Well, I decided, Or more like was forced to, Start writing a diary. Rose said it would be good for my anger issues or something like that, But I said it was stupid. Anyway, I don’t actually have much to write about myself. Nothing like, Dear diary, Today I met this person and blah blah blah, Boring crap nobody wants to know. So then she said I should write a story or something, But I have the imagination of a rock, So then she shouted at me and told me to write something.
How about my story? Not that anyone would be interested, But I think I’ll write it down, Probably just to look back at it and laugh, But at least it’s something.
Anyway, Here goes. I was born in Africa, Small town, Nice people, Far away from everywhere and everyone. Not what most people like, But I thought it was pretty cool living next to elephants and giraffes. I lived with my mum in a little house type thingo next to a kid called Mayumba Tanu. I and he were pretty close friends. When I was around two years old, Me and my mum went out with a couple of other village people. We were going to the lake or something, My memories are a little jumbled so I can’t remember properly, But I think it was to watch flamingos. I was holding my mum’s hand and kicking the dirt as I walked. The other kids were older and stuff, SO they thought it would be fun to wander around irritating wildlife. We sat next to the lake and watched them bloody pink birds for ages before mum let me wander off with the other kids. I can’t tell you how exited I was, Mum letting me off and all. She was a protective beast of a woman if it came to that, But from what I remember she was the sweetest woman in the universe.
The other kids and me went and started playing under the trees next to this lake right, And not one of us saw this big sleeping croc there, Until it tried to attack us. One of the girls screamed cause she got slapped with the monsters tail as she tried to run. I think I was the only one not screaming. All of them ran away, Back to their parents, All except me.
When they all came back, I think they nearly crapped themselves. I remember Mayumba’s mum’s face the best. She was terrified. Probably because she’d never seen a two year old girl, In a purple dress, Petting a Nile crocodile to calm him down from a scare. I don’t even remember walking over to the big lizard. All I remember was seeing it, Kids screaming, Then I was looking at scared people petting a giant lizard. Admittedly, I did like animals more than most of the people in the village. But a big male Nile crocodile is kind of different than a Bushbaby.
After that, The villagers got freaked out by me, Called me a Crocodile demon and everything. Mayumba used to sneak over and tell me stories about what people were saying. It was pretty funny one time. He said that a woman in the village was having problems with snakes in her roof and someone told her to go see my mum about using the reptile mistress to charm them out. The only reason she didn’t was, Apparently I would have to consume her firstborn or something like that.
After I turned five, My mum and me moved further away from the village, Mostly to get away from all the rumours and stuff. People would even stop talking if I came near. Some of the other kids hissed at me and said things like “Snake lady’s gonna catch you and feed you to her baby crocodiles”. Sometimes I actually hissed back, But that just made people angry.
The place me and my mum moved to was the other side of the lake, In a deserted area of barren dry dirt. Not much, But we both liked it there. She pulled a couple of strings and got some men out to help her start building our house. It went up pretty quickly from what I remember, But that’s probably cause I was out playing most of the time, Mostly by myself with Bruce. Oh yeah, Bruce. She’s the stuffed rabbit my mum made me for my first birthday. Only toy I’d ever take anywhere. She never left my side, Unless she fell off the bed while I was sleeping. Anyway, When our house was finished, Mum got me to go out sometimes and get wood and rocks for her to make things out of. She was funny like that, Always having to be doing something. Cooking, Cleaning, Making, Dismantling, Rocking, Fidgeting. Always something going on. She used to say that when she got supplies for whatever she did, It turned out alright, But when I collected them, It turned out perfectly magical. I love my mum.
I went out to get, I think it was a big stump of wood, For another project one day, This was around the age of six and a half I think. I was out and about for more than three hours and when I got back with this hunk of wood, There were loads of people at our house. I dunno what for, But there were too many there for me to be comfortable. I pulled up my hood on the cloak I always wore out and pushed my way through the crowd. It was pretty easy actually. Most of the people were just watching what was going on. The thing that set me off was when I got to the door of MY house, These people wouldn’t let me in. Private matters between the Mistress of the house and some other dude I had no idea about. I tried to push past, but the guy shoved me back and I landed on my butt.
This pissed me off, And I was only freaking six years old. I got back up and found a rock in my hand. Dunno how it got there, But next thing I know is, This rock flying through the air and hitting the dude right above his left eye. Blood went everywhere and while everyone was yelling, I scooted through the door and into the house. I ran down the hall and into the kitchen, Where I found my mother and a person, I assume a man, in a black cloak, Talking or whatever. My mum looked down at me and smiled, Then back to the dude and pointed towards the door, Her face was hateful.
The dude turned and walked out, Petting my head like a dog as he did. I didn’t even know the person and he was ruffling my hair like my dad or something. I never wore that cloak again, Ever.
When I turned eight I think it was, Mayumba came around to our hose to visit, Like he did every week without fail. He was thirteen now and said he was going out to become a man. He was so exited you could feel the electricity in the air. The next thing I know is him grabbing my hand and telling me to come with him on his trip. He had to go out and kill one of the crocodiles from the nearby river, Not the lake we live by, This river was massive compared to the lake. He had his big hands clamped onto mine and was tugging me around in one of the exited dances he did when he was happy. Chanting “Come with me, Come with me” until I finally said yes. Then, He actually kissed me. Gross I know, He’s like my big brother.
I went and told my mum and she said be back before tomorrow and all this other stuff mums say about being careful. She went out and had a talk with Mayumba about keeping her little angel safe from harm, And being the man she knew he was. She’s a funny lady my mum. I went back outside with a backpack on with Bruce in one of the pockets. There was some food and water and other things mum said I needed, But probably wouldn’t ever use.
We started walking towards the lake and Mayumba was playing with the spear he had to use to kill the crocodile. He kept asking if it was okay that he was gonna kill one, Because I’m the reptile lady, Well, Not exactly a lady, Me being eight and all. I kept telling him that I didn’t care so long as he didn’t get eaten by one. We walked for ages and the funny thing was that he was complaining more about his hurting feet than I ever had. I eventually had to give him something to eat to keep his mouth shut for a while. We stopped and sat under a tree for a while and he was talking about how the other boys were all scared of the crocodiles in the river. Some even started talking about how some of them could start walking on two legs and would morph into people. Another stupid story about me of course.
After we got up and started walking again, He went quiet. First time in forever that he wasn’t talking. I looked up at him and he was frowning, Thinking about something. Then, He actually asked me if I was a demon. I stopped walking and stared at him. Me, A demon. Sure, Why not, I’m an evil crocodile demon who’s come to woo and attack poor villagers. I snorted and said to him “Do you know how stupid you sound right now? I’m no demon Yumba, I’m a little kid”. He grinned and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Apparently there were more rumours around about me, Taming the Nile crocodiles.
When we finally got to the bloody river, Both of us were exausted, And it was nearly dark too. Lucky mum packed food eh? Yumba made a fire under a tree and started doing whateverthe hell he was doing. I think it was a shelter or something. I gave him the other sandwich and said I wasn’t hungry when he tried to give it back. He sat there staring at me, Saying that I hadn’t eaten all day, Which was true, But I could wait. I'm funny like that, Don’t have to eat for ages but then when I actually do, I eat like a freaking elephant. I told him to go to sleep, He needed his strength for his manhood test or whatever. He still argued, Saying that because he was the one proving to be a man, That he should protect the woman. Bull. He fell asleep in about five minutes.
I sat and listened to the animals making their funny noises all night, And I could actually still see. I kept a lot of secrets from everyone back then. I could always see, hear, smell and generally last longer than the other people around. Always won at hide and seek too. I only know why, Now that I’m an old fart. Actually, I had this weird voice in my head since I was little too, A kind of whispering lady or something. It’s gotten quieter and quieter as I got older and less of a child. But it’s still there, Just bareley though. When Yumba woke up, I was still sitting listening and waiting for something to happen. Half my mind had been observing the tings around me, The other half listening to the whisperings of the voice in my head.
Yumba got up and dusted himself off, All ready for his big moment of glory. I smiled at him as he was getting ready. Stupid kid he was, Kill a crocodile become a man. Weird really. Anyway, He got up and grabbed his spear and my arm and dragged us both over closer towards the river. He was looking for one that was not too big, Like the ones I played with And not one too small, Like babies or something. He was looking for one, Maybe a juvinile male, Like a teenager. I stared out at the rushing water and smiled. Mum used to take me out to the lake to swim sometimes, But since the crocks had gotten bigger she had to stop. But this river, Not even my mother, The best swimmer around, Would even dare swim here. Yumba was crouched by the riverbank staring at a croc floating in the still, shallow water. He was gripping his spear and sweating, Nervous. He even pushed me back, So I wouldn’t get hurt, Silly kid.
He walked forward slowly, Tiptoeing through the sand. His spear was over his shoulder, ready to throw. He told me before that the best way to kill a crocodile with a spear was to stab it right behind the head, There’s veins and crap back there or something. I assume that’s where he was aiming for. He took a massive step forward and flung the spear at the croc’s head. The spear hit the crocodile, But not in the right bloody place. It stabbed it straight through the stomach area and the bloody thing came at him. I screamed. My best friend had a giant crocodile’s (Way bigger than we thought up close) mouth wrapped around his leg. Yumba had his knife out trying to stab the thing as he was getting dragged into the river.
I ran forward and grabbed his arm, Trying to pull him back away from the water which was up to my knees. Other croc’s were getting attrackted to the thrashing and started coming over for a bite. Yumba was thrashing so hard he pulled his arm out of my hands. He went under.
I was so scared. He wasn’t coming up. I stuck my head under the water and saw the croc with Yumba in it’s mouth. I swam (not very well) down and latched onto its head. I say this was the first time my dad reared his ugly head. My fingernails grew out into claws, My teeth shattering and making way for fangs, My eyes slitted and yellow for the first time. I had the strength to rip open the jaws of a crocodile to free my friend and he swam up to the surface and over to the bank. I kicked away from the crocodile and started swimming upwards. I got to the surface just after Yumba, And saw him crawling over to the tree we slept under. He turned and looked at me, Then screamed out.
A crocodile snapped onto my shoulder and dragged me down. I was kicking and scratching at its scales, But nothing would stop it. I remember my lungs felt like they were on fire, And the water I was inhaling by accident wouldn’t cool them. I was drowning, Being ripped apart by the animals I was thought to be queen of. I could feel my arm being twisted and ripped at, My legs were being grabbed by other hungry mouths. I could even hear my own bones being snapped and shattered. Then, My world was clouded with red.
I’m sparing all the gruesome details here, Just because I can’t believe my dad would make an eight year old do things like that to another living creature. But let me tell you, There was blood, guts, an many dead lizards. And two freaked out little kids.
Apparently, Yumba had pulled me out of the water when he went back in to get my dead body. I’d been snagged between two rocks and he’d seen my mangled arm sticking out of the water. He dragged me out and lay me gently in the sand. My arms were nearly torn off, My legs were shredded and my body and face were missing chunks of flesh. I was a real mess. I think what freaked him out the most was when I touched his leg, But I wasn’t technically supposed to be alive.
I saw him crying, his head in his hands. His leg was bleeding under the rags he tied over the gashes. I tried to move my arm to show him I was alright, But nothing happened. My muscles and tendons were shredded. All I could do was twitch a little. But when I tried again, My arm shifted over and grazed his knee. He looked down at my hand, then at my face and his eyes went wide. His hands dropped to his sides and he scrambled backward. This was the first time he had called me a demon. I never thought he would. The only reason he wasn’t running was because of his leg, It was shredded and bleeding.
I sat up, Ignoring Yumbas’s screaming. I looked down at my wounds and they were all slowly closing up and disappearing completely. I started screaming when I saw my hands. I had claws and then I felt my teeth with my tongue, I screamed louder. I got up and ran at Yumba. He probably thought I was going to kill him because he was scrambling to get out his knife as I landed in his arms. I was crying, He was crapping himself. We were both scared and confused. He slowly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. He’s still my best friend after all.
I helped him limp home with one of the less destroyed looking crocodiles that I had killed. I think it was the one with the spear in it. He helped me home, But I had to help him back to the village before mum saw me. We snuck past my house and then kept walking toward the village. He started asking me what happened down in the water and why I wasn’t dead. I didn’t know. To be truthful, I still don’t know why and I probably never will.
(TBC)
