Hurakan & Other Short Stories

By Boitumelo Moroka

The writing is rich with perceptive metaphors, making startling connections between the human condition and the universe. All the stories, long or short, are well told, well informed and observed.
The stories are engaging - the narratives driven by an inventive style of writing, which keeps the reader alert. The characters, many of them lost souls, are also intri-guing with their disillusioned cynicism, yet they never quite snuff out their kernel of humanity. In the ambiguous endings, there is always a smidgeon of hope for spiritual reawakening. Often their human self-expression emerges from lessons through suffering, through art, even surviving somehow in the wake of unremitting de-struction and metamorphosis centuries hence.

REVIEW BY LuLi Callinicos

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Jan 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781482804850

Boitumelo Moroka

Boitumelo Moroka was born in 1979 and currently lives in South Africa. Her love for storytelling sprang from a nomadic upbringing, having lived in Zambia, Zimbabwe and other parts of Southern Africa. A Cinematographer by trade, her passion for storytelling extends into writing. This is her first book.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Boitumelo Moroka.

Illustrations by Jared Pereira

Book Cover Design by Kanif Sebright

ISBN:   Softcover           978-1-4828-0484-3

             eBook               978-1-4828-0485-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa

Contents

PART 1

Hurakan

PART 2 THE INTENTION

1 The Gods: Suns

2 Alchemy: From Metal To Gold

3 Introspection: The Addict

4 The Alpha & The Omega: A Journey Toward The Sun

5 Revelations: Metal City

14404.png

This book

is dedicated to my loving

Grandmother Winifred Keneiloe Nkobi

Whom I miss and love daily.

14402.png

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With Special Thanks to:

Kanif and my beloved

Mother Amogelang Lilian Moroka

Thank you for your un-ending

support.

I love you both dearly…

PART 1

Illustration%20%23%201-Story%20-Hurakan%20%20.jpg

HURAKAN

1

Birdie always imagined that a great and grand procession would follow her coffin to the graveyard; a vibrantly saturated parade that did not lack in wild fun or pictorial beauty, a fine balance between jubilation and utter mourning.

The state orchestra would accompany the coffin down main roads while big volcanic drums trailed lazily behind; booming, resounding deep; summoning judgment day from the concealed future while steel pans and timpani drums are beaten brutally as though punished for the sins of this cold and callous world. Horns too would be blown in rhythmic unison, saxophones and trumpets celebrating; swaying solemnly alongside each other; loud enough to awaken gods from peaceful slumber while balloons and confetti peacefully float in the sweltering midday heat.

Birdie’s vanity leads her to further visualize …rows of bereaved women weeping into ironed handkerchiefs while groups of stern men stand motionless with top hats removed, in show of respect for the newly departed.

In the distance a sweetheart from the past is looking younger and more handsome than what Birdie remembers; he smoking a pipe, blowing thick dirty smoke into the calm humid clean air.

There goes a feisty lady if ever I knew one he salutes and calmly spits wet phlegm to his side.

At the graveside stands a podium occupied by none other than the Great el Comandante Mario Cristófor Fernandez who speaks with his right hand on his heart and head slightly lowered, Never have I met anyone considered an equal until I met my match in Birdie, LONG LIVE BIRDIE!!!

2

Hurricanes and tropical storms are part of life, Birdie tells the children as they look over the debris, remnants of their home in pieces; their belongings spread out for all to see under the flirtatious sun. Their house is knee deep in mud and all the electrical equipment is layered in sludge and damaged. A grand piano stands naked on three legs clumsily blocking the entrance of the abode.

Aluwa is standing on a fridge; it is now in the driveway, inside the food has scattered and begun to rot. She manoeuvres around the yard with caution and bounce while balancing on whatever she can find; ‘life has retained adventure’ she thinks as she makes her way through the open obstacle course.

A fierce and passionate wind had passed through hours ago with unforgiving impetus; travelling faster than the world’s fastest rollercoaster, it snatched lifeless trees from the Earth and pulled off rooftops in defiance, toppled cars in might and dispelled man in fear; in flight they carried only their most cherished belongings.

It was a relentless struggle, accompanied by a violent surge of water with fast momentum; a liquid wall moving forward like a well-orchestrated army intent on massacre, it flooded streets and swept neighbourhoods clean along the shore line, it rained unyielding drops of water that were sharp and stabbing. Within twelve hours it had come and gone, back into the warm ocean from where it came; taking whatever it so desired, leaving the midday sun to shine in somber severity.

A natural catastrophe if you live in hurricane country Birdie continued in sorrow. She thought about how the landscapes continuously evolved; the island had changed with her youth many times.

"If you cannot move with the winds you shall be left behind, where the whirlwind stops nobody knows…

Did you know that the word Taino means good or noble people? They were named so by the Spanish conquistadors to differentiate them from the fierce cannibal Carib Indians that plagued the area.

It is said that the Taino would sit in their thatched homes and beat their drums loudly; in hope of swerving the direction of the Hurricane or even perhaps scaring it away. Their home structures were made from wooden frames topped by straw with earthen floor but yet what they constructed was strong enough to withstand hurricanes, amazing don’t you think? They had little possessions, and therefore never lost much… not like us"

Sam is in peaceful shock, his ears tuned to the roaring ocean not too far off, large black birds circle the sky; the stench of gas leaking from a cylinder is combined with the stink of a dead dog whose carcass is half buried in the mud. His eyes are fixed on a ruined house at the end of the street, his tears growing large; he, a mere block of dead wood.

It’s going to be alright Sam; all of this can be replaced, no need crying for what’s gone. At least we still have each other, alright? Oliver is rubbing his son’s head.

Winds travel from as far as the Sahara deserts in Africa to ride the vast skies with only one purpose, destruction; for this reason tropical storms are commonly mistaken as the ‘evil gods’.

The ancient Taino named the storms Juracán.

Juracán was controlled by the creator goddess deity Guabancex, one whose fury destroys everything. When the Taino first met the great Mayans of Mexico they were impressed and in awe of their magnificent and complex civilization; their sophistication and advanced technology, but they remained cautious still. For it was known that the Mayans made human sacrifices to the gods. The Taino sought to understand the Mayans instead; and in so doing became profoundly influenced by their magic, legends and folklore.

The Taino were also known to be an open minded people, peaceful and accepting of other ideologies, easily merging or holding dual beliefs… So after generations of trading and exchange with the Mayans, the Taino consented in fear and agreed upon the Great powers of Hurakan, seeking to please him rather than use their powerful drums to torment the deity.

Mythology says that Hurakan caused the Great Flood after the first humans angered the gods. Known as the red ones these humans were identical in both appearance and height. Hurakan is described thus: has one stout humanoid leg, the other leg a serpent. His nose snout-like, his mouth has the ability to speak earth until land comes from beneath the seas. He resides in the windy mists above flowing floodwater carrying nothing but a thundering spear as weapon.

Hurakan from Mayan Jun Raqan, meaning one legged, is the ancient weather god of wind, storm and fire; one of three creator deities who collectively are known as the Heart of Heaven.

It is said that the gods made three separate attempts at creating humanity; first from mud, then wood and finally from maize.

Hurakan boldly took on the bulk of the work, sacrificing from his own blood to create human flesh under strict and direct instruction from Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, and Tepeu the god of lightning and fire.

3

The Church Santa Maria was built in the year 1605, by the great Spanish conquistador Mario Cristófor Fernandez, comandante del armada, at the age of 33. He was said to be a tall man, strongly built, with a lean unbending back, engineered especially for hard battle and long-term endurance.

His hair pristine; black and lengthy like a prize stallion, too thick to flow in the winds, falls down his broad, cross-like shoulders. Neatly kept in one long silky plait and vainly washed under morning sunlight with cold water on