The dark night pervaded the land with the sound of insects of the night such as crickets providing a disturbing melody. In this particularly dull night, something that had happened several other times repeated once again in the Great Zika world; a nightmare or maybe a memory.

The massive Purple Mist moon that looked so close to the planet as if just a reach of the hand could touch it, shone bright violet light in this remote region surrounded by a huge black mountains. Its charming vigorous splendor which could be described as demonic, shone on the village that existed in these valleys; a village that was neither small nor large. A village that was simply referred to as "the village bathed in the sun", Jua village.

In a small hut in the village, a boy of about nine years old was deep asleep while heavily perspiring. His eyebrows fluttered violently and his hands balled into fists so hard that his nails dug into his skin. The small room he was sleeping in had one other occupant who was looking at him worriedly. This was a little girl of about six years old. These two siblings were Mwana Jua and his little sister Pendo Jua, both with poetic names meaning "Son of the Sun" and "Love of the Sun".

During this night, Mwana found himself in an all too familiar place, a void that seemed endless. It looked empty yet filled with matter. Occasionally, large meteors and asteroids shuttled about.

Before he could get his bearing, he was pulled deeper into the void to a place where the stars could not be seen but what appeared in front of him shocked him to the core. A massive planet! Its size and aura overwhelmed his senses so much that he felt his mind on the verge of collapsing. He was rotating around this planet like a moon at speeds he could not even fathom but what shocked him even more was that this colossal planet was damaged.

On one part of this planet was a massive gush that went deep to the core. A third of the planet was shattered and revolved around it like an asteroid belt. Magma gushed out of the planet's core like blood from a massive wound. What was even more surprising was the shape of this planet's wound which looked like a massive claw, as if someone clawed into the planet and took a chunk out of it like a child clawing into mud.

"What is this? What is this world? Am I dreaming again?"

Mwana could not fathom what he was witnessing but having experienced similar dreams before; he had an inkling that this was a dream of epic proportions.

"I should wake up! I want to wake up! Wake up!."

However, no matter how he tried, he couldn't wake up from this dream despite knowing it was one. The coldness of space had already frozen him to the bone and as he watched the planet's gushing magma, he wished to dive in and warm his body.

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In an instant, he already forgot that this was a dream as with most dreams. He willed himself and dove from space into the planet like a comet approaching the earth at incredible speeds. In a measure of an instant, he had already plunged deep into the magma, from freezing to hotness of unimaginable proportions. He was no longer in control of his body at this point.

"Gurgle gurgle"

"Dum Dum Dum Dum"

The lava bubbled endlessly like a beast drinking its feel. The sound that reached Mwana as he sank deeper was that of a heartbeat from deep in the earth. It was loud like hoof beats in the midst of war and it radiated endless might and vigor but also endless sorrow, despair and freezing hatred. All these complexities were perfectly melded in the sound of this heartbeat. They consumed and compelled Mwana's own heartbeat. He felt like his heart was about to explode.

“…wake up. Wake up! Big brother wake up!”

With a sharp inhale and a fierce leap from his bed, Mwana Jua woke up from that hellscape of a dream. At the side of his bed was his little sister Pendo Jua who had just woke him up. “Thanks Pendo,” however after getting a look at his bearings he realized his sleeping clothes were soaked wet. He was yet to notice the look of concern and fear on little Pendo’s face. The room was also hot and full of steam like the middle of summer despite it still being at night. It took him a moment before he realized his own body was hot like a boiling pan. His originally dark brown skin was burned red like heated iron and steam endlessly escaped from his pores. Fear instantly struck him, “Did what I experienced in the dream affect me in reality? Is this the famed spontaneous human combustion? Am I going to die?” The fear ate at him and he couldn’t help but let out a startling scream. A second later, Pendo also joined him in screaming.

“Mama! Mama! Mama!”

The little Pendo kept crying as if her little life depended on it. It had to be said that a lot of it was out of concern for her brother but a part of it was also influenced by his fear and the little girl had always been one to follow in her older brother’s footsteps. From outside the door, the sound of feet rushing could be heard before the wooden door to the room was burst open. A woman dressed in a white traditional patterned leso, came rushing in.

The moment she came in, she was greeted by the sight of her son glowing red as if he was on fire. His clothes and beddings were burning up and his face was scrunched up as if in deep pain. She could not help but rush to pick him in her arms but the moment she got close to touching him, burns already appeared on her body. This caused little Pendo to cry in fear even more. Mwana and Pendo’s mother, Sana Jua looked around her late forties but in reality she was a bit younger than that. Years of being plagued by illness had reduced her to a husk of her former self. At that point, she hated that her frail body prevented her from comforting her son.

*Zika – to burry something or someone

*Jua – the Sun/to know

*Mwana – Child

*Pendo – Love

*Sana – a lot

*leso – traditional patterned cloth usually accompanied by some words or phrase