The Legend of Poku

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Poku threw furtive glances around the area as she hurried down the path. It was near sunset and the night birds were flying out of their respective nests, waiting to take over the night. She looked up as a shrill sound startled her back to reality. The sound had come from a huge bird that was hovering over a tree as if it had just found its evening meal. Distracted by the bird and its eerie aggressiveness, Poku hits her feet against a stone.

“Ow!” She groaned in pain, wondering why anyone would leave such a large stone on a major path that was frequented by both old women and children during the day and night.

The shrill bird skewered loudly at her again. Poku shuddered. The sound seemed to bring a foreboding of Ill. Her guts were uneasy and most importantly, she knew that it was highly inauspicious to hit a rock at this hour of the day.

A bad omen that depicted a futuristic sorrow. A gut feeling she was not willing to ignore.

Poku looked down and tried to shake off the numb feeling. It was just a stone, and the path was becoming too dark and unsafe for anyone whether old or young, let alone a young woman of Poku’s age range.

Sunset brought nightly duties for young maidens in the community but none of these demanded an unescorted visit to the water fountain at such an irreligious hour. On a normal day, Poku would ideally be in the kitchen with her mother and the other girls, listening and exchanging village rumors as she prepared the evening dinner for all members of the extended and immediate family.

But today was unlike several others. Today was different.

The bird hovered again, this time it’s shrill sound rose bumps on Poku’s arms and necks.

“What is it with this bird, please go away” she spoke in a quiet whisper, afraid that the bird would hear her complain, and swoosh in on her.

The bird was black and had frightening talons that could etch scars onto her face. She wouldn’t dare to annoy something as dreadful as this. Such birds were widely called the messengers of the gods. They were known to bear messages of doom or a foreboding of evil.

Right now, it did not feel like a myth at all as the bird hovered around her. It was like it bore a dreadful message, a warning, an insight from the gods.

But that was the thing with the gods, they reveled in ambiguity and indiscernible languages. How was she to understand the language of the birds?

The goosebumps on her arms and necks began to spread. She felt it everywhere. Her feet suddenly became too heavy to carry the weight of her body, her forehead glistened with sweat beads. Her hand trembled with such absurdity, she snatched it and held the clay pot firmly. Fear was fast overriding her senses. The fear of the unknown was the worst type of all to dread. The fear of what was to come.

You do not fear what you know, you only learn to stay cautious of that which is comprehensible by your mind. But what you don’t know, was inevitably bigger than you and had the greatest strength to hurt you the most, and this fear was all too familiar to Poku.

As she hurried down the path now, she wished she had listened to the warning thrown at her as she had bounded out of the house in anger.

When humans are born, we naturally learn to breathe as a primal instinct for survival. What we don’t know is this; we also learn to fear as a way to consciously survive this world. Deeply etched in our being, deeply embedded in the crux of our humanity.

A root that is buried before it is planted, a seedling that grows off your insecurities.

She remembered the first time she’d learned to give words to this feeling called fear. She’d been home alone with her younger brother of three years. He’d suddenly come down with a strange fever. And all her local knowledge of traditional herbs proved abortive as his condition had suddenly deteriorated. there were no neighbors miles away, and her younger sibling, Kubo, who had been entrusted into her care was suddenly being taken away from her by the cruel hands of deaths.

She had felt knee-bending fear and was impaled with the need to do something or watch him die.

Thankfully, Kubo had survived the ailment. All night, the young lad had fought his way through the burrows of death and had emerged victorious.

He had defeated the fever and awoken to a new life as a warrior that had conquered the shadows of death.

But she had come out of the incident more scared and insecure about the fragility of life itself.

How could one be completely fine, whole and hearty one minute, and struggling for the last breath, the very next? A paradox; the complete irony that the foundations of this earth were built upon.

Her parents had been glad to return home to meet their son looking healthy and safe.

Everyone else had returned to normal. But not Poku. She had never truly learned to live without looking over her shoulders. Fearing and anticipating the dread of the next minute.

As she wandered farther down the path, she hoped to reach the water path as soon as possible. Everybody would blame her if one of the goons from the neighboring town accosted her on the way. After all, what would a girl be doing out this late during these unsafe times? Weren’t there strict guidelines for everyone who hoped to not be sold into inevitable slavery by the wicked tyrants from the next town?

God forbid that such a thing befall her, Poku thought to herself. She’d rather fall for her parents’ incessant opinions about marriage and upholding the family’s name than anything else.

After all, some wrongs were worse than the others.

Rumors of young maidens and active young men that had been waylaid on the streets and sold to the white men for slavery were definitely not savory tales for anyone to wish on themselves or their enemies. Some of these town folks only sought to sell their neighbors in exchange for favor gifts such as mirrors, guns, and raffia sandals.

The story of the white men was a story for another day and time.

Today, Poku had only one thought in mind and that was to reach the ends of the water source before complete nightfall.

The events that had sent her running from the confines of her parents’ hut at such an odd hour of the day reverberated through her mind.

Her mother’s wail of sadness and her father’s angry face still lingered within her.

The yells, screams, and disoriented chaos that followed her reply was enough to form a conspiracy theory that’ll follow through as the scandal of all time.

That evening, her father had requested to have a conversation with her in his private apartments, a place that was off bounds to every child except her mother.

That day, she’d known that the matter was indeed delicate. Only serious issues were discussed within those walls.

And superbly unexpected and delicate it had been.

“Poku, Alhaji Shehu, a renowned gentleman from this town has requested to have your hand in marriage.”

Her father had started immediately she reached for a stool while throwing side glances at her mother who had joined them a few seconds after Poku had entered the private quarters.

“Why?” Poku had asked, thrown off balance immediately. “Why is he suddenly showing interest in someone my age? Isn’t he the one who is known to use his newly born children as a sacrifice to the evil spirits for his wealth to grow by the day?”

“Poku!!” Her father thundered immediately. “This your sharp tongue will lead to your ruin one day.”

“But father, did I speak words that sit far from the truth?”

“Poku, you should be wise enough. The truth sits before your very eyes, why can’t you see it?”

“I cannot see anything of such papa.”

Her father continued as if she had not said anything. “The rumors that parade this town as the truth is nothing but conspiracy theories and seething lies from people who are threatened by his wealth. I have arranged for the ceremony to take place in a few days time,” her father declared in finality.

The news had dealt Poku a heavy blow and left her disoriented beyond words.

“But..mama…” She muttered hoping to seek help from her mother.

“Never mind bringing me into this Poku, your Father’s words are the words of the one true God. He is the head of this home, and his decisions are final,” Poku’s mother also stated in finality.

“No! I have no wish to marry such a man papa. I want to further my education…I thought you knew this already.” Poku retorted with tears streaming down her eyes.

“I have changed my mind on the matter. Surely, you can finish your education as Alhaji Shehu’s wife. After all, why spend so much money on a girl child when I could acquire more cows to expand my flock herd?” He had concluded.

It was obvious that they had completed negotiations with Alhaji Shehu even before informing her. Her parents were adamant, and nothing could be done to change the matter.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, she fled from the room, picked up an empty clay pot, and hurried to the waterfall to clear her thoughts. She needed to be alone, anywhere but where she would be seen by her siblings. She felt betrayed by her parents.

They had done her a major wrong that she would not forget in a hurry.

The problem with getting married even though she had just turned 17, and still developing some of her major organs, wasn’t entirely about the rumors that circulated the town about him. Alhaji Shehu was an old man who was about the same age as her father, and worse than this, she’d be marrying to join a harem of women as the 9th wife.

How could she survive the tyranny of his older wives who would be out to frustrate her?

Here she was again. Fearing an experience that was yet to happen.

She had no choice in the matter. Her fate had been decided. After all, Alhaji Shehu was unarguably one of the richest men in the six surrounding villages.

It was hard to accept, but her fate had been decided, and no one could outrun their fate however hard they tried.

The sound of the flowing water fountain drew Poku’s attention back to her immediate environment.

It was pitch dark already. The fountain area was desolate and the black bird that had hovered over her earlier had suddenly disappeared. Alongside the darkness, the fountain was eerily quiet save for the water that fell through the rocks.

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The darkness and stillness of the area made her feel uneasy again. Nature had suddenly become silent, watching her, daring her to go a step further. As she looked around, she noticed that a fog was fast rising around her. A strange feeling circulated her.

It was too early for a fog to appear by the water stream. It could only be…

A twig broke behind her, she quickly turned around.

Goosebumps the size of a zit began to appear on her arms and necks. She sensed somebody watching her closely.

Was it the slave traders from the next village, a wild beast? Or worse of all, a hunter that thought she was a prey that should be captured?

As she turned her back against the water. Hoping to outsmart the slave catcher, she felt a large force pull her with such force into the water.

Everything happened so fast.

As soon as she hit the hard, cold water. She blacked out.

Cold…pain…breathe…blackness.

When Poku opened her eyes, she was in a strange room.

The events of the day had been seriously overwhelming but what stood before her was more daunting and scary.

A new nightmare.

The room was walled with glimmering gold. The purest of all kinds, the type that even the richest man in her village did not possess.

Where was she? She closed her eyes and opened it again. This time she noticed that this gold room had no doors and windows.

Who would build a magnificent gold room of this size with no walls and windows?

Was this what life after death looked like? How did she get here? What strange place was this?

As she struggled to get up, something strange happened. Her legs did not respond to the commands that her brain had sent.

She tried again, this time, putting a lot of effort to make it work, as she did so. Poku noticed the strangest thing of all. Her legs began to emanate a golden light, the blazing light was too bright, it was blinding.

And then she felt a force pull her legs together, as a searing pain numbed her senses.

When Poku came to her senses, she recognized that she was still stuck in the golden room, but this time she had no legs. Her feet had suddenly been replaced with the long sharp fins of a mermaid.

She screamed at the top of her voice. Frightened as she looked at her feet.

What was happening to her? The only thing she remembered was the great fall down the fountain. How did she get here? She thought panicky.

She was in trouble, something was seriously wrong…

As she rose to walk, she realized that she moved like a fish, twisting from left to right like a mermaid. She was half human and half fish.

Just then, a group of beautiful young mermaids hurried into the room that had no entrance bearing fruits of and gifts. They moved through the wall as if the barrier was invisible.