Dicy dance

I remember very well the day it happened. I can even see my friends’ wet smiling faces beaming with pleasure as we did the famous backstroke swimming routine. But the vivid images of how the day ended brings bile into my mouth. The mere images of what was left of what was supposed to be my left leg brings a cold shiver down my spine. But then … I digress, let me begin at the beginning.

My childhood was far from serene and tranquil. It was divorced from the rudiments and statutes of what is considered normal, pristine and innocent. It was nothing a normal child goes through in their journey towards teenage-hood and subsequently adulthood. In fact it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I had an epic childhood. There is a day in my childhood that will forever remain etched in the annals of my memory. One of my favourite sport growing up was swimming in the great Kamuteputepu river with my friends. Kamuteputepu had many legends to its credit. It was said that the great Njuzu – mother of all mermaids once held her rituals there. Where it is said if the ancestors wanted to anoint someone as a traditional healer they would send Njuzu. She would wait for the chosen person to come to the river and then pounce on them. The person would come to do an errand say to wash or drink water. Njuzu would capture them and take them to the underworld. The world of the ancestors. Whilst there they would be initiated into the trade of healing and they would also be endowed with supernatural powers to do all forms and kinds of magic. Kamuteputepu is also the same river that the Chimurenga liberation war heroes used as their fortress during the war. One day the war heroes fought a fierce battle with the white settlers along the river bank. The battle raged on for a full day and the next morning the whole river had turned red. Apparently the ancestors were mourning their fallen gallant sons and daughters. Thus some liked to call it blood river. This was the same river we were fond of swimming in during our heydays.

The day had started like any other day in a ten year old’s day. Uneventful and predictable. Until my two faithful friends Sami and Reji came to fetch me so that we could go play. Someone suggested that we first go to Kamuteputepu to cool off. After that we could then go hunting for rats and mice under rocks, a game I was exceptionally good at. And off to the great river we went. We found the river full to the bream and as peaceful as ever. It was very inviting and irresistible. In no time we were in the river and the water was surprisingly warmer than usual. Nothing gave me more pleasure in my childhood other than frolicking in Kamuteputepu. It was the one place I felt one with nature. Everything made sense. It was a time of ecstasy and fulfilment and I savoured and enjoyed it with reckless abandon. Time stopped and it seemed I had entered destiny itself. Such was my experiences in the great river on this particular day. Sami and Reji too were having the time of their life and were in the same heaven as I was. Suddenly I felt a tug at my left leg around the ankle. At first I thought I had brushed my leg against a log in the water. Again the tug came this time firmer and stronger. I stood still to ascertain what was going on. Then I felt it. Sharp razor like teeth closed around my leg. I couldn’t believe it had happened. But it had happened. A crocodile had bitten my leg, and he was not about to let go. ‘’Crocodile, crocodile, a crocodile has bitten my leg, hurry help me guys, please quickly’’ I cried out to my two friends. My friends were equally scared and unsure of what to do Sami began crying loudly. The sight of his friend being attacked by a crocodile was too much for him. Fear paralysed him and the only thing he could do was cry. Looking back today I realize that was the natural thing to do, because when danger strikes very few people can rise above the occasion and tackle the bull by the horns, and Sami was no exception. Reji the cleverer one of the two quickly swam to the river bank and came back with a long log. ‘’here, hold on to it and we will pull you’’ he shouted. ‘’Sami come lets pull him out’’ Reji called out to Sami. By now they were out of the river standing on the bank. I held onto the log and they began to pull. Upon sensing that its prey was about to be snatched away from its clutch due to the pulling from the boys, the crocodile tightened its grip on my leg and it felt like embers of fire had been put on it. I let out a loud scream as the pain from the razor sharp teeth seared through my body. ‘’Guys pull harder my leg is very painful’’ I cried again. Sami and Reji continued pulling the log, and as they pulled the crocodile sank its teeth deeper and deeper into my leg. The pain was unbearable and I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t remember experiencing such excruciating pain before. It was one of its kind, and one I wouldn’t wish even on my worst enemy. Suddenly the pull on my leg was stronger and more vigorous and my friends were no match for the crocodile. Realizing they were about to be pulled into the water they let go of the log and they fell by the river side. Slowly I began sinking as the crocodile began pulling me down to the bottom. In no time I was completely submerged under the water and I could hear muffled cries of my friends as they felt helpless realizing what had just happened. Faintly I could hear them calling out my name between cries and sobs, but it was too late. The king of Kamuteputepu had secured his big banquet, a special delicacy on his menu, and wasn’t about to let go because of two silly boys who had disrespected his territory. Thanks to juvenile delinquency, he was about to dine like a true king.

The water seemed to get warmer and warmer as the crocodile pulled me deeper and deeper. At first the water seemed dirtier and darker, then as we sank deeper it became clearer and cleaner. Before I knew it we were in a cave and suddenly there was no water. Yes, it was dry land. As dry as any ground could be. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The cave had compartments and the crocodile took me to one of them. So this is where it all ends, I thought to myself. This is how I was about to die. I tried to run but couldn’t, my leg was now swollen and burning with pain from all the pulling and biting of the crocodile’s sharp teeth. I knew this was the end of me. I realized it was futile for me to try to escape. I had reached the end of the road, and it was time to throw in the towel and accept my fate. I stared at death in the face and made peace with it. I grudgingly accepted the reality about to unfold. And then the strangest thing happened. At first I thought it wasn’t real, that I was just hallucinating, but then I realized it was real. A small still voice deep inside me said, ‘this is not how it ends, today is not going to be your death day’. I don’t know where it came from, but the voice grew louder and insistent with each second. Suddenly I felt a certain strength I had never felt before. The floodgates of hope were opened and I felt rejuvenated. I felt I could eat a whole elephant by myself. Suddenly my situation didn’t look as bleak and hopeless as it did a few minutes back. Even though my left leg was badly swollen and hurt I felt I could do the impossible. Plan and execute my escape. Would I make it alive out of Kamuteputepu? Would the crocodile king let his delicacy stroll out just like that? Would he allow his dinner plans to be switched to a fasting diet?

Slowly but painfully I began crawling towards the entrance of the cave and with each second I felt stronger and stronger. The urge to survive and make it through the day emboldened me and I crawled even faster as it dawned on me that I could actually make it out alive if I held on and was fast enough. I could see trails of water as I neared the entrance of the cave and my spirits soared even higher. I could smell victory was close and for a moment I couldn’t feel the pain in my leg. Then I heard it. A deep groaning sound behind me. I looked back and there it was. The crocodile had returned to take the great meal to its family and much to its consternation, the meal had other plans, and nothing of those plans involved filling his or his family’s bellies. I looked at the crocodile’s eyes and could feel the fury and anger that were enough to cause any faint-hearted person to pass out. I wasn’t going to stick around to see what the crocodile would do next. Quickly I crawled out of the cave and in no time I was in the river again, and I began swimming upwards. I could see a faint light, probably the sun and so I swarm even faster. Suddenly the light was blocked by a giant-man-like figure and I realized it was my dad. I’ve never been happier in my entire life than I felt in that my moment. Quickly he put his right arm around my waist and with his left arm began swimming upwards. ‘Finally’, I thought to myself. Then I felt it.

Something caught my left leg again. Razor-sharp teeth tore through leg and it was painful like hell. I thought I would die. The crocodile king had followed and wanted its delicacy back. It continuously sank its teeth deeper and deeper into my flesh and I knew it was out for blood. We were almost out of the water and someone from the river bank threw a hug stick to my father. My father momentarily left me and turning towards the crocodile he hit its eyes with all his might. He shoved the big stick into the crocodile’s right eye and it let go of my leg. He removed the stick and shoved it into the left eye and the crocodile began spinning and spinning deeper into the water and it was gone. Quickly with the help of some men who were on the bank I was pulled out and taken to a clearing under some trees. A lot of people had come and they were all wincing as they looked at my shredded lower leg. When I lifted my head to look at the damage done to my leg, what I saw shook me to the core and I passed out. The next morning I woke up feeling nauseated lying on a bed in a room with very bright lights and surrounded by familiar faces all around.