My Favourite Game

Have you ever played hide and seek?

Have you ever played hide and seek? If you haven’t, then you are missing out. I would spend hours finding the hardest to reach places and sit there hidden, giggling as the seeker wandered off in the wrong direction — I have such happy memories from that time.

Things are not how they used to be; now the game has changed.

It feels like such a long time since I last saw my friends from the village. There was a long-standing tradition among our families, which saw us united as one. Brothers, sisters, aunties, and uncles, were but some of the names we would refer to each other. We were surrounded by a circle of guardians who went out of their way to make sure no one in the community went without. If one family struggled, we all struggled.

We were all taught from a young age to be strong and proud Africans.

The houses were small and basic, offering a place of shelter where we would sleep. There was even a modest-sized kitchen where food was cooked and shared. We took pride in our home, yet our lives spilled outside onto the dusty streets where the adults gathered and shared stories. These tales were usually interrupted by excited children who rolled tyres around with a stick.

Thinking back, I don’t know why everyone had to leave so suddenly. There wasn’t a plague or anything wrong with the harvest because it was my job to check. The crops were there as they had always been, swaying whenever the passing breeze flicked them. They never told me why the entire community had to leave, and whenever I asked, they would change the subject and remind me how important education was. Learning was going to change my life.

When the time had come for people to leave, I watched the community pack up their belongings, and wrap up the little of what they had in bright and colourful blankets. My people said their long goodbyes and made promises that we would all be reunited soon. I don’t know why everyone was crying. As they said, we would see each other shortly.

Out on the quiet streets, I had nothing to do but to kick stones down the road. Bored, I returned to the only house that offered life. Unusually loud cries came screaming from inside the walls, prompting me to investigate. I crept towards the wall, making sure I wasn’t seen and crouched down into position. I know I shouldn’t have been listening to other people’s conversations, but being naughty for a change felt like some much-needed excitement.

“Those ghosts don’t belong here! They are from another time, from a place you couldn’t possibly comprehend!” My Grandfather bellowed. He took a brief moment, knowing he wouldn’t be interrupted. His voice was so loud that it boomed through the thin walls. “They are not serving us; they are serving themselves! They shouldn’t be meddling with our affairs!”

I didn’t like the sound of ghosts haunting us; I was frightened that these invisible monsters would come for me and run around the house, scaring my family. Maybe it was because of the ghosts why everyone left — perhaps they were scared like me.

Why was my Grandfather so upset? Usually, he was so calm and patient that I almost didn’t recognize this version of him. I don’t know what was scarier, the idea of ghosts, or my Grandfather’s deep and terrifying voice raining down on top of me.

I told myself: I hope he doesn’t shout at me like that.

That evening ideas were racing around my mind. So many it felt as though my head was pickled. I laid there wide awake, thinking about what was said, checking every inch of the room in case one of the ghosts had secretly slipped into the house uninvited. When those thoughts had passed, one question remained:

What does the word ‘meddling’ mean?

When the ghosts finally showed their presence, I felt a little bit silly for being so afraid. They weren’t that scary, after all, they looked quite similar to me, so much that I questioned if there had been some kind of mix up. What amazed me the most was the colour of their complexion, which reminded me of milk! This isn’t exactly true; they were whiter than milk, so white, that when the light shone on their skin, they almost became invisible!

The rumours were true; they did come from another world!

I didn’t manage to see them up close because I was outside my house when they came to visit. I didn’t see their faces, so I was still a little afraid of what they looked like. Long sharp teeth and a pointed nose, separated by a pair of bloodshot eyes, was how I imagined them to appear.

After a series of questions, I came to know that a ‘hat’ was an accessory they wore on their heads. This item of clothing protected their heads and their eyes from the light. I wanted one because my eyes hurt whenever I stared into the bright African sun.

The outline of my father moving up the hill to where the two ghosts stood. My Grandfather had moved silently by my side, sniggering and muttering bad words under his breath. I pretended not to hear what was said and watched as both parties were involved in a series of long conversations. We watched on and waited for my father to walk back down the hill towards the house, keen to find out what they wanted.

When my father returned, there was sadness in his eyes. They seemed different to usual, as though they were ready to burst and leak down his face. Kneeling to my position, he took both of my hands in his.

“I know this is your home son, but things have changed. We can no longer stay here. Your mother and I will have to go away for a while so we can put you through school.” My father paused and looked up to my Grandfather, who stormed off inside.

“Where are you going? Can I come too?” I asked cheerfully, knowing that they would never leave me behind.

“I’m afraid you can’t come with us this time. You are going to live with your Grandfather until we can arrange something more permanent, but don’t worry, this will only be temporary until things become more settled.”

My hands were gripped tighter, yet my fingers weren’t crushed or hurt in any way. My eyes wandered in the direction of a couple of shining stones that I wanted to boot. I looked up into his eyes that were now the size of moons.

“Is it the ghost’s prophecy? Have they seen danger in our future?” With no time to get an answer, I was shielded from the world and pulled into my father’s chest. He kissed my forehead and left sobbing, leaving me nervous and confused.

Saying goodbye to my friends wasn’t easy, but saying goodbye to my mother and father was the worst. I watched them disappear into the distance, with my Grandfather’s giant hand perched on my shoulder. I was waving, but they didn’t seem to wave back. The sun had just been reborn, and the sky looked like torn up slices of orange peel. We would soon be following them out of the village, but in a different direction to an isolated shack on the edge of Nowhere.

It was very dull out in Nowhere. It took around four days to arrive, and during our long journey, we didn’t see a single soul (as my Grandfather remarked). My elder was fun and exciting, but he never wanted to play hide and seek with me. Instead, he would tell me stories that were so amazing that I wondered if they were real. I missed my mother and father, and sometimes I forgot what they looked like. Of course, I knew their faces, but the small details became a little ‘murky.’ (I learned that word yesterday)

Curious, I would ask my Grandfather where they were and what they were doing. He simply replied that they were ‘working down the mines,’ and started to fidget in his chair. When I asked if I could go and help them, as I did in the fields, he responded with a stern look and said: “It is no place for children!”

After that point on, I never offered my help. I did begin to notice something strange regarding my elder. Sometimes when he talked, he would start to cough a lot. Holding a filthy rag to his mouth, my Grandfather would spit and splatter for minutes at a time. This cough got worse as the weeks went on until one morning, I woke up to find him dead in his chair.

Holding his heavy cold hand in mine, I cried for what felt like hours. All I could do was plead with him to wake up. When my eyes dried, I shook him violently, hoping that he was just having one of his long naps. Did the other children of my age see lots of dead people too? Were they also visited by ghosts?

Wanting to honour my Grandfather, I found the heavy pick hammer from inside the makeshift shed and dragged it across the hard clay. Changing my mind on several occasions, I chose a spot of land that wasn’t too close to our shack. Using all of my strength, I lifted the hammer above my head and struck the ground with force. With almost no impact, I had come to believe that the ground underneath my feet was metal.

After an hour of digging, I was ashamed to look down at my achievement — The grave I had uncovered wasn’t even deep enough to bury a worm.

I decided that I would wrap my Grandfather up in blankets and hope that someone would come by to check in on us. Looking into his milky blue eyes for the last time, I shut his eyelids and kissed him gently on the forehead.

Out in Nowhere, after the passing of seven days, I knew that no one would be coming to help. There was a funny smell that came from inside the shack, which seemed to attract hundreds of flies. The food supplies had run out, and the well where we collected our drinking water was no longer working. I took what little I had, and rolled it up in a sheet before tying it into a knot and placing it over my shoulder. It was a sad sight to leave my Grandfather alone, all wrapped up like a caterpillar. I hoped he wouldn’t be too mad at me — I wouldn’t want him to shout at me when I see him in heaven.

My journey was long and tiring, and I was getting hungry. Along the way, I was lucky enough to steal some rotting fruit from under the noses of some naughty flies. The landscape was barren and not very pleasing t. Finding a puddle of murky water, I scooped up a few handfuls and drank until my belly was full. I regretted this decision a few miles on when I started to feel unwell and was sick until my stomach was empty.

The days were growing long, and my energy was not as high as it was when I left my shack in Nowhere. My hunger was so intense that objects began taking the form of food. A tree grew into a giant pineapple, a smooth boulder took the shape of bright cherry, and my dark fingers took the form of strips of celery. Luckily, I caught myself putting my fingers in my mouth; otherwise, I am sure I would have taken a bite and chopped them off! There had to be food somewhere, and despite looking everywhere, there was none.

I had no idea how much time had passed — every day seemed to roll into one. I knew it had taken me longer than initially predicted, and somehow I had taken a different path towards the village. When the nights drew in, I stopped and waited for the morning to arrive. Due to the darkness, I found it impossible to see anything.

There was a small change in fortune when I accidentally came across one of my favourite hiding spots. My village was so close that a rice dinner and a cup of hot tea were nearly in my grasp. The feeling was so strong that I could imagine my tongue brush over broken pieces of rice that had got stuck in-between my teeth.

My path towards my home was no longer assessable. A large wire fence stopped me from walking any further. I followed it skyward, convinced it went higher than the clouds. I told myself that even on the shoulder of the tallest of giants, I wouldn’t have been able to climb over. I gripped the cold metal barrier and looked through the holes cut out like diamonds.

The light was fading quickly, and for some reason, I couldn’t find the houses and streets that I once played in. Everything from before was gone, leaving little evidence there was anything there to begin with. What had taken its place left me with a bad feeling which was soon echoed by my rumbling stomach.

Dumbfounded, I froze when greeted by massive structures that rose out of the ground and punched their metal fists down into the earth. They had no face and nobody, yet moved at incredible speeds, completing tasks no human could perform. They made unnatural sounds that shock the plains. The workers, who wore bright yellow hats, seemed to be unaware of what was going on around them — pretending the moving structures were no longer there.

The sun’s disappearance had only ever brought darkness, and yet for some unknown reason, the village refused to accept this fate. I traced where the brightness came from and found several immense candle-like structures that somehow produced a light way more potent than the brightest star. I had no choice but to shield my eyes from their vast power.

What had they done to my home? Where was I going to live now? I didn’t have time to focus on these crucial issues due to far more pressing matters that needed my full attention. A chorus of barking dogs prompted me to jump from the fence and run as fast as my aching legs could carry me. I didn’t want the dogs to bite me, so instinctively, I went back to one of my hiding spots.

I stayed hidden for a long time, much longer than I needed to. When there was only silence, I squeezed out of my hiding spot and sat under a tree. Under the canopy of stars, the vast distances from one to another, left me to think about my situation. Unknowingly, my body curled up into a tight ball, and I began to cry. At that moment, I wondered if I would ever never see my friends and family again.

My worries and sadness were eased the morning after when I made a new friend. Although he was shy and spent a lot of time up in the trees, he followed me on my journey. He hid in the leaves whenever I stared in his direction, quickly looking away. He is quite funny looking, yet that won’t get in the way of our friendship.

He had a white bald head and a massive tuft of feathers that covered his body from the neck down. It appeared as if he was wearing a thick jumper, which was a silly thing to wear in this heat! Both of his eyes were dark and close together, and I don’t remember him ever blinking. I asked if he had any food or knew of where we could get some, but he was too shy to speak.

There was no knowing where I was going, but because I wasn’t alone, things didn’t seem so frightening. The scenery hadn’t changed much, and the intense heat had started to blister my lips. My mouth was so dry that I used the spit in my mouth to make the insides of my tongue wet again. It was during this time that unexplained events started to occur. I kept seeing people and objects that weren’t there. They seemed so real that I had conversations with people that would suddenly vanish into thin air. The little water I managed to collect from the odd plant helped for a second or two but didn’t quench my thirst.

My new friend began to get to know me more as time passed by — flying down from out of the trees to ground level, he would sit down beside me whenever I took a rest. At first, I was a little scared of him, just because of the way he looked at me, but after what happened earlier that day, I knew he could be trusted.

Walking along in the dirt, a huge snake came out of the long dry grass and was staring me down. The colourful reptile started to flare and hiss in my direction. I was pretty sure the snake was going to attack me, and just as it sprung off the ground, my friend swooped down and clutched the snake in his claws! Flapping his wings and travelling at high speeds, I saw the snake and my rescuer, take off, and fly away into the distance.

My friend returned alone, leading me to believe the snake had been dropped home to his loved ones. I wished my friend had the strength to pick me up and fly me high over the dusty plains to take me back to my family. I wondered what the ground would look like from so high up and how free you would feel.

Although impossible, there were moments when my mind began to believe that this was the best plan to find food and water. These unusual thoughts were short-lived as I was drawn to the sharp pains knotting my stomach. In all my life, I had never felt pain quite like it.

With my mind unable to think clearly, and my legs wobbling, I was unable to prevent myself from stumbling to the ground. Lying face down in the dirt, I tilted my face in the direction of my friend, who was hopping closer towards me. Everything started to go fuzzy, and I struggled to keep my eyelids from falling. The bright and hazy horizon started to travel away from me until it was a small dot enveloped by darkness.

Rising to my feet, I felt as though a weight was taken and lifted off my shoulders. I was far lighter and more mobile than before. The pain in my stomach had disappeared, and there was no desire for me to eat or drink. Although this was weird, it was not as strange as the landscape that stood before my bare feet. The ground that had been a dull peach colour was now a dark brown texture that gave rise to lush green fields.

I ventured forward and let my fingers glide across the plants’ stem. Waving on top of the rolling hill stood my Grandfather, who motioned for me to join him on the high plains. I blurted out his name and felt so much relief at being reunited with my elder. Ready to bolt into the fields, I suddenly stopped myself, hearing the squawk from my loyal friend who waited behind me.

I turned around, hoping that my friend would join me and meet my Grandfather. There we could enjoy tea and eat until we were so tired that we passed out under the shade of a citrus tree. This dream soured when I saw myself lying face down in the dirt. I didn’t realize how fragile my weak body had become. I was so skinny that my ribcage was close to puncturing through the surface of my skin. My legs were as thin as match sticks, and my arms seemed far longer than they should have been.

I moved forward towards my limp body to dust away the growing number of flies that were rubbing their grubby hands together. I watched my friend nervously scurry to where I lay and caringly tapped me gently on the shoulder.

Being born with no hands, my friend used his beak to prod me in the back to see if I would respond. He repeated this movement and waited patiently, hoping I would magically spring back to life. When there was no sign of change, the bird jumped onto my body and tiptoed along my back, as though I was a makeshift plank. With aggressive jabs, the bird began to head-butt my body with his sharp beak. Blood poured out of the hole he had drilled down into my skin, and the vulture violently ripped away pieces of my flesh and swallowed them whole.

I didn’t know what to do. Struggling to understand what was happening, I tried to come to terms with this act of betrayal. With nothing to lose, my attempts to shoo the bird away didn’t have any impact. The world had moved on without me, and it was no longer affected by my presence. It was as if I was standing behind a stone wall that the vulture was unable to see past. Even though I couldn’t feel the bird’s claws dig into my back, or its beak beating down between my shoulder blades, I was hurt by what I had seen.

I honestly thought we were friends…

At that moment, I took little comfort in the fact that at least one of us wouldn’t starve to death. Over time, I came to realise that one end was a better price to pay than two. I said my final goodbyes to this unfair world and was grateful to be free from pain.

I learned that becoming a ghost didn’t mean that your skin automatically turned the colour of milk. Those workers in the yellow hats were never able to see me when I visited them. They spoke funny and looked different, but they were real people. My Grandfather told me that the term ‘ghost’ was only a nickname the villagers used because ‘the people from the new world’ had skin colour so much lighter than our own.

I ran up towards my Grandfather as fast as my fresh legs could carry me, greeted by children my age who loved to hide. My Grandfather still didn’t want to play along, but my parents did. They searched every corner of the country in the faint hope they would find me. Their entire lives were spent looking for me, and because I was so well hidden, no one could see me!

I visit them often and have noticed that with each passing day, they grow gray and sadder. I hope they won’t be mad at me for leaving so soon; I wouldn’t want them to shout at me when I see them in heaven.