Chromosomes - Episode 1

 

Right there in the heart of Africa, where the sun pokes the earth in pleasurable places, where the naked moon casts her borrowed illumination on the roof of mud huts and reveals her reflection on the surface of stagnant waters. Where the blue painted skies hover around the brown sands of the land, where the snow-coloured clouds disperse cool, colourless liquid over the evergreen shrubs, the deciduous trees and the sharp-edged grasses. Where the wind blows in any path it wills, sweeping the ground in its direction and forcing the plants of the field to dance to its tune . In that place where the rivers breed and supply all manner of aquatic wildlife, ranging from hard-bodied crustaceans to cold-blooded gills and fins, and the woods give shelter to reptiles and rodents alike. Where the birds of the air flap their wings in freedom as they navigate the aerial space. A place where infants suckle on the milk of nature and savour every drop of it. A place where one man's woe is every man's concern and every man's breakthrough is one man's reason to feast. It was right there in that village, Mantikwa, in the heart of Africa, that two lovers stood under the shelter of an orange tree in the cool of the evening. The sun had journeyed deep into the west, to that point where the earth surface and the sky usually meet

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/chromosomes

. The sun splattered its last dose of hue on the faces of the two lovers.
With hands locked in the hold of each other, love flowing through the deepest part of their hearts, and lips bending upwards to form smiley curves, they stared into each others eyes, ignoring time; for them, at that moment, time didn't exist, only love did.
"Your eyes are like the brightest stars in the sky, handpicked by the gods themselves," he said to her... and he wasn't playing.
She turned her face away in shyness. Wittiness was one quality he possessed and had gained mastery of, and so he knew the right words to say in order to play the cords of her heart like a stringed instrument.
Your eyes are like the brightest stars in the sky.
She closed her eyes and allowed those words to replay in her mind again and again, and the words had a soothing effect on her brain. She turned her face back to his gaze, and the smile on her face was now broader as she still basked in the excitement of the euphony that his voice had created. She fought hard to suppress the hysteria that was beginning to rise from her bowels. Even though she knew that he knew that she had already been captured by the web of his love, she still tried as much as she could to keep her emotions from going haywire.
He regarded her from her crown to her shoulders, and finally drove his stare into her eyes again. He reached forward and took her into his arms, gently rubbing the back of her hair with the palm of his right hand as she laid her head against his enormous chest.
The wind suddenly rose with a mild violence, picking and throwing the sands of the ground on the two lovers... the tree that had been offering them a serene shelter now took orders from the wind, letting down its leaves and few light branches on the lovers. Even the sun that had cheerfully provided them with its colourful illumination had suddenly snatched it away from them, allowing the darkness of the night to slowly creep in upon them and steal their vision. It seemed as though the ambience had suddenly become jealous of their love... but none of it mattered. None of it mattered as long as she was wrapped in his embrace; none of it mattered as long as he was able to sweep her hair with his palm continuously, and feel her breath upon his flesh. None of it mattered, as long as she was able to rest her weight upon his chest and hear his big heart beat to the rhythm of her love.
None of it mattered!
"Dearest, tell me what your heart desires," he said to her. "Tell me what your soul craves for, and I shall possess it for you. Though it exists in the caves of the fiercest animals of the wild, though it exists in the depths of the rivers, though it hides in the heights of the hills, I shall do whatsoever I can to make it yours. I may not be wealthy, but I shall work hard enough to make your life pleasant; I shall go to the ends of the earth to make you happy even if it shall cost me my life."
She flushed.
She felt like the only woman that existed in the world.
"I do not want money," she responded. "No, I do not want the most beautiful clothing, or the most costly jewellery. Neither do I want the sweetest honey drawn from the best hive, nor the juiciest fruits from the most fertile of trees... I just want you. I want to drift into a state of rest every night with my eyes closed and my mind unconscious while in the embrace of your arms, and in the warmth provided by your skin. I want to open my eyes at dawn to the sight of your presence and the comfort of your touch. I want to feel your children as they grow inside me, and carry them in my arms when they are born... I just want you."
He smiled with a satisfaction created by the sincerity he sensed in her tone.
"Then it is done. When shall I come and see your parents?"