Sunny and the Mysteries of Osisi

by Nnedi Okorafor

  Chukwu looked at Sunny, sweat pouring down his face. She pleaded to him with her eyes. He turned back to Orlu. “If… if you can tell me where you are going, then I will stay.”

  When Orlu could not, Chukwu let go of Sunny and pushed forwards, about to grasp Grashcoatah’s fur. Lightning fast, Sunny made a decision and she felt Anyanwu come, settling just below her flesh. Sunny felt strong and aligned. She grabbed her juju knife and worked as fast as she could. She caught the juju bag in her shaking hand. She could hear a vehicle pull up to the compound gate outside. The council had arrived. She threw the Ujo at Chukwu. She hated to do it, but it was better than seeing him harmed. A Lamb would surely go mad or die in Osisi… or worse.

  The terror that bloomed on her brother’s face made her want to weep. Hadn’t he been through enough in the last few weeks? His wounds from his beating weren’t even fully healed. The patch of healing skin from where they’d cut his face twitched as he backed away from Sunny.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, tears falling from her eyes. “Remember that. Tell Mum and Dad that I’m fine! And I’ll be back.”

  But her brother wasn’t seeing her. She didn’t know what he was seeing. But whatever it was must have been horrifying for he opened his mouth and hollered loudly, turned, and ran wildly into the house. She just stood there. Then she felt someone grab the collar of her shirt. “Sunny, get on!” Chichi said, leaning almost upside down to grab Sunny.

  But Sunny couldn’t get her feet to move. All she could see was her brother’s face. How it had broken into terror and how he’d run off like a madman. Had her Ujo been too strong? Had she just driven her own brother insane? Suddenly, her vision blossomed and she felt herself pulled physically backwards. Then it was like she was a passenger in her own body watching herself climb onto Grashcoatah. As soon as she was on, Anyanwu mentally shoved her forwards and Sunny gasped, looking wildly around.

  Sasha was seated at Grashcoatah’s neck, Chichi clasping Sasha’s waist, and both staring at her with open mouths. She felt Orlu’s arm grab her tightly as they took off. Instinctively, Sunny grasped handfuls of the creature’s hair, her mind still trying to hold too many things at once. Grashcoatah’s body was hard; it reminded her of the thick hide of a pig or an elephant. But its strong hairs were soft to the touch.

  When the grasscutter flew into the air, Sunny felt no exhilaration. As they zoomed high over the house, away from the council car that was sitting at the gate as the council police pushed the gate open, Sunny cried and cried. All she could see in her mind was the look of terror on her brother’s face. It was a look that said he was seeing a monster. I am a monster, she thought.

  Yes, it was juju, but he was her older brother trying to protect her from danger. And make no mistake, she was heading to a very dangerous place. And she’d forced him to flee like a terrified child. If that wasn’t something only a monster would do, she didn’t know what it was.

  28

  THE YAM FARM

  They were on the run. There was no getting out of this without being arrested. They could not return home without facing harsh punishment. No matter what they discovered in Osisi.

  For the first half hour, Sunny could think of nothing but this fact and the look on her brother’s face. Then, maybe it was the feel of the wind blowing in her face, or maybe it was the smooth motion of Grashcoatah’s flight, or maybe it was the sound of Orlu’s rare delighted laughter. Whatever it was, it caused the veil of sadness and doom to lift from her shoulders. And soon she, too, was in awe of the whole experience.

  Grashcoatah flew high in the sky where it was cool and silent. His body was remarkably warm, so none of them was uncomfortable. And he flew so smoothly. It was not like an airplane slicing through the air. It was as if his very presence caused the air to part and give way. There was no loud wind, though they flew fast. They were heading northeast.

  Grashcoatah communicated in his own way that he instinctively knew the way to Osisi. According to Orlu, who was best at understanding the beast, Grashcoatah could smell the way. They were invisible to the world around them. When Grashcoatah made himself invisible, they also disappeared as long as they held on to his hairs. Sunny could even feel it, a warm sensation that travelled up from his body. At first, Sunny welcomed this visual nothingness. She was just wind passing through the air, similar to when she glided.

  Once they were out of the city, they all agreed that it was okay for Grashcoatah to make himself visible. The night was dark and they were over mostly trees and small unlit villages. Sunny looked at her cell phone. It said NO SERVICE AVAILABLE. Grashcoatah was quiet as they flew. Sunny wondered if he was worried about what the council would do when they caught him. In Nigeria, intelligent beasts who broke protocol by showing themselves to Lambs would face execution.

  “Even if we make it to Osisi without getting caught, I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Sunny said.

  “Well, at least you’ll arrive there in the same way that you arrived in your dream,” Orlu said. “By air. Maybe you’ll remember the rest of the dream when we get to that same point.”

  “If we do,” Sunny said.

  Hip-hop music began to play. Sasha was holding his MP3 player near Grashcoatah’s ear. Grashcoatah purred, gleefully flying in a wavelike motion.

  “Haha, yeah,” Sasha said. “That’s more like it. Cheer up!” He turned to Sunny and Orlu, Chichi holding on to his waist. “All of you, cheer up. We’re going to a full place! How many of our peers will be able to say that? And we’re doing it while on the run from the law. This is stuff that books are made of, man. Live in the moment. Don’t know about y’all, but I’m going to make the most of this. I want to see this Osisi place.”

  “Me too,” Chichi said. “The council won’t be able to find us there anyway. Not even the best tracking juju can find anyone in a place that is blended with the wilderness. Worst they can do is catch us when we try to go home.”

  Sunny frowned. This didn’t make her feel that much better.

  “One thing at a time,” Orlu grunted.

  “Correct, my man,” Sasha said. “One thing at a time.” He turned his music all the way up.

  They decided to stop at a small rural village after flying for hours. The sun was coming up and it was beautiful. Sunny couldn’t help thinking about the last time she’d been out at dawn—when she’d been released from the Obi Library basement. She shivered, thinking yet again, I can’t go back there.

  She couldn’t use the GPS on her phone; that rarely worked even during normal times. At the moment, the time on her cell wasn’t even working. Maybe it was something about the grasscutter or maybe it was where they were. Whatever the case, she was left to guess their location. They’d been travelling northeast from Lagos. Maybe they were in Ondo State or even Kogi State. Grashcoatah was flying so fast, and without the sense of wind they could have travelled much farther than she thought. Whatever the case, the village below was quiet, cassava and yam farms stretching beyond the small cluster of houses.

  They were invisible as they landed beside a large pond. “Shhh,” Orlu said as they looked around. “Anyone see anyone?”

  “There,” Sasha whispered. “In that yam farm.” They all looked. About a half mile from the pond, past lush blooming farmland, an old man with a machete was bending over and inspecting the vines and tubers of his farm. Aside from this man, the place was quiet. The pond looked clean and peaceful, several of the farm plants growing right at its edge to sip the water. It was the kind of place that women used to wash clothes or bathe. This village was lucky to have such a healthy pond.

  “He probably won’t even notice us,” Sunny said.

  “Maybe,” Orlu said.

  “Ah-ah, come on,” Chichi said. She appeared as she let go of the grasscutter’s fur and began to climb down. “I will die if I don’t get off this thing for a bit.” Once on the ground, she stretched her back and looked around.

  The others followed suit, though Grashcoatah stayed invisible
. When Sunny got to the ground, her thigh muscles cramped up. “Argh!” she said, stumbling.

  “Riding a flying grasscutter is good exercise,” Chichi laughed.

  “I’m going to be sore for the rest of my life,” Sunny said, gritting her teeth as she pounded on her thighs to loosen the lean muscles. “I feel like I’ve been playing ten hours of soccer. I need to eat two bananas, at least.”

  “Grashcoatah, there are plenty of plants,” Orlu said. “I see wild grass, weeds, and things. Don’t eat the man’s crops, please!”

  Grashcoatah grunted in a way that sounded sullen to Sunny.

  They sat in a dry patch of dirt near the pond and ate a nice breakfast of plantain, bread, and groundnuts. It was communal eating, and they were all so hungry that no one cared about the dirt. The best they could do was wash their hands in the pond before eating.

  When they finished, Sunny walked to the pond. She dipped her hands in its clear water, marvelling at the tiny brown fish darting away. One came back to eat the breadcrumbs that had washed off Sunny’s hand. She strolled along the edge of the pond, in the opposite direction of the farmer, watching the tall grasses closely for snakes. She’d never imagined she’d ever be in a place like this, at this moment, for this reason.

  She looked out at the still waters. The pond was so calm. And so… big. We should get out of here, she thought. Otherwise someone would see them. There were bound to be people using it this early morning. She brought out her phone. The battery was charged all the way up but still no service. She considered reading the text messages from her brother and parents that had been sent when she was in Udide’s cave. She shook her head. No, I’m keeping all that out of my mind until I finish this.

  She was putting the phone in her pocket when she noticed the red snake inches from her feet. No! she thought, her body filling with adrenaline. That’s not a snake! As soon as this registered, the tentacle wrapped tightly around her ankle and pulled. She fell back, dropping her phone as she banged her elbow onto a rock. A second, bigger tentacle wrapped itself firmly around her waist and squeezed. Before she knew it, she was underwater.

  Not a pond. A lake. One that wasn’t normally there. The old farmer hadn’t looked beyond his precious yams. They must have been in Igboland. Only an Igbo farmer would be so focused on his yams that he didn’t notice that an entire lake had arrived with the morning sun, sitting a half mile away.

  All this spun around in Sunny’s frantic mind as she fought with water, the tentacle, and for air. As she ran out of air, she felt her spirit face pulled from her. Just like that. As if they were being whipped about in a tornado and could no longer hold on to each other.

  Anyanwu! she screamed in her mind. No response.

  Pain burst in her chest as she was pulled deeper. Bubbles escaped her lips. The light retreated from the surface. Water entered her mouth, her eyes, her ears. Something yanked her by the neck. Pulling her backwards. Plash! She landed in living grass, flopping onto her back like a fish out of water. She opened her mouth wide. She had a mouth, but she still felt herself fading. And then she felt Anyanwu jump into her. She breathed; death had not found her yet.

  “Where?” She quickly sat up, her body aching. She touched her face; instead of flesh, she felt wood. Her spirit face. But her voice was not the low voice of Anyanwu. She heard a flute play a haunted tune, and she moaned.

  Ekwensu spoke with the low voice of an earthquake, gravelly like tumbling stone. It made all the hairs on Sunny’s arms stand up, for she’d somehow carried her body into the wilderness. “When crocodiles walk on waters, the ripples are obvious,” Ekwensu rumbled. “I am deep in the water, so you cannot see my open mouth.

  “Meet Death, my close friend and ally,” Ekwensu said. “It is good that I’ve brought you fully here. He would like to acquaint himself with all of you.”

  He appeared behind Sunny. She could smell him, like decaying carrion. She could feel him, cool and damp. She could sense him, for his presence absorbed all the sound around him—it was as if a black hole stood behind her.

  “Face me, child,” he said in the voice of her father. “I’ve been waiting to meet you properly. The wilderness is not a place I normally come to, for there is no life here. But you are a special occasion. Face me.”

  “Why?” she asked. She didn’t dare turn around. “What do you want?”

  “You make me feel powerless,” he said with a chuckle. “You die and return, and your body is still alive. You come and go, come and go. You are unbound, but you still live. Why does your body not die here after so many seconds? Who are you?”

  Have to get out of here, she thought. “I don’t know,” she said, gritting her teeth.

  “Turn around,” Death commanded.

  Don’t turn around, Anyanwu said in her mind. Sunny took several deep breaths. She hummed as she exhaled.

  “It won’t be painful,” he said soothingly, sounding like her father. She missed him so much. “Turn around. Both of you.”

  She shut her eyes, touching her wooden face and picturing the ocean, vast and full. Just beneath the water, schools of fish and larger beasts swam, the water protecting them from the sun’s harsher rays. The waves rippled, never still, never at rest because water was life. Sunny would break the surface and Anyanwu would cause more waves, more ripples—because she was alive.

  “Surface,” she whispered. Death was at her back, but she had to focus her mind to a needle-sharp point, just as Sugar Cream had taught her. Never had she brought her physical body to the wilderness. Who would purposely do that? Even when she glided, Sugar Cream said that the essence that was her physical body became light and invisible and stayed in the physical world. Now, the lake beast had pulled her completely through, or maybe Ekwensu had used the creature to do it.

  Nevertheless, the process of getting her body out had to be the same as coming here as spirit. She called her name in her mind, Anyanwu Sunny Nwazue. She grasped her shoulders, giving herself a hug, and she glowed a strong sunny yellow.

  She took a deep breath, one last one, then slowly she turned to Death. Just before she faced Death, she shut her eyes. And just as she did, she kicked herself back as if she were in water.

  She heard the angry growl of Death as her body shot away. Her momentum slowed and she felt herself falling to the ground. Oh no! she thought. Then she plunged into water. She flailed, shocked by its wetness and weight. Her body was glowing like the sun, piercing the aqueous darkness. She turned and came face-to-face with the surprised eye of the lake beast. She looked right into it. Then she grinned. Her body was still glowing a yellow white, blinding the great water beast.

  She kicked with both her legs, swam at the lake beast’s eye, and buried her fist in it. She felt something burst, and the lake beast roared and began to thrash in pain. It spun, slapping around with its tentacles. Then it twisted, pulling all parts of its body into a huge tight ball, and then shot off into the depths.

  Sunny flailed in the water. Still glowing, though the glow was fading. She felt pressure in her chest. She needed air. She swam to the surface until her head broke it. She threw her mouth open and inhaled deeply. Then she sputtered. The closest bank was at least forty metres away.

  “Sunny!” she heard Orlu shout.

  Sasha leaped wildly into the water. Sunny had always been a strong swimmer, but she was tired and overwhelmed. So she did what she always did when she got tired in the water; she floated on her back. She looked at the morning sky. So clear. So alive. She blinked and coughed a tired laugh. There was Grashcoatah, hovering in the treetops near the lake.

  “Are you okay?” Sasha asked when he reached her.

  “Yeah.”

  He was swimming with one of the large empty water bottles in his arms. Keeping the bottle between them, he linked his arms through hers from behind and began to swim with her backwards towards the bank. “I took some lifeguard lessons two years ago,” he said as they swam. “Just relax your body. I’m not tired at all, so I can carry you
.”

  Sunny was glad to do so, and in no time, he had her out of the water. Orlu helped her to dry land. “What happened?” he asked.

  Sunny was about to speak, but then she noticed the old farmer standing beside Chichi. She looked at Orlu.

  “That lake beast knew you were coming,” the farmer said in Igbo. “Seen it here before, but now I know what it was waiting for.”

  Sunny’s mouth fell open.

  “He helped us fight it on land,” Orlu said. “Oga Udechukwu is a third leveller. We’d be dead if he weren’t.”

  Only then did Sunny notice the tentacles lying in the cassava garden beside the water. There were three of them, thicker than fire hoses and frozen solid, white mist rising from them.

  “It pulled me into the wilderness! It was trying to kill you guys at the same time? Was there more than one?”

  “The lake beast has three brains,” the farmer said. “I studied it, its cousin the river beast, and several of their other kin extensively when I was a youth. Fascinating beasts. But they have a habit of aligning themselves with negative or evil people or forces.” He sucked his teeth, looking at the lake. “I knew that lake beast was up to something. Kai! I can’t wait to tell my wife. She was sure that it was just passing through.”

  The old man took them to his small hut of a home and introduced them to his wife, who gave them each cups of hot tea, since they’d already eaten. She also took Sunny’s clothes and dried them using a combination of the sun and a hot iron. “No use in using juju when nature has a better method,” she said. She gave Sunny a long colourful caftan to wear in the meantime. The farmer and his wife were Leopard People who’d decided when they were young that after years as Obi Library students, they wanted to live like their forefathers and foremothers. “There is more knowledge to be gained from reading Earth’s books than any book in the library,” his wife said. She was a rail-thin old woman with strong arms and crinkly grey hair.