Kemet Rising

    It was then Menes's turn to retrieve the balls as the boys laughed at him because he was bragging about how far he thought he could throw them. Hondo won that game. Menes's balls didn't quite reach the huge sycamore tree to which the boys were measuring their distance. Their range was about twenty cubits to the tree, and his farthest globe made it about fifteen. Curses, he thought. Not only did he lose the game, he had to fetch the red, yellow, pink, and blue orbs. He picked up the first one, which was about ten cubits from where he started. He picked up the second one about three more cubits away, and the third two cubits from there. The last one he picked up, he waved in the air, bellowing.

    "Let's go at it again. I'll win this time." He didn’t see the thirteen cubit king cobra coiled in the grass. The green and brown snake quickly bit the boy on the calf, and he yelled in pain. Hondo and Adofo still laughed as they thought Menes dashed his foot on a rock or was just frustrated from the loss. They soon stopped chuckling when they saw the menacing snake.

     They truly thought it was a monster. Black eyes, flat head, and whitish brown underbelly, the creature grew four cubits. The snake balanced itself upright in an attack formation and hissed like air escaping a small hole. The boys yipped and ran as the cobra lashed out again, striking the paralyzed Menes on the top of the head. The two boys ran toward the black fields, and the snake slithered off in the opposite direction to vanish forever in the shrub.

    The last thing Menes remembered was throwing up his breakfast and falling on his back on the grassy floor. His eyes rolled back in his head, and his whole body shook violently.

     Thema heard Hondo and Adofo yelling and screaming across the huge black crop province, avoiding the warnings of sharecroppers tilling. They hooted at the kids to stop trampling the seeds as they dashed about looking for Thema. They found Thema, recognizing her out of a line up of women and men throwing seeds in the dark soil.

    "My lady, my lady!" the kids shouted. "Thema, Thema!" When they made it to her, they fell down in the dirt, toppling over each other, out of breath. Thema looked down at the boys, astonished.

    "What's wrong? Where's Menes? Why is he not with you boys?" Adofo, the half a year older of the two boys, sniveled on his knees trying to catch his breath.

    "We were playing in the grassy field and a great snake came out of nowhere and attacked him!" The other boy just started to cry. Then Adofo broke down. Thema dropped her reed-woven basket, plummeting hundreds of thousand seeds at her bare feet and silt. Her eyes started to water. Kneeling over the sniveling child, she gently held his shoulders.

    "Adofo," she began, looking into his weeping eyes. "You have to tell me where." He trembled and sniffed more. "You have to show me now." She almost shook the child.