ALU- Part 1 excerpt

The sound of the drums grew louder and louder. Negasi knew he had made it. He had escaped sure death at the hands of his rival, and he had lived to fight another day. "The pain will now come to an end" he thought, "The villagers will find me and nurse me back to health..." little did he know that death at the hands of Ajani and his posse would have been a better option than what he was about to face. If he had known, he would have ran the opposite direction and begged Ajani for a quick death but instead, he walked towards the village with the sound of drums; one wobbly foot after another, finding strength from the depth of his being. Suddenly, he saw a light flickering from beyond the trees. Yes! Yes!! He muttered to himself and kept walking as fast as his weary legs could carry him. He soon reached a clearing and as soon as he emerged from the bush, the drumming stopped and masked heads turned to face him. He attempted to wave and smile but felt dizzy and fell to the ground with a big thud...

The heat was deadly, the bugs were unforgiving. If only he had the strength to swat those bloodsucking devils! He was so weak... All he could do was lie still while they sucked him dry and left him even weaker. How long has it been? Three days? He was not really sure since all he remembered was drifting in and out of consciousness; Only staying awake long enough to be fed by a woman. A very mysterious face with large brown eyes that made him feel a chill down his spine despite the scorching heat...or was that a dream too? One of his fever induced illusions? She must have been a figment of his imagination because she looked so ethereal. She was looking down at the concoction she was mixing in a wooden bowl but he had noticed her thick, long curly lashes and when she looked up at him, her almond shaped eyes sparkled like they had stars in them. He had attempted to speak but she stopped him, begging him to eat and lay still because he was not yet strong. Her presence had made him over-excite himself and he indeed felt weak and dizzy and before long, he drifted back to sleep.

A cock crowed and through the thatched roof of the hut, some sunlight drifted in. For the first time in days, Negasi woke up without any assistance. His strength was returning but he still felt pain on his left side. He slowly forced himself to sit up only to realize that he was naked under the covers made from jute cloth. He looked carefully at the cloth pattern and realized that the pattern was foreign to him. He got up from the bed, winced in pain and wrapped the cloth around his waist. The fire was out and there was no other light in the hut so he had not realized that he had company; until he stumbled on a calabash bowl left on the floor...