Gugu Short Story

Gugu loved clasping her grandfather 's calloused hands. She could sense the bumps before she traced them. Picturing the delicate wrinkles around his eyes smiling at her, she engrossed herself in committing the warmth of the feeling to memory. In them, she saw a lifetime of hard work in the unforgiving dry heat of the African sun, offered in unwavering servitude to the queen as the royal carpenter. Sometimes, if she really focused, she could shrink herself back into being a little girl, those days when her palm barely made up half of his. Many bright afternoons, he would carry Gugu on his back to their favourite old Matope tree to teach her Ancient proverbs. After each lesson, he took a soft piece of charcoal and drew the story pictorially onto …show more content…
The darkness that came with being this deep in the woods did little to unnerve Gugu; with each blood green leaf that surreptitiously gave her a cold lick, she just reminded herself of their beauty and how harmless they were in the daytime. Besides, her toes were too busy enjoying the damp cool of the ground, her feet softly padding and wishing they were squelching in rich mud. Presently, she found she no longer felt sure which way Grandfather had gone. "I shouldn 't have assumed it 'd be so easy," she mused, deciding to stop and listen. Taking a deep breath, she tried to clear her thoughts to override growing restlessness. How long had it been - twenty minutes? She could feel her mind about to start racing - what if she was lost? Were the dangerous beings of the forest that the other children said their parents talked about real and if so how was she going to escape from them before they came to steal her when then would dawn arrive to save... "No, no. I must stay calm," she said out loud, reassuring herself with the sound of her own …show more content…
The loudest noise came from crickets, their chorus measurably increased near a clump of bushes. That direction felt... right. So she advanced slowly. Seeking empty spaces of deep blue in between the grey blackness of the trees, her hands cautiously secured a safe path - nevertheless, she deliberately dragged out each step. Suddenly she tripped and fell hard. Swallowing a scream with a painful gulp, she felt the shock of the fear clasp frozen fingers tightly around her heart, which forgot to beat when the ground shook. Tense seconds passed, in which she trapped herself in a vortex of phantom winds and imagined whispers, before her eyes brave grew enough to face the unknown. When she opened them, everything was awash in gentle moonlight. The air had also changed; it felt warmer. Before Gugu stood a huge circular structure that was nearly the same height as the tallest trees. Although its width did not stretch very far, it had a commanding presence which made it impossible to ignore. Yet somehow it had an air of mystery about it that suggested few had laid eyes on its winding olive vines. Walking up to get within touching distance, she could see thick vertical mahogany beams with intricate patterns etched deeped into the grain of the wood. Across them, they had thin angular pines that slotted in horizontally to keep everything in place, these were carved with an interlocking design. It all looked so beautiful. The