The Great Journey

A short story by: TTYL1234

In a village in Africa, a small group of settlers some women, men, and children moved here in the spring of 1845. They always feared the day when it wouldn’t rain no matter what they did. They tried rain dances, sacrifices, and worshiping the gods even more than they did usually. The ones in the most fear were Tuka and her sister Sulu. The sisters were the daughters of the chief. That’s why they had the place as the leaders of the women when getting water or harvesting food. They had to dress in special outfits because they were leaders. They would wear bright colors for joyful days and dark colors for gloomy days, but one day when going to get water at their usual spot, there was none.

Some women were shouting out,” What will we do? We are all going to die!” while others were saying, “What are we to do now? We still have water at the village but not enough!”

Tuka and Sulu stayed strong though. Tuka began to talk and she said, “It’s alright everyone! We will find water, but we need to go on a bit of a journey. We will go back to the village and get what we need to complete this journey.”

And that’s what they did. They got all sorts of things like food, what water they already had, and bowls they would carry over their heads until they found water. The next morning, they left very early because they knew they wouldn’t get back until a few days later. The women said goodbye to their husbands and children not knowing what would happen to them. The sisters lead the group out of the village and onto the long journey.

They made a lot of stops on the way. Some were food and water brakes and others were bathroom breaks or just to sleep at night. They had to be cautious, especially at night. Because there was a drought, everyone was thirsty including all of the wildlife. Since there was no water, that meant that all these animals were dying and the ones surviving were extremely hungry. When the first night out was over, they continued their journey to get water. They had to pass all sorts of debris, from dead animals to dying animals. Everyone was dehydrated, but the worst was Sulu; she had gone without water longer than anyone, and if they didn’t find water fast who knew what would become of her. It was getting very dark out and they needed to find a cool spot to sleep. It was a very dangerous time to be out this late because all the animals came out to feed. Tuka was very stressed and scared because she had to lead all these women to somewhere, and she didn’t even know where it was. It was getting even later and later, and they still hadn’t found a spot to sleep. The worst part, there were animals, animals all around them. There were lions, tigers, alligators—all these dangerous animals against these small and not so strong women. But that didn’t stop Tuka. She tried the whole way to get everyone to be strong and hopeful.

She would say, “Its okay everybody, we’ll find water, even if it means putting our lives in danger. We will do it not for ourselves, no, but for our family and friends. Now come on everyone who’s with me!?”

With Tuka’s sister ill, it was extremely hard to move on because Tuka was so worried about Sulu. But right when Tuka thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. Out of nowhere came a lion, a hungry lion. This made Tuka think back to the time when something similar had happened…

One day Tuka and Sulu were out playing tag in a nearby field. A tiger came out from behind some brush and started to attack Tuka. Sulu didn’t know what to do, so she started to hit it with a branch and it ran away. Tuka was bleeding everywhere, and Sulu did not know what to do. Tuka did not want that to happen again, but now it was time to get back to reality.

After the lion popped out, Tuka ran over to accompany her ill sister. The other women didn’t know what to do, so they grabbed hold of their bowls and started to jab the lion with them. The lion soon got annoyed and swatted at them once, but the women stood their ground. The lion then got anxious and started to roar at them. Then a woman grabbed the nearest food behind her and threw it as far as she could. The lion, not knowing what to do, faced the women then turned around to see what she had thrown. Tuka was relieved, but Sulu was not in the best conditions. The women ran over to Sulu and Tuka and asked, “Are you okay Sulu? How do you feel?”

Sulu replied, “Better but still weak. I already drank all of the water I had and even some of my dear sister’s too.” It was the next day and everyone wanted to go home. They missed their husbands and children, but they knew they had to find water to bring back. They continued their journey. Sulu was still dehydrated, but not as bad because they found a small lake much like a pond but much, much smaller. It would only give you about two gulps and then it was gone. Tuka began to lead all the women again on the journey. They thought it would never end. On their way they saw all these dead animals and animals in very poor condition. All the women felt sad and sorry for the poor animals, but then they saw something, a herd. It was made up of all these animals like giraffes, zebras, hippos, and rhinos. They were all going the same way, and Tuka wanted to find out where they were going. The women made sure they had everyone and everything they had and then started to follow the animals. Sulu still needed water and everyone was running low on supplies and food.

Then, one of the women shouted out, “Look, up in the trees! A bushel of bananas!”

“We need them,” Tuka said. “Okay, we’ll get them, but the strongest people need to go on the bottom and the lightest get on top of them.” The women followed her orders. They all lined up and got on top of each other and then…VICTORY!!! They got the bananas, and there was a lot in that bushel. Along their way, they would pick up sticks to make fire too. They followed the animals for a while, almost an hour, but when they were about to give up and stop following the animals, their luck changed. A beautiful river full of water sat before them. Birds were chirping happily, zebras and giraffes playing and splashing in the water. It was the most beautiful thing they have seen in a long time.

Tuka rushed Sulu over to the water as fast as she could. While Sulu was drinking some water, Tuka ran to the nearest tree and managed to grab five bananas, a coconut, and a leaf to use as a plate. While Tuka helped her sister, the others ran with their bowls to gather as much water as they possibly could to bring home. After the women got their water, they went over to Sulu to see how she was doing, but she was asleep so they tried to wake her up. “Sulu? Sulu how are you feeling?” the women asked as Sulu faded in and out of sleep.

Sulu replied with a grunt and said, “Okay, I guess. Still weak but I am feeling much better than before.” They were all so happy she was fine and glad that they finally reached their goal. They were even happier they could go home. But one of the women then asked Tuka, “Tuka now that we got the water, can we go home now?” Tuka responded by looking at them like they were crazy and said, “When we do go back, who wants to lead the group because I am way too tired to lead anyone back.” All the women laughed and started to head home.

THE END