Secret Room Short Story

The secret room

The afternoon was hot and dry, the winds were still. It felt as if the whole village had been deserted. The only sound one could hear was the sound of the birds, not a pleasing sound though, just sound. I and grandmother had just arrived from the farm, the October heat made the farm work not easy for us, it nearly made grandmas weak bones drop to the ground. Our gallon of water had also run empty so we promised ourselves to come up early the next day. The idea of rising up early for the farm work scared us but. There was a rumour in the village that people were turning into hyenas in order to steal goats at night. I never believed it though; people in our village were very superstitious. I wondered how a person could change

I rushed inside the hut again and brought out freshly ripped mangoes. I sat down on the mat and started eating them. Although the flies made that terrible, irritating sound that makes one nearly want to cry, we ignored them. We had to, this was our lunch. We had mangoes for breakfast too. Mango season was our favourite season of the year; at least we never went to bed hungry. We had small corn flour in the house but we were tired of eating vegetables every day. They taste bitter if one eats them every day. I looked at my grandmother, she was so lost in a sea of thoughts that she did not notice. My grandmother was popularly known as gogo Nasibeko, she was very old, perhaps the oldest woman in the village. She had taken care of me since I lost my parents to a fire accident that claimed their lives; I survived that night because I slept in my grandmother’s house.

Is anybody there?

I turned around to see who it was. My heart started beating fast as if it was facing its biggest fear. It was Zandekha, the chef’s messenger. He was very short and plump, the first thing one could notice about him was his big pot berry. People said it grew that big because of the locally brewed beer he loved so much. Zandekha was the village’s biggest fear, if he paid you a visit; you knew you were in hot soup. His mean face would add to the fear.

Yer yes! How can we help you? I stammered like a person

His yellow crooked teeth made the situation worse. I looked at grandmother, I suddenly felt something warm on my hand and I looked to see what it was. It was tears; these were tears of pity for my poor weak grandmother. I walked to where grandmother was and gave her a tight hug; I told her it would be okay, that I won’t let anything happen to her.

These were the people I once helped Chiku”, cried grandmother. She was right

Her tears added salt to my wounded heart; I could not bear to see her cry. She was my only grandmother, a loving and selfless person and not a witch.

I held grandmothers hand and started off to answer the chief call. My heat burning with fire, I was ready to shut down this wicked thought in peoples mind once and for all. How could they disgrace my grandmother like that? And who was the culprit behind this