Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Grandparent(s) (04/03/08)
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TITLE: By The Fire Side | Previous Challenge Entry
By DULCIE OFORI-AKUFFO
04/09/08 -
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Every evening, as the sun goes down the hills, dancing to the sound of ‘kpanlogo’ music all the way into the sea, the children would grow excited knowing it would soon be story time with Adesatalo.
The moon would gently part the curtain of darkness stretched across the sky and show its warm, beautiful face as if to say “Children, it’s story time!”
As they run towards Adesatalo’s mud hut, they would ponder over and discuss earlier stories he’d told them, wondering which story he would be telling them next.
There! Adesatalo would always be waiting, leaning against what was supposed to be the entrance of his mud hut. Just the sight of him brought sheer pleasure to the souls of these little ones who longed to hear his stories and the singing, drumming and dancing that usually went along with them. As they greet him one after the other, he would hand each one a coconut and a piece of freshly roasted plantain.
They would quickly settle down, sitting in a circle by the fire side under the tall ‘iroko’ tree. A sip of coconut-water here---a bite of roasted plantain there---and the story would begin---
“Long, long ago---”
Soon the story would be over. The younger ones would have fallen asleep and mothers would walk in quietly to carry them back home, each mouthing a quiet ‘thank you’ to Adesatalo.
What would they do without him? By the fire side every night, their children learned valuable lessons about life through his stories and songs. He created an environment that made their land a safe place where children could learn as they grew up. He provided the break every mother needed to complete her chores after an already hard day’s work on the farm. For couples with children, he created the space they needed to share with each other as man and wife. To children who already had grandparents, he provided some extra ‘granny’ fun, and to those who had none, he was their only grandfather.
What a blessing he was to their land---and indeed, what a blessing elderly people were to this land!
Adesatalo had no family of his own, but he played a very meaningful role as an elderly person to the people of the land that could not be easily taken for granted. Even without a family of his own, his role as an elder in the land commanded enough respect to be graced with the very honorable title---‘Gran Paa’.
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Adesatalo was a great character! I really liked how you brought him to life here, the names, setting and description for this piece was very well done!
The last paragraph was my favorite though-nice job! ^_^
I saw some problems with you mixing your tenses (past and present), but that is something that can be easily corrected.
Thank you for sharing this. I really enjoyed it. :)