Drum Bits of Terror: Drum Bits of Terror

15

107 15 eeks came and passed, but Sam had no way of tracking the girl. Even though he had hoped to accidentally bump into her, it never happened! A chance meeting spoke to his lifelong motto: What was destined to be always come to pass. Unfortunately for Sam, nothing seemed to work. Perhaps, the strange girl was not in his destiny. His destiny worked counter to his heart’s desire. So he waited and kept on hoping that one day . . . Only one day she would fall into his lap. That was before he paid his sister Furaha a visit. The day of his the visit to Furaha’s home, turned out to be the most shocking. He did not anticipate it. Yes! It was a shock of a life time alright. He had plenty to talk to her about—their childhood life at the Old Man’s home—from how they teased each other in their formative years, fought over food, or acted plainly foolish. Or how they painted each other’s her face with soot, a foolish bet that tested each other’s tenacity. Whoever stayed awake longer painted the other’s face. It was a fun foolish childish prank. Furaha always lost such a bet. So Sam was looking forward to another enjoyable afternoon with his sister . . . And he did get a lion’s share of a delightful afternoon. As he approached her door, he smiled mischievous as a sinister thought crept on his mind. ‘What if I played a prank on her? Won’t it be fun to see her frightened face? What a fantastic idea!’ he mumbled to himself as he drew closer to her door—just inches from it. The truth about the matter was: His very visit was in deed a surprise. He did not tell her about it. He followed a Logooli rule of thumb that one does not need special notification to pay a relative a visit, especially if the one being visited was a sibling. One simply showed up, and showing-up he had. His plan was simple: He would growl at Furaha the moment she opened the door at his knocking. ‘The shock on her face will be dynamite!’ he mumbled. He knew Furaha hated pranks, and that is what made it enticing. He smiled at the thought of seeing her jumpW 108 up in fright. ‘What if she had a pot in her hand? What then?’ a grin appeared on his face. He did not have to speculate more on that—he knew what would happen. This was a kind of prank he used to play on her in their formative years. He remembered another time he had frightened her. They were in the kitchen making tea, and Furaha was busy tending to the fire. By her side, she had an open jar of milk. Seizing the moment, Sam began slurping his chops, as though he were a cat lapping milk. “Furaha look! The cat is drinking milk!” Startled and in haste, Furaha turned in the direction of the sound as her hand slipped off one of the stones of her stove nearly burning herself. There was no cat. Sam balled-up into laughter until tears came out of his eyes. ‘That was very funny,’ he thought. ‘Yes indeed! It was very funny.’ He resolved to scare her one more time. He approached Furaha’s steps with a grin on his face. He moved his right foot forward onto the first step. He stopped abruptly to listen. He did not hear any sound from inside. He straightened himself-up, rolled his shoulders, and then lugged his left foot onto the next step. Once again, he paused momentarily, but all was still. He moved his right foot onto the next step followed by the left. He stopped again. One more step towards the door and that was it. He paused for the final time. Right foot forward, left foot forward, and he was at the door. He straightened himself again. The look of mischief crept over his mind once more as he moved his right hand slowly to tap at the door. He could not help, but feel giddy inside. ‘What a fantastic picturesque moment it will be!’ He imagined the fear factor on his sister’s face; the kind of scare that would make her jumpy. ‘Beautiful! Just beautiful!’ With the slowness of man who knew what he was about to do, he gently tapped the door. Nothing happened...