Lulama stood in the kitchen thinking about what the prophet had said to her earlier. The only people close to her were her friend, Zoë, or her husband. Only one of them had summoned the Tokoloshe: Zoë. If Lulama thought about her reaction towards her last night at work, it made perfect sense that she had been a jealous friend all along. It couldn’t have been her husband, Lulama thought. Her husband wouldn’t want her dead when she was about to change the poverty they lived in; he had no idea she was planning to leave him. She had told Zoe what was in her book; she knew about the Tokoloshe.

Lulama waited for hours for her husband to return with the paraffin stove, but he was nowhere to be seen. And since she was already not in the mood to cook, she decided they would eat bread with butter.

While Lulama was drowning in her thoughts in frustration, the candles blew out making the whole house dark. Her heart began to beat wildly. Her body started to shake when she heard roosters crowing. She tiptoed in to find roosters flocking into the kitchen. Even in the dark, Lulama could see the featherless roosters with rotten skin clearly. Their eyes were gouged out and their mouths razor-sharp. The crowing of the roosters was horrendous and when one flew at Lulama, the others followed.

They attacked Lulama. She tried to fight them off with her hands. She stumbled all over the kitchen as each of the nightmarish roosters bit her skin with their knife-like mouths. She screamed as she continued fighting them. At last, Lulama managed to grab a frying pan and she defended herself by knocking each one of the roosters with a powerful bang. She had the chance to pull a knife out of the kitchen cupboard. When the roosters continued to attack, she swiped the sharp knife at each of them as if she was a trained killer. They ended up dead on the floor.

Lulama ran for the kitchen door, but as she tried to open it the kitchen windows flew open. The door was locked. She turned to look for the key and her scream was spine-chilling when she saw the Tokoloshe standing on the windowsill. It growled and the growl sounded grizzly, just like earlier when it chased her in the forest. It looked even more terrifying than before, glaring with a haughty, creepy face and the rows of sharp teeth displayed.

The Tokoloshe flew inside and Lulama ran to the bedroom. She tried to shut the door but it jumped in and knocked her to the floor. She grabbed one of her husband’s shoes. The Tokoloshe tore through the shoe with its claw-like fingers. Lulama quickly rolled to one side, dodging it. She pulled the duvet off the bed as the Tokoloshe strode closer. Lulama threw the duvet over it but it was moving too fast. It struck her hard with its body and she flew against the wall.

She got up quickly and ran out of the bedroom to the kitchen, holding on to the knife as she prepared herself. She knew the Tokoloshe was coming back at any moment. As she waited those few seconds, she heard the dining room door sliding open.

“Honey, are you home?” It was her husband.

The relief Lulama had when she heard his voice! She strode towards him to receive his comfort, but she stopped midway when she laid eyes on him. A devilish smirk appeared on his face as he closed the door.

“It seems you’re having a rough night,” he said, “you look terrible.”

Only then Lulama realised she had been suspecting the wrong person for the monstrous nightmare.

“It was you,” Lulama said softly, disappointed and shocked.

It had been him all along who had summoned this Tokoloshe.

“Surprise,” her husband said with a devilish grin spreading on his face. “I’m surprised that you are still alive. Your villain from your book should have killed you by now. Don’t worry, it won’t be long until you rest forever from this nightmare.”

“But why?” said Lulama, heartbroken. Tears dropped from her eyes.

“Just because I’m not employed, you think I’m going to be fed by a woman. Fed by the money you will be getting? I know, I went to a sangoma and she told me how rich you’re going to be. Well, I just figured I should kill you and get that money for myself. I will never ever let myself be taken care of by a woman, never.” His voice sounded calm, but filled with hate.

Lulama was startled again when the Tokoloshe broke down the bedroom door.

“Now you are finally going to die,” said her husband.

Lulama stepped back as the Tokoloshe crawled towards her and suddenly, in a flash, she used the knife she had in her hand to stab her husband in his heart.

“I was going to leave you anyway, you piece of shit,” Lulama said as she pushed the knife in deeper.

By the time her husband dropped dead on the floor, the Tokoloshe was scattered into ashes. The lights returned and the nightmare she wrote in her novel was finally over.

***

Lulama convinced herself the police wouldn’t believe the Tokoloshe attack and would lock her up for murder. To avoid that she decided to drag her husband’s body to the forest where she burnt it.

A few weeks later, people believed her husband had fled with another woman. She also avoided being around people because she shuddered with the thought that the Tokoloshe might return. She had moved in with Zoë until her book, titled ‘The Terrifying Monster’ was finally published.

A few months later Lulama’s novel was successful worldwide. With Zoë’s help, and by attending a therapy, Lulama slowly returned to herself and lived her best life with her friend by her side.

***

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