“Oh no! The gods are angry about something we have done wrong. We need to appease the gods before it's too late”, King Otun said as he saw the day turning into darkness.
Kota is a timid village that lacks development. This has extended to the king and his kinsmen. Everyone in the village has been living in the dark since the government refused to smile at them. Their major occupation is farming and hunting. Most times, the white men stopped by to buy their farm products just for a little amount of money.
Mona happened to live in the city with her aunt. Although she's not from Kota village. She loves viewing nature sceneries. In her school, she had this excursion she must embark on before the end of the session. It's an excursion that would lead her to her project. Although she had chosen her project topic, which includes pictures of natural occurrences. It's a project she had seen as so difficult, and she had no idea of. She had tried so hard to bring up a clue, but then the only one she saw was the Ikeba hill, where natural occurrences always happened. It is located at the end of the Kota community. She must travel for about a tangible number of kilometers before she can be able to get what she is looking for.
She decided to set out for the journey but took with her a few clothes and some money just in case there was a need for it. Likewise, she took her camera, and off she went. She crossed the bridge so close to her destination and went through another bridge that was a single rope. Not only that, but she looked deep down the bridge and saw that it was so deep enough to scare someone from moving ahead. Four women were coming from the farm, and she saw them move one after the other across the bridge without being scared.
“How come these people are walking through the bridge without thinking of sliding?” I will find all means to get out of here," Mona said to herself. She made several attempts to cross the bridge but could not get to a quarter of it before making a U-turn.
The last man coming from the farm saw her and asked, “Where are you going to?” Although, in his dialect. She was just looking at the man just like an idiot, as she could not understand what he was saying. When the man noticed he was just talking to the air, he changed to the little English he could speak, although not bright enough, but to her understanding.
“I have been trying to cross the bridge but then was unable to. Is there another way out of this?” Mona asked.
“There is another way, but a rough and risk-taking way,” he replied.
“I'm afraid of taking this path; I think I will prefer to take the risk-taking path.” Mona was so sure but had not known the risk behind the path. Deep in her mind, she wondered what the risk behind this route would be. She kept thinking but then could not come to any conclusions. She took her water bottle, which contained some coffee, just to keep her awake until she got to her destination, and sipped some.
Meanwhile, the man showed her the way but said, “That route is filled up with risks. The best is to take this path,” she was still afraid instead but followed the rough way. She walked for three hours before getting to the forest. When she entered the forest, the first thing that welcomed her was the voice of a monkey. “If it's just this, then I should be able to cross this route.”. She kept on with her journey. After walking some distance, she sighted something that looked like an animal, which she was unable to recognize. She drew closer but then was afraid for her life. She saw a lion. She quietly sneaked out. As she was leaving the forest, she saw from afar a group of lions chasing her. She ran as fast as she could, but then the man showed up in front of her. He dragged her to hide behind an Iroko tree.
“I told you this path is rough. You did not bother to ask what was in it; instead, you proceeded on your journey,” the man said.
A few hours later, they escaped from the forest and got to the bridge. She began to cross the bridge as the man followed. She crossed to the other side, but Deer gripped her as she landed her foot on the other side of the bridge. Likewise, she made a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you for saving my life,” she said to the man.
“You are welcome,” he replied.
Yvon Gallant
Immediately after they entered the Kota village, the sunny weather changed, and she saw some groups of people running and shouting in a language she was not clear with. The man leading her said to her, “They are running just because of this occurrence. It's something that does happen when their gods are angry with them.”.
“This is an understatement. What's happening right now is called the eclipse of the sun, where the moon comes between the earth and the sun”, Mona explained clearly, but the man was still not clear. "How will the moon come between the earth and the sun? That's not possible," he replied. Meanwhile, Mona immediately took her camera and began to take pictures of the natural occurrence. She snapped how the moon was seen between her and the sun, although everywhere turned dark just as if it were midnight. The villagers ran to the king's palace as they were shouting, speaking a language she was not clear with.
“This lady has something to say to the king,” the man said. Then the eclipse began to disappear, leaving the sun behind.
“This is called the eclipse of the sun and does happen every ten years,” she said as the man interpreted to the king and the villagers.
They were not ready to understand, but she showed them the picture she had taken and explained deeply to them. After her explanation, they all accepted that it was not the god's anger but their ignorance. She took her water bottle and sipped her coffee. She poured her friend, the man who showed her the way, a cup. “Hmmm… This is so tasty. You will leave this bottle for me as you leave”, the man said.
“Don't worry, I will bring you some when we meet again,” Mona replied.
I enjoyed every piece of this story, there are actually people who do not know what an eclipse is, more who think the gods are angry with them.
If not for mona the people of Kota might be thinking of sacrificing a human or an animal to appease their gods.
exactly
Hmmm!!! Interesting