THE TRA GRADE S

HUNTING EXPERIENCE

Divine who was now nine years of age. He likes hunting because hunting makes him excited. Having been a child that loves adventure, he begins his hunting experience by chasing grasshoppers and catching crickets around a nearby bush close to the blocks of flats in the barrack quarters. However, farther away from the barrack's quarters is a forest reserve that he has not attempted venturing to hunt. He often sees wild animal running in and out of the thick bush of the forest, whenever he is going or coming back home from school.

It is a common thing with the barrack children to hunt snails, grasshoppers and crickets around. Nevertheless, he was already used to that hunting game. He needed something more adventurous, this was what spur up his interest, venturing into hunting with others children in the forest reserve.

When he wants to catch crickets, he would often pour water into the hole and watch the hole suck the water, after which he will now use a stick to start digging the hole, until he sees the cricket and catches it. However, this fateful day, after repeating his usual routine of pouring water into the hole, he went ahead to start digging but met what he dreaded the most. Instead of sighting cricket, as usual, he saw a massive snake. Immediately he spotted the snake, he screamed and ran away. This experience made him not go hunting crickets again because he is ophidiophobic. This happens after his Dad had told him how dangerous snakes are. All the mental images of how dangerous snake is were stored in his memory, after his Dad warns him not to dig holes, to avoid snakebite. He violated his father's order and was almost bitten by a snake because if he had a dip in his finger, he would have been bitten. Divine fears snakes before his literal encounter with them.  However, occasionally, he follows the barrack children to the bush, where they hunt after rats, by burning bushes. They do this every Saturdays by setting the dried bushes on fire; as they would now encircle the confines of the burning bush with their clubs and sticks, waiting on alert, ready to give a chase to any rat that tries to escape.

This fatefully day, Divine went out with some group of barrack boys, into the forest reserve. When they arrived at the forest reserve, they started burning bushes. While they were burning bushes, they encircle the burning bush. Suddenly, from the point where Divine was standing with his stick, there was a very massive snake trying to escape out of a burning bush heading in his direction. When he turned and realized the snake heading toward him, he screamed and started running away. Then one of the elderly boys ran after him because he was running toward the burning bush for the fear of the snake. While the other boys who were six in number gave the snake, a chase until it entered into a hole. It was a very big hole. Divine was very frightened, because of his ophidiophobic nature, having been told of how dangerous a snake could be. 

James who was his next-door neighbour held Divine back, and he was just panting exhaustively like a rabbit that has given up running after a never giving up hunter gave it a chase.

Calm down, Divine! Why are you running like that? Can you not see that you are running into the fire? James asked, and said, “You do not have to run from the animal you are hunting, no matter how big it may appear, face it and kill it”. You have to be a man to overcome your greatest fear, Divine, did you hear me? Yes, but I am afraid of snakes, my Dad said, “Snakes are dangerous, that if they bite me, I will die”, so I do not want to die”. ‘If you do not want to die, face your greatest fear and kill the beast that tends to be your greatest dread, else if you do not kill what can kill you, it may end up killing you”, said James to Divine. In Divine’s mind, these words came as a motivation, because they were indeed brave words, but he was still frightened.

Divine, now watching from a distance away from the burning bush, was now sitting on rock afar. He saw the other boys running after the wild snake that entered the hole. They were now digging the hole that the snake entered. Suddenly, the person digging, shouted, I can see it! Please, be on alert. Moreover, about five of the boys apart from the person digging the hole raised their stick standing at various position, ready to strike, if the snake eventually comes out. The person who was digging with a hoe; now swap to using a cutlass with a pointed tip, blocking the hole with a very big stone that fits directing into the mouth of the hole, to prevent the snake from escaping. However, the person digging the hole, left a tiny space to access the tail of the snake and he was able to see the tail of the snake after digging some length. Nevertheless, the snake was now struggling to escape, but he did not allow the snake access. Suddenly, he was able to hold the snake by its tail and started pulling it out slowly, while the snake keeps resisting the pull by heaving back into the hole. He kept trying, as the hole kept expanding until the stone was now completely swallowed in. The snake ran further, as the digger keeps digging until the opening of the hole became very big, to accommodate his head and body.

Hey guys! “I want to do what real men do, as I am going to kill this snake by entering the hole to face it face to face”, said the person that was digging. However, I will do this with my bare hand today. Are you crazy? Said one of the boys, how can you even think that? The person digging, starts wrapping his hand in very thick skin, after which, he wore a very thick rubber hand glove on his left hand, but left his right hand bare. I need an assistant as I go into this hole; since I am already wearing a helmet, you people need to pull me out when you hear me say, “Pull!” I will put in the hand with the hand glove-first so that when the snake strikes, I will able to hold it. However, I will use my bare hand to support my right hand, for it not to pull off and strike me at the part of my body without any form of protection. Nevertheless, since I am already wearing a helmet, if it spits, it will not affect my eyes. Please, use the hoe to dig the top of the hole and make it wider so I can go right in. I need more space to pull the goddamn snake out, this will indeed be good meat and I do not want to miss this one. Therefore, the person who was initially digging now gave the hoe to one of the boys, as he is now ready to enter into the hole and dare the devil. He had a head torchlight firmly wrapped around the helmet to aid him to see into the hole. Therefore, the boy standing right in front of him took the hoe, and the person digging initially went right into the hole. The snake was right in, swallowing a rat so it could not turn to attack him. He notices that what he is seeing in the hole, was not the same snake he was pulling out, this one is far bigger. He was going in and all of a sudden saw the tail of the snake and started pulling it out, while the snake, was wrapping him up into the hole. He was able to reach the head of the snake that could not strike him, because it is still swallowing a giant rat, whose head was stuck in its mouth, struggling. He held the head of the unimaginable massive snake and shouted, “pull!”, and the boys outside, could not even hear him shouting. However, the snake that ran into that hole was big but not as massive as the one he is now holding, which implies, the one he is now holding, actually swallowed the snake that ran into the hole and it is now swallowing a giant rat, which is stuck in its mouth.

Suddenly, the boys outside, saw the one inside the hole dangling his legs outside the hole. He is now suffocating in the hole because the massive snake was beginning to strangulate him and wrapping around his neck. They kept pulling him out, but could not, because he was stuck in. He was now holding the head of the python and gradually feeling the pull from outside, as he keeps shouting, I cannot breathe! They kept pulling until they finally dragged him out... The boys outside could not believe what they saw. Some of them were so frightened at the sight of a horrific massive looking snake, now very furious, but could not do anything because of the giant rat stuck in its mouth. He held the head of the snake, while two of the boys out of the five, who were waiting at alert was now, pulling off the snake from strangling him. Whereas the remaining three were smashing the snake with their clubs and stick, while the main guy was holding the head of the beast. He was never letting go since the snake was still furiously struggling. They were able to finally, kill the snake. It was indeed a very big achievement for them to take such kind of risk, in the end, overcome, and have a lifeless four feet beast. The snake now released itself to give up its last breathe. The remaining five boys, in jubilation, carried the long massive snake and went straight toward Divine who was watching the adventurous drama. Divine was dazed in fear and was now fidgeting as they drew nearer to him. He was already urinating in his pant. Right before the eyes of Divine was what he has never seen, his greatest dread.

“Divine, come and touch it”, one of the boys said.

“Please, do not bring that thing close to me”, said Divine, “I cannot stand the sight”.

The snake was very long and large, such that, two of the boys could not even carry it alone.

They killed twelve rats from the same hole where the snake was killed.

In fright, Divine remembered what James; his next-door neighbour had told him concerning overcoming his greatest fear. The snake swallowed a snake and a giant rat, else, it would have struck the boy who entered into the hole. However, the snake would have swallowed him because it was big enough to swallow someone bigger than the boy that bravely entered into the hole to daredevil. Despite he never knew that the initial snake he was trying to pull out, has been swallowed by the massive snake. So there is a snake in a snake and the snake that have a snake in, now have in its mouth a giant rat, which rendered him harmless.

It was indeed a fun experience for Divine; nevertheless, the fear of the snake ruined it. They took all the rats that they killed, and handed them to Divine, to hold them. They kept all the rats in a sack, but kept the massive snake on the ground, while they went on hunting by digging more holes. They were able to kill more rats, two squirrels and one porcupine. When the sun started setting, they headed home. Divine summoned the courage to touch the massive snake and felt a chill of the now dead and motionless snake. However, immediately, he touched the snake, he felt an unusual sensation that sent impulses to his brain and reacted abruptly out of fear, as if he had a sensation of the snake still moving. He screamed aloud and flung the sack containing the rats. Everyone around, burst into a laugh and started teasing him, fear, dear boy, you need to tie wrapper and tear off your trouser. “You are acting like a girl”, one of the boys said to Divine. “Be a man, because you just have to hunt and face your greatest fear in life to make progress. If you want a beautiful girl to be your girlfriend, you must hunt her. However, you cannot be given room to things that frighten and hunts to steal your confidence to confront life with boldness”.

Divine who grew up to realize the weapon used against him was FEAR, resolved never to allow fear to keep tormenting and driving his life from that day hence. However, this happened when the frequency of the heart of his heart stirs up, he hears voices no one hears and tries to communicate it, but people tends to see him as a weird child.

Divine grew up and became an agent of constructive transformation in a renegade system, with his principal communication as LOVE and his admission as PEACE, beyond impious inappropriateness.