As I opened my eyes, I saw myself in another world. I looked up to the sky, and it had pink clouds. I saw numerous different kinds of exotic birds; colourful birds that I had never seen in my entire life. The tall trees, big flowers and long grass that made me feel so tiny. All the animals were strange except the cow I had in the kraal.

The outdoors were different, it was like I went back to ancient times. I walked towards the cow and asked it, “What’s happening with me?”

“Mooo! Nothing funny, it’s just the magic of the world,” it replied.

I stood back in silence, I didn’t want to talk to a cow again because it made me look crazy. I waited for days and days for my mother and uncle to come back, and they never did. During those days, I realised that the birds had a message in their song. I sang along and got the message. I whistled, uttered a weak chirping sound as the birds were tweeting. It was such a beautiful song.

I was told to listen to the magic cow because my life would never be the same again. In a couple of weeks, I got used to the cow; it was friendly. We went out to explore the new world. I sat on it back then we started singing. We walked and walked through the rivers, passed the enormous jungle, climbed the mountains to the highest cliff. What a perfect view; it was colours that define happiness.

The cow looked at me and said, “You’re the only person who can take us to the real world.” Before I replied, it told me to make a wish from the sun before it set. I longed to see my mother and uncle before dawn.

When the sun set, instantly it became very dark. It felt like I closed my eyes, words ran out and my mind shut. I couldn’t move my body, only tears were coming out. On my bed I woke up crying, scared and confused, I looked frightened and I was sweating all over my body. It took me few minutes to calm down. I went to the window and opened the curtain slowly to see if the cow was still in the kraal. The cow was there grazing the grass, it seemed like all this magic was just a dream.

I went downstairs to see if the cow would respond if I started talking to it.

“We made it to the real world!” I shouted. The cow had no idea what in the world I was saying. It carried on grazing the grass and that’s when I realised that I was dreaming. In an hour my mother and uncle came back, I ran to them and gave them a big hug; they were surprised.

“Kwenzenjani mshana. What’s happening, nephew?” I told them about the magic of the world and they got confused because as I was telling them I had hiccups, they didn’t even pay attention because I mentioned that it happened as a dream.

Since that day, I stopped being scared of getting close to a cow. My mother and uncle were proud of me. I believed the magic cow taught me bravery at the very young age of 10. All the animals became my friends. I was now able to assist my mother and uncle with milking, feeding all the animals and more. My change of personality made them believe about the magic world. It became my best day ever; a day I will never forget.

Tell us: What are your thoughts about the ‘magic cow’?