The journey begins

Words were all Peo could think of during an entire bus journey, she knew the spelling bee competition was going to be a bit tougher that time around, especially since they were hosted by the Maun team for the very first time ever. Nevertheless, she was most certainly looking forward to seeing the swampy village for the first time ever and to avoid any spoilers she kept her eyes closed the entire journey…well-almost.

“Wake up dander head-we’re here!” squealed a slim blonde sitting next to Peo.

Peo didn’t dare to open her eyes because she did not trust that particular blonde, the girl had told her that they had arrived seven times before that and Peo had fallen prey to her jokey lies but not that time around. There was no way she was opening her eyes.

“Hey, I’m serious this time, I promise. I swear on your life.” the girl giggled mischievously.

Although she heard the excitement in the voices of the other passengers, Peo was not about to open her eyes until someone other than her friend confirmed that they had indeed arrived.

“Look, Elena I know you’re trying to trick me again but I’m not that fool anymore and…” Peo’s words were cut short after a deeper voice claimed all earshot in the bus.

“Ahem, students-I know it has been a long and tiring journey but I am glad to announce that we have arrived in Maun at last.” Said a chubby dark skinned man who didn’t seem as excited as the students were. He was struggling to squeeze his pot belly further along the thin bus aisle. As he quietly pushed his way to the back of the bus, the students began to chatter with excitement.

“Attention please!” The bald fellow cried out nervously. “Don’t be too excited because I bear with me a small problem…eh. It seems the local river is so full that it has flooded a small part of the village, including the campus that was supposed to shelter and host us.”

The students started chattering disappointedly amongst themselves, they had been looking forward towards that competition for years especially because they were beyond excited to witness Maun for the first time ever. They began to hiss and curse with disappointment.

“So we came all the way to Maun for nothing!”. A scrawny boy protested and the rest of the passengers roared in complaint.

“Silence!” The official thundered and his order was beyond obeyed. “I was not done speaking. Now, since the only hotel around here is fully booked, our hosts have decided to use an old school located just a few kilometres away from the main village as the venue for the competition…well that is if you all agree to the decision and if you don’t agree we can always turn back.” He muttered with a nasty grin, he knew how much they had longed to get a taste of Ngamiland.

“The competition has a venue-and that’s great,” Muttered an angry looking brunette girl, with her arms folded above her chest. “but where will we sleep?”

“That is a great question, Portia.” The man in charge remarked. “We will be also sleeping in the school together with the rest the other two teams…well-that is if none of you reject the idea and mind you, that is the only choice we have.”

The majority of the pupils supported the idea and they all cheered a big yes except for the brunette, who silently gave the idea a bitter facial expression.

“Since we are all on the same page, how about we be on our way there-Don’t worry guys, I didn’t forget my promise. I swear we will tour the village before we head back to Gabz.” Said the official with a broad smile as he headed back to get the bus started.

The girl seated next to Peo shot her hand up and snapped her fingers till she had the official’s attention. “Mr Kabo-can we at least check out the mall for like two minutes?”

“Elena, there is no time my girl -we have to go early so as to figure out where we will be sleeping. Perhaps I did not mention that the school had been abandoned for decades…it’s in the middle of the forest and it needs a lot of cleaning.” said Mr Kabo as he got the vehicle moving.

 “If you look further on your right, you should be able to see the communal part of the village, I know I can’t cause my eyes are not as youthful as yours”. He chuckled before honking at a herd of cattle crossing the road.

Peo followed Mr Kabo’s direction and caught herself a blurry glimpse of the village from a distance. She wasn’t that stunned by the communal part of the village because it reminded her of Gaborone but only a bit underdeveloped here and there, the only thing that honestly set the two settlements apart was the beautiful Thamalakane river flowing through the village. Peo could only imagine what it would be like to dip her feet in those grey waters.

“Do you think they like have Wi-Fi over there?” Elena asked with concern, the internet was her biggest need ever especially then more than ever because she was prepared to brag about her Ngami experience to her quarter million social media followers.

“I mean its 2054,” cried Elena as she tried not to believe that the place might not actually contain Wi-Fi. “Every village has Wi-Fi even Francistown has Wi-Fi.”

“Hei, now my friend I believe that all blondes are dumb and for your own information Francistown is a city not a village.” Peo rolled her eyes with amusement as she took out a handful of garlic from her handbag.

“That doesn’t answer my question sisi. And anyways what are you doing with so much garlic?” Elena asked as she applied glittery lip-gloss to her thin lips.

“My mother is the one who stuffed my bag with all this garlic.” Peo complained with a deep sigh. “She believes that Maun is a haunted village full of witches and evil spirits and demons an all that crazy stuff. Of all people, I didn’t expect good old mama to believe in these myths. I’d rather worry about wild animals in Maun, not myths.”

“Um, although what you’ve just said is very interesting, especially the witch stuff…you still didn’t tell me what the garlic is for- like are we gonna make garlic dip or something?” The blonde demanded as she made use of a colourful makeup palette.

“Oh the garlic, that’s just a gift for the swamp demons.” Peo muttered sarcastically. Elena’s blankness always got in her nerves.

“What!” Elena cried in a disappointed but yet enraged tone. “Nobody told me we had to bring offerings to the swamp demons. I really hope they are mermaids that way I can at least give them a makeover.”

Peo could have exploded. How did she become friends with the dumbest person in the universe? “God of holdings Elena! Garlic is famously known for scaring away evil spirits and stuff.” Peo yelled with a curled fist and clenched teeth.

The two were so caught up in their stupid conversation that they didn’t notice when the bus made a turn to take a sandy route into a very thick and dark forest.

“Well, how am I supposed to know that garlic scares away demons.” Elena cried, She was genuinely puzzled by Peo’s statement. “The next thing you are gonna tell me that pizza scares away vampires.”

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“No, but garlic does.” Peo responded with a sharp snarl. Elena had gotten into her wick so much that her breathing became extremely loud and heavy.

“Oh my gorgeousness! Are you ok?” Elena asked with concern. “You look like you are about to explode.”

Peo did not say a word, she didn’t want to because all the words she had left for Elena were very unpleasant.

“I think all of this garlic must be suffocating you.” Cried Elena as she began to throw Peo’s garlic out of the window.

“No-no-no!” Peo cried as she stopped Elena from dumping her garlic in the middle of the forest. “Don’t throw away my garlic okay… you know what? Let’s just be quite until we arrive. I’m gonna sleep some more and you just focus on your makeup or something.”

“Okay-okay. There’s no need to yell.” Elena rolled her eyes with annoyance before proceeding with her makeup.

As the vehicle penetrated deeper into the green wispy forest, most of the passengers began to get worried, not because they had a phobia of the forest or something but because the driver had seemed to have lost his way several times.  Nevertheless, poor Mr. Kabo wasn’t to blame-anybody would have got lost in that thicket.

After making a dozen bad serviced phone calls, Mr. Kabo finally took the bus in the right direction-and that is when a large brick wall finally came to sight. There was a large sign above a gate written MotsewaTau Secondary school. As the bus went through the old viny gate, the students began to exchange chatters of excitement.

“I have a feeling we’re up for an adventure.” One student grinned. “This school is built right in the middle of the jungle-it’s like we’re in the amazon or something.”

“Yeah, it’s giving very much Jumanji vibes!” Another student added, with a broad grin.

“To me it seems like we’re on a King Lanech novel” said one boy, who was at the time sweating and biting his nails off.

As the cheerful journey went on, it suddenly occurred that every passenger’s conversation became interrupted by a sudden halt to the bus. The contestants peaked through the windows and saw that their bus was stuck in the middle of a sand ocean. There also happened to be an anonymous mini bus right besides theirs, also seized by the sand.

 Mr Kabo tried his level best to get the vehicle moving but the sand was way too greedy. The official furiously dumped the wheel before hopping outside to examine the bus and after a minute a two he sheepishly boarded the bus with a long face

“Students, I’m afraid the bus is very stuck… rather it is extremely stuck, beyond stuck.” He began to worry for his honour when the students gave him funny looks. “Maun and its surrounding areas are extremely sandy as we all know, so don’t blame this on me-I mean look through the window and you will see that another bus is stuck here too, unless you all are trying to imply that all bus drivers are terrible with the wheel.” Mr Kabo boldly defended his honour. “Now, we will have to continue on foot like the other team did…gape we are already here anyway so tla re itshidileng maoto hela.” He declared with a sweaty sigh, he himself didn’t seem to appreciate his own idea nor did his pot belly but there was no other choice.

The juveniles took all their bags and items and they followed their guardian into a very dense forest. It was hard to believe that they were in a school even though they could feel and see bits of concrete pavement here and there as they all marched in a straight line. The place was packed with trees of all sizes which sheltered noisy crows and the fattest of bugs.

“Mr. Kabo.” Elena called out, unintentionally claiming everyone’s attention. “Are there any wild animals here?”

Most of the students began to laugh at how sweaty and petrified Elena looked, they did respect her question though.

“No-of course not!” Mr. Kabo gave an unconvincing laugh. “Most of the wild animals that used to dwell here, especially the big five, have all migrated towards the Chobe area because of the dying rivers here.”

As scary as it was, the place also had its charms and some of those were the ear-pleasing hymns of birds and unpolluted breezes. The youngsters were very much present in the moment, however Peo’s best friend had her phone on selfie mode the entire walk, she didn’t want her followers to miss out on anything.

As the sky began to lose grip of the sun, a tiny shack located under a large baobab tree captured the attention of all and unexpectedly, a scrawny old lady made her way out a tiny door, she held a brown basket in her dehydrated hands.

Mr Kabo, like the rest was startled by the tiny woman. “Eh, dumelang mother!” Mr Kabo greeted her in a shaky voice. The sight of that old lady reminded him that he had a blue belt in karate.

Silently, the old lady made her way towards the crowd which slightly backed away upon her unwelcome arrival.

Peo was extremely horrified, she reached in her handbag to grab some garlic. She didn’t trust the way the old lady’s dreadlocks were covering half of her face nor did she trust the basket she held tightly in her skinny fingers which resembled nothing more than biltong.

“Eh-dumelang.” Mr. Kabo repeated his greeting, uncomfortably.

The elderly moved closer to Mr. Kabo and only then did she speak “Eitah! Moshishi-come on wena man. I don’t bite.” The old lady grinned toothlessly.

We’ll that changed everything! The visitors burst with laughter at once. That was unexpected indeed, Peo even shoved the garlic back into her hand bag because she needed her hands to wipe away tears of laughter.

Soon after, the old lady reached into her basket. “Have some snot apples my dears.” Said the lady as she handed Mr Kabo a fat snot apple, she then went about giving everyone a snot apple. Peo was indecisive, she didn’t want to receive the apple mainly because she was very much disgusted by the elderly’s long-brown nails which undoubtedly had the ability to poke one’s eyeball out. But it was the old lady’s broad smile that gave her the humility to receive.

There was nothing more like receiving an apple from an anonymous old lady who happened to live in a cottage-I mean what could go wrong?  Elena thought to herself as she started on her apple of snot. She almost pinched herself for forgetting to take a selfie with her indigenous fruit.

After everyone had received a snot apple, Mr Kabo found it the fit moment to ask for directions.

“Mother, can you please direct us to the area of the competition.” He asked.

“Oh yes, and by the way I’m your cook and I’m here to welcome you all. Follow me my dears.” Said the elderly woman as she led the way along a narrow path, hoarded by stinky shrubs and thorny bushes.

The team followed her carefully because it was more than easy to get lost and never be found in that thicket. Soon, old classrooms came to sight and only then did the area begin to almost look like a school. There were large trees growing inside some classrooms with fat branches poking through some windows, lifting some of the roofs off. There was barely no sign of civilization.

Presently, the travellers began to hear music and chattering from a short distance and after a few steps they had already made their way into an open assembly are where they met with some dinning pupils. Peo recognised some of students from previous competitions.

As they settled their bags on the space, the Maun team leader was quick to welcome the new comers with a bit of humour.

“Let me guess, your bus got stuck too?” Chuckled the afro haired man as he gave Mr Kabo a big cuddle before they both shared a jingling laugh.

“Ah, Mr Delta. Your area is very sandy-very sandy.” Smiled Mr Kabo as he threw his fat arm around Mr Delta’s skinny shoulders.

“Ah, the sand here is too moody-I tried to step on it but the sand said aye not today, wayaka!” Mr Delta remarked with a bright smile. “Sometimes it’s not the cars that get stuck even us people we get stuck in the sand.” He shared an annoying chuckle with his buddy as the by watchers rolled their eyes with annoyance.

“Ah, I believe you my brother.” Said Mr Kabo. “I think you should show the kids where they will be staying, the journey was very tiring.”

“Come guys, let me show you where you will be sleeping, boys follow me and girls follow our cook, mama Bahilingie over there.” Said Mr Delta as he took off with the males.

The ladies followed the old lady into a dark classroom which had bats pour out of it, scaring the hell out of the city girls.

“Relax sissies, it’s just bats.” Old lady Bahilingie scoffed as she switched on the lights to reveal a room lined with matrasses and bags which probably belonged to the Maun girls.

After choosing matrasses, the girls made their beds and headed outside to join the rest of the competitors for a lovely dinner, which had many doubting who the cook really was.

As darkness creeped upon the forest, the last team arrived on foot with the assistance of old lady Bahilingie.  The other teams already knew what had happened to the new comers’ ride.

“Let me guess.” Mr Kabo chuckled mischievously as he sipped on a can of soda. “Your bus got stuck too.”

The Francistown contestants laughed as they joined the others for a meal of papa, hot chakalaka and a spicy barbeque.

“Nevertheless, our bus is way ahead of your buses. Which makes me a better driver that both of you gentlemen.” Ms. Tebogo gushed before sharing a laugh with her age mates.

Later that night everybody had fallen asleep except for Peo. She was not to fall asleep in some abandoned school in the middle of nowhere, there could be witches and demons roaming about, what if her paranoid mother was right. Although she was under the cover, Peo could have sworn there was someone or something watching her…she just felt a heavy presence observing her.  She reached under her pillow and grabbed some garlic which she nervously threw towards the door with her eyes sealed. After she heard that the garlic had hit something, Peo released a loud gasp before she slightly opened her eyes-only to see a hooded figure standing by the door.

“I’m so sorry my dear.” said old lady Bahilingie, after switching on the lights. “I just came to check on you girls.” She smiled before bending down to pick up the garlic in front of her. “You see, garlic can only hurt our spiritual enemies, my dear. You will not be needing it because this place contains no spiritual threats.” Said the old lady as she exited into the darkness.

Peo’s bones froze, she wasn’t used to funky old ladies checking on her in the middle of the night nor was she used to crows yelling throughout the night. There was no way she was falling asleep in the middle of the jungle despite being in a room with fifteen other girls. There was also no way she was going to risk being super active at the spelling bee opening the following morning, so rock bottom, Peo ditched her matrass and went on to sleep alongside Elena the Mistress of snoring.