Prologue (7)

The journey of the woodsman went on trouble-free. After a couple of hours of trekking, he finally arrived at the east gate of Okala and embarked on a canoe whose captain was extremely friendly to him. The experienced sailor gave the hungry traveler two wild mangoes from the locality that the latter licked savagely to the extent that a few drops of the yellow juice of the fruit were about to stain his white boubou.

"Sir, please take this handky and quickly clean your chin up," the captain of the boat said to Babida the lumberjack as he handed the latter the handkerchief.

"Thank you, captain!" replied the traveler as he hastened to collect the cleaner and apply it on his now yellow chin.

The two men then continued the voyage and not even one time the river lashed out a wave. Even the crocodiles were docile to them. The reptiles seemed to be paying them tribute and never neared the canoe. Ultimately they reached the coast just as the sun was about to set and the logger disembarked. He thanked the captain of the canoe and without wasting time he rushed to the west gate of Okunde.

Upon his arrival, the guardians of the empire's doors were celebrating the birth of a baby of one of them and lightly checked his identity. They let him pass the checkpoint and continued their party.

The woodsman entered the village of Okunde and after a few meters away from the west gate, he searched the pocket of his white gown to grasp the magical empty white paper. He brought it out and neared it to his face. To his great astonishment, the image of the young maiden reappeared.

This time around she had on her the popular traditional wax-made women's dress, the Kaba, and was wandering across the streets. She walked past Mobu Street, Sanka Street, and Madiba Street to the grand statue of the reigning Batang Emperor, his Majesty Batang V, the fifth ruler of the Batang dynasty.

Babida the lumberjack had not recognized the streets the young maiden he had fallen in love with, was passing by but his attention was caught when the Miss went past the Emperor's statue. It was one of the most famous monuments in the whole empire and it was situated nowhere else but in the center of Ekule, the capital city.

"What? So she lives in Ekule." exclaimed the logger, stunned.

"I must go back to the imperial city right away." He told himself while hasting.

He walked in the direction of Okunde's south gate and from there he penetrated Ekule through its northern door. As he was moving forward he noticed a wooden house on the left side of the way. It was a chalet. It seemed to him colloquial. He felt like he had seen it already but could not remember where. And then…

"Oh, wait a minute! The magical blank white paper!" He shouted as he was recovering his memory.

"Yes, that's the house I saw in the image. That's surely the young maiden's hideout." The woodsman uttered undoubtedly.

He started to stretch his neck, then his feet in an attempt to peep inside the house but it was hermetically locked. There was no opening. He paused for a moment to think about his next move. While doing so, he placed his hands on each of his waists, lowered his head slightly, and glazed the sand on the floor.

Then, for no specific reason, he turned to look in his back and could not believe his eyes. Another house but entirely identical to the previous one. A twin house. The only difference was that the window was open and he could spot from a distance the moving shadows inside.

Like a frog, the logger leaped over the tiny fence in front of him, and like a snail, he crawled quietly to the opened window. Yet, he was not tall enough to spy through comfortably. So he took a brick that was laid on the floor and placed it against the house plank wall, then climbed on top of it.

Unfortunately, his weight was too overwhelming for the poor brick which failed to resist and dislocated.

BAMM!!! The sound of the noise he made when he landed hard on his back.

"You again?" shouted an angry voice.