A Dreamer's Journey

5. Rain

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"Thakhani!" I yelled at the top of my voice, running through the forest and stopping only to scream out my brother's name. After receiving no response, I continued running.

"Thakhani!" frustration was clouding my vision. Or maybe it was the tears and sweat I had to wipe from my eyes every minute. It could also have been the fact that it was getting darker even though it was only mid-afternoon. I looked up. Dark foamy clouds had covered the sky. They drifted and circled each other swiftly, threatening to engulf the trees like they had done with the mountain tops. I felt isolated. How would I ever explain this to mother?

"I won't let anything happen to him, ma," I had promised my mother on that very morning.

"You don't have to go you know. I can always go and get the groceries when I feel well-"

"No, we will go, we are old enough now and it's our turn to take care of you. You sit down and prepare the fire."

"But the forest... surely you do not want to go through it alone. It can be very-"

"I'll go with him," my brother insisted. "I've always wanted to see the white man's farm. They say it stayed green even during this drought."

My mother looked up into the clear blue sky

"We won't starve forever. It will rain soon and our crops will grow like never before."

"And you'll wear your banana coat again" teased my brother. She smiled at him.

"Go...with your brother, and come back safely." Her face had brightened; the banana joke had brought back to her memories that over the years had begun to fade.

"Thakhani!"

I was answered by a bright flash of lightning and a grumble of thunder. Now fear was consuming me and the feeling of loneliness was at its peak. Trees and shrubs swayed violently as wet gusts of wind rolled down from the brewing skies and into the forest. Cold air tore into my clothes and bit into my skin. Devious drops of water stung at my face and my bushy hair collected water like a sponge. I hugged myself and increased my pace. Teeth now clattering and threatening to shutter, I let out another desperate call;

"Thakhani!"

"I want to go to the bathroom." said my brother as we approached the forest.

"You should have gone before we left the house," I replied irritably.

"But I didn't want to go then. I want to go now."

"Okay. Run on ahead and do your business in the forest. Not too far from the path lest the gods mistaken you for a sacrifice..." I teased

"You said yourself that there is no such thing." He smiled, remembering granny's old stories and how she believed that the cause of the drought was due to our forgetting of the rain gods who lived in this very forest. It had been six months since she passed away and twelve since it had last rained in our village.

"Thakhani!"

I was now fully drenched in water. Rain poured from the heavens like a crazed waterfall, filling the once dry river that lay in front of me and making it hard for me to see just how full it was. I carefully planted my leg into the water to discover that it was knee high and was flowing faster than it was falling from the sky. I jumped away from it as quickly as possible. There was no crossing this river that had awoken from its slumber. I was about to give out another call to my brother when a silver light caught my eye. I knelt in the mud and picked up the coin that lay underneath. I looked back into the river and tears formed their own rivers on my cheeks.

"Don't lose the money!" I yelled to my brother who was already disappearing into the thicket.

"I won't," he called back.

I quickened my pace and in a few strides I too disappeared into the thicket. After a moment of waiting I called out.

"Thakhani? If you don't hurry those mean gods will snatch you. Thakhani... Thakhani!" No response. I ran in after him.

*

I looked at the door, too afraid to knock and yet not wishing to stay in the rain any longer. Its drops tittered on the corrugated iron roof and chimed on the Acacia Thorn's pods, almost as if it was mocking me.

"I got scared...-" my brother's whimpering voice could be heard from inside the house.

"I'll just grab my coat, we are going to look for your brother," my mom said angrily.

My brother was alive! My heart did a few summersaults and backflips. But who were they going to look for? Me! I barged into the house.

I picked up my brother who was in tears and looked into his eyes.

"I thought I killed you..." I cried.

Still crying he wriggled out of my arms and looking away from me, he confessed;

"I... I'm really sorry brother, I am. I ran to the dry river and threw the money in there so that the gods could give us rain. I was afraid you'd be angry so I ran back home, please don't be mad at me, please..."

I smiled at him;

"You did bring rain, didn't you?"

He smiled back and wrapped his tinny little arms around me, as if he was a baby clinging on for dear life. Our mother walked in, her yellow raincoat forming a cocoon around her, and upon seeing us, she started laughing and joined in and embraced her children.

"You are wearing the banana coat mom..." exhaled my brother with relief.

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