by T Swanepoel
Chapter 17 – Bushbaby
A bushbaby is a small, nocturnal ape with very large eyes.
The first thing that sprang into my mind was explosions: I wanted to explode things. It always looked impressive in movies. And very powerful.
I was anxious to try it out, but couldn’t really attempt it around the dorms, not based on the results that the previous attempts had on my immediate environment. What explanation could I possibly offer if only my room was smashed up like a hurricane and nothing else destroyed?
On top of that, I would have to do any experimenting at night or on a cloudy day, out of fear that Alex would see and also guess my plan.
My heart felt tender at the thought of him. He was willing to die to keep me from doing something against my will. What a tremendous Ruler he would have made. And he was giving that up for me as well!
About two weeks later, armed with a printout from Google Maps, I sneaked out of my room around two o’clock on a Saturday morning, using the main stairs as the Reds would be watching the emergency stairs.
I waited patiently for almost an hour, watching for Peter outside. The chance was there to try to slip away, but the Reds were good, all of them. He’d probably follow me and sabotage my whole expedition.
It was easy. I made sure that Peter saw me and walked to my car and climbed in. Moments later he knocked on my window as expected, frowning down at me.
“Valerie. Where are you going?” he asked when I rolled down the window, a slight trace of irritation lurking in his otherwise monotonous voice.
I didn’t back down.
“I’m off to the quick shop around the corner. You know, to get a ....huhh huhh,” I cleared my throat, pretending in my best acting performance ever to be embarrassed.
“No problem, but I’ll have to come with you,” he answered, not even a little intimidated.
I tried a stronger approach. “Peter, I’m out of tampons.”
His eyes opened wide and he stepped back from the car. Males didn’t like any talk in that direction.
“I’ll be ten minutes tops,” I tried to put him at ease.
“Keep your phone close,” he answered as I switched on the engine.
I drove away slowly, but sped up as soon as I was out of audible range. Ten minutes were ample time to get away. And the sun was down, so Alex wouldn’t be able to see where I was.
The closest nature reserve was an hour’s drive away. The reserve and the university had an arrangement of some sort, which also made it easy for me to arrange, under the semi-false pretences of being a student doing research on bushbabies, for a ranger to open the gate for me. I’d never been there, but what I had seen on the web site looked convincing and they had contact numbers and everything.
The lady that answered the phone didn’t ask any questions, but I had to agree to a string of rules. It was nothing more than the usual stuff: staying within your car at all times except at indicated places, no feeding animals, blah blah blah. I didn’t even read through it all. A signature was required and that I gave with a smile.
The ranger waited for me in an old Land Rover in front of a majestic wrought iron gate. The gate was huge, at least three meters high, with a steel buffalo standing out in the centre of the left panel. In the centre of the right panel was the name of the reserve, with the letters cut out from the sheet metal.
The ranger greeted me in high spirits, a tall neat young fellow, and naive even to my standards. He was very proud to be getting the little reserve this type of attention. He kept asking questions about the research and the article. For a moment or two I had to think fast; he knew a lot about the vegetation and the wildlife and wouldn’t stop asking questions.
He also wanted me to mention his name in my article. He was hoping to study some day as well and was absolutely convinced that having his name in an article would improve his chances of being accepted.
I followed him with my station wagon up to the closest observation point. It wasn’t the most likely place to find bushbabies according to him, but he looked a little intimidated when I insisted otherwise.
It seemed as if he was dedicated enough to stay with me for the night; he simply wouldn’t leave. But, to my great relief, he started yawning after just a few minutes of sitting motionless on a bench inside an enclosed observation point, looking onto a big water hole.
He excused himself, but gave me his personal phone number. I waited for three minutes after the rear lights of his Land Rover disappeared before rushing outside.
The feeling of being alone out there in the bush was amazing, exciting; I felt carefree. Yes, it was dark, with all types of wild predators around. But I wasn’t afraid of them. I couldn’t explain why, but I simply was not afraid.
I was afraid though, of all the other wild predators of the universe: the emotional predators, the ones who fed on others with jealous teeth and selfish claws. These predators were the worst of all, creating a path of destruction to their desires. Life and death was nothing more than a merciless continuous cycle, completely untamed, wild.
The sound of an owl broke my trance and suddenly I didn’t feel as relaxed as before, I was anxious to get this done with so I could go out and do what I had to do.
It was easy to believe that everything was alive in the faint shine of the crescent moon. I felt it, the strong vibration of life, all around me. It was easy especially because the sense of mysteriousness and magic raised the hairs on my neck.
At first, I focused on a small rock next to my feet. I bent down and picked it up to take a better look at it. It was no different from all the others, a typical bushveldt rock, sharp edges, rough surface, one of millions lying around.
On the other hand, there were also millions of stars above, and they were also alive; I really believed that. Why couldn’t a rock then also be alive? It might not have enough intelligence or energy for its consciousness to manifest into an ambassador, but that didn’t mean it was dead, did it?
This time, I looked at the rock with new eyes, with believing eyes. But it looked the same, no matter how long I stared at it. And it was getting harder to keep the belief high: true to human nature, I doubted quickly.
With determination, I gathered myself. This rock was alive. I believed it. I closed my eyes and kept repeating it over and over in my mind: This rock is alive, I believe it.
It happened suddenly.
One moment I was chanting with my eyes closed, the next moment I could literally feel the energy radiating from the rock in my hand. I opened my eyes and dropped it to the ground in shock.
It was still the same old rock, it certainly looked the same, but its surface was vibrating. It vibrated so fast that the surfaces and edges actually appeared solid.
I stared at it for a long time, letting my emotions run wild.
I believed in the unbelievable!
I loved knowing that my faith was strong enough to open this world up, to really see God’s creation in its full glory.
My eyes moved to a bigger rock close by, and its surface also looked blurry from the vibration. As did the tree, the grass, the water and everything around me.
Everything around me, every single thing, big and small, was vibrating.
A tremendous sense of awe filled me and I felt humble at the sight. If only the rest of the world could see, I thought. No one would ever think of polluting again, of hurting this magical planet of ours.
I knelt and dug my hands into the sand, feeling the vibrations, feeling more and more connected by the minute. Not only did the sky have a new dimension for me, but also the entire area around me.
The sky was already colouring in the west, and I didn’t have much time left.
I still wanted to explode something, and I picked the rock that I had in my hands earlier. It was easy to believe, now that I had access to the Earth’s energy, that it could explode.
I visualised a flow of energy from the centre of the Earth to the rock, and then opened my eyes to try it.
The rock vibrated more violently and slowly grew red. I could feel the heat from where I stood, almost three meters away. The red turned brighter, then almost white and suddenly there was a loud crackling explosion. Pieces flew all over the place.
I felt guilty for killing the little rock, but close examination of the smaller pieces revealed that they were vibrating as well, and I felt better about it.
Without a doubt, this was the real thing. For the first time, I’d accessed the Earth’s powers. What I’d done at my parents home was nothing more than the weather responding to my moods.
I was about to try again on a bigger rock, when headlights lit up the entire area from behind me. Frightened, I turned and raised my hands. Four lights from two cars pinned me to the spot. My phone was still in the car and I had no option but to stand still.
Both cars stopped mere centimetres from me, one black, one white.
Oh, great! Not again! Caught out. How had they found me?
Alex climbed out of his white Lexus, glowing slightly. And he had brought along his entire entourage. Benjamin, Peter, Wilfred and Leo climbed out of the black Merc. I was in deep trouble: I’d betrayed Peter’s trust, which was ultimately Alex’s trust. I strongly doubted if Peter would trust me again. I’d have to think of a new plan next time.
I had to admit that his glow was impressive; it suited Alex, confirmed his authority. It also made him look even more like a Greek god. He walked up to me with quick strides. Benjamin also came closer, but stopped about half-way; the other three Reds remained a little distance away around their car.
“Alex!” Benjamin called warningly.
I drew a quick breath of nervousness. My heart pounded harder than usual, whether because of Alex’s anger or the mere sight of him, I didn’t know. He didn’t bother to greet me, just grabbed me by the upper arm and dragged me into his car. I felt so intimidated by his white glow and his immediate closeness that I didn’t try to protest or resist. My mind wandered to the other day when I had to wake him, how close he was then...
He opened the door for me and then held out his hand.
“Car keys?” he spat the question out.
“Uhh... ignition,” I answered quickly in a shaky voice, feeling slightly lightheaded.
He pushed me into the passenger’s seat and then bent over to put my seat belt on for me. I let him, partly because of him being so close and partly, the smaller part of me, because I didn’t want to test his endurance any further.
He closed my door and I slowly released my breath. He climbed into the driver’s seat but didn’t bother to buckle up himself.
In the side mirror I noticed Benjamin climbing into my station wagon. At least they didn’t plan to leave my car alone in the bush but had the good manners to drive it back.
We flew off, leaving a dust cloud the size of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. I worried about flying stones hitting my car and the Merc.
We reached the gate in milliseconds. But where the impressive gate had been a few hours earlier, there was now nothing left. The gate was completely missing, just the posts standing. Then I noticed something shiny in a tree. The gate wasn’t missing; it was lying in smithereens all over the place. The closest tree had a piece of the buffalo’s head stuck in a branch. Judging from Alex’s glow, he had blown up the gate, using his powers.
I had to toughen up; the bollocking of my life was waiting. And for once, it wouldn’t come from my dad. If only it was from my dad!
The tyres screamed and the car swayed slightly as we spun onto the tarred road. The other two cars were out of sight, probably because they were being driven by half-decent human beings instead of screaming along like a maniac. My fear slowly changed into irritation and then exasperation as we tore through the night.
I shouldn’t have sneaked away, that was a given. But I wasn’t a child and Alex didn’t own me, no matter how infatuated I was with him.
The wind streamed lightly along the car. Alex didn’t seem to notice. We drove in absolute silence; there wasn’t even tyre noise in the fancy vehicle. car.
But a few minutes later, the clear sky of earlier turned dark. The wind wrapped more strongly around the car.
“Alex, you’re going to get us both killed. Slow down and drive decently, please?” I said asked in a pretend blasé tone, feeling displeased with him for being so reckless.
He ignored me completely and suddenly I got angry.
“Alex, I’m warning you, slow down or I’ll jump out.”
Luckily he didn’t call my bluff, but my little threat had the right effect.
He hit the brakes, hard. So hard, that the seat belt pulling on me actually hurt. The car came to an almost immediate stop in the middle of the road.
He stared out blindly into the rising sun ahead of us.
“Have you gone crazy?” I asked with a slightly raised voice, furious with his little temper-tantrum. I had turned in my seat, facing him.
He slowly turned his head towards me, fire burning in his eyes.
“No,” he bit the words out. “Have you gone crazy?” His voice was icy, so soft it was like screaming.
My blood boiled. The cheek! This following around had save me a time or so, sure, but this was getting out of proportion. I felt claustrophobic, especially because of Benjamin. I was apparently Alex’s ‘responsibility’ as he had put it the other day, but it felt like I was his prisoner.
Oh to heck with that! I obeyed not out of respect necessarily, but because I had feelings for him. And he probably knew it and was taking advantage
“Just because I’m in love with you, doesn’t mean that you own me!”
Crikey! Did I say it out loud? I was so deep in thought, about what he had said - I really hoped that I had not. I waited nervously for his reaction.
His eyes opened wide. Then he blinked.
***