Towela stared at the clear blue sky, with occasional clouds. The sun was bright, but the cool green grass she lay on kept her cool. It had been raining a few hours ago and like magic, the rain had been replaced by the clear blue sky and the most beautiful rainbow she had ever seen. Two rainbows.
As she counted the colours in the rainbow, she thought of the homework the teacher had given them at school. Teacher Mwansa had told them to write an essay of what they wished would happen in Africa in a hundred years. Towela was excited by this. She always loved dreaming about things. Every time her mother watched the news, she would feel sad at all the terrible things people were doing to one another. She dreamt of a tomorrow without suffering and hunger. A tomorrow where all the children of Africa would dance peacefully with all the children of the world. A tomorrow where the lions and wild animals would no longer be hunted by evil men. It was just a dream, but why couldn’t it be true?
Towela saw a large object in the sky. It seemed to be coming down towards where she lay. She realised, as it came closer, that it was the biggest bird she had ever seen. It looked like an eagle. It was as big as a house. Towela was very scared. Was it a monster? Did it come to eat her? The huge bird landed just next to her. Towela kept very quiet. She looked up at its face and was surprised to find that the huge bird was looking down at her.
“My name is Kakoshi. How are you doing Towela?!” The huge bird had just introduced itself. Towela could not believe her ears. Did the bird just talk to her? How did it know her name? Was she going crazy? She was about to ask Kakoshi a question when the huge bird spoke first. “I have come to take you to the gate of time.”
“Why?” Towela asked. Kakoshi laughed. “Don’t be afraid. Are you not the one who dreams of tomorrow?” Towela was surprised by this. How did Kakoshi know?
Kakoshi laughed again when he saw the look on Towela’s face. He crouched down and invited Towela to climb on his feathery back. Then he told Towela to hold on tight. Towela could feel her heart beating so fast, she was afraid it was going to jump out of her chest. Kakoshi took off so fast that Towela never had the chance to close her eyes. The sky was surely beautiful. She could not believe that she was flying.
Kakoshi flew higher and higher, and finally stopped in front of what looked like a huge golden clock. Towela saw another huge bird. This bird was even bigger than Kakoshi. It looked like an owl. “I am Icipululu,” said the huge owl. “Greetings, Towela. I will open the gate of time.” Towela watched as Icipululu flew in front of the huge clock and hooted four times. “HOOT! HOOT! HOOT! HOOT!” Then the clock opened like a gate. Kakoshi wasted no time. He flew right in.
Towela could not believe what she saw as they flew into the gate of time. She could see bright colors like the rainbow. She could see many African countries changing before her eyes. Buildings changing into many shapes. Cars with strange designs. People dressed in new types of clothes. Then Kakoshi stopped and landed on top of a tall building. Towela jumped off Kakoshi to get a better look.
They were buildings as tall as her eyes could see. Some cars were flying like planes. She could see huge Televisions that flew around broadcasting everything from the news to new types of food. It all looked like a dream. A dream that she did not want to wake up from. Everywhere she looked something new caught her eyes. Kakoshi gently nudged her back with his beak. It was time to go back. Towela felt sad, but also she felt happy. She climbed back on Kakoshi’s back and watched as they flew through the gate of time.
She thanked Kakoshi and watched the huge bird fly away. She lay back on the grass. She felt happy because she now knew what she was going to write in her essay. Dreams do come true. All you had to do was believe. Towela knew that Africa was headed for a bright future. “I can’t wait for tomorrow,” she said as she once again thought of what Kakoshi had shown her. She got up and ran back home to write her essay.
Read – Baby Caterpillar – A Children’s Story by Corona Cermak, Tanzania
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