TWISTED FATE

TWISTED FATE  
A story from Ghana

It was the last day of the Homowo festival, and it had been raining for the past few days, the sky was dark and through the wetness and the darkness a poor little girl was wondering the streets with bare feet and no protection over her head except of a little tray filled with avocados. Her feet were torn, bleeding and swollen from walking. It had been a bad day for her, no one has bought any avocados and she had not earned any money for that day. She was hungry, wet and she looked very frail.

Lights were flickering from the windows of the houses and there were wonderful smells of food coming from every direction. She found a hole in between two houses and she sat there and tried to warm herself up, but she grew colder and more wet. For her going home was not an option since her father would beat her up for not selling anything, besides it would be cold at home anyway and there would be no food and her father would be drunk.

Her little hands were almost dead from the cold. As she  sat there she could see the sky clearing up, a small cluster of stars was showing. She felt warm by just gazing at them. They reminded her of her Nana, her beloved grandmother, the only person who has ever loved her and she had died a year earlier, leaving her with a father who drank all the time and who was always blaming her for killing his wife and beating her up every day for nothing. She never knew her mother for she had died while giving birth to her.

“Oh Nana!, how I wish you were still here with me, how I wish you could wrap me in your arms and warm me up”. As she was saying that she saw her grandmother coming towards her, looking so happy and radiant. It felt like she was dreaming. Nana was smiling at her and she was coming closer and closer, she took her hand and it felt like they were flying higher and higher and she was not cold anymore. She did not even feel hungry or wet anymore.

When the sun came up the following day, people found her still sitting between the two houses, dead. She had a smile on her face. The crowd around her was crying and shouting but she was at peace finally. She was in Paradise with her beloved Nana!!!

ADESEWA,CROWN OF BEAUTY

ADESEWA, CROWN OF BEAUTY

A story from Nigeria

Long, long ago there lived a man with the name of Abah and he had two wives. He loved the second wife more because she had given birth to three sons and a daughter, while the first wife only had one beautiful daughter named Adesewa. Both the second wife and her children hated the first wife and her daughter Adesewa, and made them do all the work in the compound while she and her children did nothing. Adesewa and her mother had to clean other people’s farms so they could get food because they were not allowed to eat in the house.

As time went by Adesewa’s mother passed away and she was left alone to do everything on her own. Although she was treated like a slave in her father’s house she was happy and did her best to please everyone, never complaining.  She had also managed to find herself a friend named Kofi. Kofi was a crippled boy and no one seemed to mind their friendship because no one talked to Kofi anyway!. Everyone avoided him, except Adesewa. She shared her food with him and told him all her heartache and they understood each other.

One day when Abah came back from the Igwe’s palace, he told them that the king was looking for a wife for the prince and the king has asked him to bring his daughters to the festival that was going to be held at the palace. Everyone was so happy and when it was time for them to leave they told Adesewa to stay behind and finish up her chores and that she was not beautiful enough to be at the palace. Although she was heartbroken, she stayed behind. That day even Kofi her friend was nowhere to be found, he had also gone to the festival.

When everyone came back, they were complaining that the prince did not spend time with any of them. He seemed bored as if he was expecting someone since he was looking everywhere and did not even bother to talk to any girls.

The following morning, they were woken up by noise outside, it was Kofi, and on that day he was not a cripple but a prince and he had come for his bride. He had come for Adesewa his crown of beauty!!!!

TSELANE AND THE GIANT

TSELANE AND THE GIANT

A story from South Africa

Kwesukasukela, long, long ago when giants used to walk free among everyone, when chickens used to talk, there was a widow who was very poor, she had a daughter named Tselane and she used to leave her and go to plough the fields. Every time she left for the fields, she would tell her not to open the door for anyone since it was dangerous for her and every time when she came back, she would sing to her with the loveliest voice ever, ”Tselane my child, Tshelane my child, come open the door”, and Tselane would also sing with the same lovely voice, ” yes mummy I hear you, yes mummy here I come!”, and she would open the door for her mother.

Not far away, there was a giant that used to listen to them, and every time wish that he could eat Tselane up because she was a very nice, tender snack for him!.

One day when the mother was not home, the giant came and sang with his rough voice,” Tselane my child, Tselane my child, come open the door!”, and Tselane laughed from inside the house and told the giant to go away!. The giant was very cross, and decided to go to the sangoma. The sangoma made the giant to swallow a very hot metal so that the giant’s voice can be sweet and beautiful like Tselane’s mother.

The following day when the giant went back, his voice was sweet and beautiful and Tselane thought that it was her mother and she opened the door and as quick as lightning the giant threw her into a sack and carried her over his shoulders. The giant was very pleased with himself and was jumping up and down with happiness, he came upon a house where they were having a party and the giant decided to take a break because he was tired and thirsty. He placed his sack down and asked for a beer. While he was drinking, the woman who was the host heard a person singing with a sad voice from the sack and decided to help her. She then sent the giant to fetch water at the stream for more beer in exchange and gave him a calabash with a hole. When the giant got to the stream, he tried to fill the calabash with water but he could not. In the meantime back at the house, the woman and her husband took out Tselane and filled the sack with all the nasty things they could lay their hands on, snakes, bees, lizards, wasps, crickets and frogs. Eventually the giant came back with water and because he was angry, he took his beer and sack and left. When he got home, he asked his son to fetch the sack outside, but the son got stung by a wasp and returned crying into the house. Then the giant sent the wife and she also got bitten by a snake and she also came back crying. By then the giant was fuming with rage and kicked them out of the house, took his sack and locked the door, leaving them outside. He went into the house alone and opened the sack, and guess what?, all the nasty animals, crickets, wasps, bees, snakes and everything that was in the sack came out and started stinging and biting him. He screamed and screamed and tried running out of the door but the door was locked!!. He could not even see where he was going because his eyes were already stung!. Eventually he managed to come out and ran to the river and plunged his head first in the muddy river bank. He got stuck there and turned into a tree.

If you go to the river today, you will notice a tree that has two branches, and that is the greedy giant.

As for Tselane she was taken back to her mother and they lived happily ever after!!!

Cosu, cosu, iyaphela!!