THE ELEPHANT WOMAN Episode 1 – Stories of My life
I am a married man with five children. I cannot say I am a widower. My wife didn’t die, neither has she died. She didn’t run away. What happened to her is still a mystery. A mystery I brought on myself because of my insatiable thirst for beautiful and fair-skinned women.
I was a hunter. My father was a hunter too and so was my grandfather. Hunting has run in our family for generations and now it was my turn. For a not so educated man like me who lived in the village, I found no other profitable job to do. Hence, I had to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors.
I am an old man now, almost seventy years. However, in my heydays, I was a tall and handsome young man. I was also strong and intelligent. My unique physical and psychological features made me the dream man of every village girl. However, it was like some strange village god was directing my life. In spite of all the attention I got from many a village maiden, I had no interest in any of them. I was still in my prime and felt there was no need to hurry. I concentrated on my hunting business and put all my energy into it.
I was not just an ordinary hunter. I was an elephant hunter. It was a risky business, very risky. Firstly, I stood the risk of running into trouble with the law, since ivory was illegal in most parts of the country. Secondly, I didn’t use a normal hunting gun like most other hunters did. I had been able to procure a military-grade weapon; AK 47 to be precise. Thus, I was able to kill elephants without any difficulty. I sold the tusks in the black market and the meat to the village people.
There were lots and lots of risks involved in hunting elephants. Their colossal size was one of these risks. In a case where your gun got jammed, and the elephants decided to chase you, you would be in serious trouble. There was an incident I was once involved in. I was in the forest, hunting. Suddenly, I was confronted by a group of elephants. There were about twenty of them. As strange as it may seem, the elephants seemed to recognize I was their foe. They came at me with all prejudice. I was sure I was going to die that day. But, I didn’t. I opened fire at them. Six times, I fanned the hammer and six elephants dropped dead. The rest of them took to their heels.
To be very honest with you, you cannot be an elephant hunter and not have a little bit of black magic. You can call it witchcraft if you like, but it isn’t. Witchcraft is a dark and powerful magic. What I possessed was powerful but I won’t altogether call it black. Afterall, it helped me with my livelihood, my daily bread. So, how could I call it dark?!
The truth is that, some elephants are not mere elephants. Not all of them are ordinary elephants. Some are people’s totems. I am serious when I tell you this. Many years ago, as a young man, I had been confronted with many of such totems. There was one particular incident that is still fresh in my memory. I had made a bet with an old man in the village. He had claimed to have an elephant totem in the village and had promised to deal with me. I warned him and told him I was going to shoot him if I see his elephant. There was no way of distinguishing between an ordinary elephant and a totem. He thought I was joking.
The very next day, I was on my way to the forest to hunt. I had not even gone far into the bush when I saw a massive elephant standing on my way. I pulled out my AK and was about to fire when the elephant’s head suddenly transformed into that of a human. It was the old man who had made a bet with me. He begged me in his human voice to call his challenge a bluff and spare him. I didn’t. I fired two shots and he dropped. Luckily for him, he was close to the village. When I shot him, his human form dropped dead at home. He quickly confessed and his totem was changed and a new one given to him. Thus, his life was saved. Next time, he would be more careful.
I know you are surprised how someone’s totem can be changed. Yes, it’s possible. This world is more mysterious than you could ever fathom. In the underworld, where people have totems, when the totem is killed, the owner automatically has to die. Your totem is like an extension of you. It’s like your soul. It’s like your avatar. Whatever affects it, affects you. However, you have to be bold enough and explain to the top witches and wizards in the village that your totem has been killed. If you do that on time, you will be given a new one and your life saved. If you don’t, you will die. Most people don’t know about this and die ignorantly.
Sometimes, when you are initiated into witchcraft, you are not told immediately. In such a case, you have a totem roaming the bushes but you are not aware. The connection between you and your totem has not yet been established. Thus, if your totem is killed, you die without even seeing it coming. Most of the other older totems are usually selfish. When they are in the bush, in their animal forms, looking for food, the make sure the newer and unintelligent totems stay in front. They use them as a shield just in case a hunter shows up. If a hunter attacks, the ones in front will be killed and the older ones spared. It’s like being put at the war front where the fighting is heaviest. This world is mystery.
Anyway, enough on lectures about witchcraft. Let’s get back to my story. One day, I was in the forest, hunting. It was a bad day. I hadn’t shot anything all day. Not even an ant. I was tired, hungry and thirsty. I decided to go to a river in the middle of the forest to have a drink and quench my thirst. When I got to about twenty meters to the river, I was shocked by what I saw. I saw a group of very beautiful women bathing in the river. They were all stark naked but I couldn’t see where they had kept their clothes.
I wondered in my mind how such beautiful women would be bathing in a river in the middle of an African jungle. The river itself had always scared even me. It was dark, wide and deep. The sound it made as it flowed could be heard from a kilometer away. But the women seemed not to be afraid. They were enjoying their bath, splashing, dancing and playing with each other with merriment. They were all very beautiful in a mysterious kind of way. However, there was one that was particularly striking. I was deeply puzzled and decided that there was more to it that met the ordinary eye. I hid behind some bushes and waited to see what would happen.
THE ELEPHANT WOMAN Episode 2 – Stories of My life
As I waited and watched excitedly in the bushes as the women bathed, my eyes almost popped out of their sockets at what happened next. They all got out of the river and came to the shores. Normal women would have dried themselves and then put on their clothes and leave. The women didn’t. Instead, they walked in a single file to a fallen tree that lay at the other end of the river. That was when I saw it. I now fully understand why these women didn’t have clothes. They had something else. Elephant skins. They were elephant women.
Lying on the fallen tree, arranged neatly, were leather-like things that looked like elephant skins. The first woman took hers, wore it and immediately became an elephant. The second woman did same and also transformed into an elephant. Cold sweat ran down my spine as I secretly watched all of them became elephants. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had often heard of these things but here I was, having an extremely rare opportunity to witness it firsthand.
Oblivious to my presence, the women who were now elephants gave out loud trumpeting sounds and went into the forest, moving in a single file. Luckily for me, and for them too, they weren’t coming towards my direction. I would have been forced to shoot. I crouched low until they had all left. I then left my hiding place and went home. Back at home, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I kept thinking about these women. I had never seen women so beautiful. Of course, they were witches and had magical powers. That could explain the reason for their beauty which was really ethereal.
One of these women particularly had caught my interest. They were all beautiful but that particular one was extraordinary. Something strange was happening to me. I was falling in love with an elephant woman. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get her away from my mind. Finally, I decided that I will do everything I can to have her as my wife. It was going to be a very dangerous business. But I was someone who was used to danger. I confronted danger everyday and survived. So, I decided that I was going to have her, come rain or highwater.
Haven made up my mind, I went to the forest the next day hoping I could catch a glimpse of them at the river. I waited the whole day but they didn’t show up. I went back home. The next day, I was there again, still no sign of them. On the fourth day, a group of elephants came to the river to drink. I was excited and thought they were the ones. I waited, hoping they would transform into humans to bathe. They didn’t. After a while, they left and I was convinced that those ones were just ordinary elephants.
It had been a month now and I was already thinking that I was never going to see the elephant women again. I had been to the river bank several times to no avail. My love for the beautiful elephant woman was killing me. I could no longer concentrate on my hunting. I spent my nights and days just thinking about her.
One day, after a long hunting day, I was going to the river to have a drink when I saw a herd of elephants. There were about ten of them. I didn’t make much of it because I thought they were normal elephants. I raised my gun to shoot, but something strange happened. They started transforming into humans. I almost died with excitement. I had been waiting to see them again for more than a month and here they were. It was with great effort that I was able to restrain my self from rushing forward and meeting them. My excitement doubled when the last of them transformed. It was the one I had fallen in love with. I almost went crazy with my wanting for her.
They all kept their skins on the fallen tree trunk and waded into the river one at a time. They started bathing and splashing and singing and playing like kids. However, I wasn’t crazy about their nude and beautiful bodies. I had worked out a plan and it was time to execute it. From my hiding place, I had noticed where the elephant woman I loved kept her skin. I decided I would steal it. It was going to be quite tricky and dangerous but my love for her gave me courage.
I waited until I was sure they were really carried away by their bathing. I crept forward like a commando and stole the skin of my lovely elephant lady. I crept back to my hiding place, collected my personal effects and went to my bush house. When I got to my bush house, I carefully hid the elephant skin in a place no one could find it except me. After I had done so, I went back to the river bank just as the ladies had finished bathing.
They started putting on their skins and transforming back into elephants. When it got to my lady’s turn, she couldn’t find her skin. She was shocked and reported the matter to the other elephants. They looked all around and searched every nook and cranny around but couldn’t find her skin. She started crying. She wept bitterly as she looked for her skin. Her friends who had already transformed, scattered the surrounding bushes, angrily. The let out loud and angry trumpeting sounds. However, it was all futile. After about an hour, they decided to give up and left.
They left without her. She could no longer be with them. Without her skin, she was just a human and could no longer be counted as one of them. She was abandoned. I felt pity for her. She was all alone on the river bank, naked from head to toe and didn’t know what to do. She was frustrated. After haven wept until she was exhausted, she laid on the river bank to warm herself. I suspected she was catching cold. That was my opportunity and I took it.
I crept from my hiding place and moved slowly and cautiously towards her. She seemed to have noticed someone was approaching and immediately stood up. She was frightened when she saw me. She realized she was in danger and how helpless she was. She tried to run away but I followed her and caught her. She fought back. I was amazed at the strength she had. She fought so viciously that for a moment, she almost broke free. However, I was a man of immense strength and I succeeded to pin her to the ground. Being so close to her naked body gave me a tingling sensation.
She finally succumbed and spoke.
“Who are you?” She asked. “Please don’t hurt me. I am a poor helpless woman.”
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THE ELEPHANT WOMAN Episode 3 – Stories of My life
“I am a hunter.” I said. “I am here to help you.”
“Are you sure? Please don’t kill me.”
“God forbid that I should kill you. Who are you?” I asked.
“You don’t want to know who I am.” She was cagey.
“Ok, tell me how you got yourself here, all alone.”
She looked at me suspiciously for a while. She didn’t seem to bother about the fact that she was naked. She sat on the fallen tree stump, put her hands over her plump chest and spoke.
“I was kidnapped by some people and brought here.” She lied.
“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed. “They must really be wicked, these people.”
I knew she was lying but decided to go with her narrative. If I told her that I knew she was an elephant woman, she would become wary of me and start suspecting me.
“Don’t worry, you are safe now with me.” I told her. “You need to wear something. Please let me get you something to cover yourself.
“Thank you.” She said.
We went to my bush hut. She was in front while I brought up the rear. I could not help looking at her round and shapely behind and she walked. She walked with a sensual swagger, almost godly. I couldn’t wait to finally make her mine. When we arrived my bush hut, I got some old hunting clothes I had kept there and gave her to wear. She happily did. We now started the return journey to the village.
We got to the village some four hours later. For a woman who looked so fragile and beautiful, I was expecting her to be very exhausted by the time we arrived. However, I was not surprised by the fact that she still looked strong and energetic. Of course, she wasn’t an ordinary woman.
I had been told by my grandfather that before the white men came, we Africans used witchcraft to travel long distances, since there were no cars in those days. We also used witchcraft to do our farm work. For example, someone with an elephant as a totem could own about seven large farms. The strength of the elephant helped him to work the farms all alone. Someone with an eagle totem would use it to travel long distances. For example, if he was supposed to travel from Mamfe to Douala. He would simply transform into a bird and fly to the last village before Douala. Then, he would transform into a human a walk the remaining short distance.
My grandfather told me many stories about witchcraft before the colonial area. He told me that he himself had once gone to an old man to request for witchcraft. After several minutes of interrogation, the old man had agreed to have him initiated. He was to be given a crocodile totem. The old man gave him a cup of water to drink. In this cup, were tiny crocodiles, swimming. At the last minute, he got scared poured the water on the ground and escaped. Those happenings were before the white man came to Africa. I never knew I would actually meet a real-life witch.
My neighbours were surprised that I came home with a beautiful woman dressed in a man’s hunting dress. However, no one asked any questions. Everyone welcomed her and made her feel at home. The next day, I went to the village market and got her new clothes. She was excited when she put the clothes on. She looked so beautiful in all her clothes. I wanted to make her my wife immediately and soon, I arranged for us to be married.
My family was worried by the fact that she had no relatives. On our marriage day, there was no one to represent her own family. It was rather strange and some of my family members raised their concerns. Some even objected. However, I wouldn’t allow anyone interrupt my marriage to her. So, I forged ahead and they had no option than to oblige. One day, I had a conversation with her.
“I am sorry wife; you have never told me what you are called. Don’t you have a name?” I asked.
“My name is Iris.” She said.
“How about where you come from? You have never told me.” I pressed.
“I come from a distant land. Don’t worry, someday, when the time is right, you will meet my people.” She said.
I didn’t want to bother her much. I already knew she was a witch and had no family. However, I couldn’t let her know that I know who she was. It could be dangerous for me and for her. The villagers would most definitely hunt her down if they should least suspect that she was a witch.
We had been together for almost a year now. She become more beautiful and younger as the days go buy. The village women had started suspecting that she practiced some sort of magic. This was because while the other women were wearing out because of farm work and time, Iris didn’t age. She always looked young and happy.
One day, she told me she was pregnant. I was both happy and scared when she told me. I had been told that pregnancy was always complicated with ladies who have totems. When a woman with a totem gets pregnant, her totem also gets pregnant. Since the gestation period for her totem would of course be shorter, her totem would most definitely give birth before the human. Hence, she will lose the baby as a human. I was really scared. Sometimes, her fellow animals might attack her in the bush and force her to lose her baby. Her human form will then have a miscarriage at home.
However, in her own case, I had dissociated her from her totem by stealing her elephant skin. I wondered how that was going to turn out. She was a different kind of witch. She didn’t have a totem in the bush. She was both the totem and the human. Very strange. I prayed that she had no pregnancy complications and delivers the child safely.
One day, she went into labour.
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