Just In Case

THE ANCIENT WILLOW: The Tale Of The Two Travellers

A tree stood on the side of the road. This tree has been on the earth for centuries. It had tales to tell. The stories were accurate straight from the one who saw it first . Only the lucky few got to hear them. The tales were from before there was a road beside the tree. It had seen kings pass the road. Wars that occurred on that land. Love that blossomed under its branches. It witnessed marriages and celebrations that occurred under it. It saw battles unfold.

The tree watched as the grass grew beside it. The grass was uprooted to create a path. The path grew into a simple dirt road. Gravel was put on the road to accommodate the carts passing through. It became a muram road when cars were being developed. The road was then tarmacked for more cars. The road grew as more cars were manufactured and sold. Still, the tree remained, giving shade to hitchhikers and sellers on the roadside. It was a silent witness to the frequent accidents that occurred when the weather became gloomy. And a temporary hospital for the victims.

Men had grown old and died but the tree remained. One of the events that the tree unfolded was an incident that occurred before colonialism. This was before the path became a road.

Kanja ran as fast as he could away from the village. He had to make sure his left leg did not touch the ground. This resulted in him limping. He was lucky to have escaped unscarred until he was shot in the leg with an arrow. He had just witnessed the most gruesome event of his life. He was almost at the age of initiation. He knew he would witness more but the scene of his parents being speared to death was engraved in his mind forever. "Kanja! Kanja!" He heard someone calling him. He looked behind. His neighbour Nyakio was running after him. Behind Nyakio, he saw fire billowing from his village. He slowed down to allow time for Nyakio to catch up. Her beautiful face was covered in blood, sweat and tears. Nyakio reached out for his hand and held it tightly, prompting them to run faster than they had ever run. They continued to run until they could not hear the raiders' chants in their ears. They stopped on top of a hill facing their village. Their villages looked bright as the morning. They saw the raiders celebrating among the corpses of their fellows.

Kanja's eyes glistened as he saw the brightness of the village dim slowly. The village burned down until it was no more than a pile of charcoal. The graceful way it stood was gone. He heard Nyakio sniffling next to him. She was trying so hard to conceal the fact that she was crying. Kanja hugged her comforting her. He asked Ngai in his heart to forgive him for being this close to a girl. They sat on the grass as they silently mourned.

The darkness gave them great cover from the raiders who were collecting their spoils and trophies. Some led the cattle out of the village. As soon as they saw the morning light seeping through the sky, they started to move to avoid being spotted. They walked through the bushes, across the plains and over the hills and valleys. From dusk to noon, they did not stop until they reached a stream. That's when Nyakio noticed Kanja's leg. She encouraged him to sit down on a large rock right by the stream. She plucked a few leaves from the trees and some medicinal herbs. Luckily for her, there was an aloe vera plant near her. She dipped her scarf in the water. A few tears gathered in her eyes as she remembered her father giving her the scarf. He was a trader and he had just gotten the scarf from an Arab friend in Mombasa after years of successful trading. When she wore the scarf, she became the envy of the village. She already knew she was beautiful, she always said that she would make him the richest man among his tribesmen.

She composed herself before gently washing the wound. Kanja hissed in pain and tried to snatch his leg back. "Stop struggling or I will push the arrow deeper," she said menacingly while tightly but carefully holding his leg. He was about to retort something back but her glaring eyes shut him up.

"Have you heard the story of the ant and the bee?"

"No"

"So there was once an ant who liked to work so hard"

"I did not ask you to tell me."

"Shut up and listen. He saw a bee buzzing around a flower. He admired the bee and from then on his greatest desire was to be a bee.." Nyakio continued telling him the story while washing his wound. As much as Kanja did not want to admit it, he liked the story and was interested in it.

Nyakio smeared some herbs on the arrow and the wound around it. She let it settle for some time while still telling Kanja the story. Once she saw he was distracted by her talking, she pulled out the arrow while still talking. Kanja let out a loud screech like scream, causing the birds in the trees to panic and abandon their homes. He glared at Nyakio, who was trying to hide her laughter. Nyakio then applied aloe vera onto the wound and wrapped it in the leaves.

She took the water in her palms and washed her face. The water around her was already stained a little red. Luckily, it was a stream and fresh water would always flow from mount Kirinyaga. She supported Kanja off the rock and helped as he sat under the willow tree. He fell asleep immediately. She washed her scarf and hanged it on one of its branches. She sat down next to Kanja and fell asleep watching the dragon flies hop around the river.

She woke when the sun was about to set. She gathered firewood and tried to light a fire. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she had not eaten. Kanja was woken up by the sound of Nyakio throwing the stick in frustration as she failed to start a fire for the umpteenth time. He smiled,"Do you need help?" Nyakio grumbled under her breath. Kanja scooted closer to the firewood and rubbed the sticks together, starting a small fire. He put all the small sticks on the fire to make it bigger and arranged the bigger logs to make a bigger fire.

Nyakio looked at him mesmerised. They sat close together looking at the fire. "I want to rebuild the village again." Nyakio sat up looking at him. "As the son of the village leader, I escaped instead of helping my people in the fight. I vow to destroy those raiders." Fire reflected in his eyes. She was at a loss for words, but she did not oppose him. She also wanted revenge.

They accompanied each other quietly, each working through their own issues. The night was soon filled with the owls hooting, the rustling of leaves, the breeze of the wind and the sound of two people snoring.

In the morning, they decided to go to the nearest village where some of their relatives lived. But under the willow tree, their hearts were united by revenge. They made a promise to rebuild their village together.