Mavuto (A problem Child): The natures Keeper

By Pindukani Milanzi Muwandia, Carol Tiyelesa Phiri and Harrington Mumba Kasongo

Mavuto is a story for readers that want to escape from the usual kind of novels that are easy to predict. It takes a natural flow to its sequence of actions and it is fully immersive. The book circles around mundane decisions and choices and how they affect daily life. The story is centred on a man called Mavuto and how his family and friends related to him because of his name. The book has a thrilling touch of crime and mystery from the start to finish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Dec 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9783748770008

Book preview

The Awakening

The Awakening

Mavuto had barely slept, before the first light pierced through his round bottom thatched house. During the night, he frequently rose up to his window, anxious for the new day to begin. It was to be the fourth day of October, the day on which he had celebrated his birthday since he could remember.

This going to be the best birthday ever, He smiled, and unintentionally sunk his heart shaped dimples so deep that he could easily feel them touch his tongue. He was happy because of a promise which his father had made to him when he was just a little a little boy.

My son, when you grow older and become sixteen years of age. I will show you the world outside this compound and no one will be able to stop us. Mavuto heard his father’s words in his ears, as vivid as though his father was right next to him while he laid on his reed mat. His father always reminded him about his promise whenever he had the chance. Now Mavuto knew the day had finally come. He had to make it as special as he had always imagined it to be.

Fortunately for Mavuto, the morning weather was just perfect for hunting on that day so he cancelled the possibility that the weather would ruin what he planned. The wind rustled gently against the bamboo weaved walls of Mavuto’s hut, while birds sang sweet melodies from the nearby bushes. Mavuto laid his body on an old reed mat but, his thoughts where lost in reverie. He thought of a time when he could be allowed to move freely in his village. He also imagined the look which Maluwa would have on her face if she saw him walk out of the compound for the very first time in his life. He would finally have a chance make Maluwa the proud lady she deserved to be. In his fantasy, He saw how her dainty nose would obviously sparkle like a twinkling star on her dark melanin skin. He also imagined himself coming home with a game animal on his shoulders, with his father by his side. But, all that was just mere fantasy Mavuto reckoned. He quickly moved out of his day dream after he realized that he had wasted so much time on something which is not even real. He couldn’t blame himself for it, Maluwa was indeed an exceptional girl. So exceptional that she could make anything feel real. Mavuto noticed something unique about her at the first time he saw her. This was when her mother Chikondi was desperate for a place to stay after walking for many days without food. Chikondi narrated a heart catching story of how her arranged husband tormented her for many years until one day, she fled from her village. Maluwa appeared unperturbed by what she had experienced. She joyfully clinched and hid behind Chikondi’s garment while she pleaded with Mavuto’s father, Ganizani to give her a job and a place to stay. Ganizani was touched by their story and remembered that not so long ago he was in a similar situation. So he gave her a job as a compound maid and gave her a hut within the compound to live in. Mavuto and Maluwa played together from that day onward. As they grew older, she learnt more about Mavuto and realized how much he desired to go hunting with his father just like most boys in the village did. The other children mocked him when they walked near the compound but, Maluwa stood by him even though it meant that the children would hate her as much as they hated him. But even through his terrible situation, all that Mavuto wanted was a single opportunity to prove to the entire village that he was capable of doing something good even though he was viewed as a cursed child. He believed that despite the odds against him, he would one day, become a brave hunter just like his father.

Mavuto stayed on his reed mat until the gleams of light pierced harder through the thatch on his hut. The thatch needed to be patched before the beginning of the rain season otherwise he wouldn’t be able to find any dry grass to fix it with, if the rains start early. His ears were treated to the sound of a funeral drum which was played by a village messenger who walked very close to their home. At that instance, he remembered that he might be late for his special appointment with his father. He immediately got up from his mat and rushed to the storage hut where his father had kept a bow and some arrow’s, specially made for his maiden hunt. He picked up the bow and gently rubbed his fingers on the intricate text which his father had engraved on it. With his emotions so elated, he pinched himself a little on his left cheek just to make sure that he was not dreaming. He took a deep sigh of relief before he fastened a bag of arrows to his back. He held the bow in his right hand and skimmed to his