West Africa, 355 B.C.

The wind swirled around a stick-thin man, shoving rain into his face that it slashed at his bony cheeks. The dusky fog of the night spread towards him. His short, curly hair fitted on his deep-dark skin and his brilliant black eyes sparkled like a pair of onyx. However, his thick grey eyebrows and beard covered his charm. Yet, one would discover his beauty at first glance.

Ayodeji, a farmer in his late 40s, dug the holes to harvest tuber of yams, potatoes, and cocoyams which he had planted earlier that year.

Another hit of his rusty hoe against the soft-skinned earth. It peeled it off, revealing its rich soil, along with the woody scent that hovered alongside the cold, night breeze.

With this, Ayodeji deepened his shaky hands into it to know what the earth had brought for him this time. Curiosity laced his eyes as he grabbed the fiber out of the ground.
Alas! It was nothing but rotten stems. Ayo forced it out, and the tuber bursted onto his face, filled with nothing but eerie insects and maggots swimming out of it. He threw it away immediately with disgust.

This was the last piece of it, out of the thousand tuber stems he had planted earlier that year. This was the last. It has been two years now, and no farmer in Odo-Ara planted a single crop. Every farmer failed, and the villagers were sick and dying. When this happened, they believed that the gods of the land were angry. Humans gave animals' blood and food sacrifices to please the gods but this time, everything got rejected.

With a teary gaze at the darkening sky, Ayo felt the sound of silence. A single tear clouded his eyes, filling up the empty space. Ayo's lips shivered at the coldness that blew through his skinny body like a virus.

"It's been two years without rain! My pregnant wife is sick and my son is dying! Why do you deprive us of food? Tonight, I curse this land!" He raised to his feet despite tears that dripped down and settled into his beard.

"A thousand curses upon you, wretched gods! Despite all the blood you've taken! You never satisfy me, anyway! I rebuke you henceforth!"

Saying this aloud to the sky, Ayo's voice echoed back to him, but not only his voice. As if something was there in the darkness. The sky thundered with flashes of lightning through the thick clouds. A sound of fire jarring in the air of thunderclaps, crackled. The ground trembled. Sharp grasses bowed to the north.

Hissing.

It came from below and above. Ayo's eyes widened in shock while he tried to see clearer, hoping it wasn't a dream. He wiped his eyes in the direction. Ayo had never expected this, but he stood still until he realized what it was. A purple thunder bolted the sky like a furious dragon.

A Comet.

In a split of moments, it filled the entire place with light, an arc of lightning. With menacing speed like a burning ball from the fire thrown from the sky.

His lips quivered at the words. "Praise be to the gods of the land!" But he was too late.

The comet struck the farmer down with just one blow.

His burnt body moved forward as he tried to recognize what the shiny thing was. It sparkled in his eyes with its eye-like shape. Crawling to it with the fiber of his veins twisted out with his shaky hand stretched to it. Ayo let out a choky cough as this charming brown skin turned into charcoal.

Just then, he heard another sound
whooshed from above. Hoping it wasn't another comet, he raised his gaze to the dreariness of the night and there it was. A blurred vision of a giant flying bird. The monster was so fierce and scaly that he couldn't get enough of it. Ayo wasn't sure of what it was, but it's type of golden was exceptional. His muscles twitched as he tried to survive the pain.

About to touch the egg, the creature kicked Ayo. His small body rolled and was struck by a corner of the farm. Raising his gaze to it with fury, Ayo's hands and feet trembled, like that of a convulsing child.

It approached him once again and Ayo rose to his feet, he wiped his eyes to the blurred vision, and the dragon grabbed and wrapped him in its tail, squeezing and squashing him like a cherry of tomatoes.

"Uh, my body... I don't want to die." He cried gravely as it creaked his muscles and bones.

Finally letting go of Ayo's weak body, it dropped to the ground.

Stiff and lifeless.

Next, the monster breathed out fire on Ayo's burnt body, as if the comet wasn't enough. It burnt his entire farm and disappeared into the dark sky.

The next minute, the remains of Ayo, the greatest farmer in Odo-Ara. Was nothing but his burnt body, lying on the farm that burnt alone with him. All in ashes.

That night, Digi, his wife, let out a screeching cry. She was in the labor room alongside an elderly woman with totally white eyes called Iya Aduke. She had lost her sight at an early age from the use of harsh herbs her parents had used for her because of ignorance. She was also a widow, but she helped to labor women within Odo-Ara to deliver their babies.

Iya Aduke never remarried, nor does she have a child. People call her Iya Aduke, hoping someday she would have a child to succeed her. Blind as Iya Aduke, she knew every nook and cranny of the town.

"Listen. . . I can hear the cry of your baby, my dear. It's just one push and these are over." Her hoarse voice whispered into Digi's ears.

"What about my husband? I need my husband!!" She busted into a gut-wrenching sob that tore up her lungs.

"Your husband isn't back from the farm yet but I believe he'd bring good news. Right now, you need to push out. Your child's birth should be a joyful sight in the eyes of the gods."

'Hmmmm. . .'

As if a bowling ball landed on her spine, the sweat drops from her face tickled into her ears, but Digi didn't mind wiping it off. Everything was useless right now. She hardly could feel herself on the bamboo bed where she lay.

The pain came in waves and she was in the middle of a contraction when a new one would start. All of her focus was on the pain. It was terrible, this was more painful than Toni, her first child who is now very sick. She wasn't thinking about breathing or needing to go to the bathroom. All she wanted was to get the baby out and be free of these pains.

"You're doing great, Digi! I can feel her head already!" Iya Aduke cheered with joy laced in her voice, but right that minute, Digi couldn't hear any of them. It looked as if she was in another world. All she got was low-pitched echoes from the old woman.

She closed her bloodshot eyes to the pain once more. Digi tried to push, but all her effort came out as a painful groan. Her legs were wide apart and her eyes to the dried palm leaves roofed to the red clayey hut.

"The head is already out! Just one more push! Puushh!" The elderly woman instructed.

Digi tightened up her lips and held her sweaty palms together in a fist.
"Hmmmmmm..."

Holding her breath and pushing like she was pushing her biggest poop out for 15 seconds at a time.

'Hmmmm!!!!'
The ripping of her insides poured out in just one push, and what followed was the cry of a baby.

'Waaaa! Waaaaaaaa!'

Iya Aduke looked at the baby with a smile before wrapping it up with a white, cottoned shawl.

"It's a baby girl." She announced to Digi but her cold eyes were wide open to the ceiling.

Then, Aduke gently cut off her placenta and checked on the mother. There was no sign of life left in her.

Looking back at the baby with sparks of hope in her eyes, she let out a fussy, repetitive cry as if he was rooting for breast milk, or probably hoping to feel the warmth of her mother.

Iya Aduke deepened her hand into a wooden calabash of water and wiped Digi's face with a piece of cloth.

She then closed her eyes and carried the crying baby.

"You saved your last breath for your daughter. Too terrible, death is so cruel."

Looking back at the baby in her arms, her tiny tongue gave a lip-smacking sound as she sucked her lips. The baby did this for a while, while the elderly woman watched. Then she fixed her little thumb into her mouth, sucking on it fast.

Hidden tears split down Iya Aduke's sad eyes and a smile appeared on her lips. She walked to the corner of the room where Toni, a four-year-old boy, was lying asleep to see how he was faring.

"Toni! Wake up, you have a baby sister."

The silence of the room gave a bitter reply while she moved closer to check on him. Iya Aduke scrambled backward, trying her best not to scream out loud as her eyes met the lifeless stare of Toni's dead body before her.

"Not again... Indeed, we are truly cursed." She let out a heavy sigh and deepened her hand into the clean water. She then trailed her fingers to the baby's forehead and wiped her head.

"Welcome to life, little one." She shivered at the coldness of the water and cooed silently. "Tonight, I pray you'd be a blessing to this household. I pray you will bring joy and pride to this townfolk. I pray the gods smile at you."

She stepped out of the dark hut to check what was happening outside the room. It was ghost silent, only the cry of crickets from afar interrupted. She watched as the moon cast long shadows against the earth. Iya Aduke raised her gaze to the crescent moon that hung out like a silvery ball, hiding in the dark clouds.

Looking forward, her imaginary sight caught the flying bird. No, it wasn't a bird; it had the body of a reptile. 'What creature is that? Or am I just dreaming?' She frowned at the thought.

Her old eyes squinted at it, though. It was very far. Soon enough, she couldn't see it anywhere. She couldn't feel its presence. Looking at the direction of where it came from, she realized it might be from Ayo's farm.

Hearing the fire rustling from the distance, the clouds of smoke showed that his farm was definitely... Burning. It was already midnight but, Iya Aduke let out a loud cry that woke the entire neighborhood.

It has been two years and almost all the families on Odo-Ara have been wiped out. A big, crowded city full of riches is now a small wretched one. And what happened to Ayodele Ketu- the same fate befell the prominent men within the town. And everyone wondered who would someday be the survivor of the curse. If of course, the gods pardon them.

***

A massive shout out to meha-k for creating this awesome book cover for this story. She's simply the best. Feel free to check out her graphic shop.