THE UNKNOWN HANDS (EPISODE THIRTY-SIX)

…I was very tired and I decided to take a rest before continuing to where I know not. I was almost dozing off when I suddenly began to listen to some wailings coming from a distance. I realized it was drawing nearer and nearer and I stood up hurriedly. Taking a

few steps towards the direction from where the noise was coming from, I was alarmed to see some tiny creatures in their multitude coming towards me. I was seized by blind panic and I took to my heels at once, running as fast as I could until I came to a cave where I decided to halt, thinking it was safe enough. Besides, their wailings had ceased and I felt I had escaped from them once and for all. I was beginning to heave a sigh of relief and to ponder over what they were when the noise reached me again. I was at wit’s end as I stood up and thought of the next line of action. I guessed climbing a tree could be a way out and I quickly jumped at the stem of the tallest tree around and up I went as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, by the time I got up and balanced myself on one of the tree’s branches. The noise had got right under my nose and I discovered that the creatures had in fact seen me. Their wailings were intensified and my hairs stood on end. Before I realized what was happening, the creatures had begun to mount on one another until they were as tall as the tree on which I was. They drew nearer the tree, got hold of me and threw me down forcibly. I was prevented from landing on the ground by the waiting hands of others. If not I would have died outrightly. Meanwhile, those who had mounted on one another disengaged and I was dragged along into the cave which I had earlier thought was safe but which I now discovered was their home.

The creatures were so small that I could conveniently step on their head as I was being dragged away. I also discovered that each of them carried short tiny mats under their armpit and none of them attempted dragging me with two hands. It was done with one hand while the other hand held tightly to the mat. The tallest among them was just my knee high and the only organ I found on each of their heads was an eye which was very large and out of proportion to their stature. They had no clothes on and they were sexless considering the fact that they had no visible genital.

I was also surprised that their wailing mouths and ears were situated on their chest and they were generally horrible to behold. On getting inside the cave, I was tied to a big tree standing at one side. The next thing I saw was that just within a short while they left me and came back with long canes. I had been surprised at how they were able to jump as quickly as they did since each of them had only one leg. As soon as they came back, they started beating me with their long canes and I started to bleed. I cried until my voice was totally gone but their wailings even surpassed my own. Then what I least expected happened. The creatures were using their fingerless palm to lick my blood. Later one of them dropped its cane and fixed its mouth firmly on my body sucking my blood as fiercely as it could. From all indications, I knew I had a short moment more to live, as others were trying to do the same. But later I rose up to my own defense. The rope used to tie me was not very strong and my initial plan was to watch them leave and release myself.

But from the prevailing situation, there was no hope that they would leave, especially as they all seemed to be enjoying my blood.  I released one of my hands with it push off the one whose mouth was on my body. The creature, realizing that my hand was a threat, made a fresh effort to tie the loose hand again. Instead of mounting others as it was in their usual practice, it decided to go it alone in its own way. I got to a big stone and was trying to climb it to be on the same level with me. However, in trying to do so it slipped and fell down mightily on the ground, although they were still tears in my eyes, I was least aware of when I burst into laughter. Yes, one of my enemies was down.

Surprisingly, for a reason I found it difficult to understand, they all jumped off and started scampering away. The next moment I saw most of them also climbing one another in a bid to escape. It was as if they were being chased by something I could not see. In their stampede, some were falling and getting up as quick as they could and rushing off at the same time. It was quite a funny scene and I could not control my laughter. Soon they had all disappeared and I stopped laughing. I later watched them returning and I burst out again. Surprisingly enough, they all rushed back again.

I was convinced that it was my laughter they were fleeing from. I freed myself and began to chase them away with my new found strategy. Even though I had come to realized that those tiny mats meant everything to them, I could now see some of these mats falling off their hands but they were content only with getting away from the scene of the laughter, as quick as they could. And since I did not see any usefulness of those mats, I simply ignored them. Then a thought came to me. How could laughter alone perform this great magic? Then I remembered what I had seen on my arrival at the jungle that laughter was greatly disliked and I now understood the reason behind such warning.

Even though my body was aching all over, I was over whelmed by my new confidence. The more my tiny friends went off, the more I followed them with screaming laughter. I later chased them to a place where I was greeted by yet another surprise. Standing before me, I saw pyramids of cowries and realizing how valuable they were, even at the same level with money. I stood there dumbfounded and bewildered. Who on earth was the owner of this treasure which all human beings labor relentlessly to get? Where could he have got so much wealth from only to leave them to waste away? Then I realized that I was perhaps wrong to have thought that the treasure was wasting away. What was it good for in that kind of jungle? I moved nearer, got a handful of the cowries and I began to feel that if I could escape with just a few of them, I would never know any more suffering all my life. But in my situation, I was helpless and knew that even if I packed everything, I could not achieve anything with them being a place where I wasn’t sure of my returning to the human world...To be continued on Saturday.

Story series is published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Don’t miss it

Make https://fedricxconsult.blogspot.com  your homepage today to read articles, story series, Kirikiri news and lots more