hoPELESS hoPE

Synopsis

This is a story of hope gone awry. The people of Yawezekana are a people who have lived with misfortune for five generations. When finally they get word that their restoration and hope is on the way, they take utmost precaution to ensure all goes well. Joy is a young lady whose dream of becoming a pilot is finally getting realized. Something goes awfully wrong during her first test flight and she finds herself lost in time. She wakes up from a comma to find herself in the midst of people who behave like they have been expecting her all along. She is their hope. When the moment of truth finally comes and Joy disappoints everyone big time, the people of Yawezekana are flabbergasted. They question hope....  

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow. --Orison Swett Marden

 

Hope was vivid on every face that was gathered. Nevertheless, it was not a scene recommended for the weak hearted. Anxiety was rife in the air. Tension was palpable. Hadn’t they prayed for and waited upon this day? Most importantly, had they not sacrificed all they had to make this a success? A new epoch was in the offing for the people of Yawezekana. Nobody could have dreamt of missing the solemn occasion for anything in the world. Everything was ready and had been at least for the past one month.

Every activity in the village of Yawezekana had been brought to a halt. Market vendors had unanimously agreed not to sell their wares and were instead gathered hopefully around the hut. The herdsmen had not woken up to their duty that morning. The cows could as well starve to death in their shades. Even drunks who had spent the previous night in drinking sprees staggered in to pay their homage. Kanjii the village idiot made a dramatic entrance with cooked arrowroots in his hide pouch. He danced meticulously to no particular tune as he gnawed on his roots. This was so great a moment for anybody to hear it second hand. A once in a lifetime opportunity.

The midwives had been summoned early enough. They were four in number. This was no ordinary delivery and nothing could be put to chance. The God of the people of Yawezekana must have been one busy God that day.

Moans were heard coming from the hut. Moans of a woman in labour. With each moan, hope escalated and anxiety rode high. A number of elders rose and moved some distance away from the crowd. They faced the east bowed and spat. They then faced the north bowed and spat and the same happened on facing the south. They then lifted their walking sticks up and faced the heavens. They all started chanting in ancestral lingua franca. The reason for not facing the west was rather obvious. They had asked the God of Yawezekana to allow the new sun dawn on them but never to set again.

After that short ritual, some calm engulfed the compound. The spell was about to be broken. Omghanga must have been right, and by all means he had to be. The elders returned to their buttocks rest as some murmurs started to make rounds among the gathered. The yelling inside the hut had stopped and with it some feeble hearts outside. It was just a matter of time before some ululations rendered the air from the hut. The waiting lasted a century and with it were consequences. Bladders went haywire and people messed themselves up. Fainting became the norm of the hour. The wait had to stop. There were mixed reactions as tears flowed like waterfalls. Tears that could have carried either meaning; sorrow or joy…

***

 Joy’s moment of glory had found its true meaning that Monday morning. The sky was clear and sunny. A cool breeze swept across her face from the hills that went round the small airstrip. The tarmac was just warming up and she could see the mirage in the distance as moisture was being usurped up from the wet tarmac. Squirrels were basking on the tarmac oblivious of the danger they were facing from the flying machines. An eagle high up in the sky was going round in circles contemplating how best to attack its breakfast warming up on the tarmac. It was a perfect day for flying and the student could not hide her joy. She had spent her entire life dreaming about aircrafts. Half of that life had been spent in various schools chasing after the dream. She had landed a scholarship in the country’s best aviation school and hoped that some day she would get to fly the biggest air machine the industry could afford. The plan was well mapped in her mind. She was going to grab headline after headline. The local and international media would jostle to carry her success story. ‘First black woman to fly a cross-Atlantic commercial jet. ’ they would report. ‘Joy does it again.’ The headlines would read shortly after. As for now, she had to do with a two seater light aircraft. She graced the runway with such splendor as if nothing in the whole world surpassed the aura of flying.

Her instructor was standing beside the small-chartered aircraft that was going to initiate her into the real world of flying. He was keenly watching his student approach. It was his fifth year as an instructor and dozens of fresh students had passed through his hands. They had all exhibited insurmountable fear on their first time at the flight deck but something about this particular student told him she was different. Had he been spell bound by her beauty or was she displaying confidence so uncharacteristic of a first timer? He was done with analyzing her physical features as she stopped a few steps from where he was standing. It would not hurt a soul to analyze her social skills as well.

“Hey madam captain, nice snickers.” He teased. He had always been professional with his students but he had made up his mind to try and break barriers with this one. ‘Even instructors had life beyond instructing.’ He justified it to himself.

“I suppose that’s an instructor’s way of saying good morning,” she countered and then added with a smile “and if it is sir, my morning could never be better.” Excitement written all over her face was threatening to tear through her satin skin.

“’twas same for me.”

“I suppose,” she answered indifferently “can we get started? I’ve waited for this moment all my life. ”

“And I supp…”

“Tom,” she sauntered and stood next to the right side door. Hands akimbo, “I insist.”

He could not argue with that. At least they were on first name basis. The ice had been broken. He opened the door for her and walked round to his side. The student knew the basics. She put on her earplugs and adjusted them accordingly. She locked in place her safety belt and fidgeted a bit to make sure she was comfortable. At last. Here I am at last. Her body language seemed to say.

As she did the basics, her flight instructor was busy performing some rituals. What in this world lacked a ritual? He pushed on some buttons, switched on some, held down others and turned on quite a number. As he did this he muttered to himself what every button was supposed to do probably for the benefit of his student. He had done this a thousand times.

“Captain,” he called out after he was through “we are good to go. I hope you know the pace at which you are going to gain altitude and bear in mind that the direction of wind is a major factor for a successful take off.” She probably knew all this. He was keen on keeping the conversation going. “As for the rest, we’ll cross the bridges when we get to them.”

    “Eeh I thought bridges were synonymous with land only.” she interjected offhandedly. His private agenda was unfolding just as he would have wanted it to. ‘The gods must be too kind on me.’ He thought.

“Cool sense of humour huh!” he pursued the tease game, “I doubt whether you are going to get us up there without much drama.”

“Ever wondered why they call you Thomas?”

“Go away!”

The student-instructor line was getting thinner and thinner. Both were aware of this but each was attaching their own interpretation to it. The teacher was hoping that this could lead to a courtesy dinner soon and a romantic one thereafter. At thirty, he was almost becoming a senior bachelor and his folks had started asking evocative questions. The student had only one thought. She hoped that this development would favour her with extra hours in the sky. She savored this possibility as she took to the sky.

She enabled the fuel injector, looked around the cockpit for a minute then released the brakes. The plane taxied slowly as it aligned to the runway then picked up speed. The squirrels cleared the runway in terror. After some seconds of speeding on the runway, the craft lifted off. History was in the making. Joy was ecstatic. She had spent years reading books and studying dismembered parts of aircraft. She had grown impatient and hated her tutors for the delay. They were giving her droplets while she was dying to get out there and take a whole ocean. That of course was no longer her concern. Her patience had paid off. The sky was the limit.

She was now making turns and adjusting altitude at will. She was at home in the cockpit. Her instructor could not hide his admiration.

“Best student I’ve ever instructed.”

“I’m flattered.” She said and this time she meant it. It was a genuine compliment.

“I know of this restaurant in town that serves excellent cuisine.” He wasn’t going to waste any more time. The early bird catches the worm and he had no intentions of being the sorry hungry bird. “It would be a good place to celebrate your first successful flight.”

“Wonderful. Maybe you could give me its name and I could sample it sometime later with my buddies.”

“Eeeh I was thinking in terms of you, me and a quiet table at a corner.” Damn, why was she punching him below the belt?

“I know. I was just messing up with your mind,” She stole a quick glance at him just in time to see him blush. A sly smile was written on her face, “but don’t you think we’d be violating the instructor-student code of conduct.”

“With a simple dinner? You’ve got to be kidding me again.”

“I’m serious. But I’m grateful for the offer and promise to consider it sometime before my training is over. How about that?” Was she hijacking the conversation from him? How dare she!

“It doesn’t go down well with me but again, you are the protagonist here. I only hope it will materialize sooner than later.” He spoke his mind then added as an afterthought. “The early bird catches the worm you know.”

 “And by worm we are talking about what exactly, Mr. Thomas Mtawalia?” she was still smiling. Patronizing him and enjoying it. Conniving at its best. If she had not trained as a pilot, she would probably have been a lawyer.

“No further comment. I will wait for your invitation.” The instructor knew he was cornered. But why was she playing along. Had she fallen for him? Was theirs a case of love at first sight? What a tale this would be when they would be narrating to their children and grandchildren how they had met. ‘The gods are too kind to me’ he repeated the thought to himself again. The conversation died down. He was still counting his blessings when he drifted into sleep and was now dreaming his way into her life. She stole another glance at him and her confidence was reassured. She was in total control.

***

Thirty minutes into the instructors sleep, Joy heard an aircraft approaching from the other direction. Her heart skipped several beats. What if they were on a collision course! Was she supposed to establish some sort of communication with the other craft or what? Who had the right of way? Waking the instructor would erode the omniscient image she had cultivated. She would act on her own and then narrate it to him on touch down. The aircraft was approaching fast and from the turbulence it was generating, it must have been a big jet. She decided to drop altitude and did it fast. The plane was now approaching ground zero at super speed. Joy panicked. Without knowing it, she had plunged her baby machine into a nosedive.

She was screaming frantically as she tried to reverse her action. Her instructor woke up and also got into a panic. He had slept while at work. How on earth was he going to explain the situation to his manager? He was mad at Joy. Mad for having fooled himself that she was on top of things.

“What the hell are you trying to do? Kill us!” He screamed.

“I suppose daaah!” she screamed back arrogantly.

“Oh my God! What is this?” He was trying to take readings and every meter spelt doom. Altitude was being lost like blood from a fresh cut on a diabetic. The speed was maddening.

“Do something quick. You shouldn’t have slept in the first place.”

“Watch your mouth. I hate such an attitude.” He shouted.

“It’s the altitude that you should be worried about.” she shouted back at him. Less than an hour ago, they were flirting and choosing their words with utmost care. The face of death has no decorum for sure.

“Shut the f…”he was about to curse but instead said in a lower but firmer voice, “No more talk.” It was a serious order.

The instructor knew the situation was helpless. The plane was diving at a dangerous angle. He made a distress call to air control at the airstrip. In his state of panic, he undid all controls. What was on was turned off and what was left was taken to the right. He did everything he could think of in an attempt to kill the dive. All this time his student watched and hoped. Too shaken to even try anything. The instructor sighed and cursed over and over. He knew too well that what he was doing was in vain but a part of him was hoping for a miracle. A miracle he wholeheartedly doubted. Thomas was his name; a historical doubter.   

When nothing seemed to work, Joy despaired. The desperation gave way to anger then fear and then hopelessness. Why would God allow this to happen to her? Had He brought her all this far just to abandon her in her moment of glory? Weren’t there so many other pilots out there who would not have minded death? Many who had flown for years, had myriads of domestic woes and a couple of other serious issues in which death would have been a sure relief? Look at her. She was young, beautiful and ambitious. She had dreamt and invested in this all her life. She was angry with God. She questioned her belief.

She had been brought up in a Christian family where her father had been a church elder. Her old man placed nothing before his faith and he had done a good job of ensuring that this trait rubbed off into all his four children. Joy had taken up this matter of faith with gusto. The subject of faith featured in all aspects of her life and it had on several occasions led to mockery from her friends and foes. Had she believed in vain? What kind of a God was this God she had grown up knowing? What God allowed you to dream and not have a chance to see it come true? What God allowed one to sow and not reap the harvest? She had thought Him to be a benign God. All able and all powerful. Had she believed in futility? Hoped in vanity?

She had her reservations about the God she had known all her life but deep down she still believed in His omnipotence. His ability to restore hope in hopeless situation. She hoped for a miracle and it was with this in mind that she mumbled a short prayer. 

“Lord, please let me live.” And with this, the aircraft kissed the ground…mmg^© to be continued...         

I hope to get this published soon, get paid lotsa benjamins and use the proceeds to holiday in Miami lol. It will start with you giving your honest opinion. Haya basi...