The gigantic entity smiled at Lukhanyiso and extended his arms forward; Mandlenkosi grabbed the left arm without any hesitation and motioned Lukhanyiso to also take hold with a huge grin on his face. Lukhanyiso smiled and grabbed the right hand; the entity’s body had lustrous brown skin. Mandlenkosi closed his eyes, which Lukhanyiso imitated. The purple entity inhaled his last breath on Actual-Earth and closed his eyes.

He then exhaled it and the trio turned into a beam of light which shot up to the sky. The beam of light had three different colours, a purple light shot up straight, accompanied by a gold and blue light which spiralled around the internal purple light. The beam entered the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and the thermosphere layers within forty-five seconds. Ten kilometres into the exosphere, a window of light appeared in front of the beam as it entered inside and the window closed as quickly as it had opened.

The beam of light descended from the sky as the window closed behind it. It landed on the ground within fifteen seconds. The purple beam’s light depleted and the purple entity appeared kneeling on the lush earth. The gold beam’s light followed and Lukhanyiso appeared kneeling down, his eyes tightly shut. Then, the blue beam’s light started to diminish and Mandlenkosi appeared. When he realised what had happened, he sprang up and started running across the lush land before placing his thumbs into his mouth and blowing a whistle-like sound into a jungle which was situated right next to grassy area.

“Aghd Therill,” the purple entity chuckled. “I mean Lukhanyiso. You may open your eyes – we have arrived.”

Lukhanyiso opened his eyes slowly and looked at the purple entity. He then examined the area … “Yho!” he exclaimed as he looked at the four beasts that were approximately three meters tall that had appeared before them.

The beasts looked like a giraffe and zebra hybrid as they resembled both animals. Lukhanyiso glared at them. The four beasts took notice of this commotion and instigated a chase as they loped towards Lukhanyiso. The purple entity’s physical body turned into purple mist which rocketed to the sky and descended to the spot where the beasts lolled. The beasts changed direction, following the purple mist as they accelerated their speed.

The purple mist altered back into the entity who smiled. The physical body altered as soon as the creatures were four meters away from where the entity stood. The mist then shot up to the sky and descended right in front of Lukhanyiso. The beasts ran as fast as they could now as the entity stretched out its arms in a welcoming gesture towards the raging creatures that stampeded forward. Lukhanyiso stood up with curiosity as he looked at the intimidating creatures.

“Ba’ivs Setas…” the entity said as the beasts decelerated their speed and circled around. “I missed you a lot. Where have you been hiding?” He began petting the beasts and hugging every one of them. “I brought one of your old friends. I am sure he missed all of you.”

“What are these?” Lukhanyiso asked as he traced fear inside his heart, but couldn’t find it.

“Ba’ivs Setas. I hoarded the last four before they became extinct on Actual-Earth; they were called Sivatherium there,” the entity answered with a smile, “they continue living here, where they’ll be safe from the most terrible predators that roam and rule over Actual-Earth.”

“What are the predators you’re talking about?” Lukhanyiso asked he stroked the closest Ba’ivs Setas.

“Human beings.” The purple eyes penetrated into Lukhanyiso as they gazed deeply into his eyes.

Lukhanyiso nodded in approval, “Oh and um…” He stopped and closed his eyes, trying to find a more polite way to ask a question which troubled him.

“I don’t have any reproductive organs… but I am more like a man, so the adjectives for a man will do justice.” He smiled as he looked at Lukhanyiso. “My name is Arafci Ntiorce.”

Lukhanyiso’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the entity. He opened his mouth, about to ask another question –

“How did I know?” he laughed, revealing his long lashes and bright smile. “I have the ability to know what someone is thinking. And people think before they speak so I gather that. I am deaf, so that’s my only way of knowing what someone is saying.”

“Wow!” Lukhanyiso exclaimed as he looked up at the towering being,

From behind them a loud THUD shook the ground. Lukhanyiso turned around.

“Oh my!” he exclaimed as he trotted towards the sound. “That’s a Gigantopithecus!” he pointed forward.

Standing in front of Mandlenkosi was a 2.8 meter tall ape covered in brown fur. It had an orangutan-like appearance and mystical russet eyes as it looked down at a smiling Mandlenkosi, who flew into the primate’s chest and hugged it.

“Oh, the Paen Tagi,” Arafci Ntiorce said from behind Lukhanyiso. “That’s one of Ruwois’ teachers. I was the first teacher after I created him.”

“Wait! What?” Lukhanyiso exclaimed as he twirled around to face him. “You created Mandlenkosi? I thought you said you don’t possess any reproductive organs…”

“Not in that way. I used clay and a drop of my own blood to turn the clay into flesh and skin.” He scratched his afro, “I actually created him for you… Primarily, I created him so that you could feel love again. I had to wait for a day for his soul to arrive; it sure took a long time. I thought I did something wrong.”

“Huh?” Lukhanyiso gawked.

“You had lost your one true love, Angelosi. Your true soul mate. I have been looking over you ever since you were born, so when you began living in misery and solitude, I decided to create a mirror image of everyone you cared deeply for. Mandlenkosi has all the attributes of Angelosi and Luvuyo.” He took a step forward. Lukhanyiso turned to look at Mandlenkosi who laughed as the giant ape tickled him. “He is your last chance at love, a gift from me to you. His only purpose in life is to love you.”

***

Tell us what you think: Who is your one true love?