Zahrah the Windseeker

  Dari spotted the slug quickly as it clung and slowly moved down my shoulder.

  "Wait," he said. "Don't move, so I can—"

  He quickly picked it off and threw it on the ground, where the slug continued on its way as if nothing had happened. It was gray and about the size of my hand, its two fleshy gray antennae round on the tips and bobbing as they sensed its surroundings.

  "Ugh! Eww!!! Blah!" I shouted, absent-mindedly running over to a tree and grabbing a leaf to wipe the large amount of slug mucus coating my shoulder. Dari only laughed.

  "It was just a slug," he said.

  "Only the biggest slug I've ever seen!" I said, looking up into the trees. In my experience with the small slugs in my mother's garden, where there was one there were always more. "Yech! Disgusting! Look at this nasty stuff it left on my dress! My outfit's ruined."

  Dari stepped over for a closer look.

  "Sorry, Zahrah," he said, using his hand to wipe my shoulder. "It'll dry. And we're in the jungle; no one's going to see you. We'll go straight to your house when we leave so you can change."

  The slug tainting my outfit lessened the focus on my fear. As we walked, I couldn't help but wonder who was going to see me with that large dark patch of wetness on my dress. The slug mucus dried but still remained dark and tacky looking.

  "You feel as if something is watching us?" Dari asked a few minutes later.

  I shrugged. I was still holding his hand, but I wasn't as huddled next to him as before the slug had dropped on me.

  "I'm willing to bet there are a thousand things watching us right now, " I said. My words made me shiver a bit, but my panic seemed to have been pushed far away. I slapped at a mosquito on my neck.

  "Yeah, but something's..." He stopped and looked around. "Oh, I dunno."

  I didn't say anything, but I knew what he was talking about. Something specific was watching and following us. It was up in the trees, and I kept thinking I was going to catch it with my eye, but then just as I tried to focus, it was gone. It wasn't very big, whatever it was.

  About twenty minutes later, after we'd walked about a mile, we stopped—for two reasons. The first was that the dirt road before us abruptly ended, becoming a narrow path that was barely a path at all. The second reason was that there was sunshine to our left. We were at a small clearing where the trees seemed to move aside, allowing sunlight to reach a patch of low-growing green plants. Both of us were struck by how beautiful the place was. A few flowers were budding in different places, lush vines draped the trees, and everything looked so alive and sweet. I'd much rather have gone into the clearing than down the creepy dark path.

  Dari must have agreed.

  "That looks like a good safe place," he said. "You can practice there."

  "Fine," I said. "But not today. Let's go home. I've had enough of this place for one day."

  I led the way back down the road. It didn't take us long to get home. But we were dusty and grimy with sweat. Thankfully, we saw none of our classmates along the way, and my parents were not home yet. After Dari left, I threw my soiled dress in my hamper and took a very long bath, making sure to scrub my left shoulder several times. And all I could think about as I washed the dirt off my skin was how I was still alive and how lovely the clearing was in the sunlight.

  My feet tingled with excitement. Maybe I was living up to my dada expectations after all—with a little persistent pushing from my best friend, that is. I scooted down deeper in the hot water and giggled to myself.

  It was crazy and stupid and dangerous, but it was true. Dari and I were going to go back into the forbidden jungle.

  Chapter 11

  The War Snake

  "What was that?" I asked, softly landing back on the ground. My legs were crossed and I opened my eyes. Dari sat against a tall mahogany tree, the digi-book he'd borrowed from the library in his hands. He'd become obsessed, reading it well into the night and even during class. It was still pretty faulty; sometimes it wouldn't turn on or it would conk out on him while he was reading, but he was usually able to get it to work.

  The digi-book went well with the fact that we had been going to the Greeny Jungle every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for two weeks. It was Friday, and we had only one more day of school left before semester break. We planned to go even more often once school was out.

  Our parents didn't suspect a thing, and they liked knowing that their children were spending so much time in the library. The library was much safer than the Dark Market. It's funny how once you tell one lie, you can always tell more.

  Still, our trips to the jungle were starting to make me think. It was amazing how the people of Kirki pretended that the jungle wasn't there. I felt a little ashamed that I'd done the same only two weeks ago. Aside from the trucks that drove to the farms in the morning and left the farms at night and the groups of farmers who walked to and from the farmers' rest area during breaks, no one even so much as looked at the road that led into the jungle. It was easy for Dari and me to walk there unseen. We just had to make sure we weren't on the path at around nine, noon, and six p.m. Still, I wasn't sure if what we were doing was right.

  "It's nothing," Dari said, playing with the charm he wore around his neck. "It's just the jungle. We're not the only ones here, you know."

  "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," I said. Then I said what I'd been saying for two weeks. "We shouldn't be here."

  "Well, do you have a better idea for a place to practice without being seen?" Dari asked.

  I didn't. And I had to admit, coming to the forbidden jungle had turned out to be not such a bad idea.

  Though there were certainly bizarre, even terrible, creatures and beasts there and who-knew-what lived miles in, the Forbidden Greeny Jungle was just a jungle. With each visit, I relaxed more. And though I'd never admit it to Dari, I was beginning to look forward to our visits. The Greeny Jungle, even only a mile into it, had several creatures that I'd never seen before or heard of.

  There were the turquoise-blue butterflies that sang a ghostly tune as they went from flower to flower. At first, I thought they were ghosts. Dari said that according to the field guide, the butterflies were fittingly called ghost flies. And, most important, they were harmless.

  There were the red lizards with the hard golden feet that clacked when they scrabbled up a tree. Dari was still searching for their name. And I certainly couldn't forget the flies whose bites left orange circles on our skin until they healed. There weren't many of these flies, but all it took was one bite to be bothered for a few days. The bites itched a lot, especially during a hot shower. Bright orange circles on dark brown skin were easy to notice, so it took a lot of effort to hide them from our parents. My favorite creature was the giant dark-gray-colored, long-fingered dormouse.

  "It's so cute!" I whispered.

  "This one I've read about. It's very common," Dari said quietly the first time it let us see it. "Don't look straight at it or it'll run away."

  I held my breath and tried not to move. We both could smell it; it smelled of lemons and spice, the very things it fed on. The gray furry dormouse peeked around the trunk of the tree just above Dari. It had a wide round face with large red eyes, and each of its red, sticklike toes and fingers was over three inches long. It wrapped its fingers flat against the tree trunk as it leaned over to get a better look at us.

  Since that first day, it had been spying on us whenever we went to the jungle. It was the creature we had both sensed was watching us that first time we came.

  "It always seems to think that I don't see it," I whispered to Dari.

  "It knows," Dari said. "It thinks it's smarter than we are."

  Each time we went, this particular dormouse followed us. I knew it was the same dormouse because this one had a red spot on its left flank. Plus it grew more and more familiar with us. By the third visit, I was bringing it bits of mango and coaxing it from its hiding place for a snack.

  That first week my ability greatly increased. The clear
ing turned out to be the perfect spot. The plants were cool and soft to sit on, and occasionally they blossomed into tiny turquoise flowers with green centers that the ghost flies liked to suck nectar from. It was a beautiful place. The open air seemed to allow me to unlock more of my ability. I could levitate several feet into the air, higher than my bedroom ceiling. It was beginning to worry me. I didn't want to lift up way into the air. I wanted to be able to fly, to zip around like a bird, a bird that liked to fly close to the ground. But for some reason, I couldn't do anything close to zipping around; I could only slowly levitate upward. I seemed to have reached a peak in my ability, and I hadn't improved since the week before.

  "You can't have the ability to fly and never fly," Dari said. "Just keep trying."

  I humphed. Maybe my ability wasn't that powerful. Maybe this was all I could do. Nsibidi's parents were both Windseekers, but neither of mine was. It wasn't strong in my blood. Still, I closed my eyes and concentrated. My brow was covered with sweat. It took effort to balance my mind and call up the wind. Especially when I was scared. But once I was floating, it was easier. I just didn't go too high.

  As Dari sat on the soft green plants leaning against the tree, a creature slithered up to his hand.

  When Dari and I followed the path past the palm kernel farms into the Forbidden Greeny Jungle that day, neither of us knew that a war snake was slumbering nearby. How could we have? We weren't psychic. War snakes were white with green splotches on their four-foot-long bodies. These splotches were shaped oddly, like badges and stars.

  The females were slightly smaller than the males, but that didn't make them any less aggressive. If Dari had gotten far enough in his Forbidden Greeny Jungle digi-book at that time, he'd have read the whole ten pages dedicated to the many ongoing battles between the war snakes, battles that had been raging deep in the Greeny Jungle for so long that the snakes probably no longer knew or cared what they were fighting for! But Dari had read only a short definition of the war snake in the glossary. Still, he could never have guessed he'd encounter one only a mile into the Forbidden Greeny Jungle.

  I like to imagine that this particular war snake was a first officer of her brigade (the book did say that war snakes moved in brigades) and had wandered ahead and lost her way.

  She must have been wandering for days and was starting to grow angry. She'd never been without her people for that long. And she was so wrapped up in her scary situation that she didn't notice how close she was to the end of the Forbidden Greeny Jungle. According to the field guide, this snake would have been the first war snake to come this close to the forbidden jungle's boundaries in over a hundred years!

  Nevertheless, the war snake was still a war snake, and when faced with something she didn't understand, she did what she'd been taught from the day she hatched: Go for the kill.

  Dari didn't frown or shout at the snake. He didn't attempt to bash her. He didn't kick or throw his book at her. He didn't yelp and move away. Dari didn't even see the snake as she slid up beside him. But he certainly felt the sting of her bite and then the warmth as her venom seeped into his skin and deeper into his muscle.

  Dari gasped and jumped up. "What the...?!"

  My eyes shot open and I dropped painfully to the ground.

  "What is it?" I said, running over.

  The snake quickly let go as Dari whipped her into a nearby bush. She probably slithered away yelling something like, "Retreat! Retreat!" in her snake language. Days later, when she finally found her brigade, she must have told them stories about a ferocious hairless brown beast that attacked her and how she bravely bit and fought back. Bravely indeed. Horrible creature! She attacked an innocent human being who didn't even know she was there!

  "Does it hurt?" I asked, looking at his hand.

  Dari nodded and I whimpered. Dari's face had suddenly gone from a healthy dark brown to a brownish ashy umber. And his eyes were barely open. I moved next to him.

  "Put your arm around my shoulder, " I said. It was the closest I'd ever stood to my best friend. He smelled nice, like soap, baby oil, and oranges. But I was more concerned with getting him to safety. He leaned heavily on me, and I wasn't very strong. But my fear and love for Dari gave me strength that day.

  "OK, Dari, you'll be OK," I said as we started to walk.

  "Feel so weak," he said. His face was slack as the war-snake venom sapped his energy. I was terrified that he would die right then and there.

  "Just ... um, f-focus on my voice," I said. I didn't know why, but I knew I could not let him give in to his tiredness. "Uh ... what was it that bit you?"

  Dari was breathing heavily and starting to sweat. He shook his head.

  "Can't believe it," he said.

  "Huh?"

  Dari breathed a few breaths before he got the strength to speak. "I've been reading ... the book."

  I nodded.

  "Wanted to know about ... what was lurking in the jungle ... since we would be spending time in there, " he said. His walking was slowing, but we kept moving.

  "Keep talking, Dari.... Please," I said. I too was starting to lose my breath from holding him up.

  "In ... in the book," he said, "they list creatures and things that ... explorers have documented ... it's a good book, Zahrah."

  "A good book," I repeated, not knowing what else to say. I was trying my best not to cry. I wanted to cry so much. To see Dari so weak was the worst thing in the world. Everything was happening so fast; I had no time to think!

  "War snake," he said.

  "A what?"

  "They're poisonous ... irrational, always ... spoiling for a fight."

  "How do you feel now?"

  "Tired, dizzy."

  "Concentrate on your feet," I said. "One step at a time."

  Then I started counting out loud with each step. "One, two, three..."

  Dari's eyes closed, but thankfully he seemed to concentrate on the numbers and moved his feet as I counted. We walked the long mile out of the jungle and emerged from the path onto the street. Then we stumbled down the street to Kirki's main road. Across the street were a few Kirki Farms office buildings.

  "Help!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Dari crumpled to the ground. I took another deep breath. "HELP! Someone!"

  Chapter 12

  Decision

  "Your son is an extremely rare case," the doctor said hours later that night, clipboard in hand.

  My parents stood pressed together, their faces still in shock. Dari's parents clutched each other, somehow holding each other up. They were run down with stress. Dari's father rested his head in his wife's puffy Afro, his face wet with tears. Looking at him made me want to cry some more. The doctors had run a quick series of tests, and we all knew the news would be bad. Dari's mother's face was frozen in a sad grimace. The room smelled of baby oil, oranges, and soap.

  Dari had fallen into a deep, deep sleep even before one of the employees in the office building had finished calling the ambulance. I refused to leave Dari's side. I rode with him in the ambulance, and then sat next to him in the emergency room. When he was moved to a hospital room, I stationed myself in the chair next to his bed, holding his hand. Even though he couldn't communicate, I was sure he was aware of me, that he could hear every word being said. I sniffed and wiped my eyes.

  "War-snake bite," the doctor said. She shook her head and looked at Dari's medical files. "I still can't believe it. You kids should never have gone into the forbidden jungle. You know that. It is called the forbidden jungle for a reason."

  "I'm sorry," I whispered. I'd been saying that since Dari and I got to the hospital, and each time was like being stuck with a pin. We should have known. I explained how we had ventured into the jungle out of curiosity. I didn't tell them about my ability. What good would that have done? It would only have added more confusion and shock.

  I wasn't asked much after that. At that moment, everyone was more concerned with Dari's condition than with why we were in the jungle in the first place. r />
  "I'm sorry too, my dear," said the doctor. She looked at her clipboard. "Dari's condition has stabilized. He's not going to die from the bite ... at least we don't think he will."

  She paused and looked at Dari's parents.

  "However, I have done some research and consulted with other doctors. Let me present you with the situation. And I must warn you, it is not good," she said. Dari's mother sighed quietly. His father held her more tightly. My parents looked away.

  "Your son was bitten by an incredibly rare snake from the forbidden jungle. Normally, it lives very deep in the jungle. How do we know this? Well, we don't. Not really. All the information we know about war snakes we got from this." The doctor held up a tattered green book. The edges were dog-eared, the pages yellowed and dusty. It was titled The Forbidden Greeny Jungle Field Guide, Volume 439. It was the same book that Dari had borrowed from the library, except this was part of the printed version. I took in a short breath and looked at my feet to hide my recognition.

  "This is a field guide to the forbidden jungle," the doctor continued. "I'm embarrassed to say that the hospital owns a copy of it. We keep all the volumes in the basement ... just in case. Most of what you find in here is nonsense. But we have no other way of knowing anything about the jungle. Anyway, the book says that the venom doesn't kill. War snakes eat small rodents. It is believed that they kill their prey by constriction. They bite only as an act of aggression. The venom affects all the victim's nerves. Lulls him into a deep sleep, a coma. One thing we know for sure after running tests on Dari is that he will not wake up."

  Dari's mother gasped and began to weep. I rested my head on Dari's chest, all seven of my dadalocks spilling over his belly. I could still hear his heart beating through his hospital pajamas. He was still alive.