"A thousand lives," growled the old man. "If a lose, a thousand die."
The young man slid his fingers over the smooth mahogany cane he leaned so heavily upon, but a smile graced his chiseled face. "You think too smll, Tavao." He turned to the child, holding out his other hand. "What do you say, Ssavi, sweetheart? Shall we team up against the terrible god of wind?'
When the girl answered, it was in a voice far to old and wise for her body. "Oh, most certainly. I'm sorry, grandfather. I guess being the god of air is going to be your downfall."
The young man took a step forward and as he did his body narrowed nd lenghthened and in the plce of the limping adolescent was a glistning serpend, flicking a forked tongue out between fangs dripping a poison as red and luscious as blood. His words seemed to come from the dark, black eyes that watched old Tavao sleepily. "I m Feynir, god of every little thing that walks and flies and crawls and swims. I md wolf and shark and hawk all at once. . .and what power do you command, old man? Wind? Tonight, a thousand of innocents will die, and your name will hold no standing. Tonight, mostals will set fire to the few temples dedicted to your name and they will laugh at the foolish convalescent who lost to a little girl goddess. First blood, eh, Tavao?"
The snake that ws a god swept forwrd and those pure white fangs slid into the ld man's flesh as if it was cream. Blood trickled from the punctures and suddenly the serpent was a young man with a cane. He took the little girl by the hand and swept out of the game-chamber.
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Dear Fyor,
We have a child, you know. You disppear for months at a time. What am I supposed to do, love? You know I am too crippled to work. Our house is falling apart and the neighborhood is being taken over by caucasians. Our daughter is. . .like you. I need you to take her, Fyor. Raise her like an African girl, tell her stories of her mother and the man she thought she loved. Maybe someday I'll see her again, but if not I need you to tell her tht her mother was, above all, a woman of Sudan.
All my love,
Jendayi Gamba
A swingle tear slid down Jendayi's cheek as she licked the envelope and pressed the flap closed. Little Maddie was so happy, sitting in the sofa and banging Tupperware with a wooden spoon. She was getting her first hair; black fuzz like the stuff you get betwen your toes when you wear black socks.
Jendayi was in love with that baby, maybe even more than she was in love with the mysterious man who had seemed so perfect. Every little thing that little Mddie did was adorable beyond anything Jendayi had ever seen, every mangled baby-talk was she cutest sound she had ever heard. Giving her daughter away was the hardest thing Jendayi had ever hat to do , but it was the only way.
The front door opened suddenly and, from the sofa, Maddie perked up. "Dada!" she shrieked happily.
"You ain't sure of that, baby," Jendayi muttered, but it must be Fyor. Maddie was never wrong about such things.
"Jendayi, I came as quickly as I could." It was indeed Fyor, the most perfect man she knew and yet the most aggrivating. "Your letter is. . .is it really that bad?"
Jendayi scooped baby Maddie into her arms. "Look around. Glass on the windows broke, had to tape up garbage bags. Paying for water near cleans me out every month. Take good are of her, will you, Fyor. I love this baby, so much, and if anything happened to her I'd. . ."
Fyor watched her with his beauiful black eyes. "Jendayi Gamba, do you think I'd let anything happen to a child of yours?"
"Ours, Fyor. Not mine, ours. Jendayi let Fyor take Maddie away, not bothering to stop the flow of tears. "Raise her like an African. Raise her. . .raise her right."
Maddie's pudgy hands explored Fyor's face as he smiled, nodded and vanished in a pop of displaced air. Jendayi rolled her wheelchair over to the bed, heaved herself up and collapsed into the blankets, sobbing.
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Sorry about the numerous typoes. This is a very old computer and most of the keys have stopped working. Please load on the critiques. I want input before I get too far into the first chapter. Also, I need title. Any ideas? Thanks a bunch.
