The Beast Master…
AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN
THE BEAST MASTER
CHAPTER 1
Yaw Boat was shivering.
It was raining, and he felt very cold.
He was lying on the bare floor in a cave.
He had no house to go to. His family had a house in the village of Adom, but Yaw Boat had been driven out of the village by Okomfo, the Fetish Priest. Okomfo said Yaw Boat was a Musu Child.
In Adom, Musu Children were believed to be cursed by the gods, so they were always banished from the village to live in the forest.
Yaw Boat had been born without his right leg. He walked with the aid of a long stick. On his back was a strange birthmark that looked like a chameleon. This, Okomfo Naana said, was a curse from the gods.
Yaw Boat found it hard to climb trees for fruits, and he could not hunt animals. He was thus always hungry. Sometimes he waited along the paths that led to the forests. Sometimes some of the kind villagers gave him food when they were passing, but most of them said cruel words to him.
There were three bullies in Adom who always picked on Yaw Boat. The leader was called Baba. He was the son of Okomfo. His two accomplices were Kuntu and Agbozo. Sometimes they chased Boat just to see him hobbling with his stick. Sometimes they whipped him with sticks or threw stones at him.
Yaw Boat was fifteen years old now. He was thin and weak, and always suffered from one sickness or another.
Nights were always a nightmare to him. The forest was dark and dangerous. There were deadly beasts in the forest – anacondas, crocodiles and lions – who hunted at night, and could easily devour him.
Rain water from the mountainside soon began to fill the cave, and Yaw Boat reluctantly got to his feet. He knew that if it did not stop raining he would have to leave the cave for fear of getting drowned.
Suddenly he saw something struggling in the water near his knee. At first he was very frightened. He thought the rushing water had dragged a dangerous snake into the cave. He squinted hard and saw that it was not a snake but a huge chameleon.
It was drowning!
Yaw Boat reached out and picked up the poor chameleon.
He held it above the pool of water and limped to the entrance of the cave, seeking a safe place to put it.
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of lightning up the sky, and he saw that it was travelling directly at him.
Yaw Boat was so scared. He had heard that people who were hit by lightning always died. The chameleon was still in his hands. He screamed when the lightning hit him in the chest.
Yaw Boat felt his chest burning. The force of the lightning threw him on his back, and he began to roll down the face of the mountain. Yaw Boat rolled helplessly down the mountain until he hit the cold floor of the forest.
He could not move any part of his body for a while.
He sat up slowly. Yaw looked around for his stick, but could not find it. Slowly he began to push himself up, and then he stopped abruptly.
Yaw Boat was so shocked that for a moment he felt dizzy.
Incredibly, he realized that his right leg was now a full leg! He was no longer a cripple!
He stood up slowly. Yaw Boat could not believe his eyes!
Wow…he had a new leg!
Slowly Yaw Boat began to walk.
“What is happening to me? Am I dreaming?” he whispered.
But it was true, it was not a dream!
Yaw Boat began to scream with total joy as he began to run for the very first time in his life!
Suddenly Yaw Boat stopped as a terrible truth dawned on him!
He had been running very hard and fast for about ten minutes, but he was not out of breath! It felt as if he had not even run!
“What is happening to me?” Yaw Boat whispered to himself. “Is this a miracle? That chameleon and the lightning have combined to do this awesome miracle!”
Slowly he began to run again hard, but suddenly he lost his footing, and cried out with fear! He was falling, and he was heading straight into a huge tree … he was going to bash his head!
Suddenly a hidden force seemed to pull him away from the tree, and stopped running.
“Hold on a minute!” he whispered. “This is getting freaky!”
He looked at the huge tree he had almost crashed into, and then, with his heart beating with excitement, he took ten steps backwards.
He looked at the tree.
“I’m going to ran straight into that tree!” he said.
He took a deep breath, and then he ran hard towards the tree!
The Beast Master. The Klever Magg. The Beast Master. The Klever Magg. The Beast Master. The Klever Magg. The Beast Master. The Klever Magg. The Beast Master. The Klever Magg. The Beast Master. The Klever Magg. The Beast Master. The Klever Magg.
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