Christmas Cruise – Episode 4

Christmas Cruise

Chapter 4

I made sure I keep a long distance between the both of us, not wanting her to know that I’m actually following her. Getting to the river, I paused, noticing the calmness of the water. Enkel was nowhere to be found, did I lose track of her, I thought, walking further into the forest. The fruits on the trees where calling for my attention, but I need to see the angel first.

I suddenly heard movement behind me, and turned to look, trying hard not to let fear engulf my heart
“Are you spying on me, or something?” Enkel asked, wearing a serious look, as I smiled, tucking my hands into my jean pockets
“Not really” I shrug

“Then why are you here…this early” She asked
“Well, I saw you leaving the house..and decided to come after you. You know, it’s not safe for a young lady to be out here alone, this early. It’s kinda dangerous” I stated. She looked at me in a funny way

“There is nothing dangerous about this place, I have been coming here alone for about five years now” She stated, walking towards the fruit she had plucked down

“So you mean, you have been leaving here for about five years…”
“More than” She relied abruptly

“Phew…that’s kinda long” I stated. No response. I’m still surprise that she is talking freely with me, but the thing is how to start up a lively conversation. I’m not the nervous type when I’m with a girl, but Enkel is doing wonders to my body and mind

“You love the wild fruit so much” I asked, walking closer to where her bag is, as I help her pack
“Yes…but I pluck it more for my grandpa, he enjoys it a lot” She smiled
“Thank you” She stated, after I had helped her to pack everything up
“You still wanna pluck more fruits” I asked as she nodded.
“The one behind the river, it’s more delicious”

“Ok…let’s go then” I led the way, as we began to pluck the ones that is close to our reach.
“You didn’t come out at all for the past two days”
“Oh…I wasn’t home, I went for a church program, it took us two days to end it. I arrived last night.”
“You went with your grandpa”

“Nope, he was home with our maid…”
“You are a Christian?” I asked. She nodded
“Yes…and you?”
I shrug

“By religion” I stated, and notice a slight frown on her forehead
“Religion, what about by faith..”
“I don’t think so…”
“That shouldn’t be…you know” She muttered, picking up her bag as she made to leave, but I quickly block her way
“Are you leaving now” I asked with a sad face

“Yes..i’m done with plucking”
I sighed, rubbing the nape of my neck

“Please, can you just wait for a little while; I also need to get some fruits for my cousins. And we can get to know each other more through our conversation. You know, I had waited to see you for the past two days but didn’t know that you weren’t around.”

“Why did you want to see me?” She asked
“Well, it’s not bad making friends before leaving here for the city. I want to be your friend Enkel..you don’t mind staying do you?” I pouted. She sighed out, dropping the bag
“Fine, I will just wait, and we talk”

“Yes…” I yelled inwardly, watching her take a seat few meters from the tree. I pulled out the little polythene bag I brought along, from my pockets, to make her believe that I also needed the fruit. But the truth is; I only want to delay her more. Seeing her pretty face is more like a satisfaction to me.

I managed to pluck down few fruits, I didn’t want to stop, but the bag was already full. She stood up to her feet on seeing the full bag

“I think you are done, come on let’s go, we can talk on the way” She suggested as I shrug.
We were yet to take a step when we heard a growling sound of something that sounds like an animal.

We paused in our movement, taking gentle strides back to the river, and behold, the sight there wasn’t pleasing. I could feel my blood running up my veins as I stared at the fierce looking animal, drinking from the river, with its little cubs. We stood far behind, shielding our bodies with the large branch of a coconut tree.

“What…what is that” I shuttered, already getting scared
“it…looks like a panther” She replied
“Oh my God..what are we gonna do, we can’t possibly pass there, it’s gonna see us, and how are we gonna make our way back home” She asked, already shedding tears. I felt a pang of guilt in my heart, seeing her tears

“Hey, we will find a way in the forest, come on, there might be another route” I suggested. She was adamant to follow at first, but later accepted, since that was the only way.
“But how the hell did a panther get here, I thought it was only a myth” I thought, remembering Jones’s words.

We went back to where she sat earlier, passing a route that leads to another direction, and holding firmly unto our bags of fruits. We ran on the path, with our heart beat thumping hard against our chest. This will be the first time I’m seeing a panther this close, and if it finds out that there are live souls close by, it won’t hesitate to pounce on us
~~~
“Gosh,…I’m so tired” I cried out, sitting on the floor. We are really far away from home, as the sun is already up, shining brightly against our skin. All we could see in the forest are the tall trees, bushes and monkeys hanging around on the trees, peeping at us.

“I think we should go back, this is the wrong route we took” I stated
“What? After coming this far, do you know how long it’s gonna take us to go back?” Enkel muttered, wearing and angry look, but damn, she is not the only one piss here.

“We should have just taken the route I suggested, but you believe this path will lead us back to the main road, which will be faster. But all I’m seeing here is still the forest” I snapped

“But you should have resisted following me in the first place, if you hadn’t wanted us to end up here, I thought this place is faster, it wasn’t my fault. But the truth is that we can’t go back, the panther might be close by, and we might walk into its trap.” She resorted

“Hey…you shouldn’t place any blame on me, I was only following you, since you claim to have lived here for five years. That means you know here better than I do, you are the one actually leading us to danger” I stated
She scoffs

“Seriously Joe, are you now blaming me for making us lost in this forest?”
“We wouldn’t have get lost if we had followed the route I suggested”

“And do you even know if that path will lead us to more danger?” She snapped. I sighed, not able to say anything. She might be right, after all, I didn’t know anywhere here, but my instincts are always right. We should have been home by now if we had gone through that path, it was a track road, by the way, I thought, not ready to accept defeat.

“You know, if you haven’t asked me to wait for you, then perhaps I would have been home by now, preparing for the day’s eve” She scoffs
“But I didn’t force you to follow me; I only pleaded with you to wait. You would have resisted and I won’t have hold you down” I resorted

“For goodness sake, can we just find a way to get out of here instead of putting blames on each other?” She yelled as the monkeys in the trees, make annoying sounds, causing some birds to fly out. Everywhere later became silent after a while, and the only sound I heard was her sob.
I became sober, and annoyed at myself for making her sad. I mean, it’s actually my fault; if I hadn’t followed her down here, she might not have gotten into this trouble.

I stood up from where I sat and walked towards her, squatting before her
“I’m sorry Enkel, I know that I’m at fault, but we can’t stay here…”
She sniffed in, wiping her tears
“I don’t know how grandpa will be feeling right now; he would be worried that I’m not back yet. It’s noon already” She stated.

Sure, my mum will also be damn worried, what have I gotten myself into. Why would this panther show up in a day like this?

“I know..but if we ain’t back in time, they will surely come look for us…but we need to find somewhere to rest” I said, helping her up to her feet.
“We can just rest here..i’m also tired” she yawned. I can’t continue convincing her, because I am not even having the strength to do so.
~~~
It was already dusk, and we still haven’t find our way out. We decided to stop and rest under a big tree, with wide branches. Big enough to shade us for the night, but how are we gonna keep ourselves warm. Right now, we ain’t even talking to each other; it’s so surprising how we switched from the happy mood to a sad mood within few hours.

I do not like the silence between us, but how am I gonna make her talk to me again, I have ruined everything by getting pissed earlier.
We sat for some time under the tree, before she stood up
“Let’s make a fire, we can’t stand the cold of the night” she muttered, and I can’t explain the kind o joy I felt, hearing her speak up again. Is she no longer angry with me?

“Oh ok…I will I fetch some woods”

We finally set up the woods, and how she managed to create a fire still marvel me. She made use of two stones, a little wool which she took out from her cloths, and pieced of dried up grasses. She strikes the stones together, as it sparks out fire like light.
It touched the wool as smoke began to come out, and the next thing was the fire. It burnt wild due to how dry the woods are.

Warming our body in the fire, we brought out the fruits we got and made it our dinner.

I can’t believe that I will be spending the Christmas eve in a forest, far away from home.
“Silent night…holy nigh…All is calm, all is bright..round yon virgin mother and child….” Enkel sang heartedly, in a calm and lovely voice. All I could do was watch her, enjoying the sound of the rhythms her mouth makes.

She sang it repeated and later mutter a little prayer. She seems to be really religious
We watched the fire crackles, with different thoughts running through our minds
“We do sing that song every Christmas eve, it’s one of my best songs. Now I will not be present at the carol, I believe they are singing it right now in church” She smiled out sadly, throwing a small stick into the fire.

I heave a sigh
“Enkel..” I called out, she faced me
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier, I was just too piss at myself, I couldn’t control my emotion” I pleaded with a sorry look

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m also sorry for blaming you too; it wasn’t your fault” She smiled softly, as I almost melted in her eyes

“I was also pissed at myself for deciding the wrong route”
“No, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have followed you here, and even ask you to wait”
“No it isn’t your fault following me down here. What if I had come alone, and meet such a situation, I would have been lonely by now, not having anyone to talk to. I would have been alone in this forest, due to fear of getting killed by the panther” She replied

“So let’s say Christ wanted it to be this way” she cooed
“Do you believe in Christ” I asked
“Yes…what am I a Christian for, if I don’t believe in him?”
“Well. I can’t say”

“What about you”
“I don’t know what to believe” I sighed out

“But you are a Christian, ain’t you” She asked
“Yes…only by religion”
“Why not by faith?”
“It’s a long story..” I frown, looking sad. She touched my shoulder
“You can always share; we have the whole night here, since we ain’t leaving anytime soon” She noted

I nodded
“It started ten years ago; I was only eight years old then. My parents were religious people, always going to church and doing the will of God. I was taught to believe in Christ and his miracles, and things were going well for my family. But on the day of my joy, the day this same Christ is celebrated, the day I clock eight years; I woke up to meet the saddest news of my life.

I was eagerly waiting for my dad who had been out of home for a while to come home joyfully as always to celebrate Christmas and my birthday with us; I and mum. But he never did, he got into an accident that same day, leaving me shattered.

I remember praying to God earnestly to save my dad; he was hospitalized, and went into coma. I believed in the words of my Sunday school teacher, who always says that whenever we ask anything from Christ as children, he will answer us. I did as she said; praying almost every day, but dad wasn’t showing any sign of healing. He died before the New Year

Ever since then, I stopped believing in Christ, I believe that all the stories I was hearing about his miracles were fake or just fairytales. I lost my faith after my dad’s death.

“Hmmm…I’m so sorry about your dad’s death” She muttered, I shrug
“It’s ok..i’m over it already…”
“You know…that same thing also happened to me” She stated
“Your dad is dead?” I asked

“No…my mum…she died few days before Christmas, also ten years ago. I was seven as at then. I woke up that beautiful morning, to meet the corpse of my mother. Dad said that she died in her sleep; she wasn’t sick or having any default. But she left us; she left me, to celebrate Christmas with sadness.

But the truth is, I didn’t hate Christ for that. Yes, I was sad, I prayed to Jesus to bring back my mum to life, but it felt like my prayers weren’t getting to the sky, not to talk of heaven. But one thing I love about my grandpa is that, he made be believe that God gives life and can also take it when he wants. He just doesn’t do that to make us sad, but might have a reason for doing so.

Grandpa said that my mum’s time on earth was over, and Christ wants her to dine with him in heaven, that was why he took her. I know that my mum is somewhere in heaven, dining with Christ, same as your dad, so you shouldn’t be sad. Your dad will not be happy with you if he finds out that you turn this way because of his death.

“Do you know why we celebrate Christmas?” she asked
“Well, because Christ was born, it’s more like his birthday”

“Yea…but that’s not enough reason. We celebrate Christmas to remember the fact that Christ came to this world to give life to humanity. Not just the normal life we are living, but an eternal life; he had also gone through the pains we are facing today. Remember that his father also died, leaving him the responsibility to take care of his earthly mother and siblings. But he was still focused; he didn’t give up on God, his heavenly father. He had a mission, which was to die for us, in order for us to live.

“Hmmm…that’s true” I agreed
“That’s why we celebrate Christmas, because a God came in human nature, to live among us, and give us the life we never had. He sets us free from the captivity of the devil, from sin. So you shouldn’t hate Christ because he didn’t save your dad, remember he was also killed, but it was for our own good.”

“Thanks for the advice..Enkel..but I wanna ask, erm..do you believe in the star that led the wise men to where Jesus was kept
“Yes…It was a sign that shows that a king has been born”

“Oh..well, but according to science….”
“Science doesn’t have anything to do with God’s miraculous power. He makes the impossible, possible” She cuts in

“You need to accept Christ in your life Joe, only he can give you the peace you long for, and send the Holy Spirit to comfort you”
I nodded.
“I will…”

She held my hands and said a little prayer, smiling brightly as the light from the fire shone on our faces. It was already dark, and we are already feeling sleepy. She yawned loudly, stretching her body, as she set to sleep on the bare floor. But that will make her catch a cold. How will I convince her to allow us to sleep close, in order to keep ourselves warm?

“Erm..Enkel…don’t you think we should share my jacket, it can contain the both of us. You will not be comfortable with the flimsy clothes you are wearing” I suggested. She didn’t move at first, but later got up

“Fine, we can just share it” She replied, walking towards me as I took it completely off
“We dipped our hands into it, her back facing my chest. I zipped it up, as we both lay gently, close to the fire. Her body feels so warm in my arms, as I sniffed in her sweet girly smell. I know she will be feeling the bang of my heartbeat as her back was already touching my chest.

“I pray we find our way out of here tomorrow” She mumbled, as I muttered an Amen
“Goodnight Enkel”
“Goodnight Joe”

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Do you think they will make it out of the forest….

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Tbc..

Love y’all 💞

Vickie Dora 🌻