“Thula-thu Thula mntwana, Thula sana
Thul’umama uzobuya ekuseni
Thula Thula, Thula sthandwa”
Her eyes filled with sadness as if she would burst into tears, but not a single tear came out. Even though the pain was written all over her face, she did not shed a year but kept singing, holding a thirty-something-year-old man in her arms. A man, an I’ll man with not much flesh, almost bones covered in the flesh. But if you look closely enough, you can tell that he was a man of beautiful features.
The man lifted his head, looked at her and said, “my dear wife, I have been lying in this bed for sixty days and sixty nights, and you have taken care of me for sixty days and sixty nights; it must be hard on you.”
Tears came out of his eyes, running down his thin face. “I had many women; they all claimed to love me, but now they are nowhere to be seen. My dear, I can see the green fields; they are beautiful indeed but every time I try to get close, they become further and further away. Did I ask why? And the voice said only your forgiveness would help me cross over. My dear wife, please forgive me and let me go.”
His tears flowed out of his eyes like water running down the stream. His wife dared not look at his face and could not shed a year; she looked away and said.
“In my heart, I forgave you a long time ago, but now I am saying it out, I forgive you; I cannot say more than this.”
The man looked at the window, his eyes filled with mist; he could hardly see the light outside. He opened his mouth and said, “My dear, I am tired; I am exhausted. I want to sleep.”
His wife sitting beside him on the bed, took his head and held it in her arms like she was putting a baby to sleep.
“Shhhhhh, if you are tired, go to sleep; it’s better this way. When you reach the green fields, could you sit down to rest a wait for me? The vow I made to love and be with you in life and death could not waver.”
As she held her husband in her arms, she could feel his breath slowly fading away. She slowly put her hand under the pillow, took out a small bottle, opened it and drank the poison. Her husband’s heart stopped beating, and so did hers. The flame of love that once ruled in their hearts turned everything into ashes.
