Iza Ngomsa

Nayoki peered lower, crouching much closer to the forest floor. Her body moved deftly through bushes, vines, and even past some wild critters in the jungle.

She let out a soft gasp, and stared at the sight of a strange looking figure. His body looked as white as snow, and his hair looked as straight almost like blades of grass, quite the opposite of her thick sun loc twists.

Whoever, or whatever this being was- it had many bruises that were a size of the pebbles used in a game of chiyato. She guestimated that if she tried to, some of the pebbles lying across the dark silver sandy beach would be able to fit right in this being's wounds.

One of her close friends, Zena, yelled from the top of her lungs. "Eybo. You know ye need to alert the warri, and let them know there's an intruder bo. Why does he look as if he has been dragged right out from an inferno, or as if he swam into and out of the ring of fire?"

Nayoki stared at the stranger, and then back at Zena. "Let's try and help him. Now. Do not just tower over me looking at me like your clan has not been in charge of understanding which plants to use as medicinal herbs, Zena!" Nayoki barked.

Zena quickly grabbed a bunch of flowers, several twigs that were lying on the loamy ground. Nayoki placed the mix of plants in a clay pot that she carried in her sack bag, and used a donkey jawbone from the same bag to crush the assorted herbs.

The stranger lay quietly. His stillness almost made Nayoki think that maybe her efforts in trying to help him were in vain.

She asked her dear buddy to help take the stranger to the senior healer. At least she would know what to do and how to effectively treat this not quite alive being.

When they arrived at the healer's hut, she approached the two pals, and greeted them. "Yo. What ya got there you two chums?"

The woman oinked, her face started to change shape into that of suidae. Her nose changed shape, and sharp canine teeth began to emerge from the sides of her lower mandible.

She let out another cry, and then began to clap her hands. "This is a sign from the gods. Here comes the one that will come seeking our treasures, coming to tear us from our ancestors, woe to him, or her that lends a helping hand to the one/ones that step onto our land all the way from a nearby star that seems to be slowly losing their minds and continue to long for additional places, other stars to explore, to take charge over without showing any mercy to the inhabitants of that sector."

Nayoki tsked. "Ah, come on, not this again. Every time that we bring you a wandering still body that is close to the brink of death...you begin again with the recitations of the warning that you claim to have had in one of your so-called 'visions'.

"Please, just assist us with helping save one more soul. Guide it back to this body."

The senior healer sighed, and snapped her fingers. A beam of golden light shot forth from the heavens. The golden light passed right through the stranger's chest, and hit his heart's natural pacemaker. That generated a surge of electrical impulses that caused the stranger's heart to begin to contract.

Within a short time, what seemed like a zeptosecond, the stranger opened his eyes. He placed his hand over his heart in shock. The sound of seagulls not too far brought him back to reality. He blinked and stared around him. His eyes landed on a map. On that map he had set a course for the nearest star.

A knock on the door made him slightly jump in his seat.

His eyes met with a young sailor who seemed glad to see the Captain.

"Captain...we are almost at our final destination, and in good timing, too."

"Wait, hold on.

"Let us set a new course...much farther away from this star, and sector."

"Captain?"

The Captain placed his hand over his chest once more, and shuddered for a brief moment. Then he replied, "Set a new course to another star. Let's survey another star past this sector."

"Aye, Captain!"

The sailor took a hold of the doorknob and gently shut the door leaving the captain to his thoughts. He looked back at the star that shined with a golden light. His heart skipped a beat, and then he thought to himself, "Maybe I might try to check out this star for myself...but not until I can obtain much better intel about it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywWVCjlY5ZQ

#IzaNgomsa (c) 21.05.2023 Sundae