Urenma episode 4 – 5

URENMA
episode 4

Obinze’s heart palpitated when Urenma called him ‘Obi M’. No woman had called him by that name nor had they taken notice of him and now the most beautiful of them all called him by that name. Urenma drew closer to Obinze and gently rested her forehead on his; she could hear Obinze’s heart pounding rhythmically. She knew he was in shock of the affection she had shown him and her beauty. She said to him, “Would you let me walk by yourside as you make your way to the village square by tomorrow?” “Yes I will be happy to!” “Thank you Obi m”. Obinze was in a hurry to pull himself away from a woman whose beauty of the gods pale in comparision to hers.

As Obinze turned to take a walk away from her, Urenma pulled him back and asked, “Can I k×ss you? You will need it tomorrow to win your matches?” Obinze was speechless, he stood starring at the beauty in front of him, and then as if nudged by an unseen hand, Obinze grabbed and k×ssed her passionately. When he was done he felt energy surging through him like the power of thunder; he shook and fell to the ground. Urenma began to laugh at him and sat beside him on the ground. Obinze asked “What was that Urenma?” “Tell me the truth, well I already know it, was that your first k×ss?” “Yes it was. I have never k×ssed a woman before”. “You should not have felt all that energy now. It should not have come now until tomorrow on the ground. This is not good for us Obinze. It means…….well forget it. That was my first k×ss too. No man had k×ssed me all my life”. Urenma suddenly looked crestfallen; Obinze sat up from the ground and asked, “Has your hand been given to a man in marriage? I did not know please forgive me for taking the liberty to k×ss you…….” “Don’t worry about that Obinze. It is not the reason I feel sad. I was going to k×ss you anyway. I was expecting it to be just a simple k×ss to help you at the square tomorrow, but it wans’t”. “It wans’t? What does that mean?” “Obi m don’t worry, I hope you will understand my meaning later. Let us go home”.

In the night when Urenma had gone to bed, she slipped into the river kingdom as that was her habit, but that night she went to the river world, with an intention- to make a request to the gods. As the gods sat, deliberating on the affairs of men and spirits, Urenma walked into the chamber of the gods, dressed in the full power of her beauty. She knelt before the gods and asked to be given permission to speak, the eldest god waved at her to speak,”Lords and gods of the spirit world, I have come with a burden, my heart is heavy; I need you to make it light for me. I have found a man amongst mortals whom my heart has grown soft for. I know I am a princess of the spirit world and cannot love a man. However I have come to make my requests known to you all. I want you to grant me permission to love him until my time amongst men is fuifilled and I be summoned to return. I am now partly flesh and the nature of flesh sways me”.
The eldest of the gods spoke, “When you asked us to grant you the unthinkable, which was to be born as mortal we did. But what you did not know was that the permission to be born as a mere mortal also gives you the right to love a man…..but!” the eldest gods bellowed, “……..you must never marry the man whom you choose to love. If you choose to marry a man, there will be so much you will lose, there will be consequences”.
Urenma was relieved to know she could love a man. She thanked the gods and returned to the natural world. She woke up in her hut and shed tears of joy, by dawn she would tell her parents about her love for Obinze. She know they would protest because of his abject proverty, but she knew that would be no problem; she would turn his fortune around and make him the wealthiest man in Ukeh. She was confident that if she told her parents that Obinze would become the wealthiest man in Ukeh, they would believe her.

episode 5

The energy and excitement of her new found love could not let her sleep much that night long before her usual time of waking up, she woke and began to sweep her father’s compound. When she was done she washed the earthen pots and plates used the previous night to eat and went down to the stream to fetch water. All that while she had a song in her heart and a skip in her stride; she felt like the eagle gliding though the sky. She prayed under her breath to the gods she had spoken to some hours earlier that by the time she had reached home from the river; her parents must have woken up so she could tell them about her love for Obinze. The concept of love was new to her, it made her want to walk in the air and fly without wings. It was one thing she never felt as a princess of the gods. “If mortals have this to enjoy, then it must be beautiful being mortal”, she thought. Thankfully by the time she returned from the river her parents were already awake. Her mother had begun to simmer her soup and some fufu which they couldn’t consume the previous night. When Ngbankwo lifted her face to respond to her daughter’s greeting she saw a glow in her face, she had to ask, “Is that you Urenma?” “Yes mama, it is I”. “Oh my god! You look like a child of the gods. What did you see at the river this early morning?”

Okeke who was in one corner of his compound cleaning his mouth with a long chewing stick had also seen his daughter’s face glowing like the moon. At first he had mistaken her for an ancestral spirit. But when Urenma spoke he realized she was his daughter, so he came over to know the reason for the radiant look on her face. “Ure I actually mistook you for a spirit from my ancestors, how were you able to hang the glow of the moon on your face?” “Papa it is the joy in my heart you see on my face”.

Urenma set down her water pot and waved at her parents to sit close to her. They all sat on a raffia bench called Nkpoko; then Urenma let them in on the reason for her joyous mood and her radiant face, “Papa and Mama, I have found love!” She waited for them to take in the full weight of her words; she could see from their eyes that they wanted to hear more, so she continued, “The man who has found favour in my eyes is Obinze Mmaduako………..” “Amadioha! Obi who? The boy whom you speak of is the poorest young man in Ukeh and all the villages around us. Why choose him as your lover? Or don’t you intend to marry him?” asked Ngbanwko.

“Mama relax, you and papa shouldn’t worry about his proverty. A man’s fortunes can change, can’t they? Have you two forgotten how poor you were before I was born? You have told me the story several times papa. Look at you now, aren’t you the envy of Ukeh? I want you two to note my words this morning. Have I spoken anything and it failed to be fulfilled?” “No you have not Urenma”, responded her parents. “Now hear this, that wretched orphan, who has no one but his old dying grandmother shall in one year time become the richest man in Ukeh and all the land surrounding us. I have seen it and not only that, from today his fame shall begin to spread across our land and beyond. Has any of you heard of a wrestler breaking the bones of other wrestlers?”

“No Urenma, the gods protect them during wrestling matches”, replied Okeke. “Well papa, today you will hear of a wrestler breaking the bones of fellow wrestlers and that will Obinze”. “Ah aah Urenma! Obinze is not a wrestler and has not wrestled before. How then could he become a bone-breaking wrestler in his first attempt?” asked Ngbankwo.

To Be Continued…….