Dakar's Anniversary

For the first time in months, Avril was the first to wake up before Dakar. She prepared breakfast and waited for him in the living room. When he got out with a wrapped fabric hung around his chest, Avril palmed her face and choked on her sobs.

“I thought you were going to act strong”, Dakar said with a grin.

“Does it matter?”, she asked and he chuckled.

“Good morning”.

“Morning! Come and eat. It's the leftover fish and bread”.

They ate in silence until it was time for him to go.

“You're sure you will be fine?”, Dakar asked for the upteenth time since breakfast was over. Avril rolled her eyes and groaned.

“I have it all figured out. I know what to do, all right?”.

“All right. This is where you'll stop. I'll run from here”.

They were standing in front of the warrior's statue.

“Okay. Bye, Dakar. I'll miss you”, she stated and hugged him. Well, hugged his thighs.

“BYE!!!”, he yelled as he raced off. She was left alone now and that was how she felt. She sat at the foot of the statue and pulled her hair.

“Dakar has gone through this for years, he'll be fine”, she kept assuring herself. After almost an hour of staying outside, she went back inside and entered her room. She opened her window and sat by it, thinking. She slept off soon and woke up at noon. She prepared and ate lunch then took a walk around their territory. Evening time, she fed and groomed the animals that she had forgotten to take care of in the morning and afternoon.

For the next two weeks, all she did was wake up late, eat and train, sit by the waterfall while eating and feeding the ducks, eat fruits and milk the cows, and sit by the beach while sipping handmade juice and eating chicken. Yes, she disobeyed Dakar. She convinced herself by saying “That particular chicken was bound to die. I only fastened it”.

The beginning of the third week, she went hunting with her now and arrow. Luckily, she caught a guinea fowl. She was so happy that she nearly exhausted all her energy dancing and jumping. That night, she had barbecue under the dark sky and didn't hesitate to eat all of it. It was after the meal that she began to feel lonely.

“I wish Dakar was here to have dinner with me”, she stated with a sigh.

“So you're just going to starve me even after I ran non-stop to come home because I missed you?”, Dakar's voice rang. She looked back to see him with his hutch tied around his arm. She screamed and ran to hug him. He grabbed her up and carried her like she was a baby.

“Dakar!”, she exclaimed and tugged unto his fur which now seemed thicker and whiter. He looked way better than he was when he left their side of the island. He looked as handsome as a well groomed Siberian Husky.

“It's so nice to see you again!”, he stated as he dropped her.

“I'm so glad you're back. But I thought you were supposed to be back in about a week”.

“Well, you did have an effect on me after all. The whole process took only eighteen days instead of twenty eight”.

“Oh my God! Wow! That's great news!”.

“Wow, I've missed home”.

“He has missed you too, Dakar!”.

He sat down on the bare floor and so did Avril out of excitement of finally having him back home.

“How have you been?”, he asked.

“All good. All though I felt very lonely. It was like you took all the birds and crickets and toads when you left. I never knew the island could be so quiet. I nearly lost my mind”. They laughed loudly.

“I hope you took care of the animals and did as I instructed”.

“Yes. I even cleaned the entire rooms in the Mountain House some days ago”.

“And after that, when next did you raise a broom?”.

Avril glared at him and looked away.

“I'm listening!”, he stated.

“Okay, I haven't ever since. I thought you'd be back by next week so I planned to do the cleaning next week in order to impress you”.

Dakar shook his head and she chuckled softly.

“Wait...what's in your hutch?”, Avril asked, pointing at it. Something was moving inside.

‘‘Oh! I forgot. I brought a little present for you. I found him sitting in the midst of his siblings' dead bodies. And their mother hadn't been around them for days. I sniffed around for her and lost track when I got to a thick bush. She might have been taken by a bigger animal”, he stated and pulled out a small and white rabbit. He looked malnourished.

“Oh my God! He's so cute and small”, she cooed as she collected him. She hugged him to her chest and he felt so fragile and soft.

“I love him. Oh! I promise to take care of him!”.

“What are you going to name him?”, he asked her. She thought for a moment then looked up at him and send, “Dakvril”.

“What a lame name for a white rabbit”. She frowned at him.

“Coming from someone who stole the name of a county's capital”, she said with an eyeroll.

“I don't understand. A country is called Dakar?”, he asked.

“No, just the capital. The country Senegal”.

“Never knew”.

“It's getting cold. Let's get inside”, Avril said and got on her feet. Dakar did same and they entered inside.

***

Weeks passed until it turned into months and Avril got better in shooting her arrows. Dakar hadn't taught her sword fighting or the others yet.

One day, when she returned home from feeding the chickens, she met Dakar plucking oranges from a tree behind the mountain house.

“I didn't see you inside. I figured I should check round the mountain”, she announced as she reached him.

“Oh, yeah! I'm right here!”, he answered.

“Why are you plucking so much?”, she asked and picked one from the ground. She sat down and began to peel off the back.

“Because tomorrow is my fifty fourth anniversary. I want to make orange juice just for some celebration”, he answered.

“Oh my God! Really? Tomorrow? Wow!”, Avril exclaimed.

“You better get me a present for tomorrow”, he jokingly stated. But Avril took it serious. She realized she had never really given him a present before. So that day, she secretly went to the beach and called on the mermen. She placed an order with them and they sailed off to get what she wanted. The next morning, she got up early and collected her order from them. It was a very big journal, big enough for Dakar to write in. It came with a quil you ink bottle. She knew he would love it.

She sat in her room and wrote on the front page with the quill and ink. Then she placed it in front of his door.

When he woke up, he saw them and carried them. He walked to the dining table and opened it. He saw the sweetest message ever written to him;

Hello, Dakar! You might be wondering why I got you this. It is because I want you to replicate everything about your life. All your good memories and even your wishes. Your life is amazing and a big blessing to me. You took great care of me and treated me like a princess. I don't know how to thank you for it. I just want you to know that you mean the world to me, Dakar. And I don't want a life without you in it. I love you so much and I hope I make you super proud some day.

Yours lovely,

Avril.

He read it over and over and over again. He was touched and was so elated too.

“Happy fifty-four years anniversary”, she hailed from behind him. He turned and stared at her.

“Avril, I love the book”, he said and she smiled and walked to him. She hugged him slightly and sat beside him.

“The quill is also big so I know it's complete”, she said.

“It is. The same way I feel my life is complete right now. I love you too, Avril”.

She grinned at him.

“I have the cooking today. You should relax and wait for me to serve you”, she stated and ran to the kitchen.

The day went well. They played games and drank lots of orange juice. They spent their time, mostly under the trees beside the waterfall with Dakar taking a portrait of a static Avril on his new journal. Turns out, he was a very good artist.

Dakar, despite him feeling well when he went to sleep. He woke up with a terrible headache the next morning. As he opened his eyes, everything seemed bigger to him. He stepped his legs on the floor and cold ran through his feet into his body. He couldn't remember the last time he felt cold and knew something was wrong with him. He groaned and his voice was lighter and lower than before.

He looked down at his legs and surprisingly, he did not see his huge furry limbs. He saw human legs. He gasped and looked over his hands and body. He couldn't believe it.

“Human...again”, he mumbled. Joy ran through his whole body. He jumped to his feet and shouted with joy. Finally, after decades, he was free from the wolf body. He wore his skirt made of animal fur and left his room.

Avril was still asleep so he went down and stood outside, feeling the fresh island breeze against his skin. Shortly after, Avril got up and came outside to look for him.

“Dakar! Where are you?”, she asked as she moved towards the statue. Dakar came out from that corner and she froze in her tracks. The color drained out from her face immediately.

“Avril”, he called gently. Her mouth fell open as she gazed at the very familiar man in front of her. She looked up at the statue and back at him. She then realized that the warrior man of the statue was standing right in front of her.