The Far Land

Dume was emerging from a deep dive in the coastal ocean of East Africa ,he liked swimming alone at night since it was lonely,and no one would supervise of where he dived.Way past midnight,but he had this feeling that

what he saw was not at all normal.

A friday night,and the moon was bright,Dume was now sitting at the breezy cold and deserted beach,trying to catch a breath as he thought of his next move,whether he should dive back to the same spot and have a good look,or just forget of it and go home.

Dume came from one of the East African coastal tribes known as the a mijikenda,meaning the nine tribes,he was lucky enough to be raised and taught everything about the sea,by his late parents,he now was a lonely man,and swimming alone in the night gave him hope,and reminded him of his happy childhood times with his parents.

He grew up swimming and fishing as a tribal trait,untill a time came when his eardrums created holes that connected with his mouth and nose.

He thought for a while and then decided to jump back in the sea, and get a good look at what he had first saw.

Deep in the deep sea,Dume dived in and went strait to the same spot he first was before emerging.He now could see a shinny cocoon,he went close and carried the coccoon to the sea shore.

He now was standing over a glowing huge green cocoon,at first he thought that this was just another sea weed covered in a cocoon.Until he opened it.

This was a huge surprise to him since he had never seen nothing like it before,it was a beautiful girl dressed in traditional clothing,he was as surprised as a birthday kid,on his birthday party,yet so terrified and afraid like a stray dog having seen a burning bush.

At first he thought the girl was dead,so he knew he now was deep in trouble,after a careful investgation,the girl woke up,and looked at him with a clear and happy face.

Dume asked the girl of her name and she responded that she was Zena, the only daughter to the king of the far land,Dume asked Zena if she knew of how long she had been in the sea,and who was responsible for putting her there.

Zena said that she knew not of how long she had been under water,but she knew of those that were responsible for her disappearance,

it turns out that two of his fathers members of the high council,had asked Zena for her hand in marriage,and she had turned each of them down,they ganged up and decided to erase of her existance,since they both could not have her for a wife.

They waited when she had gone for an evening walk,all alone in the forest with no guards,and kidnapped her then forced her to take some herbal liquid form medicine,that rendered her unconscious.They wrapped Zena in the green cocoon and threw her deep in the sea.

Happy and glad that Dume had rescued her,Zena hugged Dume with joy and tears dripping like rain fall from her eyes.It was then when Dume first embraced a beautiful woman in his manly wide hairy chest.He felt a jolt of energy striking him from the head to toe,happy as a kid in his sunday best clothes.

They went to Dume's house and rested,while awaiting for the break of dawn to start the journey of going to the far land.

Morning came and Dume prepared tea before the commence of the journey,by the time the sun was setting Dume and Zena had reached the far land.

Dume was welcomed in the far land with songs of joy like a hero from a war he won.The King was sick in bed all because Zena had been pronounced missing for three days,by his high council,the .A good share of wealth was to be given to anyone who found and brought back Zena to the king of the far land,for only the sight of his daughter would have made him strong again.

Dume and Zena exposed of the two culprits,who were resposible for the disapearing of Zena,they were arrested and tried in the royal coats of the far land,before being found guilty of the charges of attempted murder of the kings daughter.They then were imprisoned for life in the far land prison.A feast was made,a day to celebrate the safe return of the kings daughter and reward Dume for his good work.

News spread across all lands of the bravery of Dume,how he managed to rescue a kings daughter from the belly of the deep ocean,men and women with their children traveled to attend the far land rewarding feast of Dume.

Those that hated him pretended to be friends or relatives with him,those that never used to buy his fish boasted of how good his fish was,others even claimed to have told him to go smim alone that night, so he could rescue the King's daughter.

The sun rose and set ,minutes turned to hours,and hours turned to days,and the day of the feast came.Food was in plenty and drinks were in pots,men drunk from huge guards,traditional music was played as people were dancing and chantin Dume's name.During the feast,the king stood and presented Dume with his reward of which Dume humbly refused,the king asked him what he wanted for he was ready to give it to Dume.

Dume stood and asked the king to accept him get married to Zena,the king asked Zena if she would accept Dume as her husband,and the next king of the far land,Zena accepted,so the king had no choice but to approve of their union.

Now a diving lonely boy from the tribe of the mijikenda was next in line of the far land kingship throne,from nothing to something,that night Dume stood on top of a hill while holding Zena's hand,he said a thankful prayer and looked up to the stars.

-The End-

Written by

Joseph Wandera Mukoya