STORYTIME: ANANSE AND THE RAINDRUM 6

 

RECAP

Ananse stood before King Crab and the mob that was chanting his downfall on the evening of the test. The king had a plan in mind which he believed would cause the trickster Ananse to fail at all costs, but Ananse is ready to do anything to win. 

 

We proceed...

CHAPTER 6 

The old man shuffled towards Ananse, his stick distractingly squeaking on the polished floors as he dragged and hung on to it. He stopped when he got close enough to Aanse and raised his milky eyes towards him. The lines of age were visible on his face. The toothless grin that followed unnerved Ananse, causing him to squirm a little—not too much for the crowd to see. The old man cleared his throat, jolting Ananse back to reality. He had to be focused. He mentally cautioned himself not to show weakness. The old man started, “I www… give you th… riddles, which you are to ansss… correctly. You have tttt… minutes to answer…. When that is done, you move to the nexxx… level which is sss… On that n….” The old man’s voice was as frail and wobbly as he looked. His words sounded like a whisper, and Ananse had to strain his ears to make meaning of what he said. He looked up in that moment to see a big grin on King Crab’s face.

It was intentional after all. Ananse sighed to himself. But if the King wanted to play dirty, so would he—that is, if he had the opportunity to. He didn’t hear the rest of the rules, but he stood with his back straight and nodded eagerly as if he had understood all that the old man had said. This caused the old man and the king to share a puzzled look. A look so swift, only careful eyes caught it. Ananse caught it. He was pleased. He had thrown them off if only for a second. Now, he had to think and think hard about the three riddles and how he would answer them. The old man had mentioned something about a time limit, but he had missed it because he was inaudible. Still, he would push through for Asesewa’s sake. “Ahem!” the old man exclaimed audibly. “Listen carefully to your first riddle.” Ananse pricked up his ears. Then, with his voice no louder than a whisper, the old man said, “There is a thief who visits every creature — rich or poor, king or beggar. He steals without hands, leaves no footprints, and takes the same thing from all. Yet when he is done, no one remembers the moment of his theft. Who is this silent robber?”

To be continued…