The green snake

The African sun blazing right from above, the temperature seems to have reach boiling point, it feels like the Earth is tired of harbouring these insensitive creatures called humans. It seems nature is retaliating against years of neglect and outright decimation of other species by humans. The gang of five trudged wearily home from school because they could not afford the luxury of taking a cab all the time, Ngozi the only female in the gang bought tiger nuts and groundnuts from hawkers just outside the school gate earlier before we embarked on this journey home.

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Ngozi is from the eastern part of the country,Igbo to be precise and she is drop dead gorgeous. I could remember the very first I set my eyes on her it was as if I was thrown into a black hole and it seems I lost track of time. To cap it all she has a good personality and a very good brain to go along with it. I have only managed to take the first position in the class twice while Ngozi has remaining four wrapped round her fingers. This is our third year together and we are already looking forward to the almighty WASSCE at the end of our sojourn in high school, I know she is preparing actively for the externals as she will like to have the best result in the whole school. I have the same objective too and I would more than love to get one over her in the big one. Despite our rivalry I still care a lot about Ngozi though Akin my naugthy friend thinks its a case of ' if you can't beat them, join them', he said I would not care so much if she was not brilliant. In a way I agree with my friend I like intelligent folks generally but its not a case of not being able to beat her, she just happen to tick all the right boxes.

Approaching the green zone! Ebitimi barked.

This warning brought me back to reality as the green zone is a dangerous area we have to cross on our path home or should I say an enchanted place in which we've had numerous adventures. The stream runs through the green zone and has created deep gully over the years due to erosion, this area has tall trees with lots of shrubs and undergrowth. The presence of thousands of bats makes it a somewhat spooky place. Few people venture into the zone at night because of numerous tales of unholy activities and cries, some even say a notorious cult has a base in it. However one can not deny the alluring beauty of nature in this area, its the closest you come to experience nature in its pristine condition in my town. Normally the tarred road bends right to join the main street but we would save a lot of time and energy by going straight through the zone.

We descended slowly into the zone along a narrow meandering path with caution as there is sizeable amount of wild life ranging from snakes to squirrels. Often you might witness a snake slithering across the path oblivious of the threat we pose to it, I could remember an instance whereby I came face to face with black one I screamed and ran back. The snake must have been startled also because I could see it making an escape along the stream. So we were conscious of what we are getting ourselves into by going through the green zone. I led the way closely followed by Ngozi,Nafida, Ebitimi and Akin, I tried to hold Ngozi's hand subconciously but she rebuff my advances. I thought I heard a hissing sound as we approach the centre of the zone, I made a signal with my fist and the whole gang was alert barely moving along the path.

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The stream divides into two as it approaches the centre forming an island of sort, this island is partly covered by carpet grass and some shrubs but the path and the centre is filled with sandy soil. I stepped on the plank over the stream to the centre gently, each step taking with precision so as not to loose balance. Every member of the gang trudged along looking for any sign of danger, it seems we are getting closer to the sound now but still nothing to be worried about. I, Ngozi and Nafida had crossed to the centre, Ngozi was holding my hands tightly now oblivious of the fact she rebuffed me few minutes back. Ebitimi is now holding a stick though I would not classify it as a weapon of choice. The stick is covered by sand, I strongly believe termites have infested it already. His hands are fidgeting visibly as if he was about to loose control of his hands, he did not notice a heap of leaves by the left. He ruffled the heap of leaves and a big green snake came out moving towards us in a ferocious manner, it seems to be heading towards Ngozi only for her to escape being beaten by whiskers by diving just in time.

Meanwhile Akin lost his balance and fell into the stream, he quickly regained his composure even though he was now drenched with water. His white shirt has taken on a slightly new colour, we were all shouting and yelling at the same time paving the way for the snake to escape. Ngozi was holding on to me tightly and I seem to cherish this moment in the midst of danger. We were all trying to catch our breath when I noticed a chameleon- like belt moving between Nafida's leg.

N-aaaaa-fiiiiiddddaaaahhh!!!! Between your legs!!! I yelled.

Nafida jumped up in fright, his legs moved in one direction while the head and torso seem to move in the other direction. A spectacle I must admit but I thought he moved in the air to safety while the remainder of the gang went after the slithering basta*rd. The snake seems to move really quick in the hot afternoon as it manage to escape all the blows we aimed at it then it vanished into the green carpet grass again. Not wanting to risk it turning up between my legs this time I gave the order for a hasty retreat and we made our get away real quick. We must have spent about half an hour in the green zone and we were relieved that nobody was hurt. Ngozi was terribly shaken as she clung to me, I held on tightly too saying a little prayer for the snake that brought us together. Time must have slowed down until a shove to my head brought me back to life.

"Stop touching me in inappropiate places" .Barked Ngozi.

" But I didn't mean..." Trying to defend myself

"But what" she cuts in.

I could sense an evil smile over Akin's face at this moment before Ebitimi joined in uninvited.

"You guys should stop pretending and save us the trouble" he quipped.

"And how is this your business" I countered.

"Beats my imagination" Ngozi added.

"Ngozi between your legs" Akin shouted.

She jumped and held on to me once again for dear life and I could not resist this evil grin across my face.

     The end.