hey guys ive been reading stories on coolval for a while now so i decided to write a short one.....critics should go easy on me as this is a first.....Enjoy
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Written By : ~@iam_fortunez~
Edited by : @Iam_Damisa™
Title : AMBUSHED
He wasn't a coward! really he wasn't. he had faced many dangerous situations squarely where most people would have ran away. At fifteen, he had seen more action and danger than most people in a lifetime, so he couldn't be referred to as a coward. But something about being cornered by a bear scared the shit out of him, and how did such a large animal ambush him was the question on his mind. He'd always imagined how those preys he'd crept upon, through the years felt. he knew now and it wasn't a nice feeling. he quickly regained his composure and tried to look as brave as he could muster. His instincts kicked in, and he began to look around taking a mental note of what he could use as a weapon against this wild beast. For a moment he wondered what people would say (what his father would say) if he were to kill this beast and that strengthened his resolve. For a scary moment, he totally forgot about the lurking danger and imagined himself showing up in the village dragging alongside a 10-foot beast and a cold smile crept across his face.
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He was on his ''OSHISHI'' an ancient ritual performed by UNEME tribesmen of whom he belonged. (for one to be considered and regarded as a good hunter and a Man) At the age of fifteen, he was sent into the most dangerous of jungles the ENOFE Where he ventured with meagre resources for one whole week of lone survivorship after which he would be inducted into the society as a Man (only if he is successful). It had been 10 days now since he left home and he still hadn't returned. He was lost!! Far from home. He had tried severally to navigate his way home unsuccessfully and four days had passed. He wandered about in the woods half asleep-half alert, expecting to be attacked at any minute by the numerous predators that lived here but nothing came. He saw so many bizarre things that spelt danger for him but none really came his way. An antelope attacked by a swarm of bees hopelessly trying to outrun them, three monkeys stealing eggs from an eagles nest. Two of the monkeys were fighting and the Eagle was watching keenly , thus distracted, while the other monkey stealthily swooped an egg away, dived from branch to branch, kept it in the middle of some well camouflaged grasses and went back for more. A mocking bird sing a Nursery rhyme it must have picked from a child somewhere close.
He'd wandered about until he found a tree with edible fruits. He had quietly made made a bed out of the grasses there and had slept there for the past nine nights and now this beast had found him
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He looked around him straining his eyes as only the fire he had lit a few hours ago provided light. It had burned out and only a few coals dimly lit the darkness around him.
Of all the time to attack (he thought), this bear had to pick his least favourite time of the day *NIGHT*. He found his dagger half buried in the ground where he'd stuck it before, his gun strapped around his back . He slowly took it out and counted the bullets in his gun, he counted only one!!. He used five rounds trying to scare a swarm of bees away. He studied his enemy, a ten foot, light brown in colour and covered in fur except for its eyes, nose and paws. It had a murderous glint in its green eyes making it all the more terrifying.
Running (he thought) was not an option as this beast would catch up with him before he could run three-feet. His best shot, was to stand and fight and hope he could get lucky. lucky enough to kill a ten foot bear with one bullet and a dagger which was barely lethal.
The bear leapt at him, he barely managed to dive left before the wood he was standing on three seconds ago was debris. He ran to the nearest tree and waited for the beast to attack again, and it did almost immediately, the bear leapt again at him; arms stretched out wide (if he didn't know better he would have thought it was trying to embrace him) he panicked, but this time he had a plan. It landed barely five yards from him and he quickly started climbing the tree as fast as he could knowing that the bear would follow. He could only manage to climb fifteen feet before the beast came at him clawing to bring him down. He turned swiftly upside down and steadied himself, he took a deep breath aimed his dagger and let go. It sank straight into the eyes of the bear who shrieked and hit the tree with more ferocity. With a start, he realised that he'd only succeeded in making the beast mad. He panicked and began to climb higher until he got to the highest branch on the tree. He held on to it as if his life depended on it (oh yes it did)
He remembered Tirzah, the girl he loved but didn't have enough guts to approach. Nine days ago, just before he left, she'd appeared at his home asking to see him. His mother directed her to the backyard where he was seated waiting impatiently for his father to send for him. He remembered how stunned he was when he saw her, looking radiant walking towards him. He quickly stood up trying to gain composure thinking of what to say, she had an unreadable look on her face and simply told him that she loved him and that she couldn't bear for him to go, without letting him know. He'd kissed her (he now wondered where he got the courage to do that) and she made him promise to come back alive. For her. He barely had enough time to process this as he was immediately summoned by his father and his OSHISHI had begun.
During these few days, he'd thought of her more often trying to imagine the taste of her soft lips against his, and was infact doing so when this bear had found him. Now again, moments before his death, in his scared state, all he could think about was her.
He remembered his promise to her, that he would return to her alive and his resolved to live strengthened. This beast, he thought, was just a mere obstacle blocking him from those sweet lips and he wasn't going to let that happen.
Without thinking, he un-strapped his gun from his back, aimed at the bear which was already making progress climbing the tree, leapt at it and fired mid air. There was a deafening bang. He screamed in pain as he landed on his legs and it snapped. His sight became blurred and he tried to keep himself from passing-out, He looked left as he saw the beast lying dead. he'd shot it in-between its eyes. His father had told him it was a very lethal spot and he was glad he knew that.
He heard sounds from behind him and with a last effort, rolled over to see what was making such sound. He saw at least thirteen men making their way towards him wearing a head band with a spiral which meant they were from the UNEME tribe. On sighting him, one of them broke into a run ; his father.
This was a search party and they had been looking for him, his screams and the gun shot had alerted them of his location. Even with all the pain in his leg, he smiled because he realised that he was safe, safe from the dangers of that jungle and that he was going to see her again, he fainted.
His name was Dylan.
WRITTEN BY: EMMANUEL FORTUNE IKOGENE©
