Wishes Are Prayers Kayizzi Julius   © Copyright 2022 by Kayizzi Julius

Photo by Wayne at Pixabay.

Not like other normal days this was different, I was home very sick like couch potato and lonely in my thinking. Mum had left for work and little sister had gone to school. This morning was very beautiful but not blessed like the day I was born. Birds singing sweet songs from afar distance, wind whizzing through the pine tree in the compound, light rays through the same tree over my face, receiving filtered light heat. To the other side of the fence ruby (home dog) was sleeping peacefully cool as a cucumber, hope he was satisfied the last night. Closing my eyes enjoying the sweet fantasy near the door.

Someone opened the door with a lot of vigour, my heart raced as if I was between an Olympics race and eyes opened widely ready to surface danger even though I was very weak. I stood up on my feet, breathing rate hitting high. It was my brother James in the short stripped panties going out. ”Good morning brother” he said, good morning James I replied very disappointed according to my expectations. He went to the latrine smiling at me but my self was quaking in ones boots. I sat down in disguise of fear that I had deep down in me because I did not expect any one at home. With my head leaning against the wall behind my seat foot steeps were becoming louder it was James coming back, little attention I did give him. He went and slept back.

Out from nowhere ruby burst in a loud cry running with his tail whipping over the sides of his ribs, racing around the sty at a terrible speed, I was not understanding what was going on in his life. Due to much noise a raising, I picked keen interest to find out the cause, I tried calling him but my voice was falling on deaf ears I found trying to pass through the flowers, falling, rubbing his nostrils over the grass. I went closure to him, to my surprise ruby was attacked by gigantic red soldier ants spread all over his body uncomfortably biting him. I held his cold nose with my hands. The strong jaws of the soldier ants had caught him in the inner soft nostrils deeply in pain with the tears over his eyes, empathy hooked me.

I rubbed my thumb finger over my jeans, I slowly entered my two fingers in his nostril to pick them out and picked one out. Ruby got mad, he jumped out of my hands with irritable mood accompanied by increased activity and energy. I called him back but he could no longer trust my calling the more I called him the more he ran away from me. I went back to my seat I met Ruby on the veranda in pain, this time round his conscious was working he realised I was giving a helping hand to him because the one that was left in the nostril was still painful so he admitted and I helped him, I left him in peace and very happy with his tail up

I went to where he was sleeping, red ants had made their way on the rim of the fence. I went down to clearly see. On close watching and following their path, I appreciated the level of organisation these tiny creatures had at a moment.

The soldier ants with big heads on the sides of the way giving security. Their way very clear and clean as if they had used brooms to clean it. Smaller ants moving at a terrible speed under the protection of red soldiers carrying white packets (which I didn’t know that was larvae stage) between their mandibles. Some moving in opposite direction but in harmony, one thing I realise the colours of soldiers was a kind different from the rest of others. As a young kid I wished could become one of the ants. After watching them I went back to my seat but I realised the sunlight had become too intense with in few minutes to be bearable, so I decided to go to bed. I laid down on my bed with my blanket up to my neck region, intermittently starring up the ceiling and closing my eyes and my mind still thinking of the perility Ruby had created to himself sleeping near the red ants.

In the blink of an eye, I was somewhere in a mysterious place with features I had never seen at my age, I had six legs surprisingly I knew how to walk with them. I just realised it was a dream because I knew myself in another different world. I was secretly amused, I looked up in the sky, and giant soldiers were over heaps of soil with their sharp mandibles out ready for the enemy. The soldiers were dressed in dark red with black belts in the waists, it looked like I was in the water channel that had dried at dry season with silt between my foots.

I was lost in amusement, from nowhere one giant fat ant hit me from the sides I lost balance and fell down to the ground. I realised if I don’t follow the rest I will either be in deep waters or they will realise my personality. I stood up again on my feet shook my cheeks to stay in the zone and get back out of the dream but it didn’t work, so I took on the faith.

I started matching like the rest of others did but no one talked about what we were going to do but those who were moving In the opposite direction were carrying white packages under their mouth which later realised was larvae forms of red ants so I decided to walk actively like a place born. We moved through a tunnel very dark but I could see light to the other side of the tunnel. I tried looking up to make sense of the tunnel but people were push, hitting me inside the tunnel. Fortunately I managed to reach the other side of the tunnel but problems arose when I found a large trunk of tree in the road. People could climb over to the other side of the truck but me haaaaah .I tried climbing but my legs could slip off and I drop down colleagues were moving quietly, stepping on me to climb the log but there is this lady who threw green light to my insight to use the claws on my feet.

I went slowly up to the top where I saw avery large shinny orange surface, with stripes through. I realised this was a fallen leaf turning orange down and the load in road was the petiole(leaf stalk) I smiled wondered because no one was enjoying the walk like the stranger in the place. The other problem was getting down from the trunk. Something hit me as I was trying to unstably go down. I fell off through the air, I lost my consciousness but something blacked me out I could not see anything but I was falling. I unconsciously woke up leaning on the a very cold wall with bruises on my head, my joints were paining like nothing. I realised I was in the hole with a lot of darkness but I could see little light rays on wall of the tunnel corner.

So I went stagling, surprisingly it looked like a city inside the only thing I could see was simple yellow lights on the sides of the way showering on the backs of the moving colleagues, the more I got closer the more heat developed. I felt like I was boiling inside me. Even though I was feel warmth nothing like sweat came out of me. Fellows were by rushing out with the larvae out.

So the only option I had was to go and pick one and get out of the burning hell. I crazily matched, acting like nothing was happening in my joints. I reached to a large room where eggs were laid. He room was organised that each larvae was in confined cell dropped in a fleshy smelly juice that looked nutritious, nausea set in I felt uncomfortable but I had to pick the larvae out. I searched in cells but I could not find a smaller larvae until I turned to the last cell where a newly laid small egg, had been laid with no smelly so called food was deposited. I smiled and thanked God in my heart. I focused and carried the egg out of the cell to match out of the hot hell. Along the way I felt my neck was breaking in pieces but I had to the endure the shearing pain in my neck joints.

This time round I had to use my claws at the same time carrying the load out the dark pit. I heard this voice inside me saying you “can do it”, I got a burst of motivation inside me. I climbed up using my claws but this felt like someone was pulling them out but later I realised that the more I opened the claws, the climb became more stable. I finally reached the top with my gap between the claws carrying a lot of silt. I realised that my palms between the claws was stickier that helped others to climb up smooth surfaces.

I was breathing deeply but the cloth was tight on me, my breathing was limited so I put the egg down and laid down supinated along the way. I tried to close my eyes but I couldn’t, light was entering straight into the eyes later I realised that I had compound eyes with no eye lids, thirst was killing Mr dreamer.

I stoop up somehow refreshed carried my luggage, it seemed like it was a short journey but we moved along ridges of mountains, allies a distance of miles. I realised that the solider had nothing to deal with commanding us to carry the luggage. So I sat down with the egg aside in shade but one thing I had not realised that the egg was becoming bigger and bigger ,the egg was growing in to larvae.as I was resting I had voices coming from a nearby distance . I realised I was about to reach, I was not wrong I was very near the destination.

The destination was a very cool place to stay, some colleague were building cells inside there ready to contain the developing larvae so I entered and dropped the larvae in the cell.

Unfortunately on my way out, something terrible happened. Something a kind of a stone fell down from the entrance and closed the way. Every one inside was terrified

Mobilisation started this is where I saw another roles played by the soldiers, with a group of soldiers came from inside and rolled out the rock, which I though was just a stone in real life I smiled.

Very quietly the matched back to the inside but in a miserable mood. Eight of them had died in the incident, the bodies were chopped in three part were carried and dropped in afar distance away from the road by soldiers.

After the burial, we gathered around only I could hear was a deep loud voice coming out from the middle the congregation it said “it’s very sad today that we have lost burbo and sharm today”. It’s very sad that our grandchildren have spent a very little time with the champions of this group but we shall remember their contribution towards the survival of this new niche.

I was behind, nothing I could exactly see but I saw every one coiling his or her antennae which was assign of griefing in their culture after burial but I didn’t know how to coil mine. I tried as much as possible it didn’t work, panic button in me had been hit I pretended bending my head down before anyone could see me.

After the meeting everyone went back to their respective work but I myself didn’t know what to do I was confused whether to go back to pick another larvae. As I was still thinking of what was next, one old solider called me to join the team which was in something that looked like a tent. It was very think and large extending a few metres from the entrance.it was a brown letting only little sunlight to penetrate trough, I went closer to the tent which I tried to scratch with my claws I latter realised that this was a polythene material. Which I thought was just apolythene dropped in someone’s compound. The commander entered “it’s time to look for some food for our colleagues who are busy at work he grouped us in to two groups. What I didn’t know that females feed on different meals from men. I was put in a group that looked for female food.

We set off with simple bowls that we carried in our mouth by their handles. We went through the think forests full of wonderful creatures that I had not seen in my life. We reached in ground which was filled with pink flowers all over the ground, sweetie smells everywhere in the place. We had to collect nectar from the fallen flowers and put it in to the basket. Intensity of the sweet smell was increasing as I entered the flower, I moved to the nectaries where I found a clear sweet, sticky viscous juice this was an eye candy. The thirst I had developed when I was carrying the larvae got healed because I sucked the new meal up to the brims of my stomach, I was at deaths door due to satisfaction.

I tried to rest in the inside the flower closing my eyes. I heard very loud uncoordinated sounds in the nearby place. I opened my eyes and I went to look through the the entrance I had used to enter. Befoere I reached the entrance I saw very large young birds that looked like chicken I couldn’t see them in the eyes to see clearly because their heads were very high in the sky, colleges were not around to be seen .They started dismarntoring the flowers with their scaly toes. I knew they were looking for simples insects like us.

I decided to run back in to the flower but running with six legs it’s not a piece of a cake. I looked back in panic I saw a beak picking a large snakelike animal which I think was an earth worm because I didn’t understand at that moment under fear. There something hit the flower walls in which I was confused with a large force that made me slip out of the flower they had not seen me but when I tried to run to the hide.

The gigantic young birds had seen me it picked me with its beak and dropped me down. The second time it caught me and squeezed my thorax between the ridged of its mouth, it swallowed me, as I was moving through the tract down to its stomach.” Julius? Julius?” it was James calling me to get him some tea. I just shook my head and a smiled.

Kayizzi is a young writer from Lira City, Uganda.