THE LITTLE DEMON YOU MADE

wanderers.

Our bearing is uncertain, and we roved like lost sheep in the wild. I did not know the forest per say; nor did I know it's terrain. We only scrambled through it to hopefully get to safety.

But recently; from the encounter we had with the snake, I now know that death is our very neighbor in this jungle apart from the brutes that is killing us; wild animals has become a bigger threat to us and we coming out from the forest alive would be a miracle.

Of all the time me and my father had gone to our farm- the density of the vegitation we witnessed going there is nothing to compare with the thickness of the forest we are now in.

We now hear different sounds of birds that we've never heard before- some were pleasing to the ear, while the rest scares the hell out of us. Every now and then, we could hear strange cries of creatures that I presumed to be dangerous beasts.

And I remembered the stories of my father about deadly animals in the wild. My father told us long ago the story of wild cats. The leopard, lion and tiger. He said that they lived in our forests, but are rarely found in the thick forests where people don't visit in years.

Thinking about those stories made my heart ache with uncontrollably fear. Thinking about how painful I would be for me and my little sister being eaten alive by those will cats in the thick forest.

Like a flash of light, my mind drifted to the story he told us about the constricting snakes like boa and other snakes in the pythonidae family that can swallow an animal as big and fierce as an alligator not to talk of full grown man.
My father told me about the giant snakes that used to come at night to his grand fathers barn to constrict and swallow his goats.

The snake has been coming and surviving with its goat hunting spree before his grandfather who was also a skilled Hunter laid an ambush for the snake for several nights until one unlucky night.

The giant snake came like it usually comes to take on its prey- which happens to be my great grandfather's goat, sighting the serpent he fired at it with his pellet gun hitting it badly on a dangerous spot and left it there to struggle for it's dear life. It was in the morning that he came to check and found the giant serpent dead with its head chartered with pellets of bullet.

As these thoughts raced through my head, I and my sister were on a journey to an unknown place we would considered safe and probably settle. But the journey seems endless with no hope of getting to any safe heaven sooner or later.

Everywhere seems the same, high hills and valleys. Mighty trees and heavy grasses- the same strange sounds of unknown creatures from the near distance.

And I took a look at Olive she was as strong as ever, and I felt motivated. No doubt, Olive has been my biggest motivation ever since our struggles to survive in the wild commenced. She has been as hard as rock.

As a young girl of her age, I was expecting her to be weak and fragile. Instead; her spirit was rather filled with positive vibes and nothing but survival. And I positioned myself strictly on her side as we walked side by side like true soldiers in the face of war.

Deep inside my mind I was losing hope of us bursting into a settlement; a village; or a town. I felt lost; like lost never to be found. I begin to think about us settling for a while in the forest for a while, while we figure out on how to go back to our little village.

The sun was gradually losing its heat essence on the surface of the Earth. And we were being gradually relieved from the harshness of the heat on our body too. And I was looking for a good place we could maybe settle; probably passed the night and continued with our journey by tomorrow.

So, I said to Olive, "if we see a good place here, we will settle, am so exhausted"

Olive gave me a surprising gaze and asked me the most amazing question of my life.
"Are you supposed to be tired?, I am the one who is supposed to be tired, we must keep moving"

I became dumbfounded at the response she gave me. Olive was a sheep in my father's house, but in the wild she became fearless and I was impressed and we continued our journey covering a longer distance. Olive was not parturbed neither was she tired.

Then we got to a place an empty space in the forest sorrounded with trees. Like the glass has been cleared and and the sorroundings inhabited by humans. No grass grew there.
"I think we will settle here for the night" I told my little sister. She looked at me and smiled.

"Yea Laz" she said.
And I stopped, she stopped too. We both stood overlooking the whole environment and it was awesome.

"I think I like here" Olive whispered to me and I grinned. We looked for a perfect spot I brought out my dad's wrapper and spread it on the ground, dropped our belongings therein and we sat.

And I said to my little sister. "We have to hang out here for a while before we decide on how to get to our next destination"
Olive grinned as she nodded in agreement and I smiled and tapped her head.

"Wait for me here, I have to look around to know what is around here"
"Okay" she said to me and I stood up and walked away.