Touch Me Not- Part (1)

Touch Me Not (Part 1)

By Simon Mutunga Mbotela

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 Simon Mutunga Mbotela

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Chapter One

Sediah’s Encounter with a Boa Constrictor

The ambience was appealing. Sediah charmed at it ineffably. It is a day of unending tidings! She sighed. She could feel the cool air soothing her lovely, ruddy lips. The morning seemed nice. It was her habit to wake up early in themorning, every day. She abhorred sluggishness of any nature.

She had been brought up with biblical concepts like: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man (a beggar).According to her, only the poor sleep a lot. The rich are always on their heels at dawn.

The young dazzling sun shone brilliantly, sending its furious rays to the entire Zingule village. It rose from its secret bed between the two mountains widely known as Wamitila and Vembo. It was from these two mountains that the rays of the sun reached Zingule village.

Streams from both Wamitila and Vembo mountains extended their flow down the Somila Hills, relentlessly. In fact, Zingule village was the most fascinating village endowed with ceaseless felicity. It was intensely decorated by pine and eucalyptus trees all over the land.

This scenic beauty brought vast fame to the entire village. The people benefited from the delicious fruits in their orchards. Could the desert dwellers get a chance to be in Zingule village, they could have deliriously exclaimed, A real Paradise!

Sediah gracefully walked towards the river. She liked the way the warm rays of the sun shone upon her visage. The rays gave her some comfort. She was in one of her few dresses. She never liked this. She was bitter especially because of the imbalance of nature.

She wondered why one would use a single cloth per week while another one used two pairs per day. This was too much for her. It was because of the commonly used term; Social Gap or Social Status. And the status was poverty.

Oh! Poverty is sinister, she thought bitterly. The world seems to have no mercy on my life. I am in a pitiless world, a world full of races and racism. A world that does not distinguish between the holy and the unholy, the redeemer and the devourer, the kind and the menacing, she cried pathetically.

She was surprised to find herself at the river unknowingly. She had actually been lost in her bitter thoughts. She could hear some waterfalls from the other side of the river. Water flushed against the rocks. The river became quite lively when strong winds blew across the trees on the river banks.

Sediah was pitied by the strange sounds from the trees. She knew she was not alone. All she needed was to have company. She saw a spring that allowed a flush of water fizzle from underground. How the water came out of the underground, was a wonder to her.

After that, she moved towards a big rock. Before she reached it, she felt a cold chill down her spine. She sensed something horrid. Down her feet, there was a big tortoise. Hey! she cried with fright. The animal only glimpsed at her and walked away.

She then brushed off the idea of moving towards the rock. She decided to fill her water-barrel and go back home. As she turned to the well, an enormous boa emerged from nowhere. She froze. Now, it was a time to not only react but also act. The boa-constrictor seemed to have swallowed a whole gazelle.

Sediah knew that she was the next victim. The two different creatures stared at each other motionlessly. She could not move, and the boa could only produce warm air from its hell of mouth. She almost forgot her God. She was a committed believer who always laid her life before God, to guard it.

She depended on a God who could forego her gourd and guard her. Life was more important than any property. She closed her eyes, her heart almost bursting. She had a thought that the belly of the boa would burst first before her heart.

No! She denounced the thought. Then, a still voice came over her saying, Do not surrender. Say something to me, I will hear, my daughter. The voice was familiar, but she could not tell whether she was speaking to herself or it was a mere illusion. Then she remembered her Creator and said a prayer:

"My loving Father, you are my shelter. I abide in your shadow. You are my refuge and my fortress. You say that you will deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.

You promise that you will cover your people with your mighty hand and under your wings you will give refuge unto me as your faithfulness is a shield and buckler. So Lord, I pray that you may save me from this devilish creature. You are my shield forever. Amen.

After the prayer, she opened her eyes, ready to struggle. She was startled when she found that the boa had vanished into a secret world. To her, the 'storm' was over. She was grateful to her Creator.

***

Sediah, her mother Joan Mwende, called from her bedroom.

Yes Mummy, I am here, she replied from the kitchen.

Come please. I have something I need to tell you, she said this standing at the door. She noticed that her daughter was doing some chores in the kitchen. She never liked interrupting her but she could not avoid this one. What she had for her would not be ineptitude to her daughter.

Sediah got outside and walked towards her mother. From her face, one could sense that she had a happy mood. It was her mother's delight to recognize this. Sediah was holding a sieve on her left hand and on her right she had a thermos flask.

Mother, I have prepared breakfast for you.

My daughter, when did you fetch water?

This very morning, why mother? she asked with a demure smile.

It is okay but please you need to have some rest before dusk, Mwende advised. The two women looked at each other with some degree of mother to daughter affection.

Sediah, she broke the silence.

Yes mother.

"I have called you to inform you that your cousin Jenillah is coming to visit you with some of her friends today. I was informed about this yester night. Please prepare everything.

Yes Mother, she replied happily.

***

Jenillah, Sediah's cousin, was an intelligent girl. She was known to have taken most of her mother's figure. Her conduct with the family members was all the same good. Her principles were never mistaken by those who lived with her. She was a girl who abhorred hatred and booby people.

Jenillah and her family lived in a village known as Gedi. It was some kilometers away from Zingule village. She had longed to meet with Sediah so strongly. It was a long time since they saw each other. A period of about five years had already elapsed. They were in their early twenties. Both were in Universities.

The day of the visit was on Saturday. Sediah was to look after their only cow in the green pastures. After that she had to prepare lunch and then wait for her visitors. She walked here and there, did this and that until she was through with her preparations. To keep herself busy, she started singing a song she loved.

She sat on a three-legged stool outside their house. The compound was conducive. The whole domicile was covered with fine, short, green grass. One could even lie on the grass and fall asleep unawares. Close to her, there was a fig tree. On it, two birds of a colorful plumage chirped playfully. They were turtle doves.

Sediah joyfully looked at them and continued to sing. She was in a jovial mood of singing. She sang the song in a tuned rhythm. It was as if a tambourine was designed in her mouth. The two birds flew from the fig tree and landed where she sat. This was something peculiar.

Turtle birds were and are still known to be birds of unexpressive timidity. Yet this time, they were listening to Sediah's sensational tune with no sign of fear. They moved closer and closer towards her. She looked at them with a hidden smile. She liked their company despite the fact that they were naturally different creatures.

She sang the song sweetly and melodically. The song was entitled, "Life is nice to a charitable girl."She sang: Life is nice, to a charitable girl. What on earth so nice, like to be benevolent? Love and kindness are my happiness. Charity my king, come and reign in me forever. Before Sediah started the second stanza of her song, she saw four people approaching their home. She definitely knew that her visitors were arriving. Her heart jerked with ecstasy. She could hear them laughing hilariously as they chatted.

The one leading the others was Manoah Mbenzi, Sediah's father. May be, he had seen Sediah's visitors while he was taking the traditional brew from one of his old friends home, and he had decided to escort them. The way he staggered, was an obvious conclusion that he was in stupor. He was a man of many words, humorous but candid.

Eh, he cleared his throat, My daughter Sediah!

Yes father, she replied as she stood up to receive her friends.

I once told you that of course, you are already a beautiful woman, nice enough to be in wedlock. This is your day, your man is here, he told her as he pointed at Bitzer, one of her friends.

Oh! Papa, what are you saying now? The air was filled with laughter. The visitors enjoyed this kind of conversation between a father and his daughter. Sediah was also happy. She missed her father's jokes especially when he was drunk. The next few seconds were a moment of awe.

Both Sediah and Jenillah embraced each other enthusiastically. Jenillah did the introduction. After a while, Manoah's voice was not heard any more. He had already gone to sleep as the allies enjoyed their lunch. His wife had not arrived from their farm. Now, the friends had a lot to talk about especially academic issues.

The four friends, Sediah, Jenillah, Bitzer and Joseph, had many things in common. All of them had come from poor family backgrounds. Academically, they were known by