Zahrah the Windseeker

by Nnedi Okorafor

  We all held our breath. Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Ten minutes went by and still Dari lay there. After twenty minutes, the doctor turned to us with a sad look.

  "We'll give him time," she said quietly.

  I sighed, and Dari's mother put her arm around my shoulder.

  "You've done well," she said. I hugged her back.

  "You've done impossibly well," Dari's father said. He shook his head. "You ... you're amazing."

  I looked at my feet, feeling embarrassed and gloomy under all the attention. I had done the impossible, but Dari was still asleep. It wasn't over. I hadn't succeeded. I pushed the thought of all my trouble coming to nothing out of my head.

  "She's amazing, but she'd better not do anything like that ever again," my mother said.

  "I know," I said. "We shouldn't have been playing in the jungle in the first place." Although in my heart I knew that if I were to learn of some other substance in the jungle that would wake Dari up, I'd go get it.

  "What were you two doing in there anyway?" Dari's mother asked.

  I didn't know how to answer. I didn't want to tell Dari's parents about my ability. At least not yet. Luckily, I didn't have to.

  "You know what they were doing," Dari's father said. "Ever since he got that silly book from the library, Dari's been obsessed with that jungle. He's always been an adventurer at heart."

  Dari's mother nodded. "Yes, infatuated with places he shouldn't go."

  "Lesson learned?" my father asked.

  I nodded. Hopefully the lesson hadn't cost me the life of my best friend.

  A cot was brought into Dari's room, and I was allowed to spend the night there. Though I was exhausted, I didn't sleep. I couldn't. I was still jittery from the fact that I'd made it home and worried that it had all been in vain. And on some odd level, I missed the Forbidden Greeny Jungle. The noise, the unpredictability, the creatures and plants.

  And then there was the presence of Dari. I didn't realize how much I missed him until our parents left and it became so quiet that all I could hear was his breathing and the rhythmic whistling of his flora support system. He was there but he wasn't. I wondered what he was dreaming of, for I was sure he was dreaming. His eyes moved frantically behind his eyelids. For a while I paced the room. A netevision screen was growing near the ceiling, but I had no urge to watch or surf it. My taste for anything technological seemed to be dwindling.

  I walked to the window. The screen prevented insects attracted to the light from entering. Rhythm beetles would be attracted to the whistle of the support system monitoring Dari's heart rate. But I wouldn't have minded if the insects had come in. I was used to them, and maybe I would even welcome them now. I turned and looked at Dari. Still asleep. I went to my bag of overnight things and brought out the digi-book. It was the closest I could be to both the jungle and Dari at the same time. At first it wouldn't turn on and I rolled my eyes.

  "Come on, you stupid thing," I said, smacking it very hard on the side and shaking it. With the third whack, it came on. I clicked to the end of the book, out of curiosity.

  So you've reached the end of the book. We're so proud of you, though we don't believe you've read the whole thing. It would take years. But that's fine. We don't suggest you read this book straight through as you would an adventure or suspense novel. This book is meant for you to jump around in. It's a reference guide. Look up what you need.

  Anyway, since you have turned to the end, we'll humor you and pretend you've finished. We hope you've been convinced of how stupid and ignorant most of our people are. It's a shame. We live right on the border of such an amazing place, and yet we choose to stay where we are. No optimism. No curiosity. No wish to move forward, to expand ourselves, our horizons. But you, reader, are now properly informed, Even if you never go into the jungle, we trust that you will walk out your door and inform the rest of the world; for what good is Knowledge if it's not shared?

  Now, there are several not-for-profit organizations you can join to fight ignorance at

  I clicked backward to the index and looked up "Greeny Gorilla."

  Greeny Gorillas, Gorilla intelligentus: The true carriers of Knowledge of Ginen. Large anthropoid apes Known for their love and connection to nature. Out of respect, since they are smarter than us humans, we will refer to them as people. These men and women and children are remarkable, but we will get to that. Up until old age, gorillas of the Forbidden Greeny Jungle have black fur. The old ones have gray fur and then white. The Greeny Gorillas are not like the gorillas found closer to the Ooni Kingdom.

  It seems the closer gorillas live to human beings, the more like humans they are. The gorillas deep in the jungle hate technology with a great intensity. Though human beings of Ooni have successfully married technology and plants, the gorillas of the jungle believe humans are lazy and create nothing but extra stress.

  "Told you that book was good."

  I froze, my eyes wide. Then I looked up.

  "Dari?!"

  "Down with ignorance," he said weakly.

  I jumped up and threw my arms around him.

  "Dari!" I shouted. "Oh thank Joukoujou! I thought it was too late!!"

  "Hey," Dari said. "Enough with the hugging." But he didn't push me away. We stayed like that for several moments, Dari's head resting on my shoulder.

  I stood up and looked at him. He may have been tired, but his eyes ... oh, his eyes were as bright as could be!

  "Goodness," Dari said, stretching his legs and arms. "I feel terrible." Then he paused and a look of shock crossed his face as he realized where he was and it all came back to him. "The war snake ... I'm back! I'm awake!"

  I grinned.

  "I'm alive ... I remember—" He paused again and looked at me. "How? I read in the book ... elgort egg."

  I nodded vigorously.

  "You?" he asked pointing at me.

  "Yep," I said proudly.

  "You?" he asked again.

  "I went!"

  Despite his fatigue, Dari threw his head back and laughed hard.

  "You went!?" he asked, his eyes wide.

  I nodded.

  "Alone???"

  I nodded.

  "You saw?"

  I nodded even harder.

  Then Dari stopped asking questions and really looked at me for the first time. He later told me that in those moments he noticed that I'd lost some weight and my cheekbones stood out a little more. My hands, which used to be soft, were rough. There were several scratches on my face. I wore a blue, long-sleeved flowing dress so he could not see my arms and legs. But he had a feeling I had more scratches there, too. Most striking, he said, was the warmth radiating from me that hadn't been there before.

  He slowly reached out and plucked at the green necklace around my neck.

  "It was a gift," I said.

  Dari paused for a moment with a frown.

  "From who? Someone I know??"

  "The chief of the Greeny Gorillas," I said with a smirk. "It's a destiny necklace."

  The frown smoothed from Dari's brow and he lay back, still looking at me.

  "I can finally really hear you," he said weakly. His fatigue was increasing.

  "What do you mean?"

  "You speak louder now," he said, slightly slurring his words.

  "I should get the nurse," I said, seeing his eyes droop. I should have called a nurse right away, I thought. Dari didn't answer me. I ran out of the hospital room looking for the nurse. The nurse called the doctors and our parents, and there were many more hugs and tears. Dari had fallen back asleep, but this time it was a shallow, normal sleep.

  The next morning, Dari was awake and feeling closer to his normal self. I hadn't left his side. All he wanted to do was talk. We sat for hours as I recounted most of my story. I had just got to the part before I flew for the first time when our parents arrived. The doctor came in a few minutes later to examine him.

  "I'll finish later," I told him. Dari was still annoyed at having the sto
ry interrupted at the best part.

  After an examination, the doctor told him that he had fully recovered from the snake poison.

  "You have the best friend anyone could ask for," she said, patting me on the head.

  "We'll have to keep you here for one more night to make sure all is well," the doctor told Dari.

  "Could I stay here tonight, then?" I asked.

  The doctor smiled. "Actually I was going to suggest that. There's a mob of reporters waiting for you outside the hospital. Don't worry, we're not allowing them inside. You've become quite a celebrity."

  Chapter 27

  Celebrated Celebrities

  "Ready?" I asked the next morning, holding a blue travel sack filled with his clothes.

  Dari stretched his back and arms. He looked like his old self now in his long green pants and green caftan.

  "As ready as I'll ever be," Dari said.

  We walked out of the hospital standing close together; on one side were our fathers and on the other side, our mothers. Our clothes were wrinkled and weeks out of style. The newspaper reporters scrambled all over each other to get close to us. Dari and I were told not to answer any questions. Photosynth cameras shot blue flashes at us from left and right, warming our skin. The photo-journalists wanted to get a picture of "the miracle" and the "miracle worker."

  "Miss Tsami," one reporter shouted at me, "what was it like in the forbidden jungle?"

  "Zahrah! Have you been given a thorough checkup?" another screeched. "Are you sure you are free of all exotic diseases?"

  "Look at your clothes! Was the experience so horrible that you both forgot how to dress?"

  "How are you feeling?"

  "Dari, did the elgort serum burn when the inocula fly injected it?"

  "What kind of parents are you? Didn't you teach your children that the jungle is forbidden?"

  "Did you have to kill the elgort whose egg you took?"

  "Did any birds get caught in your hair?"

  "Dari, is Zahrah your girlfriend?"

  "Now will you finally cut your horrible dada hair?"

  By the time we got into the car, I was almost crying. All the questions. How do they know so much but yet so little? I wondered. Dari was sweating, resting his head against the window.

  "We've agreed to do an interview only with the Kirki Times and the Ooni Tribune," my father told us. "They're the most honest publications. Is that all right?"

  Both Dari and I nodded. We wouldn't be left alone until we had told our story. Plus I wanted to tell the world what I'd been through, and Dari wanted to use the chance to chat about why the forbidden jungle shouldn't be forbidden. Of course, neither of us was going to say a thing about my ability. I planned to say I had simply walked back.

  Dari and I were on the front page of all northern and several national newspapers for one day and in the features section for many more. They couldn't get enough of my "incredible story" and "act of bravery." Dan's parents decided to let Dari talk to the journalists of many of the more broad-minded publications that insisted on speaking with him. Dari's radical ideas coupled with my tales of adventure sparked several heated and fruitful debates about the Forbidden Greeny Jungle.

  Papa Grip held a grand ceremony, and the whole town showed up. It was a warm, humid day, though it didn't rain. To open the ceremony, Papa Grip led a great dance. Not surprisingly, he wore a glorious hot pink caftan that went all the way to his feet, and his fellow dancers wore pink pants and shirts. I, who sat onstage with Dari, laughed and clapped loudly. Afterward, he asked me to stand up.

  "This girl," Papa Grip said to the quiet audience. "This girl used to be so disturbed by how she was born. Her parents called me one day to cheer her up. 'Why can't I just look like everyone else,' she said. 'I'd rather just blend in.' So sad she was. I told her that we all are who we are and should never try to be what we're not."

  He paused, looking out at the audience. I looked up at Papa Grip, my chest tightening with pride. The entire town was listening, including those who had harassed me in school. I hoped they were listening hard. I was no better than they were, but I was no worse either.

  "Zahrah, by now I'm sure your parents have told you enough times: Going into that jungle was crazy. But your reason was extremely noble, and you righted your wrong by surviving and shocked us all by bringing back that egg and saving your friend. And so, I award you this Medal of Honor, Prestige, and Excellence."

  I bit my lip as I bent my head so Papa Grip could slip it on. The white medal was solid nyocha, mined directly from the metal-producing tree. Then I stood tall while everyone jumped from his or her seat clapping and whistling vigorously. I could see my parents and Dari's parents in front. Papa Grip motioned for Dari to join me, and the applause roared louder.

  And it didn't stop with the ceremony. I was later thanked in the medical files for supplying Ooni's first elgort egg. Since then, researchers have found that not only does the elgort egg reverse war-snake venom but it also contains hundreds of other healing properties!

  Also, just after my return, a group of scientists decided to actually venture into the jungle for research! Since then, they have discovered three plants with amazing medicinal value and two animals with strange skills, which they are documenting. Dari and I know that this is just the beginning of what they will find. Not surprisingly, however, a few have fallen terribly sick and had to return to Ooni. None have died yet, though. But it's the Greeny Jungle, and such things are bound to happen.

  Last, the frog was right; in the forest I became Zahrah the Windseeker, a legend, growing bigger and more impossible each time my story was told.

  Chapter 28

  Renew

  A month later, Dari and I stood at the entrance of the library with most of the dry season ahead of us. Since waking from his coma, Dari's obsession with the Forbidden Greeny Jungle had multiplied. And with me now as obsessed as he was, we fed off each other.

  The first week, we stayed at each other's homes, talking all day. Dari wanted to hear about every single detail of my travels. And then he wanted to hear it again. Then he wanted to write it down. We consulted the field guide. And I pointed out where it didn't get something right or where it missed information.

  "The elgort isn't all irrational," I said. "When I took the egg, she was terribly angry with me. But she went to check her nest instead of coming after me. She could have followed me from below. But she was more concerned with her babies than eating me, and that's not irrational behavior at all. It's motherly."

  Then there was my ability. Other than my parents, Dari was the only person who knew of it. And he loved it.

  "Just fly a little higher," he'd say as I showed off my ability behind his house.

  "Dari, if someone sees me flying—"

  "No one will see," he'd say. "You're not flying that high, anyway."

  It would be another two weeks before we finally got the nerve to sneak back to the Forbidden Greeny Jungle, where I would fly way above the trees and Dari would almost faint with joy as he imagined being able to fly as I did.

  Eventually we decided to see what other information about places outside of Ooni we could find in the library. Dari was especially interested in finding out about the mythical world of Earth, which he didn't think was so mythical.

  My mother dropped us off. Several of the children and adults going in and out of the library slowed down to look at us. It was always like that. I heard someone tell his friend, "She's the one who went beyond."

  I wanted to laugh. Most people still viewed the jungle as a forbidden place, even after all our talk with the newspapers. Old habits are hard to break, I guess.

  "She's dada," people said. "Maybe she's allowed to pass through, but I know I'm not. Remember how the rescue team got attacked by those dogs? And that one scientist is still in the hospital."

  It drove Dari mad.

  "Ignorance is bliss," he said to me. "More like, ignorance is ignorance! It was just a bunch of dogs! They have wild dogs
in many places besides the Greeny Jungle!"

  Before we went into the library to look for new books, Dari said, "Wait, we have to return the field guide. It's way overdue, you know."

  He took the digi-book out of his backpack.

  I didn't want to see it go. Though the thing was extremely faulty and I knew a lot of its information, I still hadn't read it from beginning to end. Dari hadn't read it all either. And the book had basically saved both our lives. When I turned to Dari, I saw that he was thinking the same thing.

  We both looked at the book and laughed.

  "Can I renew this?" he asked the librarian. "I know it's overdue but..." He shrugged.

  It was the same librarian who had checked the book out for him before. She grinned at us as if we were superstars.

  "Oh this old thing," she said. "The library's decided to give it to you two as a gift. We've just bought five new copies, and all of them are checked out!"

  Chapter 29

  Windseekers

  This time we asked our parents for permission to go to the Dark Market. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon.

  "Please, just trust us this time," Dari said to his parents. I stood behind him, quiet.

  Dari's parents looked at each other, thought about it for a moment, and then finally nodded.

  "OK, Dari," his father said. "We're going to trust you, as we did before when you were sneaking into the jungle. Don't disappoint us this time."

  "We want to find the Windseeker lady I told you about," I told them. "I want to thank her for coming after me and apologize for sneaking off. I just want to talk to her, see her again."

  We were thankful when my parents also agreed to let us go.

  We both wore green as we moved swiftly through the market. Dari wore his long pants and caftan, and I wore a plain long green dress with mirrors in the hem. Neither of us wore the civilized clothes of the day, but neither of us really cared about that anymore. It was just another way that we would always be different from the northerners around us. Heads turned as we passed. People also recognized our faces from the newspapers, netevision, and e-magazines. I knew where to find Nsibidi. My sense of direction had improved with my flying skills. Still, Nsibidi found us first.