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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Home (01/09/06)
The moon was full and bright, in fact brighter than I had ever seen in all of my years. I had many times sat silently during a long night watching the sky and wondering what if anything was beyond and if by chance I would ever be able to see for myself. I listened to the restless breeze blow through the exotic treetops and how it disturbed the ocean surf causing the beach and all that surrounded it to give the impression of ecstatic applaud with each succession of waves crossing the shore.

It has been said by the wise of the village, that on a night like this when thoughts of the beauty and serenity of the homeland permeate ones senses "Tranquility will be replaced with turmoil and familiarity with the unfamiliar". No sooner than these thoughts haunted my mind, the world around me began to change and has never for even a moment ceased to change since then.. Tranquility no longer exists and the familiar has been replaced with darkness and chains and my destiny is in this moment uncertain. All that exist for me now is the imperative, survival!!

I awaken bruised not only in body but mind and spirit as well. My ears search for the sound of the drums, those drums that would play at strategic times during the day to remind the village of certain things that had to be accomplished or just to send important messages to different members of the community. There were never secrets in the homeland all was opened and very public. But no longer can I hear the drums or the rustle of children running through the bush. The sounds of home have ceased except for in my mind, my soul now longs for the familiar sounds and smells of home.

What is this confinement that I find myself in and who are the others with me? There is no semblance of the things that I’ve grown to know and an ill sort of stench fills the air worst than death and the darkness is more unnatural than I ever experienced, my eyes grope for light. I long for the passionate, loving touch of my wife, to see her smile and to admire the beauty of our man-child feeding at her breast. These are but cries in the dark, cries that will never reach the ear of those who I cry for, my salted tears drench my face then run freely from my chin. The pain that I feel is beyond my ability to comprehend and more intense then I can bear, but I must. My love for the homeland compels me to survive even more than my own strength.

Suddenly, the darkness was interrupted by what appeared to be the sun, but the air although fresh was not as warm and inviting as I had known. My eyes having been cloaked in darkness for so long were eager to enjoy this new and glorious light, yet the sting brought tremendous discomfort so I sought out the diminishing shadows for refuge.

I was not alone, many of the others who were with me in the darkness also sought to shield themselves from the brightness of our new found light. I looked around me eager to catch a glimpse of someone anyone familiar and to my surprise there was no one from my village none who even understood my dialect and yet all except for my captures were as family. I cannot say with any certainty that we were all of the same loins but each was as myself a friend of the sun, scorched and darkened by her eternal rays.

Who are these who hold me captive, whose pigments are colorless as bleached garments? What reason could exist for a man to be ripped from family, love and home and given fewer honors than even the beast of the field? Where are the closeness, the comfort and the sacred dignity of home? Will these chains become for me close friends or will they be my demise? So many questions have conquered my thoughts and yet so few answers have been found. For now and as long as this is my reality, I will call to mind the drums and with it the life I knew. Thoughts of the homeland will sustain me and dreams of greater times will be my strength.
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