HER

“Send us to the pigs,
so we can live in them”
The demons begged
 
Wearily,
the men paddled the canoe to the sea shore
The fishing expenditure had been futile
No single fish had been caught
Both the left and the right side brought no yield
Slowly, they came out of the canoe
Dejection written all over their faces
How they would survive, they didn’t know
Suddenly,
The ground shook greatly
As if a great multitude of soldiers were marching,
marching unto war
They looked ahead to see what was coming
The dust of the earth rose
A battalion of swines was heading towards them,
stamping their foots in a fit of rage
Wild pigs
“Let’s go back to the canoe
and paddle across the waters,
for pigs cannot swim”
One of the men suggested
Quickly,
they unhooked the canoe from a stake,
pushed it into the sea,
and mounted it quickly
The swines were closing in on them,
towards the sea shore
Thick, black clouds had formed in the sky
They looked like cotton wool dipped in iodine
There was a hovering presence of evil all around
Even the sea felt it
And began to gallop angrily
The canoe could barely move
Strong currents waddled the canoe
Making it move in a duck like motion
“Paddle faster!!!”
The wind carried the screams,
the hurried terror filled screams,
Every mouth moved with silent prayers
Every heart thudded with loud fears
The swines had arrived the sea shore
And the canoe had barely moved
Darting their eyes,
their big black eyes,
The swines looked
They looked left right
Right left
They hurried into the ravening sea
Jumping into the water with a heavy thud,
with great force
The pigs had an evil aura
Their dark eyes sparkled with evil excitement
Their hairy ears stood erect,
just like the hair on their skin,
Savoring the canoe occupants look of helplessness
They licked their cracked lips,
flaunting their greasy black pointed teeths
The men paddled fiercely against the tides
Heavy droplets of sweat formed
Despite the embracing cold
The sky coughed loudly
And cleared its throat
Lightening accompanied it
Terror registered on their exasperated faces
The canoe hadn’t still moved a great extent
The waters still walloped violently
Hope was getting lost
“We shall be killed by these evil wild pigs”
The women cried fidgeting
The pigs had surrounded the canoe now
The two thousand of them
Hungrily, they eyed the canoe occupants
Grunting impatiently
Snorting loudly
The air stank of fear
The swines chuckled hideously in contentment
Ready to attack,
they launched forward
And then stopped suddenly
Froze in their tracks
Like somebody had ordered them quiet
Impulsively, the fixed their piercing eyes
At the canoe,
at the occupants,
at the men,
at the women,
at HER
They gazed tenaciously at her
Their eyes met hers
Hers met theirs
The ocean currents suddenly increased
Wind blew nonchalantly
The presence of evil was stronger than ever
The velvety darkness could be felt
The swines began to scream in uncontrollable anguish
She began to scream too
The blackness in their eyes slowly left,
As they drowned in the raging storm
She fainted
The blackness in the skies slowly left
The trembling waters had calmed
The men had recovered from the shock they fell into
No one had seen the blackness in her eyes
 
“What is your name?”
 
She clutched to her fiber basket firmly,
as she walked back home from the market,
The cold deserted street of gadarenes
The same routine every market day
Shivering,
she wrapped her arms around herself
The frigid night wind blew carelessly,
blowing her tunic indecisively
Heavy, drunken laughter echoed as she neared a corner
Her heart tightened as she got closer
The laughter’s got louder
Putting her basket by the side,
eyes shut,
She walked stealthy
Her tongue in her teeth to prevent herself from screaming
“Kalba, timtzots li et habool bool”
A masculine voice shouted in her direction
Trembling, she walked briskly
Laughing hoarsely, the four drunken men circled her,
Holding their bottles by the tip
Her eyes blurred with agonized tears
Their eyes blurred with drunken desire
“Tistom et a pe, ya chati chat hara”
Two of the men shouted with anger,
Pinching her lips with their might
Pushing her on the humid floor,
three of the men pinned her down
Bound her hands and legs
Filled her mouth with the earth’s dung
She screamed
But they came out in muffles
“stom ta pe”
The fourth day echoed,
slapping her face with all his strength
With exaggerated energy he ripped her cloth
The men fondled with her breasts
Drunken on lust,
they opened her legs apart
She kicked and screamed
The men slapped and beat her more fiercely
But the scream wasn’t that of pity
It was that of vicious anger
“at chaya”
She howled
The skies trembled
Out of fear, the sky let out a cry of fear
The earth men called it thunder
Eyes closed,
she waved her head in swirls
Like she was being hypnotized
The men’s chest beat loudly
Saliva dropped willingly
The trees danced insouciantly
The wind blew ferociously
The men bowed with fear
The wind couldn’t make them move
With beastly grip,
She held two of the men suddenly,
She opened her eyes,
Her pitch black eyes
The men pleaded in tears
She looked into the men’s eyes
Waving her head in slow whirls
The men became suddenly still
Their faces bore blank looks
She smiled victoriously
“Make love”
She snapped her fingers at them both
The men rushed at each other and started kissing hungrily,
gnashing each other’s lips,
tearing at each other’s skin,
pulling on each other hair
Making love in the pool of their blood
“Have mercy on us”
The other men begged still bowing
“when I begged, did you listen?”
“ya zevel”
She barked in spite
Her black hair blew rudderlessly against the wind,
She walked toward them
Short yet fast strides
“lech laazazel”
The men screamed as they smashed the wine bottle on her head
She gasped,
Her head bleed
The bottle shattered,
The air stiffened
She raised her head up
She smiled as she put her fingers on her head,
And licked out the blood from her fingers
Blocking her ears,
she screamed
Bottles smashed
Trees fell
The animals hid
The presence of other invisible beings could be felt
The beings sucked off the air surrounding the men
They were becoming dizzy
They could feel their bodies being ripped from within
The men writhed in pain
Their eyes popped out of their sockets,
their fingers fell out
their toes fell out
“Who are you?”
one of the men managed to ask in death gasps
 
“My name is legion,
for we are many”
She answered
 
Their hearts ripped out
 
The night was silent
The air blew stilly
The night was normal
Apart from
The corpse of the men,
The four drunken men
 
She picked her tunic from the floor
Carried her basket
Dusted herself
Walked home innocently,
with comported poise
She will weep tomorrow,
with the town’s women