run swiftly to get help. Seeing the tiny white hairy petals of the aleye flower she had dropped on the ground as her brother had instructed her she knew she would soon get home as it was already getting dark. As she rounded a curve, she suddenly lost her footing. Crying out in fear, she struggled to regain her balance. Her hands scrambled desperately for anything to hold on to but her short hands grabbed nothing. Screaming she tumbled down a steep slope and landed unceremoniously amid a green grazing field filled with alarmed bleating sheep. She struggled to stand but she felt her eyes roll, a peal of dizziness seeped in and she laid on the grass unconscious.

On that field not too far away from where she plopped, a Shepherd boy with sun-kissed freckles on his face turned to see her fall down the slope as his sheep moved away from the commotion continuously bleating in alarm. He quickly rushed to her and checked if she was okay. He called out to her parting her face softly but he got no response. Suddenly feeling unease fearing the worst, he immediately checked her pulse. The cracked lines in his forehead gradually eased away, the frowning disappeared. He wondered what a little girl like her was doing all alone in the woodland with a wooden bowl.

Maybe she was blind. He thought

He could feel a faint ticking of her pulse beneath his hand. After accessing whether she had broken anything, the craft on the bowl in her hands caught his attention. The carving was unlike anything he has seen. The birds and the animals on the surface of the bowl were so detailed. He looked behind her and noticed some wooden figures on the ground littered around. His gaze was suddenly cut short as he felt a drop of rain in his slim checks. He quickly made a quick calculation of what to do.

To carry her carefully he decided to relieve the bowl from her hands but she held onto it firmly. Then rain grew heavy and still, Zeneba gave no-stir but she held In I the bowl. Sensing her unconscious reluctance the shepherd boy knew that the bowl was of great importance to her. As the bleating sheep crowded around them, he carried her and led the way to his hut. His sheep followed him.