Itu wakes up in a hospital bed. There are no other patients in the ward. Her body feels sore and stiff all over, but she is still in one piece. A nurse is checking the chart at the foot of her bed and making notes.
“Am I OK?” Itu asks the nurse.
Without looking up, the nurse says, “You’re OK. There was some damage to your eardrums and you may have lost some hearing but it seems like that is all. You are very lucky that no other permanent damage was done.”
“And my daughter? Is she OK?”
“She came to visit you yesterday. You’ve been sleeping for three days. Your mother is looking after your daughter and she seems fine.”
Itu wants to laugh and cry at the same time. She’s alive! The nightmare is over.
“Looks like your debt has been paid, Itumeleng,” says the nurse. She looks up from the chart and those familiar eyes gleam at Itu. The trickster!
“Why did you choose me?” Itu asks.
“You chose me, my child. You came looking for me. You said you wanted lightning; you said you wanted revenge. It came back to you three times. You have learned your lesson.”
Itu is quiet for a few minutes. She doesn’t know what to say or do.
“What happens now?” she asks.
“Now?” the trickster answers. “Now, someone else who has a lesson to learn will find me. Have a nice life Itumeleng. Don’t let me ever catch you playing with magic again.”
Itu shivers and is glad when the trickster leaves her alone in the ward.
*****
In a different part of the hospital, Mpho is crying in the waiting room. She has come to see her grandfather, but things are not good. She wishes that she could send him to a private hospital where he would have better care.
She blames everyone at the Smart Business Competition for her losing out on her chance to help her grandfather. Even if it was ‘borrowed’, it was a good idea! But mostly, she blames Naomi, the administrator of the Smart Business Competition. Naomi doesn’t even reply to her emails or take her phone calls anymore! She won’t refund the application money. Mpho thinks that Naomi is too big for her boots. She thinks she’s just great, with that fancy job of hers, deciding whose entries are taken and which are thrown out. Mpho daydreams of revenge.
A nurse with yellow eyes sits next to Mpho on the bench in the waiting room. She has no way of knowing that the trickster has come – for her.
“You look upset, my child,” says the trickster. “How can I help you?”
“You can’t help me, sister. What I need is revenge,” Mpho says.
Mpho bursts into tears and the trickster rubs her shoulder to comfort her. They start talking more and Mpho reveals how unfair she believes her situation is. The nurse says that she knows someone who can send lightning if Mpho is sure she wants it.
Mpho is filled with dark glee at the thought: she wants Naomi to suffer.
“Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure that you want to send lightning for Naomi?” the trickster asks again.
“Yes,” Mpho says, firmly.
“I can make it happen,” says the trickster, standing up to leave.
As the trickster walks away, Mpho asks, “Wait! How much will it cost?”
The trickster laughs and says, “Don’t worry my child. The price will always be right for revenge.”
***
Tell us: Have you ever done something purely for revenge? How did it make you feel?
