I Thought I Was Wise

I was mad after seeing him take away my ripe mango. My hunger increased as anger was running over my face.

I went to the farm with my elder brother to clear grass on my father's piece of land. We left as punishment after disobeying our dad. We were supposed to take food along, but he warned my mum not to release any food for us. He said openly “You must make sure to finish clearing the piece of land before coming back or else stay in the bush”.
What… how would we stay in the bush clearing grasses with empty stomachs? I said to myself.

We left in anger. When we got to the farm, seeing the hefty and giant grasses that overtook the farmlands, got us tired. We started clearing so intensely and hard. When we got to some extent, we were hungry and tired. My brother and I shared the remaining part equally. Within five minutes, I finished my portion. My elder brother was surprised and asked if I used a charm to empty the portion given to me. I used a trick just to get my portion cleared up. It was more than an hour and my elder brother was still clearing. He has not even got to halfway.

Rodolfo Clix
He asked me again how I made it possible to finish my portion without stressing myself. I told him the trick I used. “I cleared grasses on top of uncleared grasses. Anyone who comes around would think the portion was neatly cleared”. On hearing this, my brother opened his mouth so wide and hailed me for giving him an idea. He cleared the grasses on top of uncleared grasses and we left.

As we were going home, we saw a mango tree with four ripe mangoes on it. I decided to climb just to get them plucked. As I plucked the first one, my elder brother picked it up and began to lick. I plucked the second one and was going to the third. I gazed at my brother from up, and I noticed that he was already licking the second one. Likewise, I told him from up “Bros, you have finished licking yours and the remaining two would be for me”. He nodded. I plucked the third one, and immediately I heard footsteps approaching. My uncle was the one, and he took the third mango unknowingly to me. I plucked the last one and descended. As I got down, he was already licking the last one.

My face changed immediately, but I could not say a word. I did not bother wasting my greetings for him. “So you cannot greet, right?” Why would I greet after taking my mango? I asked myself within me. He repeated himself more than five times, but I paid deaf ears.

We got home and my dad asked, “You people are early. Are you done with the clearing?” I was the first to answer but with anger. “Who offended you?” He asked. “Nobody”, I responded.

“Don't worry, I will get to the farmland tomorrow to see what you people have done”, he said.

In the morning, he left for the farm. My elder brother's heart was pounding. “Hope he is not going to know about what we did?” “Except if you tell him, how will he?” I responded. I never knew that the brains of elders are always ten times that of children. He came back and was praising us for work well done. I smiled and looked at my elder brother keenly.
“Give them enough meat”, my dad said to my mum.

When it was midnight, I trusted my dad with what he could do. He allowed us to sleep and brought out his leather belt. This belt is so thick and even more than usual. He also had a “koboko" (a whip made from animal skin). Then, I slept off and even dreamed of something so nice. My elder brother was the one sleeping at the edge of the bed. He slept flat with his stomach on the bed. The buttocks were raised to the shape of receiving ” the holy water”. I don't like sleeping with my stomach flat on the bed, instead, I would sleep one-sided.

Sebastian Callejas
The only unpleasant sound I heard was the sound of the ” koboko (whip from animal skin)” landing on my elder brother's buttocks. Immediately, I jumped up within a second. My elder brother received an unexpected walloping. You should know this kind of experience and how painful it would be.
"You people thought you were wise, right? You cleared grasses on uncleared grasses and thought I wouldn't observe. I was born before you. My sense is sharper than the two of you.

He beat us like never. He even applied fresh pepper in the koboko and used it to pill off our buttocks as well as our backs. Tomorrow you will go back to complete the job neatly. If you like, play the same trick on me again, then you will receive more than what you received today.