The Leopard Behind the Moon by Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev

Author:Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev [Paasewe-Valchev, Mayonn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published: 2021-08-18T00:00:00+00:00

Part II

1

The Other Side

Behind the village door was a swamp that stretched far and kept going, becoming wider and wider, twisting and turning, going this way then that way, forgetting where it started and where it was meant to go.

Around the edge of the swamp grew fleshy water cabbage with leafy heads where mosquitos hid their eggs. Hippo grass and liverworts flourished in the stale water. Sprouting out of that same water were arching papyrus weeds with bushy crowns. It was on these that the black crake birds rested after filling their bellies with worms and tadpoles. The swamp hummed with plenty more creatures. Bullfrogs splashed in sour water. Lizards slithered on mats of hairy moss. Grasshoppers darted through prickly grass.

For years the swamp had been left alone, having only been disturbed once by a bright-eyed child, once by a cantankerous kingfisher bird, and once by a creature that passed too quickly for the swamp to decipher who or what it was. But on this day, the village door sprung open and out stumbled four children.

Their names were Ezomo, Chimama, Muja, and Ada. They had come from the village of Sesa. They had come to find a leopard. This is what was whispered among the frogs and lizards and grasshoppers and mosquitos. This news spread wide and deep until it reached the ears of the swamp. The swamp shrieked and creaked, then stretched her back to make space for the children.

Ezomo’s eyes traveled across the swamp, seeing quickly what they needed to see. The swamp, Ezomo thought, was frightful in feeling and appearance. He was sure evil spirits dwelled there. And crocodiles. His eyes, jumping from here to there, saw that the swamp offered him no comfort. His rock wasn’t there, and neither were the long stretches of road where he idled in sorrow. Worst, the swamp offered him no promise of saving his mother. He felt the knot in his belly tighten. He needed to sit with his knot, for there was no other way to loosen it. He needed to be brave. He needed to find the leopard and hurry home before the moon grew full.

“What now?” Ezomo asked, his voice trembling. He looked at where Ada was supposed to be, only she wasn’t. “Ada?”

“Where did Ada go eh?” Chimama said, her face pale.

“She . . . she . . . she was just here.” Muja spun around.

Between the small time they had opened the door and that moment, Ada had vanished.

Ezomo felt his heart drop. The lie he had seen in Ada’s eyes was now the truth coming to pass. He turned and looked at the village door. Behind it was a home he could no longer return to. Not without the leopard. In front of him was a place he didn’t know, a place cold and frightful. Something else was troubling him. The sun, having been quarreled at for waking too early, was already beginning to set, and nighttime was rising. They had lost one whole day.

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