Fodo & His Companions

It was early in the morning. As usual the practices of these areas were cold and moderate winds. “Add effort, add effort, don’t get tired, you can, we are waiting for you.” The voices of his friends were heard urging him and motivating him from the top of the mountain. “Champion! Champion! Our champion!” The voices of the most eloquent were heard again. Sali found increasing diligence and speed of running. He gained incredible strength and speed doubled. His friends marveled at the strength and ability of Sali. A few seconds later he reached the top. They received him with joy as they sang; “Champion! Champion! Our champion!”

Due to fatigue, he was experiencing as well as losing a lot of water by sweat. Sali was persuaded by his friends to go and bathe in the river. They set out for the river to warm and cool their bodies. They all lined the jogging line up the river. It was a river flows its water very fast. It was surrounded by tall mixed trees and short. Grasses and flowering trees on the periphery were adorned with birds and butterflies. These places were very important to the life of one friend named Fodo. It was his place of self-preservation. He was very fond of marine sports. His parents did not like to see Fodo playing in the water. He was constantly escaping to the river to swim. He never tired of being punished by his parents when he was discovered to have escaped. Until he was ready a boy did not stop. He believed in swimming was his gift. His parents urged him to study hard. The efforts of his parents did not bear fruit to the extent that they needed. Fodo was already very good at diving. Just they were reaching the river. Fodo quickly got ready and threw himself into the water. He paddled to the other side of the river.

 Fodo stood on a rock and he called them Sali, sagna and Luke ordered them to come to the other side. He commanded all to follow him. Sagna said “Friend! We can’t dive in, come and teach us!” Fodo replied “Just try and you will be able. Even I tried and I could not be taught.” Fodo jumped back into the water to follow his companions on the other side of the river. When he reached the middle of the river, he plunged into the water. After a while Fodo appeared in front of his friends like a hippopotamus. He emerged very fast and threw water very hard. They were so shocked that they wanted to run away. Food took his friends and started teaching them how to swim. They all learned. They all cooled their bodies in that way.

 It was a balmy afternoon. All of them returned to the city by taxi. They arrived at a hotel called Esso Hotel for lunch. When they were eating, their conversation was as follows;

“Guys as we know, we have decided to stay here in the city for one main reason. We need our friend Sali to take part in the Tulia Trust Half Marathon. And our goal is support our friend’s efforts so that he can win.”Sagna said. The same to Luke said “For this we must support him until he wins because we have been late for college for about five days. This will be one of the main reasons we are late. What do you think, Sali? With one day left to enter the competition you have to rest to gain extra strength. Early tomorrow we will escort you to the Sokoine Memorial Stadium. Don’t worry Sali, you have already won this race. We are here to support you thus why we spent our time for the race. And our parents know that we have gone to the college. We believe on your ability. Nothing bad our friend.” He replied “Thanks a lot my friends. I’m proudly to be with you. I have faith that I must take the cup for the first time. I believe no one will ever be able to do it in athletics.” They clapped their hands. They were delighted to hear words of encouragement from their friend. They finished and rested after a series of exercises.

 Sagna was a college student studying painting and geography as well as place maps. That day he stayed up all night drawing all the places where they practiced as well as the Green City Map. The aim was to determine the run way in which by tomorrow will be used for the Tulia Trust Half Marathon. Sagna tried to draw the whole route of race. It was morning before going to the Sokoine Memorial Stadium they were in the car. Sagna was busy illustrating the running way to Sali from starting point and returning back at the same point. This was an incredible experience on running truck.

Luke was also a city planner and architect. He was able to design stadium and the way to run athletics. Sam was also an astronomer. He was able using natural materials to look at distant objects. It was a time to all participants arriving in the Stadium. The host speaker announced the fans to warmly welcome all participants by standing up as respect. The speaker declared to the athletics hast preparation for the last. The final day of Tulia Trust Half Marathon arrived and participants arrived all well prepared.

Sam prepared himself with his equipment to watch Sali run away from a distance. The athletics prepared and lined up ready to start running. As soon as the whistle began to sound, the athletics began to show dominance to each other as soon as they started. For a while Sali seemed to lack the speed we know as he was left behind by his colleagues. For a long time he had no way of surpassing his fellows to be the leader of the race.

Sam and Fodo were on stage witnessing their friend lose his strength. They did not believe. They called Sagna and Luke to testify. But Sagna reminded them “how to make Sali strong is to sing and cheer him even if he is away. We must do so that he does not lose this trophy.” They began to sang; “Champion you have never lost, champion, champion, we are waiting for you champion, add effort, you can champion, speed up champion, we are waiting for you champion.” Time passed, the fans in the Stadium stood to see who would win. Sali was not known if the fans saw him as an escort.

Sali wowed all the spectators with his incredible speed and the Chief Judge declared him a record breaker even though he had not yet finished the race. The thoughts of all the spectators shifted to Sali even as they began to follow his friends as they sang “Champion, champion, champion, our champion.” It was the last one kilometer. Sali was leading the race he was close to fans he heard many voices singing to him. He increased his speed and let his opponents more than a half a mile. He finished the race with a record of 40 minutes and few seconds. He was announced the new champion with an amazing record in the race. His friends were overjoyed to see Sali being declared the winner in a unique way. They returned to Esso Hotel with joy. They arrived and celebrated their friend’s championship together.

They started preparing for the trip to College. They all studied at Dodoma University. They prepared according to him and Fodo instructed him to go and take their travel tickets at the Booking Offices. At evening they rested until morning. They woke up at early and went directly to the Bus Terminal. They entered in the bus from the famous company known as Shabiby Luxury Coach. The journey began slowly and we were all eager to leave. The rain began to fall slowly as the journey progressed. Sam was carrying the Sali’s award for best athlete of the year 2020 on the Tulia Trust Half Marathon. The driver turned on the television. He performed a famous song by a Tanzanian rock musician named Bi Kidude. Everyone was delighted to hear the best African content. The song that missed most was “Mhogo Wajang’ombe.” They liked it all in regardless.

Eventually, they entered the Iringa region. It was noon, and all the travelers were hungry. People were repeatedly deprived of sleep because of hunger and fatigue. We entered the Bus Stand and the driver stopped the car and ordered them all out to get food and refresh the bodies.

A short time later the journey continued. The daily routine for the travelers falls asleep immediately after eating. The travelers were silent for a very long time. Finally we came to a place called Mtera Dam. This dam is specialized in the production of electricity. The driver looked ahead and saw nothing dangerous and continued to cross the Mtera Bridge. As they passed it occurred a storm in the middle of the bridge. It was not known where it came from. The driver suddenly stopped the car and swerved. He ordered the passengers not to get out of the car. Later came waterfall from the left of the bridge. They were all amazed at these things. The flood was so severe. It pushed the car and the bridge until it fell in the middle of the river. It was swept eastward by water. There was no one there to spare this tragedy.

 Sometime passed and Fodo was seen diving with great force and elegance. He tried to save all but no one avail. He managed to save one daughter. The rest were drowned. The government received the information and the disaster department arrived at the scene for the rescue. They tried to save on its volume. Sam, Sagna, Sali and Luke were fortunate enough to be rescued by a special disaster squad. They were not healthy. They were forced to rest for a while. In their spare time they all thought of a lot about their friend Fodo. But Sali believed that Fodo was healthy as he was good at diving. Fodo camped in the middle of the Selous Game Reserve forest and had a daughter who rescued him from the tragedy. This girl introduced herself as Lupi. They did not know each other at all. They continued to live together waiting for the water level in the river to recede to cross. They lived a very difficult life.

 One day Fodo was out of the camp looking for fruits and roots as food. He returned chased by a group of hyenas. He was screaming. Lupi made them take the yellow frogs which are a protection for wild animals in the forest. She was a specialist in wild sciences. If you have them no animal can attack you. She surrounded the frogs somewhere to protect Fodo. Immediately after that Lupi called Fodo and dragged him into a safe area. So that’s how she was able to save Fodo. He surprised on Lupi. The hyenas did not come again. He did not believe what she did. Fodo asked “Who you really are? I would like to know what college you are studying and what course.”

She began to introduce herself “my name is Lupi. I am a student of relationships and interactions of animals and plants. I’m studying Dodoma University last year. Thanks you for helping me. There is no way to thank you for saving me from that flood. it was my duty to save you from the beasts as you are a very precious person to me. If you were not there life would not exist. I want to know and who owns this athletic Trophy?” He replied “That is for my friend who is an athlete.”

After one week the water level dropped dramatically. They prepared to cross the river. His friends were looking for him with a natural hadubini. Sam was t he only one monitoring the search for their fiend. Sam saw the marines pass by with Lupi and the athletic trophy. They saw him and began to rejoice with joy. He arrived and was welcomed by his friends after being separated for several days. Fodo introduced Lupi as a part of their group. And he returned that trophy to Sali. This was unbelievable tragedy to all. They thanked god and Lupi thanked them. They were happy to meet Lupi.                                   

Two days later Fodo announced by the government as the young super marine that should be one of the high stuff in disaster department. To every newsletter headings occupied with Fodo. The same to Mr Sali and his trophy.