Diary of an African Child 3

Before I start the third instalment I'll like to refer you to the previous episodes

Part 1 -https://read.cash/@YDKleke/diary-of-an-african-child-1-87bdfa68

Part 2 - https://read.cash/@YDKleke/diary-of-an-african-child-2-007aa08a

Now let's begin.

After the celebration comes the traditional ritual. My father being one of the highly regarded herbalist was well respected among his peers. Him occupying such a powerful position meant that he had to perform a ritual at the beginning of every year and me being one of his oldest sons meant that I had to join him

The ritual wasn't a beautiful thing to look forward to especially if you were part of the people performing it. I never liked it and my father knew but that didn't stop him from forcing me and my other brothers from taking part. He is always like it is part of the family duty. It is at times like this that I wished I was a girl. At least I wouldn't have to do any of this

It was the night of the ritual and I summoned the courage to go because if I didn't, I should be expecting the beating of my life. We got to the shrine, my father , myself and my four brothers. We paid homage to the different gods made of stone lined up behind a red and black clothe directly in front of the entrance of the shrine. While we bowed down, my father sang the eulogies of each and everyone one of them. From the god of strength, to the god of war, to the god of harvest and on and on till he stopped at the god of death. I always wondered why he did that. Praising a god that wants us six feet below the ground. But what do I know.

From there, he told us to prepare the sacrifice. The sacrifice include an egg directly from the anus of a fowl, bitter leaf, red sand, the blood of an able bodied goat, maize corn, the feather from a dead fowl and the skin of a frog. We already had everything apart from the skin of a frog and my father being the kind of person he is sent only me. I wasn't going to take that and I told him I wasn't going unless someone accompanied me. He was infuriated at first but I was able to get around me. He told my half brother who is a year older than me to follow me. I wasn't really happy about that but as they say "half bread is better than none"

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I and my half brother ventured into the forest in the night with the light from the moon barely lighting our way. We finally got to the middle of a pond which had lots of frog at the edge of it. We were both afraid because that particular pond was infamous. This was because many people had recounted stories of how they encountered different marine spirits or as they are more popularly called mermaid. My half brother being the bully that he is pushed me to go and get the frog. He used the fact that he was older than me and I told him it was just a year. He said that I should try and get it in the market if it was easy. I need this was the fear in him talking, someone that is still scared of a wall gecko.

I walked towards the pond afraid of what could happen. When I got close to the pond I can swear that I saw a two ladies with tails of a fish swimming together beneath the water. I summoned the courage and got close to the pond. I chased one of the biggest frogs and was able to catch those slippery beasts, that was after falling a few times because the place was mudded.

After that, we found our way back to the shrine and met our father and brother waiting for us. Our father was already looking impatient. He collected the frog from me and skinned the frog alive. I felt pity for the frog but at the same time it is an animal. Our father prepared the sacrifice with the other ingredients soon enough. It was now time to present the sacrifice to the gods and hope it was accepted.

That's where we are stopping for today. I'm sure you can't wait to see the next episode. I would appreciate your encouragement for me to continue.

Till next time.