My Visit With Maruge in Kenya Day 6

Today we woke up from the bright sunlight that was shining in through a crack in Maruge's wall. I could hear birds chirping in Maruge's garden.

Today was saturday, so Maruge didn't have school. He had a hike planned out for us today. I was really excited because the hike would be fun and we would see a lot of cool things.

We packed a small lunch and set off toward the jungle. The trail inclined steeply after a few minutes, and turned into a big hill. I thought that Maruge would be slowed by this, but he kept speeding ip the hill and I found myself racing to keep up with him. I guess all of those days walking to an from school had put Maruge in great shape! The trail had evened out by now, and we were walking under a huge canopy of giant trees. Maruge and I looked up and saw a whole other world above our heads. Neon colored birds flitted between branches. monies danced around, making baffling jumps between skinny limbs a hundred feet in the air. Millions of fluorescent, jewel-like bugs buzzed around our heads, but they were too cool to swat at, so Maruge and I let them be.

We kept walking a ways and then we ran into some trouble. A huge river lay ahead of us, one that was too wide to cross. And we couldn't wade through it either, because the river wasn't made out of water. It was made out of ants. Big, red, hairy ants. Ants that were each 2 inches long. They all had razor sharp jaws that looked strong enough to bite right through my finger. 

Maruge and I had to do some quick thinking, so we grabbed some branches from a fallen tree and stacked them across the ant river, like a bridge. We had to hop across really quick, because the ants figured out how to climb our bridge and in no time, they were swarming the logs.

aaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhh!

Once we were free from the ants, we arrived at a river. It was like a paradise, with fruit trees all around and monkeys and birds chirping in the trees. 

We relaxed and ate bananas while listening to the sounds of nature. Maruge told me that we had to be home before dark so that the lions and leopards wouldn't eat us, so we started walking back. Maruge took a different trail because he wanted to show me something. We trudged uphill, and Maruge had to take a machete out and chop our way through the underbrush. The trail had obviously not been used for a long time. we went on and on, through rivers, across farms, under a banana plantation, and then back into the jungle again. We were cutting trough a lot of vegetation, and I began to doubt that we were even on a real trail. At last, we burst through some tall grasses, into a peculiar place. We were in a clearing, but it had not been taken care of in a long time. The grass was overgrown and many of the trees were dead. In the center of the clearing, a tall white house rose. It must have belonged to a very rich person, because it was at least four times as big as any house I had seen in Kenya so far. But now no millionaire in his right mind would buy it; it had vine crawling up the sides, the windows were broken, the bricks were crumbling, the roof was caved in, and the whole thing looked as if it would collapse any moment. I recognized this place, I had seen it before. A long time ago.

Not in real life, but in a movie. I could picture the scene happening here exactly how it did in the movie, decades ago. The damage on the house was gone. The grass grew short and neat again. People were living there now. I saw rich white people, keeping black people as slaves and not giving them any freedom. Then I saw tribal men crouched in the tall grasses bordering the clearing. I noticed that one of them was a young Maruge. I looked at the older Maruge, still standing by my side, and he nodded towards the men, as if he saw the strange vision too. Suddenly, the men shouted and lunged out of the bushes. They stormed the house, screaming for freedom as they went. They broke down the door, and came out minutes later armed with guns. A white man followed them out, screaming with rage. He also had a gun. He started firing in the direction of the men. I tried to look away, but older Maruge pointed back to the scene. I watched in horror as the white man shot the man closest to me right in the chest. With a scream, the man went down.

 I couldn't watch this. I looked away and started crying.

The scene changed rapidly. The white people moved out. The grass grew longer. The trees died and fell over. The house crumbled with age and the roof caved in. All in about 5 seconds. I was back in my own time. I stumbled over to where the man had been shot. Laying in the grass was a small pendant carved out of wood on a length of leather cord. It showed a man's face. Maruge picked it up and draped it around my neck. "This is for you," he said. "I hope that you always remember to never stop fighting for what is right, even if it means sacrificing great things."

 

We walked back to Maruge's house in silence. When we got back, Maruge told me that he didn't show me that to make me sad. He showed it to me to inspire me do what is right. I liked it a lot more when he put it like that. I will now look at things and see what I can learn from them, instead of just feeling one way that doesn't help me at all.