Beneath The Thorn

It was a scorching day in the small village of Magaya. The vengeful sun beat down Chuki’s head, it sometimes felt to her like the sun was trying to punish everyone. Chuki was a sedulous worker, she almost worked a little too hard, she spent her days in the fields nurturing the crops as if they were her own children, like her life depended on it, because it did. Magaya was one of the poorest villages in Mali, no one had it easy, but Chuki never let her poverty overcome her prosperity.

“Chuki! You've been out all day, you need to come inside and get some rest!” her grandmother called. She lived with her grandparents, who raised her themselves, her mother had not wanted her from the day she was conceived to the day she was born, because the father was a slave owner who she had miraculously escaped, but her mothers parents begged her to keep the baby and let them raise her themselves. Because the method used to terminate pregnancies back where they lived was barbaric, they did not want her mother to risk her own life trying to accomplish such a thing. To Chuki, her birth mother was nothing, even the fact that she escaped her owner didn’t awe Chuki, her mother had left exactly an 2 hours after she was born, according to her grandpa. She never even came around, not even to visit her own parents, for 19 years, no one had heard from her mother, know one knew if she was dead or alive or even in captivity again. To Chuki, her mother was a coward for abandoning her. Chuki’s grandmother, Folami, had given her the name Chuki, which means “Born at a time of hatred”, she was born just a few years before the 13 amendment had abolished slavery, even after that people still continued to own slaves. Luckily for them their town had not been touched much by the westerners or the rich leaders that would sell their own people into captivity.

“I cannot come in Grandma, I must pick the rest of the grapes before they dry out.” Chuki replied.

“Ah no, your papa will finish the rest, come in and drink some water before you knock yourself out.” Folami scorned. Chuki rolled her eyes, being out in the crops was her getaway, her escape from her utterly lonely reality, she even talked to the plants as if they were people. As a child no other kids in Magaya accepted Chuki, they called her a half breed, and only saw her as the creature derived from an evil Caucasian man, so friends were not easy to come by for her. She did have one friend, Kofi, a boy who she had played with ever since she was a little girl, he never treated her like the other kids did, but as they grew up he had decided to find a better life elsewhere, and had abandoned her, leaving her alone with her field of crops. Chuki had resented Kofi for leaving her, she loved him, he left when she was 17. He told her he would come back to visit every 4 months, but for 2 years she has not seen him once. Chuki grabbed a handful of grapes before releasing the basket and going inside the shack.

“One of these days I'm gonna find you passed out in the field Chuki” Folami jokes, “ You’ve been out there since sunrise”

“Oh, don't be so dramatic Grandma, the grapes keep me hydrated enough to carry on” Chuki laughs.

“You keep eating them like that and we won't have any left” Folami shakes her head “Now sit down and eat a proper meal, I made you sweet potatoes and bread.” Chuki hoards down her meal like she hadn't eaten in days. She didn't like to take her time eating, she used to eat almost every meal with Kofi. Ever Since he had left she had limited her eating time from three times a day to once a day. “My dear why don’t you chew your food” Folami insisted. Chuki stared at her with her mouth full, then took a big gulp, “I must get the fullness of the flavor, the bigger the bite the bigger the taste” She winks at Folami.

“Whatever you say child.” Folami scoffs

The Stars had made their way into the sky, by this time Chuki was on her bed knitting various items. Her Grandpa had come by her room entrance, “Chuki” He began “I found your journal out in the crops, I didn't want it to get dirty so I brought it inside.” Chuki stared at the little black book confused, she had never owned a journal, let alone thought about writing in one. It wasn’t her thing. “That’s not mine Papa.” Chuki remarked.

“Oh really? Interesting it has your name on it” He added. Still confused, Chuki got up to get a closer look at it, written at the top right corner was her name in gold handwriting. “ Oh, I most definitely forgot about this book,” She Muttered “Thank you.” She carefully removed the book from his hands, he gave her a look of uncertainty then went on his way. The journal was small, with smooth black leather bindings. She had no idea where it came from, but she was very curious. She flipped through the soft pages, they were all empty. “That's weird’’ she thought to herself. Then flipped through once again, and still, all pages were empty, all except one. The writing was almost so small she could barely read it, she squinted at the tiny writing on the paper.

‘Before The Sun Rises In The Morn, You Will Find Me Beneath The Hidden Thorn’

“ what is this? Some kind of joke?” She thought to herself. She had no idea what the hidden thorn meant, she absolutely hated riddles, she never understood how any person could enjoy such a thing that required so much thought. “Ugh” she gasped, then tossed the book onto the floor and went back to her bed and continued to knit.

It was late, Chuki tried hard to fall asleep but instead she lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, a million thoughts running through her head. The number one thought going through her head was always Kofi, she thought about where he was and if he was even alive, she thought about all the time they had spent together, and how she was supposed to be with him right now. She thought about how much she hated him for leaving her but also how much she loved him. “Would he ever come back for me? Why did he go? Was I not good enough for him? 14 years we spent as best friends and he just takes off, like I meant nothing to him.” She began to tear up, just like every other night she spent wallowing in her sorrow over the boy, she felt as if she would never get over him. Then the little black journal had crossed her mind, she repeated the written words in her head “Before the sun rises in the morn you will find me within the hidden thorn” Chuki didn’t recall any of their plants in the field growing thorns, maybe there was more in the journal that she had not yet found, Chuki lit her candle and proceeded to look for where she threw the book, but it was no longer anywhere to be seen. She reached under her bed, nothing was there. It was far too late to wake up her grandparents to ask if they had placed it anywhere. She then remembered she had been in the same spot for the whole evening, and neither of them had come in. Chuki began to search around the shack with her candle, holding it high and low while timidly tip-toeing around. With the black book nowhere to be seen in the shack, she decides it’s best to go back to bed.

“Before the sun rises in the morn, you will find me beneath the hidden thorn” she repeats to herself. “I must not sleep, I may not wake up before the sun.” Every morning the bright colors in the sky that reflect off the sun woke her up, but she figured that if she wanted to solve this mystery she’d have to be up before the colors emerge. So she lit another candle and began to knit, all while thinking of which plants that may have thorns. “Lemon trees have thorns, but none of those grow in our field.” She thought “Kofi’s parents have a lemon tree, what if Kofi is back and he’s playing a trick on me? No impossible, who would do such a thing” she reassured herself. Abruptly, she heard a rustling of what seemed to be branches and grass outside. With a candle in hand, she hastily made her way out the entrance of the shack, hoping to discover what caused the rustling, but the noise had stopped. She took a few steps on the dirt path that led towards the field before hearing a sharp ringing noise. Chuki hit her ears with her hand, but the ringing continued. As she stepped into the field of crops more and more the ringing became more prompt. She went left, the ringing became softer, so she went right and followed the eerie tune. Realizing the full moon was luminous that night, she blew out her candle. Ahead of her, a soft warm glow appeared in the long grass. Curious to discover the object, she began to run towards the light. The closer she got, the higher pitched the ringing sound became. To her surprise, there it was, the little black journal opened flat on the ground the words 'Before The Sun Rises In The Morn,You Will Find Me Beneath The Hidden Thorn' emerged extraordinarily bright from the page, then disappeared. The ringing had silenced. Chuki flipped through the pages of the book, all were empty. Chuki kept repeating the words from the book over and over again in her head. Just ahead of her, appeared an orange tree. “That tree was not there before,” she thought. She then remembered that orange trees have thorns, and sprinted towards the tree. As she ran she then noticed the little black journal was no longer in her hand. Chuki began to panic and went back to where she had found the book, she felt around in the grass but the book had once again disappeared. Chuki had then seen the colors emanating beneath the surface of the sky. Time was running out, the sun was bound to rise anytime now. She rushed to the orange tree. There it was again, the little black journal, beneath the thorns of the tree. She opened the journal, but read something different this time.

' If You Want To Break The Seal, Everything You Need Is Beneath The Peel.'

Chuki first picked the largest orange off the tree, it smelled….. Interestingly sweet, but bitter. As she peeled, flecks of gold pebbles began to spill out, quickly she managed to catch the gold pebbles in her garments. Overwhelmed with excitement she began to quickly peel as many oranges as she could, she scooped up her garment and made it into a little carrying sack for all the gold. “This must be worth thousands and thousands of pounds” she thought to herself in excitement. As the sun began to rise, the orange tree then slowly faded away. Even though Chuki did not peel all the oranges, she was exceedingly satisfied with all she had acquired.

One year later, Chuki and her Grandparents no longer live in a shack, she now owns her own farm with cattle, sheep, chickens, and she has the most immaculate thriving garden. Kofi still hasn't returned to her yet, but Chuki knows her worth and will not wait around miserably moping over a man.