The Antelope's Journey

22. Follow the moon

Francina had been told to follow the moon and she had no intention of deviating from that message. If it led to her dismay, so be it. She knew that she would not back away. She would not coward away. So many years had gone, the moon would always lure her in at a single gaze and the voice in her head had been calling on her. She always had dreams. Strange dreams that were unexplainable at all. Featured in her mysterious dreams was a man claimed to be her father. Francina only wanted to uncover all those ravelling mysteries. Her soul and her mind would never rest until she tackled everything.

She and Kali had been walking up the empty path since hours ago when they’d left Betty and Mbali by the crossroad. Kali often saw Francina look up at the moon in the orange-purple sky. He wondered what that was about. He remembered that she last mentioned how she did not know much about any of the game but looking at her now, she seemed to be sure.

The landscape was only wide, not much life was around, the trees were dry and grass was only limited studs. And it was very quiet and lonely. As they journeyed ahead, Kali noticed that the moon appeared to be descending from the high sky. As they both approached, the moon was getting bigger and cold. The sizzle and the glow were intensifying.

All they saw was odd and deserved to be talked about, but still the journey was as quiet as a suspenseful horror house. Kali did wish to chat but the girl had already displayed an extremely introverted personality. He wanted to try her but he wouldn’t risk the chances of being ignored. And so, he kept mum.

Monkey started moving in Kali's arms. Monkey was wiggling to be let out of that blanket (jacket) and to have Kali to loosen his grip. Kali had been worried over the days, he could not stop thinking about his monkey. Constantly, he kept checking up on Monkey to see if she was making progress with regards to her recovery. Now, to see Monkey actually move gave him a sense of relief. He loosened his grip on the monkey. Monkey showed her face and gave a very wide yawn. She shot out her little fists to stretch. Kali could feel Monkey's tiny back curl up as she stretched. Her movements were much defined now. Kali was proud to see that Monkey had become stronger compared to the last few days since they left the tunnel. It was not easy for him since Monkey got ill. He checked on her on a constant basis and would grind her fruit before feeding her. Kali remembered that it was feeding time now. That was probably why Monkey woke up. It was encouraging to have Monkey wake up on her own since, Kali was always the one to wake her up since the illness. "Let's take a break for a while."

Francina realized that Kali was about to feed Monkey. Francina had been very understanding of Kali and his monkey. She would take a break with him when he was feeding, and when Monkey needed to pee or poo. They found a patch of dry grass and sat down. Francina was very happy to see Monkey move on her own again. "Aw, Monkey, you're awake," she tried reaching for the monkey, but Kali quickly grabbed the monkey to himself. Francina backed down. Kali's grudge was very obvious. It was unfortunate that all he had left in his stock were oranges for Monkey. Monkey did not like oranges, she was very picky. But that was all they had and so, Monkey had to eat anyway. Kali peeled the orange, he even picked out every fiber on the orange slices before feeding Monkey.

Monkey was very picky and Kali had to learn to be patient with her. It made Kali very happy to see Monkey feeding herself now. She would receive the oranges with her tiny hands and start biting off.

“We’re very close to finishing all of this now.” Kali heard Francina say. He also saw her turn to look at him and for the first time she smiled. “Trust me.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked.

“I don’t really know. I just feel it.” She then said, “It’s still a long journey to the moon. We still have so much ground to cover. All this walking is becoming tiring.But, I'm sure we're very close."

A pause. And then Francina continued, "Monkey has recovered. I'm glad. I saw how worried you were. Hey, this journey only seems long because we're not talking. Let’s run the clock by sharing stories. Why don’t you tell me about your interesting life, rich boy?”

She’s asking me to chat? And I’d rather she calls me ‘Tycoon’ as opposed to ‘rich boy’. Rich boy has a jealous streak to it. And what exactly do I say? I don’t know.

They resumed their journey. They had no time to waste.

“You won’t tell me anything? Well, I’ll tell you about mine.” She began talking, she almost would not stop. This was especially shocking for Kali. He never expected so many words from her. Something was holding him back from chatting with her. He knew in himself that he was still grudgeful for how she left Kamo to die like that back in the tunnel.

It’s crazy. Just now I wanted to talk to her but now, I don’t. Thinking about what she wouldn’t do for my friend, Kamo has my stomach turning with rage. How can she be this happy right now, after so many lives she sacrificed? I think I might hate her now, considering she’s actually a normal person.

“…and then I bust his nose! I ran out after that. That’s why you found me in the street the next morning. I slept there just for that night. You see, I’m not exactly homeless. Oh, and if ever you want to help a homeless person, I say you get close to them—help them find their skill and then try to build on that.” She continued, “Hey, are you cold? You’re so quiet. I can give you my jacket. And why do I always catch you staring at me? Are you crushing on me?”

“I’m not crushing on you!”

“Oh! So, you could answer that, huh? You refuse to talk but you answer that.”

“I also have a question for you. Why are you so traitorous?”

“Huh?” she was caught off guard by his question.

“Oh, you heard me. Answer me. Why?”

Nothing.

“I keep seeing you letting people down and you don’t seem to care. You keep doing it. Doesn’t it bother you? Do you not have a heart?”

I was getting ready to give it to her. I wanted to tell her everything I thought of her, and maybe throw in a few of the others’ words. I was raging inside but she had suddenly gone quiet, and withdrawn again.

Just like that, she had gone mum again. He left her alone as he knew that she would not talk anymore. Even though he let it go for now, he was definitely planning on bring it up later. He really wanted to know what was going on in her head whenever she would hurt people like that. He had to know if she was letting people down on purpose. He also wanted to figure out if he would be next. At this point, he accepted that he was no exception to her betrayal.

They focused on the journey again. Now, they had reached what was looking like a moon from far distance. Now, it looked like they had entered some white space with fog and brightness. The air was beginning to be cold in deed. They each clenched onto their tops to keep warm from the wind. The big moon had become a white space of white dust. The dust would get into their eyes and sting. The light was also too strong. They began squinting their eyes. The light was too bright still, they started shading with their elbows. They moved along. The goal was to get ahead.

A giant sharp rod shot out of nowhere…