Sana
written by: Justine Engelbrecht
He drove towards the open plain on the southern tip of his reserve, a glorious sun-bleached vista, gleaming in the distant horizon, the heat hovered over the dense, coarse grassland. Acacia and Mopane interspersed with shrubs and rocky outcrops.
Hidden in the golden hue, Ruan could make out the twitch of an ear. The lioness lay next to her cubs in the heat of the day. The air was thick with moisture, promising late afternoon showers.
An elephant passed in front of him on the gravel road, that crossed her natural boundary. She carved a new pathway and paused to lean against a Mopane. Her calf stood a quarter her height, its small frame pushing against her rough, weathered legs. She stepped into the clearing, her thick dark-grey skin blending with the earth, her ears flapping as she stepped forward and lifted her trunk above her head. She sniffed the air. She seemed agitated, and Ruan watched as she guided her calf with her trunk, nudging his legs and spaghetti-like trunk towards the herd and away from his on-coming vehicle.
He turned off the main access road and headed towards the eastern cutline and crossed over the plain, passing the silver cluster leaf trees at the bottom of the clearing.
He reached the riverbed and could feel the butterflies in his stomach. Even after a year, she still made him feel this way. The tree canopy was verdant and rich from the summer rains. He parked his vehicle at the familiar Giant Fig tree and watched a troop of Chacma baboons as they chased each other across the road.
He ran his hand nervously through his hair, adjusted his khaki cap and sunglasses, picked up his rifle, and walked towards the riverbed. Climbing down, he was careful to watch his step, pausing for a moment to view the red-billed woodhoopoes flitting between its branches.
Seeing her, he stopped for a moment and watched her in awe—his Tsonga girl. She was vibrant, and her chestnut skin glowed. The colourful woven beads on her skirt swished and swirled around her legs as she danced on the sand. He listened to the faint clicking of the glass beads as they moved to the sway of her hips.
Ruan noticed her father’s game-drive vehicle parked in a thicket of Acacia and remembered the first time he met Nhelo. He was visiting the Chief, and she walked him to the car that day, and he had been visiting her ever since.
Quickening his step, he reached her, placed his arms around her shoulders, and kissed her neck.
“Hello, Nhelo, I missed you,” he whispered.
The soft white sand stretched on either side of Ruan and Nhelo, glinting in the day’s sun, while mirages of pools teased in the distance.
“This is where time stands still, my love,” he said, reaching for her hand.
“Look,” she said as the herd, choosing their natural migration, crossed over about fifty meters from them. The matriarch led the way, sniffing the air through her trunk.
“It’s a breeding herd,” he whispered. “We are downwind; they won’t even know we are here.”
The elephants crossed into the thicket and disappeared into the bush. A group of Kudu bulls, silent grey ghosts of Africa, with their horns twisting like crowns upon their heads, passed by, their gentle eyes scanning the open riverbed before crossing.
Two mongooses played like small children chasing each other and then vanishing. Birds chirped overhead, and a troop of mischievous vervet monkeys scampered around, chattering in staccato. Some had their young clinging to their bellies, while others swung above them in the branches.
“Shoo,” said Ruan, chasing them off as they sat together on a flat rock in the sand.
“There is something I need to tell you,” Nhelo said while looking at Ruan, his bright blue eyes twinkled back at her, and she stared down at her hands, which began to fidget.
“Ruan, you know that I love you,” she said.
“I am not sure if my father told you, but I got sick when I was thirteen, so I didn’t do the cultural ceremony that is tradition for our tribe.”
She continued, “My father arranged with the tribe that I could have my ceremony at twenty-one if I was still single.”
“It sounds like he was trying to protect you,” he said.
“I don’t think so, Ruan,” she said, her voice sterner. “Yesterday, my parents told me I must begin preparing myself mentally, as I will be going into seclusion at the beginning of winter.
My father and I had words, as I told him that I was afraid, as some of the girls come back changed.
He said, if you and I were married, I would not have to worry about the ceremony.”
“Your father said that?” he asked.
He could tell she was fighting tears. He inhaled and waited for her to speak, feeling helpless.
“I am pregnant,” she said, tears resting on her cheeks.
Ruan said nothing for a long time, he stared out across the riverbed. For a moment, he focused on a lizard as it darted across the sand, coming to rest on a small flat stone, it lay still, and basked in the hot sun, its eyes closed, as if it was ready to rest for the day. A yellow-billed hornbill landed close by, and the lizard darted off again, looking for a new resting place, bringing Ruan back into the moment.
“How many months pregnant are you?” he asked.
“Three months,” she answered.
“Only my sister knows,” she added with wide eyes.
“You should have told me,” he said. “Not telling me for so long, I should be angry with you. I wish you had told me earlier,” he added, thinking it would be hard to be angry with her, she was sensitive but strong, a quality he needed in his life.
“I am sorry,” she said, looking at Ruan expectantly, “You could marry me.”
“Then I won’t need to go through the ceremony,” she added sheepishly.
Ruan scoured the riverbed for the lizard, who was long gone in search of a new place in the sun. Thinking of the times he and Nhelo had spent together, the memories flashed by in an instant, like a movie in his mind.
He thought about his previous fiancée and the grief he experienced after she passed away from cancer three years ago. The reason he moved here and bought the reserve was to get away and make a new life. He thought about how he had tried not to love Nhelo, but he couldn’t stop it, and three months ago, he may not have been ready for marriage, let alone fatherhood.
Standing up, he walked over to Nhelo and placed his arms around her waist and said, “I love you, Nhelo.”
“You are right, the timing is perfect, and I will go and see your parents,” he said and shrugged his shoulders, adding, “I think we should start planning a wedding,” his face wrinkled into a smile, while bending down onto one knee in the soft sand of the riverbed.
“Will you marry me, Nhelo?” he said confidently, now grinning, looking up into her eyes.
Nhelo gasped and flung her arms around his neck and said, “Yes, yes, Ruan, I will marry you.”
While they walked to the vehicle, she said, “We are going to have a baby girl, and I would like to name her Sana.”
Driving back, Ruan felt happier than he had in a long time. He closed his eyes and felt the warm sunrays on his face. And in that quiet golden bushveld hour, Ruan knew his life had changed forever.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
‘Sana’ is set in the Lowveld in Mpumalanga Province in the far eastern part of South Africa. It is also known as the ‘place where the sun rises.’
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