DARK

She was 5 when she had her first panic attack. She had been visiting her grandma in the village on a school holiday with her cousins. Tendeo, her younger brother, was too young. He was 3 years old, and could not stay away from his parents longer than a few hours, so he stayed home. Except for the language barrier, having come from the city where she mostly spoke English and not her vernacular language, she did enjoy rolling in the mud and chasing the chicken back to the coop at sundown as instructed by granny. Granny had a lot of visitors who would come in for a chat and a cup of tea. She would introduce her grandkids by referring to her children, “this one is Stella’s, her first one”, and the guest would either be Auntie or Uncle, Granny or Grandpa, depending on their age.

So when an Auntie approached Zolani and one of her cousins, Lezola, just outside the compound, they did not think much of it. When she suggested that they walk to her house for some samosas and soda, they blissfully and happily went with her. As they had their fill, the drug took effect and their reality got murky and foggy. The two young girls were locked in a dark, dump room for a day before they were found. When they were found, only Lezola was crying. Zolani’s tears were dried marks on her cheeks, as grandma lifted her off the floor, stiff as a corpse. “She is in shock, I will need to talk to her for some time as we head to the hospital”, urged the doctor who had rushed with the rest of the crowd to rescue the children.

Zolani became scared, almost everything gave her a fright. She was scared mostly of the dark, and almost everything that followed the darkness. So whenever darkness would start sipping into the world, she ran as fast as she could to avoid it, to feel safe in the light, preferably at home. Although she still went to therapy, some situations just overwhelmed her.

Zolani’s younger brother Tendeo, did not mind the darkness. In fact, he enjoyed playing outside after the sun set. He would tease Zolani and scare her by putting off the light, hiding in dark corners and jumping out screaming. This would upset Zolani, and more often than not invite punishment from his parents.

Since Tendeo did not understand the source of Zolani’s seemingly irrational fear, he kept doing it, he thought it was funny that his older sister fell for it every time.

One day, nearly a year since the kidnapping, the lights went out unexpectedly, a power outage that affected the entire neighborhood. Zolani, scared and out of breath ducked under the dining table where she and her family were having dinner. Tendeo, excited at this grand opportunity to scare her, climbed off his seat slowly and quietly. Following the sound of his sister’s whimpers, he felt his way to her under the table. Both parents had left the table looking for candles and torches. He took a long breath, got closer and then let out a bellow that was almost animal like. A thud, then Silence.

Confused, he let out a chuckle as he felt for her form in the dark, “Zo?” no response. Then he felt her stiff body, lying flat on the carpet. A cold sweat washed over him as he shook her, commanding a response, anything, but Zolani remained still. Panicked, probably for the first time, Tendeo called out, “mom, I think something is wrong with Zolani, she won’t speak to me”.

Both parents shuffled into the dining room, candles on hand, looking for both children. As the light showered the room and their vision adjusted to it, they saw Tendeo’s skinny body hovering over Zolani’s. Her figure lay motionless, lost in the realm of unconsciousness. Then blood.