Chapter 26 MEMORYLANE
That night after Alba gave Mahina his alternatives for her to choose, she was so devastated. After they returned from the beach she slumped on the bed in her short Kimono and watched from the sides of her eyes, as Alba went into the bathroom showered and got dressed in his pajamas. He didn’t say a thing to her neither did she say anything to him. The two were just glancing at each other secretly. When Mahina could no longer keep up with him with her eyes she said:
“Why won’t you just let me go? Didn’t you say that you gave me the options for both our good? Then I am begging you, I agree with what you said, for both our goods just let me go…” After receiving silence for an answer Mahina replied him saying:
“You are a wicked man even though you are handsome, no wonder people say: ‘not all that glitters are gold…’” Alba cackled at her words and answered her saying:
“Well, you are certainly not the first to say that, but you are certainly the first to be left unscathed…” Alba picked up his iPad and left her in the room. Mahina got up from the bed and screamed angrily.
“Ahrrrr!”
After getting ready for bed that night as she laid on the bed, she couldn’t get a wink of sleep after everything that happened. Every time she tried to close her eyes the image of Alba appears in her mind. His words kept echoing in her mind. She found his words to be perplexing. Who on earth will give such an option to somebody. It was obvious that he never wanted her to go that was why he gave such an alternative. If not, why would he give her such an impossible task. The kind that is impossible to accomplish for someone like him. Mahina sighed and wondered what sin she must have committed in her past life for her to come in contact with someone like Alba.
Mahina even tried to get through to her friend but couldn’t. Dora’s phone was switched off. She was left all alone to make her final decision without any kind of help. As she laid on her bed looking at the ceiling, memories of her childhood came playing in her memory:
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO:
Little Mahina was peeping at her mother in the kitchen cooking with the assistance of the maids. She was pouting because her mum wouldn’t let her into the kitchen until she was big enough. Mary smiled at her daughter and said:
“Why is my angel sad?”
“Grrrr I am not your angel because if I am you would give me more time like you are giving that food you are preparing!” Mahina yelled at her mother and was about to run away when she stopped at the words of her mother.
“Oh no my dear! But it’s not food. It’s potion. I am creating a magical potion that will keep your dad at home with us. So that we can all spend some good quality time together.” Little Mahina turned to look at her mum suspiciously:
“Potions don’t smell like food!” Mary laughed covering her lips with her palms.
“But who ever told you that my dear? ...” Mahina looked at her mother blankly:
“Potions come in different forms and types and even smell…” Mahina opened her eyes wide and googly. Mary instructed the maids on what to do next and went out of the kitchen swiftly. She carried her daughter in her arms and said:
I will tell you a story about ’The woman and lions' hair:
So, there was a very beautiful maiden who got wooed by a very handsome man who just came to town for a vacation from the big city. The handsome man was swoon by the maiden’s kind heart and beauty. And decided to go after her until she falls in love with him. It didn’t take long, for the maiden to fall in love with the handsome man. The two soon became inseparable, for they had fallen madly in love with each other. All the bachelors and bachelorettes were talking about them. They had become the topic of discussion in town. Their families soon became aware that the two loved each other. So, they got them married to each other without wasting time. The two were happy together but soon became a target of jealousy and envy to the other unmarried people. The handsome man soon got distracted by the attention he was getting from the other single ladies. And soon the two started drifting apart.
The pretty lady was so distracted; she didn’t know what to do so she confided in her mother. Her mother was sad for her, but she cheered her up and told her not to worry. That she would handle everything. The mother took her to a wise man. The wise man was popular in that town they went to. He welcomed them and asked them what the problem was, and the pretty young lady narrated everything to him. The wise man did some incantations and asked the pretty lady:
“Do you still love your husband?”
“With all my heart” she answered and said: “And that’s why I am here so that you would give me a good potion to give my husband so that we can return to being a happy couple.”
The wise man smiled at her and said:
“It’s not a problem… but it will be very difficult for me to get the portion ready for you.
“Why? And how?”
“You have to be willing to risk your life in order to safe your marriage… you see I will be needing three whiskers of a lion”
The lady was left agape at his words: “I will be death before I even get a chance to touch the lion's head. The woman complained. The wise man nodded in agreement to what she was saying: “you are right, but if you want a portion that will bring your husband back to you, there’s no alternative.
The unfortunate beautiful woman and her mother left the wise man and returned home with a heavy heart. That very day she made a plan. She slaughtered a sheep and cut it into small pieces, she puts the meat into a sack, carry’s it on her back and started walking to the secluded forest, where lions and other wild animals were known to roam.
The first thing she did was to climb onto a tree with her sack of meat. She stayed there silently and waited until she saw a lion approaching. The lion was taken by the smell of the meat. He roared and went round the tree where the woman was hiding. He sat by the trunk of the tree there. Awaiting, for the slightest chance when the woman gets down so that it devours her and the meat she was holding unto. But the woman cautiously threw down a piece of meat to the lion. The lion gave out a frightening roar and pounced on the meat. He ate it, yawned, and fell asleep there.
The pretty lady artfully started singing to the Lion. The lion enjoyed the song she was singing and continued sleeping while waging his tail happily. Soon, the woman gathered her courage and went down to a lower branch. When she noticed movements from the lion, she threw it another piece of meat. The lion looked at the woman with one eye and shook his mane. He gobbled the piece of meat happily and when he was done, he went to drink water from the river close by. The woman swiftly got down, kept the rest of the meat there and went home. This continued for three weeks, and each time the woman would throw the lion a new piece of meat and then go to a lower and closer branch.
The lion got so used to her singing and feeding him that he returned to that particular tree every day. And every day the lady would sing and feed him and then when he goes to drink water by the river she would run away.
On the third week, the woman decided that the time had come for her to get out of the tree. She left the tree altogether and shot a dart of tranquilizer at the lion. The lion was drowsy but not asleep. He could see the woman clearly, but he didn’t retaliate or struggle. She sat close to the lion and rubbed his mane until he fell into a deep sleep. The woman did not miss her opportunity. With great courage she picked three golden hairs from its whiskers, and puts them in her kerchief, and immediately made her way back to the wise man’s home.
“Here, I succeeded,” she said happily. “Give me the potion that you promised to make for me so that I can get my husband’s love back.” But the old wise man replied with a broad smile, “No, no, I do not have to give you anything. If you managed to get so close to a lion as to get three of his hairs, you must know how to get your husband’s love back.”