The Visions

Centuries have passed and Gwanhoya had fallen into myths, folktales and legends, to only a few still remembering her. Mukura one of her descendants who does not know about Gwanhoya and is hated by her family members for unknown reasons to her. Her older sister Monalisa is the only one who has always been her shoulder to lean on. This is her 17th birthday and her family members got her working tirelessly doing chores alone in the house while the others rest. Genteel towards her family that mistreats her and alienates her. 

The sadness in her eyes visible even though she tries to suppress it with a gaily look. 

“Oh, you still haven’t finished cleaning! What am I going to do with and your laziness,” her mother comes into the kitchen her face looks annoyed by just looking at Mukura.

“Good morning mother!” Mukura greets her, “I am about to round up my cleaning!”

“Just do it fast!” she does not respond to the greeting and leaves the kitchen.

“Yes, mother, let me round up and prepare breakfast.” Mukura continues cleaning.

“Heyy, damn, wow, you are almost done and here I thought I was early and I can help you out!” Monalisa finally awake at the door looking at Mukura utters these words. 

“It’s fine, you were tired after a long day at work. I will let you off this time!”

“That is no excuse, I have to learn to be a superwoman and show you my little sister that a young woman such as yourself can have it all also! And thank you for being a cool young sister!” she hugs Mukura, “And oh yes! Happy birthday my little sister!” congratulates Mukura and kisses her on the head, “I would love to tell you to take a rest today, but you already woke up before your lazy big sister.” She continues.

“It is more than enough that you remember that it is my birthday. You are the only person who pays attention to me in this house or even see my existence as important.” Mukura opens up on her alienated emotions that she gets from her family treatment.

“Oh, do not worry about that, give them time. I am sure they will come around one day!” she holds her head closer to her, “Tell you what! I will do the rest of the work for today and you rest from now on.”

“Hmm, mother would come and kill me with a foul mouth!” she resounds her doubts over Monalisa taking over for the day.

“Words never killed anyone baby sister!” 

“Yes, and then she will beat me!” she puts forward another reason why she should not leave Monalisa to handle the chores.

“Okay, are you going to let me win this one or not?” her tone sounds disappointed because of the words being said by Mukura.

“No, not really.”

“Okay, let me prepare the breakfast!” 

Mukura looks at her and sighs, “You are not going to let this go, are you?”

“Not a chance! Move over so I can prepare the food!” she releases Mukura from her hold and begins preparing breakfast.

“So stubborn!”

“I heard that young lady!”

She does not say another word but rather continues to clean. 

Enshrouded into darkness, Mukura feels her way around the kitchen, she begins screaming but she cannot hear anyone coming or saying anything to her. Dithers breathing heavily at being hit with eternal darkness. Giddy in this void with no end or means to settle. 

Her screams have become silent, her voice disappeared and her body feels like it is non-existent. Everything effaced from her presence and a little fire pops up in front of her. The latter, a woman dressed like a warrior holding a shield. A snake head knob staff raising it into the sky facing something. 

Enfeebled, enervated smitten with terror. Trembling at the sight of this woman. All she can perceive is that she is a woman, but her face is hidden from her. 

Opens her eyes slowly regaining her consciousness. But still her muscles feel restricted from moving in anyway. 

“At a time like this, she has the audacity to sleep?” 

She sees her mother shouting at Monalisa, who is sitting on her bedside. Monalisa looks frustrated by their mother’s reaction. Eschewing an argument with her mother who is heated up with anger because Mukura fainted.

“Who does she think is going to clean the house, cook and wash the dishes? She has not even washed my clothing. And all because she is lazy she decides to feign to faint!” she continues to echo her anger towards Mukura to Monalisa

“Mother, she is unwell! She works harder than anyone in this house and never have I ever heard her complain and you still treat her like trash! And even after all that she smiles and calls you mother. What has she ever done to you that you loath her so much?” she asks glaring at her mother who is standing uneasy.

Takada (Their mother) does not answer her daughter but rather continues being restless. 

“If you are not going to answer, here is what is going to happen mother! You have other children, Natasha and Taylor with me also and from now on let her rest and do not be hostile with her for she is not a stranger! You want dishes to be washed? Call one of the three I mentioned. You want food to be cooked? I suggest you do the same as I said and also for everything you need to be done!” commands her mother.

“I doubt that the fact that today is her birthday even crossed your mind!” she pauses and continues, “I do not even recognise who you are anymore mother.”

The abominable acts by her mother and the other siblings she could no longer tolerate. Reaches her hand out and places it on Mukura’s forehead for a while. Her face looks careworn. Time elapsing engendering her worry towards Mukura’s health. Takada leaves the room.

“She looks frailer than I usually find her.” Monalisa’s sadness cuts through her voice, “What I wouldn’t give to see you exhilarated and leaving your life with less burdens right now little sister.”

“Maybe, you can start by buying me some chocolate and some ice-cream, then we can talk about where to go from there!” Mukura answers her sister with a smile on her face.

“Wow, you always had good timing!”

“Is that a compliment or a complaint?”

Monalisa makes serious thoughtful face, “I don’t know! Guess you will just have to find out the hard way.” They both laugh.

“Hey, Monalisa!” 

“Yes, Kiddo! What’s wrong?” she draws closer to her.

“I can’t move and I am scared!” tears start flowing down her cheeks.

Monalisa wipes off her tears with her thumb, kisses her on the forehead, “I know, from now on I will do what I have been hesitant to do before! You don’t need to worry about anything now!”

“Thank you, Sis!” she continues to cry lightly. 

She falls back into the darkness again and this time she appears at a different place, a place filled with malice and wreaks of death and there is the woman again bowing down wearing different clothing from before and appears to be praying holding a bowl in the air and the vision ends.

“Mukura, are you okay?” Monalisa asks slapping her cheeks lightly trying to wake her up.

“Did I black out again?” her voice is weak, upon awakening again. 

“Yes, you did. I think I am taking you to the hospital now! I am getting worried.”

The state of here body is not convalescing but rather it has become worse. She calls an ambulance. 

“Monalisa!”

“Yes, Mukura what is it?”

“I can’t see. Is it night time already? And load shedding too?”

“No, it is two in the afternoon! The second black out was longer than the first one!” she settles herself on Mukura’s side closer to the head to check on her eyes, “And what do you mean you can’t see?”

“Mother!” Monalisa shouts calling Takada.

Takada and the other two siblings rush in to see what was wrong, only to find a lachrymose Monalisa sitting beside her. 

“What is wrong?” Takada asks Monalisa checking on her body.

“Really, Mother?” her face both sad filled with disappointment, “For years, you have shown depravity towards her and all she has shown you her heart and never question or disobeyed you. You have also deprecated her why?” she gets up to face her mother, “What wrong has she ever done to you?”

“Monalisa! It is okay. Mother owes no one an explanation for alienating me, for she birthed me………”

“I refuse, to let this go on and on, you do not deserve the treatment they shower you in!” she cuts her off and echoes her woes towards their treatment of Mukura, “Look at those two, they do not even respect her or even see her as a human being or as their older sister! All because you are not showing them proper guidance!” she holds her breathe and exhales loudly, “What happened to you mother, at a very tender age you used to shower her with love and called her Divine, that was her name and then father died and you renamed her Mukura. A witch’s instrument of destruction.”

“That is because she is a witch’s instrument!” she shouts out loud, “As her father died, I saw a woman standing over her. She appeared to have been burned and Mukura, her eyes wear pitch black at that moment sucking out the life out of her father!”

Monalisa scoffs, “Really, mother? Have you no shame? You are now blaming father’s death on an innocent child!”

“I am telling you……….”

“Your delusions and hatred,” she makes a dramatic pause breathing heavily, “all these accusations, all this hatred must stop mother, I call you here to check on your daughter who you know well she is sick and yet you ignore that fact and tend to me who is healthy. When you get sick, she takes care of you, the same with all of us. But you still throw stones at her, like a stray dog!”

The ambulance arrives and Monalisa tags along, leaving Takada, Natasha and Taylor. Her face is gloomy, looking at her holding her hand. Even dejected and demented by lack of knowledge on what is tormenting her sister. 

“Monalisa, I think it is …………”

The ambulance engines die and she hark back to the darkness and sees another vision of the woman. Tied up on a stake surrounded by many people. But really in front of her, there is something appearing like a dark mist. And she seems to be smiling at it! And behind it is a man talking to the woman. Mukura walks closer to get a clearer look at the woman. 

And since she can’t hear a thing, maybe she will be able to hear something when closer. But still, she cannot hear a thing. 

They set heron fire and Mukura jumps in hoping to help, only to come face to face with a familiar face burning on a stake. Screaming in agony but can only see the visual but not perceive the sound. And at that moment the shadow disappears. 

She wakes up convalesced, breathing heavily with terror in her eyes.

“Mukura! You are awake now again and moving your whole body!” she looks rather delighted by her sister’s miraculous comeback fully recovered, “This is wonderful! For a second there I thought you might be dead!”

Looking around, she sees the nurses in terror and Monalisa’s face with tear lines and a smile of relief that has just recently appeared. And she jumps on Monalisa and hugs her tight.

“There you go!” Monalisa taps her back softly like a little baby.

“For a second there, I thought so too!” she conveys her worry.

“Glad everything worked out fine in the end! And I am happy I have my little sister back!”

“Good, because I don’t want to go anywhere or die yet!”

Monalisa smiles, “Good, now let us go home!”

Nurse cuts into the conversation, “The engine is still not starting!”

“Oh, it should be able to do so now!” her confidence strikes Monalisa.

“How do you know that, they have been trying for a long time and it is almost dark?” 

“I do not know how to explain it, I just do!” 

“You want us to work on a hunch young lady? We have been trying for a long time now and still nothing!” the driver shouts getting in the front put his key in the ignition and the ambulance starts and turns to look at her.

“See, I told you!”

They are driven back home and Mukura, for reasons unknown to Monalisa, Mukura keeps on clinging on her.