Child of War

Chapter 2

That night I had a very strange dream.
I had been lying half awake for hours,  tossing on my blankets,  unable to sleep. When my mind at last slid off into drowsiness,  I seemed to hear the noise of drums and singing in my ears. The noise was distant,  rising and falling with the wind.

It was twilight in a large open valley and I was herding a big herd of the largest red,  white and black cattle I had ever seen. As I sat there,  wondering about the cause of the distant noise,  a man who wore nothing but a sheepskin round his loins approached me. He carried a spear in his hand and a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back. He was not very old though there were streaks of grey in his hair; his body was lean and strongly built. A thin beard framed the lower half of his narrow face. His wide apart eyes gleamed whitely over a large squashed nose. It seemed I knew vaguely who he was, for I knelt humbly in front of him. He beckoned with his arm to the large herd of cattle around us and nodded down at me. Then, slowly, he took out his snuff box and tipped some snuff into his palm and mine. I sneezed several times when I took up the snuff, and hot tears squeezed out of the corner of my eyes. He laughed gently at me and rubbed more snuff into my hair. When he finished he picked up his spear and strode across the valley in the direction of the singing, turning every now and then to nod at me.

He disappeared into the twilight and the singindt and drumming grew louder. I suddenly became afraid. The cattle had me surrounded. They were breathing heavily and tossing their sharp horns at me. I looked around for me for a way of escape. Each time I moved one of the beasts stepped out in front of  me, ready to attack. The sharp horns and hot sniffing snouts were pressing closer and closer. I saw an opening between the horns and leapt out, scurrying across the valley, away from the mad thunder of hooves behind me.

I ran faster, until the sound of hooves receded to a comfortable distance. Then I saw the man with the spear again, standing just in front of me and waving me off with his hand. I hid behind a rock till he walked off, then followed again more stealthily, ducking behind low bushes. Somehow, I wanted to get to him, to be with him but he didn't want to be followed.
It was gradually becoming light, I realized that the sun would soon come up. In the growing light I saw that the distance in front of me was full of moving men who wore nothing but sheepskins round their loins and carried spears which they brandished in the air as they chanted. Some of them had feathers in their hair. There were scores and scores of them; the air behind them was dusky with the dust raised by their feet.
I grew bolder, the man who had given me snuff had disappeared into the crowd, I supposed. But then one of the drummers at the back turned around and almost saw me and I kept back a little. The sun at long last came up and through the throng of marching men I saw, just ahead, massive white wagons drawn up into a circle. The men were running now, leaping bushes and rocks, towards the wagons. The drumming, singing and shouting rose to crescendo as they converged on the wagons, hurling spears and shooting arrows.........

A terrific noise boomed from inside the wagons, like a crack of thunder in the sky. Some of the men fell, some rushed on against the wagons, others turned back and fled, yelling with terror. The noise boomed again and again from behind the wagons; more men fell. I threw myself behind a rock and clasped my head in my hands. In a few minutes all was quiet, except for the sporadic whimpering in the grass. I raised my head and saw the ox-drawn wagons already moving off, up the hill. White men were riding on horses after them into the rolling landscape beyond.

There were sounds of groaning and weeping everywhere in the valley. Men lay bleeding on the ground or crawling on their knees through the grass, among the discarded drums, amulets and feathers. Many of them stretched their arms feebly to be as I ran about looking for the man who had given me snuff. I looked and looked but could not find him. The hot sun blazed down mercilessly on my search; rivers of sweat coursed down my face into my mouth. I was desperate to find him. Then I spotted him, lying on his back against a rock. There was a big hole in his chest through which blood was gushing out. I could see his heart, or one of his lungs, fluttering inside him. His mouth and eyes were open, staring into the sky. I wanted to rush down to him and put my palm on his chest to stop the bleeding, but he shook his head and waved me off. I was so sure that I knew who he was, that I had met him somewhere, and it surprised and terrified me that he did not want me to touch him. I crouched a little distance away from him. Hr gave me an arrow from his quiver to make me go away. Still I sat there, watching him. He gave me two more arrows and placed his spear at my feet.

Down in the valley, the cattle I had left behind were lowing and he waved me off restlessly. I picked the spear up to examine it. Watching me, he shook his head sadly and smiled at me as a man might smile at a child who has aacquired dangerous toy. At last he lifted his snuff box from his side and placed it in my hand. I looked inside his chest and saw that the heart, or the lung, had stopped moving. I knew he was dying; the whole valley was full of strange dying men and I was the only living soul in this valley of death but I was reluctant to leave him. At last, I picked up the weapons he had given me and hurried away from the place. The cattle looked away from me and quickly galloped away as I approached them. A new wave of fear struck me; I was even afraid of myself. I turned back and saw the wagons rolling back into the valley, towards me. I broke into a run. But my feet could not carry me forward; I was running in one place. I screamed for help, my voice stuck in my throat and there was no one to hear me, anyway. The wagons were flying down towards me and I heard the furious horsemen thundering up behind me.......
'Hondo! Hondo!
'Hmmmmm'
'Hondo!'
'Hmmm'
'Wake up, Hondo!'
'Hmmmm'
'Open the door, Hondo!'
'Hmmmmmm'
'Open up! What is it? Why were you screaming and shouting?

'It might gave been your great grandfather,' mother told me quietly, after I had calmed down enough to narrate my dream. 'It might have been him. They say he died during the first Chimurenga War. He was a warrior. Yes, it might have been him. Oh, my child..........'

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Hello y'all! How are you all doing? Second chapter is out. Kindly vote and comment as you tell me what you think of the chapter.