BAKARI AND GAVIVI.
Dale McMurray

This fairy tale is set in the African country of Tanzania. Near the edge of the Mikumi National Park.

“ Wake up Bakari. The fields will not plow themselves.” called his Uncle Cayman from the doorway. Bakari rolled over and looked at his clock it said four a.m.
“Coming Uncle.”
“ Your sister Vivi is ready. Hurry lazybones!” His uncle laughed as he waited.
On Saturdays he got to ride on the tractor with his Uncle along with his little sister Gavivi. At noon Gavivi and their Auntie Afua went into the village to sell the bread they made on Friday. She helped at the stall while Afua chatted with friends and neighbors. They also baked fresh bread for sandwiches on the small stone oven they brought with.
Gavivi liked the crowded marketplace and all the smells from the vendors. It reminded her of the market in Dodoma she would go to with her mother.
Bakari and Gavivi’s parents had been killed by a gang because they refused to pay for protection. Gangs were all over in Dodoma even though the government tried to get rid of them. The courts sent her and Bakari to their Uncle and Aunt’s home here in the village of Kidodi. Uncle Cayman was daddy’s brother and even though they were ever so kind , they were not their mother and father.
“ Miss Dhuriya, I need two loves of your sweet bread.” A old woman asked with a smile. She always called Gavivi Miss Dhuriya.
“ that will be two cents, please” Gavivi wrapped the loaves up and put the money in the box. The old woman smiled at her as she left. Late in the afternoon the flies began to bite and they would close the stall and go home. Most of the breads had been sold and what was left her Aunt would give to the homeless and children center.
“Yes. Auntie Afua and Uncle Cayman were the best!” She thought as they walked home. Tonight was the weekly English lesson. Bakari and herself would help them learn English so that when Uncle Cayman went to Dodoma for the farmers meeting he could talk to Americans and other foreigners.

This Sunday was a coming of age ceremony for one of the local boys and all his relatives and friends were streaming in from far and wide. The edge of the village was filling up with tents. They had heard that there would be dancers, storytellers and warriors performing. Even members of the royal family would be there.
Bakari and Gavivi had never seen anything like this in Dodoma and were so excited that they could not sleep. As soon as it was light they begged for permission to go to the tents and look around.
“ Go. Let us sleep ” Yawned Uncle Cayman. They wandered around looking at everything. Bakari became mesmerized by the warriors and the masks sitting outside the tents.
“Boy. Come close you can touch if you wish .” one man called. He helped Bakari put it on. The warrior held a mirror and Bakari looked at himself.
“ Here take it suits you and I have many others.” The man held out the mask and Bakari shyly took it.
“Thank you.” then he dashed away to look for his sister.
Gavivi had found the dancer’s tent and was peeking when a beautiful woman saw her. She gasped as the woman walked over and took her hand.
“ Come help us dress.” and she led Gavivi inside. There she saw ten or more beautiful women dressing in bright colorful clothes. On the table were necklaces, bracelets, earrings ,and ankle adornments. Many had small silver and gold bells. Gavivi watched as they braided each other’s hair. Then they motioned for her to help with the jewelry. When they were done The woman who had asked her to help gave her a pretty necklace made of shells, and colorful beads on a silver strand. She placed it on her neck then kissed Gavivi’s cheek.
“ Now go the ceremony is about to start.” and she ran off. Gavivi found Bakari asleep under a tree. Beside him was a mask.
“Where did you get that?” She asked.
“ A warrior gave it to me.”
“ I got a pretty necklace from a dancer.” And she showed it to her brother.” Lets hurry the dancers are about to start!” And Gavivi ran ahead. They found their Aunt and Uncle in the crowd. They asked where they had gotten the mask and necklace. Gavivi pointed to the tallest dancer who was wearing bright blue parrot feathers and a brilliant yellow dress with a multi colored sash.
“Her?” her Aunt asked and Gavivi nodded.
“That is the Princess. You are a lucky girl.” The princess saw her and waved. The ladies in the crowd look at Gavivi and smiled. They watched the dancers and then the warriors. Later that night the story tellers set up a bon fire and the boys gathered to hear the stories. The girls had to sit father back but Gavivi snuck closer so that she could hear every word. They told stories of great warrior deeds and scary stories. One storyteller who was very fat wand had white hair told of the Sacred Antelope that lived in the Mikumi National Park. He described it as golden with silver horns and hooves. The Antelope could grant wishes if it felt that the person who finds it deserved them. The last story teller was so old that Bakari thought he was ancient. He moved closer to hear the story. The old man told of the OBA OBA Witch woman who lived some where deep in the park. As he told the story he made sure that the boys knew that she ate children.
“ I alone escaped with my life but I lost my eye to her claws.!”
“ NO!!!” gasped Bakari. He looked at Bakari.
“ Look!” he pointed to his eye and his face was lit by the fire. It seemed even more gruesome by firelight. All the boys whooped in approval at the story.
“ Now to bed with you all.” and the crowd filtered back to their homes . Bakari found Gavivi hiding in a bush.
“ You should be in bed.” Bakari scolded
“ I know but I love a good story too.”
“ Did you like that last one?” He asked as he held her hand. Suddenly the old man appeared in their path.
“ It is real. I lost my brother to the witch woman. You must find the Antelope and save it. You are the chosen. I see it in your eyes. Beware the OBA OBA Witch Woman she is cunning and hungry. The pair ran all the way back home.
On the way to the school the next day they talked of the Antelope. If it could grant wishes they wanted to help their Aunt and Uncle and the whole village. They spent the week planning their trip into the park to find the Antelope. Gavivi gathered colored streamers so that they could mark their path. After their chores on Saturday they set out to find the Sacred Antelope. They thought it would take a few hours and they would be home for supper. They tied the streamers along the way to mark the path. But after a while Gavivi looked to see if the streamers were still there. She saw the Spider monkeys had taken them and were playing with them in the trees.
“Bakari look the streamers. The monkeys took them. We are lost.” She began to cry.
“ No Vivi I am sure I can remember the way back.” As they walked along they could hear the roar of the park lions. And they sounded hungry.
“ I am tired lets rest” Gavivi asked.
“ not yet the lions sound close and we need to hide from them.” He grabbed her hand and began to hurry. As it got darker they could smell a fire. So they headed in that direction. When they came to the clearing they saw a small hut with smoke coming out of the chimney.
“Hello?” yelled Bakari. An old friendly looking woman stepped outside.
“ We are lost and the lions are hunting. May we stay here tonight? He asked. Gavivi whispered into her brother’s ear.
“ She does not look like a witch woman” He agreed and they felt safe. The old woman locked the door and asked if they were hungry. The said yes and she served them stew with bread.
“ here are some blankets. You can sleep near the fire.” They took the blankets and soon were fast asleep. The old woman rubbed her hands together. These two would do nicely. The next morning she told them to say inside as the lions were near. But she told them not to touch anything. After she left they got curious. And Bakari wondered what was behind the curtains. He lifted the curtains and found there were some baskets that seemed to be stained with something reddish brown and behind them a cage. They hid a door and he worked his way back to try to open it but it was locked. Yet he could hear something behind it. Gavivi looked under the door as there was a small two inch difference between the door and the floor what she saw made her call Bakari.
“ Look there is a grassy plain. See?” Bakari laid down to look and he saw that it was another world.


Bakari could see a antelope. And it was crying.
“ Hello,” he called. The antelope came towards the door. Then knelt down to see who was there. All Bakari could see was a wet nose.
“ Please help me.” it said. “ the Witch woman has me under a spell and I cannot escape. Please Help me and I will be grateful.”
“How can we help?” he asked.
“What is happening ?” asked Vivi.
“ Wait. I will tell you later. What can we do?” He asked again.
“ You must kill the Oba Oba by fire.”
“Bakari she is coming!”
“ We must go but we will do our best.” and Bakari hurried and fixed the curtain then sat in a chair. The Antelope sniffed the air and wandered back to the hill.
They looked around to make sure that nothing was out of place.
“ Well children the lions are still near. But I was able to fetch water and fire wood.” She looked around the hut to see if they had disobeyed her and found nothing out of place.
“Perhaps they will make a mistake tomorrow .” She thought.
“ Then I will eat them.”
They talked of their aunt and uncle and ate sweet bread and some fruit for dinner.
“Time for bed now.” and she watched as they fell asleep. Satisfied they were asleep she pulled a sack from under her bed and pulled out a small piece meat. Her lips dripped with saliva as she ate it.
“ This child sure tastes good. I hope these two are as sweet.” she mumbled. Then crawled into her own bed . In the morning the Oba Oba said she was going to check to see if the lions had moved on. Again she told them not to touch anything that was covered. And she went out. Vivi went to the door and saw that there was a stick leaning against the knob and the door jam.
“Look Bakari she is trying to trick us.” Bakari got down on the floor and called the antelope. It laid down on the other side.
“ We want to help you. How can we break the spell?”
“ You must push her into the fire place. That is where the spirits of the other children she has eaten are. They will hold her until she burns up. Then their spirits will be released.”
“ We will do this tonight. I think she is suspicious. Be ready.”
“ Good luck. I will make sure you both get home safe.”
Bakari and Gavivi talked about how to get the Oba Oba in to the fireplace.
“I will make bread and you can help with the meal. We can act as if we are bad cooks. I am sure she will step in. Lets make sure there is a lot of smoke.”
“ For a girl you have a good idea. When she comes to stop the smoke we will push her hard enough so that she falls in the hottest part of the fire.” They both agreed that that was the best way to kill her.

Their Aunt and Uncle had gotten worried when the did not return that evening. They had gone looking until they could no longer see with out a light. The next morning They asked the people of their village to help look for them. The men gathered and together with Their uncle Cayman the began to search near the Mikumi national park. They searched all day and late into the night. When the heard the lions roar the decided they should go back and start again tomorrow.
“ Oh Cayman. First we have lost your bother and his wife and now their children!” Afua cried.
“ Courage Afua we will find them. Tomorrow we will go in to the park.” She leaned against her husband and they walked silently back to their home.
When the Oba Oba woman returned that afternoon she said,
“ It looks like the lions are moving on. What is that smell?”
“ I have made some bread and later we are making dinner to say thank you for your kindness.” Gavivi said with a wide smile.
The old witch woman seemed confused then agreed. She walked around the house again checking to see if anything had been disturbed. So far nothing. It looked like these children would escape with their lives. She decided to take a nap and think. When she awoke Bakari and Gavivi began to make the evening meal. they fumbled with the firewood and made sure green wood pieces were hidden in the pile. Soon smoke began to fill the hut.
The Oba Oba jumped up.
“ What are you doing? Here let me start the fire.” And she pushed them aside as she began to fix the fire. They got behind her and pushed as hard as they could. The Oba Oba fell deep into the fire place. She began screaming. She changed into a horrible creature with fangs and long finger nails, her hair a tangled mess with pieces of bone sticking out. Her eyes became red and glowed like pieces of coal. They ran to the door but it was locked.
“ The key. Vivi find the key.” She went to the witch’s bed and found the key hidden under her pillow. Unlocking the door the Antelope came and walked into the hut. All the while the witch screamed. The spirits of the children she had eaten were holding her in the fire.
“ Thank you. She has held me hostage for many years. Now quickly on my back we must hurry before the hut burns down.” Bakari put his sister on then jumped on himself. They could hear the witch screaming as they raced through the forest.
“ Evil children I should have eaten you that first night. I HATE CHILDREN.”
They stopped to see the hut in flames. The Antelope continued out of the park until they stood on a small hill. Bakari and Gavivi got down and hugged the Antelope.
“ I am called Wind. I will grant your wish. If you ever need me just call me by name and I will appear. I have a gift.” Wind stomped on the ground with his front hooves when the dust settled a statue of the Antelope shone in the sun. It was made of pure gold. The horns and hooves of pure silver and its eyes of sparkling diamonds. Gavivi picked it up and handed it to Bakari.
“ It is beautiful, like you. Thank you. Our only wish is to help our village . There are many without homes and children without parents. If we could help them that would be our wish.’
“ Your parents taught you both well. And your Aunt and Uncle care much for you. Soon the village will have fruitful harvests and enough to help those who have nothing. As long as there is no greed there will be wealth and happiness for all.” With that Wind headed back to the forest. They watched as he disappeared in to the green and fragrant trees. The sun shone off Wind’s gold fur and silver horns and hooves. Bakari took his dirty shirt and wrapped the statue in it. They began the long walk home.
The men had taken a break from the search to rest and eat.
“ Look there!” one pointed to the east. Bakari and Gavivi saw then group. They began to run. Cayman started running and they all fell down as they hugged each other. The men of the village cheered their return.
“ Hurry we must tell Afua you are safe. What do you have there?”
“ A gift. I will show you when we get home.” Bakari whispered.
When they returned they told of the Oba Oba witch woman and the Sacred Antelope. He showed them the statue they were given. And told of their wish. Uncle Cayman and Aunt Afua cried in happiness. When the crops were ready the whole village helped as it seemed that every seed had grown and the harvest was the best ever. Each year it got better and better. They were able to house the homeless and find families for the orphans. No one went hungry. Gavivi had silently wished that Their Uncle and Aunt might have the child they wished for. That spring a boy child joined the family. The Statue sat on the stone shelf that Bakari made. The villagers came to give thanks to it each harvest. All had made a pledge to be kind and help those who had nothing.

On hard rainy nights you could hear the ranting of the Oba Oba witch woman, “ I HATE CHILDREN. I HATE CHILDREN. I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!”

Who knows perhaps There is another part to this story.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 27.11.2011

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