I calmly sat on my comfortable bed of salty sand and pondered about the amazement of a day that the terrestrial African humans enjoyed. I noticed that the day contained an amazing process of transformation to which I feel they were completely oblivious.

We woke up to a morning of sheer beauty. The sun slowly crept up behind the majestic clouds, this began to warm my skin and shed light on yet another day in Africa. The birds awaken with a sing and nature start its course with still no sign of the African humans. As this stunning ball of fire covers the horizon, as far as my eyes could see, clad with gentle splendor, the humans finally rouse with excitement to take on another day.

The young Zulu lads ‘innocently’ race out into the woods, robbing the trees of its scarlet apples, filling their bags as well as their bellies. Thereafter, ‘chop, chop’ the trees went falling, one by one. They loaded the wood onto their horse carts and off they went.

As the morning progressed, the women and children ran out to my shore to cleanse them. As their mothers washed their clothes for the day, I embraced the children’s naked dark skins with my wave after wave, completely ignoring the soap I was forced to drink.

The African men, so called ‘fishermen’, jumped onto their boats that floated firmly upon my shoulders, and deep in they departed. Proudly stripping me of all my jewels that they called ‘fish’ and enjoyed as a staple diet.

The afternoon was then just a blink away. The Africans, so involved in the hustle and bustle of their monotonous lives that they failed to notice this slight alteration. The sun’s gentle shimmer was at its peak, burning brighter and hotter with the heat if unimaginable capacity. This heat gave me a moment of peace and tranquility from the humans who sped their boats to the shore, leaving behind these massive fumes that blinded me, blocked my nose, dirtied my coat black and suffocated my contents.

Thereafter a paltry wind blew and provided a momentary coolness that I enjoyed for mere seconds with closed eyes before being disturbed by the Africans who were back once again to continue with their activities of what they called recreation, fishing and dumping but I felt they were abusing me, taking advantage of me and polluting me.

The day now drew close to an end. The Africans exhausted from a busy day, still had one more task to finish before putting their machines to rest, and that was getting rid of all their waste for the day. The factories let lose all their toxic waste into my belly, causing a stomach ache and blackening my sparkling blue waters.

The dustbin trucks all gathered at the docks and offloaded, the plants yelled, the fish pleaded as the Africans polluted their playground. I screamed, became rough and let out angry waves in attempt to get them to stop, but unfortunately to no avail.

The sun, in all its glory, prepared for a gentle slip-away. Her rays were then a dim orange, and collaborate with the clouds and their silver linings to create a floral illusion. The sky appeared a light-pink, purple gradually followed. She slowly set, beautifully.

The night made a grand entrance and the moon was welcomed. With the beauty came light and serenity and Africa seemed at ease. Nature, the animals, plants and I appreciated the relaxation after a long day but the Africans still seemed energized as they disturbed us yet again with their loud music and late night celebrations.

They gathered around the fire with wine in their hands, which was not possible without the wood from the trees and the crispy fresh grapes. The animals and plants cried from exhaustion and I set there watching filled with anger and rage.

The night progressed and before I knew it, it was time once again to go through and observe that monotonous routine. Every second of every minute I complained, the animals, plants and all of nature complained but obviously, time and time again to no avail. I finally decided that enough was enough! It was time to put an end to the Africans party, time to put an end to all that misery.

The Africans woke up once again with excitement to take on yet another day. They expected that day to be like the so many other days that followed one another in weary succession. However, on that very day, filled with frustration and anger, I had a different plan for them. I decided to present the Africans with a new and horrible experience that would affect them greatly, and no better way to do this than to destroy the majestic lands of Africa and its heartless people with a massive, horrific and unforgettable wave.

I began to creep backwards, deeper and deeper. This was a strange experience for the destructive humans that played at my shore, an experience that they did not understand at first. Thereafter, in preparation for my massive attack, I began spitting out small volumes of water onto the shore. The Africans, now filled with confusion, tried to stand up and comprehend what was going on, but a sudden surge threw them backwards. Only after a few moments they realized, to their horror, that it was a tsunami.

Suddenly, all of my contents within came alive, like that of an angry animal shaking its prey with its teeth, and then lurching one way and then the other. I pounced with my massive wave after wave onto the lands of Africa leaving nothing but death and destruction behind. I noticed as the Africans ran and screamed with horror and fright, everyone was confused and not forgetting devastated. All I thought to myself at that moment was, “revenge is sweet! It’s only the beginning!”

The satisfaction I felt at the sight of the African humans in despair was indescribable. I felt that they deserved every second of it and hoped for that moment to never come to an end. That joyous feeling encouraged me to attack them even more as I felt that they deserved to be punished for their negligent and ungrateful behavior.

Suddenly my attention was shifted as I couldn’t help but notice this beautiful, calm African woman who sat confidently on the top of a tree. Her eyes sparkled with the tears that kept on rolling down her cheeks and she had a pleading look on her face. Every other human screamed and shouted with terror but this African woman remained silent and turned her entire attention to God in prayer. I could almost hear her begging and pleading, the desperation and sadness in her voice killed all my excitement and it felt as though a bullet was being pierced deep within.

She continued to beg for me to stop, she pleaded for her people to be safe and she yearned for her Africa to be saved. The sight of this African woman completely silenced me, my aim was lost, my purpose destroyed and my mission unaccomplished. Who she was, I had no idea but if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that she was a true hero, a legend.

My high massive waves then lowered in shame and embarrassment. As much as my hands wanted to complete my mission, my body kept on pulling it back deep within where I belonged. I rushed back to my ocean bed where I rested filled with guilt. My life had changed, my perception about my purpose had changed, my perception about the humans had changed and all because of an African woman, all because of an African legend.