Chapter 1
One day is enough time to absolutely change the way we view the world.
"Kadush kara ka zuda, kadush kara ka zuda!”
The four boys sang as they clapped their hands.
It was the end of summer and that meant two things, the harvest was over so they didn’t have a lot of work to do in the fields and the rain had stopped falling so that meant they could play and run around all day to their heart’s content. It was a particularly good day that day, perfect even. The sun had just reached its apex but the trees and shrubs in the forest covered it up so all you could feel of its presence was the abundant light and the warmth that covered you up like a warm blanket in winter. There was a light breeze in the air and the sound the leaves made had a soothing calm about it all.
The boys were in their happy place. It was good to be an African boy this time of the year, you could run in the forest for hours and hours, climb trees, swim in the river and play hide and seek till the sun was tired of shining, it was simply magical! Only then would you go home with dusty legs and soil in your hair, to be met by the unapproving scolding eye of your mother.
The boys had been in the forest for hours and Tonde was getting worried and hungry, mostly hungry. Tonde was not the bravest kid in the group, actually, he didn’t have any physical talent at all. His friends often complained that he slowed them down as he couldn’t keep up with them most of the time. Three things he was though being intelligent, sensible and funny, very funny.
You see Tonde’s mother had warned him not to go too deep into the woods. The story was that the forest was home to the man with a crooked face. He had angered the ancestors by refusing to honor his calling. The ancestors struck him with lightning and instead of burning him to a crisp the force of the lightning displaced his jaw and neck.
The sight of his face was so shocking and terrifying and the villagers were so afraid of the ancestors that they banished the man into the forest. This had angered the man so much so that if he caught you, you would disappear forever. So Tonde was worried, but all he said to his friends was “I am hungry” because he didn’t want to be the one that always dragged everyone else behind.
“Tonde you are always hungry” retorted Kuda in an annoyed way.
Kuda was the Chief’s son and already he had an air of authority about him, like someone who was born for the throne. Kuda was tall and athletic. At ten he already stood a head taller than boys his age, he could even run faster than most teenage boys.
Tonde looked at Kuda with pleading eyes, shot his lower lip. He took his tummy in his hands and said “I’m hungry,” using his stomach as a puppet. They all laughed.
Kuda envied Tonde, his carefree nature and his ability to laugh at himself with no shame at all. For as long as he could remember he had been groomed to be a leader and that meant serious business all the time. There was hardly ever a time to be silly or laugh out of turn, he essentially had to act like a grown up all the time.Being the only son of the chief was not something to be envied. All his friends thought it was cool to have all these servants that would wait on you hand and foot as well as a whole host of security guards watching you all the time.
What they did not understand was that he never felt sincerely free, someone was always watching him and correcting him.
“You can’t walk like that Kuda”
“You can’t speak like that”
“You can’t eat like that Kuda.”
It was all constant and annoying, very annoying. Kuda felt like all the rules made him feel like someone’s puppet like he was being controlled all the time for someone else’s enjoyment. The only time he felt truly happy and truly free was when he managed to lose the guards and sneak off with his friends. They never understood it, his need to get away but what did they know right. It is after all only the wearer of the shoe that knows where it pinches the most.
