29th March 2020
Dear Atarah,
I hope you are well and happy.
I finally plucked up some courage to speak out to my tribe... It was... well, it could have been worse but I feel like no one except for Eva is understanding me... they think that I'm only a teenager and I'll stop talking nonsense when I start seeing sense, It's so frustrating! Age should be of no importance when someone is making an effort to bring forth a change! Thank goodness I have Eva in those days, our long walks near the waterfalls always cheer me up, she's funny and brilliant, how will I ever thank that girl? Maybe I'll thank her by pushing her into the lake the next time we have a stroll...
Anyways, my story starts with a good beginning this time, the whole tribe was having a delicious dinner: roasted fish and potatoes wrapped in cassava leaves (my all-time favorite) I felt warm around the blazing fire and safe surrounded by the tall primeval trees.
The conversations swapped from jokes to serious business then happy thoughts and funny adventures. I couldn't help but think about someone who was missing, someone who meant a lot to my tribe: my mother. I wondered where she might be right now and whether she enjoyed the 'tribe ways' or maybe she was just like me? Thinking outside the box and always striving for a change? I addressed my uncle when I felt ready to talk and said "you know... well, today... I was exploring the area a bit" I paused and caught Eva's eye she looked at me with horrified eyes but I went on " anyway, I discovered a volcano and I saw-" but it was not worth talking anymore, the whole tribe had somehow picked up the word 'volcano' and now they were whispering between themselves. My dad looked at me with confused but peaceful eyes. I was freaking out, I never expected the situation to be this bad “Tarah my girl, what did you see near the volcano?” My dad asked not bothering to hide his curiosity, looks like the Chief was also curious, he told me that it was alright to ask questions and that he was going to clear all of my doubts (I started getting hopeful) but before I could continue he cut through and said that he had something to tell us. We all fell silent and then he uttered the words 'dark fire' then started to narrate a story. The story that changed everything. Everybody was now over with their meal and shifted to get a clear view of their Chief while he told them a tale. I am trying to jot down the whole story but I might have missed a few parts: "When I was only a child, I lived with my parents in another tribe we were all very violent and always raised arguments and conflict it was as if there was no difference between us and the animals. We had completely lost our minds wrapped up in envy and jealousy however, one day a few lost scientists were exploring near our regions and they came across the tribe. We disliked their manners and attitude it was infinitely different from ours but they begged us not to harm them and some sense came to our minds. The scientists stayed with us and made us realize who we are and what we were acting like; within no time we were back to our spiritual methods and traditions. But then the obvious came: the scientists taught us science and we taught them religion. There was a minor disagreement but none ceases to prove his point and the friendship between the modern men and us broke.” Chief Coalis pause, then went on “anyway our tribe believed that the scientists have placed a curse on us with all their negativity. As a consequence; after exactly twelve days there was a massive volcano eruption and my parents died, my sister was only a baby, I was only a child, I ran away with her promising to take good care of her” he finished. The whole place was quiet as the tribe members absorbed the story then my uncle added that the strictest rule of our tribe was not to socialize with modern people. I was mind-blown, what was I supposed to think? Was all this real? was it a curse? That explains why life on the volcano was only now starting... The Chief's sister, my mother, she went through all of this too, she must know the answer!
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