The quote “These mountains you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.” Najwa Zebian

mindlovemisery hosts the Sunday Writing Prompt and says:

What is the underlying theme? What’s the story here? The overarching emotions? If you like you can read them like panels in a comic strip it’s up to you how your interpret them. Literal or abstract are both perfectly acceptable.

Kateefa planned to see the soothsayer on the 3^rd holy day of the 8^th month. Her husband, Montego, who was a sailor, was due back by the end of the month, and Kateefa was terrified that when he saw that she was pregnant he would harm her and the unborn child. As Montego had been out to sea for a year, it would be very apparent that the child was not his.

Kateefa had been married to Montego for 3 years. It was an arranged marriage between them, set up by their fathers, where Montego’s father gave Kateefa’s father 15 goats and a bag full of rubies gathered from the stream at the foot of Kupuna Mountain. At first Montego was kind to Kateefa, but within six months it became clear he loved his rum much more than her. He began to stay out late with his friends, then would stumble home and do one of two things: pick a fight and hit her or pass out. When the opportunity arose for Montego to join the crew of a sailing ship, Kateefa was not sad to see him go.

Kateefa went back to live with her family when Montego left. Her younger brother, Marteese, still lived at home. Marteese’s friend, Kapo, was often at the house. He was as different from Montego as night is from day. He was always smiling and had an easy way about him. She watched him with the elders and the young ones and how kind he was. Kapo worked for the grocer down the lane and had dreams of opening his own grocery once he saved up enough. He and Kateefa had many conversations over the months, and their affection for each other grew. One night, where the moon was shining brighter than it ever had before, they embraced and the night was theirs. It never happened again, but pregnancy resulted.

Kateefa kept her pregnancy from everyone, wearing loose fitting dresses. In her village, there was no such thing as divorce. Husbands had the right to ask for a stoning of their wives if they were found unfaithful. She was desperate to know what to do. She loved Kapo but she had no idea if he wanted her, and of course he followed the same rules as everyone else in the village. Kateefa prayed to the Goddess that the soothsayer could guide her.

The soothsayer lived on the farthest edge of the village, near the artesian well. Kateefa knocked on the door of the hut and Meringue’ greeted her. Meringue was a beautiful woman, with bronzed coconut-hued skin that shone. She had jewels on her forehead and henna tattooes covered her back and shoulders. Her hair was wrapped in a headdress and she wore golden disks in her ears. “Enter”, she said, in a voice like hot cocoa.

Kateefa sat in the chair Meringue gestured towards.  She immediately noticed the medium-sized bright green python curled in a sunny spot shining through the window. The snake raised its head and looked at her as she sat. Kateefa strangely felt no fear. It was as if the snake was welcoming her.

Meringue lit the herbs in the brass bowl near her shrine and soon a pungent, hypnotic aroma filled the air. Meringue then took a pair of scissors and snipped a small piece of Kateefa’s hair, which she laid at the foot of the Goddess statue of the shrine. She dinged a small gong, then sat down opposite Kateefa.  Meringue looked deep into Kateefa’s eyes as she reached for her hands. The moment Meringue’s hands touched hers, Kateefa’s body surged with electricity.

Meringue smiled. “I see a rainbow, where there are great riches awaiting you. I see a beautiful living fruit that is about to leave its shell. I see a pack mule bucking off its burden and running to a flower-filled pasture. I see a ship in a storm. Little beauty, fear not. All will be well.” Meringue asked Kateefa to bring her a dozen eggs a week for the next year in payment, then Kateefa was on her way. Her heart felt light, and she breathed easy for the first time in a long time.

The next morning Kateefa was awoken by quite a commotion. The village bell was ringing like crazy. Soon she heard a pounding on the door. It was Rafael, the next door neighbor, the one who worked at the docks. Rafael was in fits, yelling something about a shipwreck. When Kateefa walked out of her room, all eyes were on her. Her father said, “Daughter, I have some bad news….”