He lay disturbed, mind tormented by situations. He had slept in darkness for the third month; his father had not visited upcountry home and there was no lighting as the chimney Lantern fuel had been exhausted much earlier than expected. To make matters worse, someone had stolen his mother’s only blanket so he was eagerly waiting to tell all this to his dear father who worked in Kenyan capital Nairobi. Tomorrow when the last sunrise kisses the heathland, when pastels and mauve greys melt under starlight. Where nooks and crannies evacuate their cockroaches and bed bugs from wall crevices.
The local newspaper. 'Daily Nation.’ Morning headline. SATURDAY, April,29,1995. On the Gregorian calendar, 119ťĥ day; 246 finally were remaining till end of the year. ‘” GUNMEN SHOOT MAN IN CITY.” Yesterday armed men shoot and slayed a man in Nairobi Kenya. Within the precincts of Ofafa Jericho estate, the man worked with an airport firm. After executing their mission they then fled with his vehicle. However Police from Jogoo Police station are investigating the matter. ‘”
On the mid vertex, a neat small black coagulated bloody dent. A powder burn caused by .38 revolver special. A Sad Parting to the cherished family and all creation.
People sang. One after the other as the crescendo rose, traditionally music was in their veins. Lyrics and sweet vibrations flowed with the talking drum. Peter sat alone on a corner. “ Father whom I've been expecting for the last 3 month now in a casket. He had crossed to another pathway to quietus. A Sad Parting.!” He thought.
' Weeping will not save me; though my face is bathed in tears, that could allay my fears , ' the people sang. But their voices amalgamation of emotions. From Peter’s Momma, two brothers and three sisters. A bitter sea of tears. Heads buried in their hands for the desperate loss.
“….Wife Virginia, three sons; Peter, Willis and Joe. Daughters; Loise , Jemmy and Caro. Surviving brothers; Joseph and Jamlick. It is the lord who gave and …Its him who has taken away. May the name of God be praised!....AMEN.!...” The priest ended his voice swallowed by the muttering.
“Till we meet ..Till we meet at Jesus feet.. God be wit' you till we meet again… !”
“God took away our now departed brother, in as much as all must die one day. But to few if you who may be lucky like a few characters in our holy book. Enoch, Elijah and Moses whose remains was contended by Saint Michael and Satan. But us who are saved will meet our Lord on the clouds but your piety towards the Deity will be considered. I commit the body!...” The priest’s solemn and scholastic speech interrupted Peters perceptual pattern, it teetered.
‘ Death an irreversible cessation of all biological functions. Loss of personhood, and soon an analysis reaction starts. Welcome the soul to land of Sheol or Hades controlled by a deity called Death. It roves timelessly, adorned in pitch black shroud. Its phalanges clutching a sharp alloy steel scythe. Inhabitants dry apparition-cadavers; they move their ankle a faint pop, they wring their knuckles a crack, grating and creaking in quick succession a usual Sheol timbre.’ He imagined.
As the casket was lowered and grave filled and a forest of flowers laid.
“ HERE LIES,
MESSRS JAMES KINYUA MITHAMO NJAGI.
BORN APRIL 1950.
DIED APRIL 1995.
Requiescat In Pace.”
The epitaph read. The requiem ended. The last red glow rays of Eye of heaven sunk slowly to merge with the crepuscule. The wind whistled an anthem.
Give them not rest,
May anxiety and confusion mount,
Voices of living dead be associates in their conception,
Let the word of God take origin in their repellent
stances,
For tomorrow they’ll be stooges.
Fin.
BIO
Peterson Kinyua; plumber,painter, electromechanical technician befitting his pseudonym, ' Tactician.' But science has never excited more than the power of the incisive pen. His dream started early. He is in his mid- 40's and his family of 1 bright boy, who wishes to be like his father and 2 daughters who want their father to be a published writer.
Natural creation and its relationship to modernity has kept the urge to write alive. He earlier did a homestudy course from, Writers Bureau England. He is ready to write both fiction and non- fiction untill the power to specialize comes knocking.
kinyuapeterson244@gmail.com