Lessons from the Wild.

Bamidele and Yinka are great hunters; they took that profession many decades ago, their parents were hunters as well and they learned all the tricks as kids. They are both in their sixties now and one is a millionaire while the other is poor and still looks up to his friend for survival, things happened to be like that for a reason to relax and enjoy the story.

When they were in their twenties, the two hunters were the talk of the village. They were skilled and have killed animals you wouldn’t have thought they could kill, even the kings from different kingdoms usually contact them for special demands, and they were famous for what they do.

On a fateful day, the two friends set out for hunting.

They went far into the wild and after four days of hunting, they still couldn’t kill anything, not even a rabbit. They got hungry and went to the river bank; hopefully, they will catch some fish and roast it but their hooks got nothing all day. It was late in the night when they decided to relax and continue hunting the next day, Bamidele was seriously hungry and he didn’t find the decision cool but he went to sleep.

The following day, they continue with their hunting and the day ended like every other day. Bamidele called Yinka's attention to what was happening in the forest, it is very unusual for us not to come by any animal, no fish, and even the trees don’t have fruit yet, and I think something is not right. He dropped his gun and attempted to sit, his friend joined him and they both sat down.

They started sharing memories about hunting; all days can’t be the same but we mustn’t return home empty-handed, it would be a shame for great hunters like us. They took their weapons and further went into the wild, with high hopes.

The seventh day came, and they have exhausted the little dry meat they brought from home. Yinka suggested that they returned home and prepare for another hunt, Bamidele had no choice but to agree and it would take them 2 to 3 days to reach home so they went straight to the river first to fill their tanks since they wouldn’t be able to do that again if they have passed the only river in the wild.

They got to the river and filled their tanks and even washed their body, they were about to leave the river when they noticed movement in the water. It looks like a big fish was playing around; Yinka brought a net and threw it right above the fish as it got closer to them. The fish was too big to dodge the net and they caught it, it took them extra time to get it out of the water and when they did, they set a fire at the edge of the river.

They intended to dry it with fire because it would get rotten before they reach home if they did nothing about it, they were about to kill the fish when it changed to human.

They were terrified and Bamidele quickly grabbed his gun to shoot at the fish but the human quickly bowed her head and she was naked, please don’t shoot me. My name is Anike, I am the forest guardian.

I know about your problems, I had to hide the animals from you and I thought you guys were gone that was why I came to check around before releasing the animals back into the wild.

She continued that, their actions were affecting nature. They were killing too many animals every day and someday, there wouldn’t be animals left in the wild.

Bamidele was considerate while Yinka was angry because she was behind their predicament, she promised to help them if they promise not to hunt anymore. They both laughed and told her that was impossible, she explained that she would give them two fruits and they will pick one each. One of the fruit contains money while the other had all kinds of domestic animals for human consumption.

They were excited about the offer and Yinka prayed in his heart that he got the money and he can always buy cattle later, the woman summoned the fruits from the air and it appeared, she told them to choose. Bamidele picked money while Yinka fruit was the cattle's own, he wasn’t happy about it so he made a plan.

The instruction was that they will bite the fruit when they get home, whatever they see belongs to them. The fruit will become complete again when those things appear and the day they bite and the fruit doesn’t return to normal, it means it has completed its job so they don’t know how many times it would give them money and cattle.

The woman released all the animals back into the wild and immediately, the hunters could see them running everywhere and even the fishes in the water showed up. They started the journey back home, night came and they rested on a tree. Yinka didn’t sleep because of his plans; he changed the fruit while Bamidele was sleeping.

They continued the journey and eventually got home, the two friends went their separate ways. They did as instructed; Yinka's room was filled with money while Bamidele had all kinds of cattle in his compound. He was surprised because he was expecting money and he immediately knew what his friend did but he didn’t say anything about it.

He converted his biggest land into an animal farm and started rearing them; it was stressful while Yinka was lavishing his money.

Soon he exhausted the first batch of money and went to bite the fruit again, he continue his reckless way of life while his friend cattle’s kept reproducing, and at a point, he had to employ people to care for the animals.

After 6 years, Bamidele started selling his cattle to other towns and made so much money. He had enough because his cattle were reproducing while he sold them; his egg farm was the biggest on the land.

Yinka looked at his safe and noticed his money was going so he bite the fruit for the third time, and after the money appeared, the fruit vanished. He knew there was a problem and tried investing in cocoa but his first attempt came at a loss, he was left with peanuts until he got broke.

He had to go seek help from Bamidele who agreed to always send him some food and cash at the end of every month, Yinka regretted his action.

It’s been over 30 years now and Bamidele is yet to bite the fruit after the first bite, he planned to give the fruit as an inheritance to the most patient and resourceful one among his children.

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