STORYTIME: ANANSE AND THE RAINDRUM 5

 

RECAP

Ananse had finally gained an audience with King Crab. The king listened to his story, but he was not convinced. He decided to test him to find out how desperate Ananse truly is. 

 We proceed...

CHAPTER 5 

Sleep was not coming. The afternoon heat certainly didn’t help matters. Ananse was too nervous about the test King Crab was preparing for him. Time was not on his side. He should have pleaded more, but even he knew how futile that would be. 

He got up from the flimsy mat, which had been given to him to use as a bed. King Crab had sent him back to his cell after their encounter because it was a custom in the kingdom that important tests were to be given only in the evenings.  He paced up and down the cell, thinking of all the possible tests that could be given him. 

Night finally came. It was time for the test. The guards came to fetch him from his small cell. The guard he had encountered was one of them; he made sure Ananse was not manhandled by his fellow guards. 

He didn’t care that his fellow guards called him a fool for falling for Ananse’s tricks. He knew what he saw; he would never turn down anyone in that state, even Ananse. 

Crowds had gathered in the grand throne room. Some held signs of Ananse’s face with a red cross on it. They weren’t a happy crowd, and they were not cheering him on. Ananse drowned out the noise and tried to focus on how he could use trickery to win this test. 

The guards stopped him just a few feet from the great throne. There, the king sat, staring down at him. A look of satisfaction filled his eyes at Ananse’s current state. He allowed the crowd to go on a bit longer with their shouts of anger, then he raised his claw to silence them. 

Even Ananse felt goosebumps when the crowd suddenly went hush. His skin prickled with fear. His heart thumped loudly. This felt like an execution. His fears were sparked more when he looked to the left and saw a guillotine with a masked man standing by. Suddenly, he felt like the room was spinning. 

He blinked a few times to clear his head. Yes, he needed a clear head if he was going to pass this test. He shook his head to get the feeling of dread to go away. It helped, if only for a little while. 

King Crab loved the way Ananse looked. He was very happy indeed. Revenge never tasted sweeter. He was sure Ananse would never pass this particular test. He had gotten the man who knew one thousand and a half riddles to set these test questions. 

He nodded to the riddler, who stepped out from the crowd. He was a funny little-looking creature. He was old and bent in the middle. He looked many, many, many years old. He held a stick to support himself, yet he couldn’t seem to stand straight. 

No one missed the wink that the man passed to the king. Ananse’s heart fell to his stomach. This had been rigged. There was no way he could pass this test. He would try. Yes, he would. For Asesewa, he would. 

To be continued…