Deng and Konybaai in Bakpiny and the mysterious murder of an innocent dog
7 min readBy Kon Joseph Leek, Juba, South Sudan
December 21, 2017 (SSB) — It is a war, another frontline – the struggle of “to be” (existence) and not “to be” (not to exist). The main thrive is “to be” but who knows the outcome is still being awaited. Man proposes and God deposes remember! Should this be the case?
Let me tell it all, it is just a story – kind of a fairytale, only a fiction of which no reference is made to any person either living or dead, or to any specific historical fact and so any similarity should, of course, have to be treated as purely accidental.
Let me tell it, isn’t bathing stripping off all clothes? Isn’t swimming wallowing in waters? Let me tell it. Everyone knows which side of their bread is buttered and this resulted in betrayal, an innocent dog was betrayed through whimsical decision making.
It caused a terrible mayhem, the victim was later to be regarded as a hero, an innocent victim of a misplaced suspicion and mistrust! Konybaai was shortly declared dead, totally gone never to return forever and a day until resurrection day. No post-mortem was needed, the spear of Dengwhimsical was angrily pieced through its heart intentionally. It was an unprecedented mistake of the entire village in years. Wait a minute, hold there a little, let me take you where and how it all began.
Millet of years before 2011 in the tiny village of Bakpiny which was placed at the foot of the huge mountain to the West and a gigantic serpentine river to the east. Bakpiny was secure from any external attack. The river moved from the North to the East straight to the South as the mountain covers the entire West. The only threat was attacking from some aquatic gigantic carnivorous and so – the likes of hippos, sharks, crocodiles and pythons
There was the abundance of food from the river and on land. With the morning breeze and beautiful sunset as it slowly retreated behind the peak of the mountain, the land was a paradise. The lush green forest was a rippling cloak of many colors, the sky ever iridescent in the sunrise and sunset swirling with the patterns of winds and clouds reflecting the prisms of a rainbow. The water birds swarming from side to side above the trees taking over the place of the cloud covering the unfriendly noontime sunshine. For all these, it was named Bakpiny meaning Day-break
Dengwhimsical, one of the village chiefs was famous for his dog; ferocious, ingenious, aggressive and sturdy. Enormous bowling beast of a dog with small colored squinting eyes and maple leaves ears, hairy and vivacious, taller than the ordinary dogs by far. Its sight was said to make men tremble or kneel before him and caused women urinate to themselves. It was rumored to belong to the clan of either Jackal or wolve. Konybaai (for that was the dog’s name) was indeed scary but not as heartless as many villagers mistook it.
Dengwhimsical was in several cases warned that his dog would either harm his child, village children or Deng himself but could give a cold shoulder though he somehow believed them inwardly after all he (Deng) found it (dog) in the wilderness at birth; little, cute, innocent and all alone and brought it home. It grew up a home animal but who knows, once a beast can turn into it again! There is no guarantee! If a teetotaler is believed to have absconded from drinking after being dead and buried then how can this animal be exceptional? How? Deng contemplated
But Dengwhimsical wished that his dog, his defender doesn’t turn into such outrageous thoughts. Deng’s house was a little isolated from the village, he loved farming, unlike his subjects who majority were fishermen. A year ago, by this time of the year, Deng has had a scuffle with his wife, the showdown didn’t favor Deng. He was put down twice (John Cena’s style) by his tall and immense hippo of a wife sending rage into the hearts of Deng’s kinsmen prompting him to show his wife a red card leaving behind a one-year-old kid in the care of Deng.
Bow-legged, skinny Lilliputian, jet-black, axe-headed with protuberant eyes, Deng was a habitual visitor of his farm and could leave the child under the care of his dog. Once he is back home, the dog would move out and come back with a catch. Most of Konybaai’s prey were either skinned and dried or distributed to the village
One evening, a child disappeared in the village and the prime suspect of the lost child’s parents was Deng’s dog although some children would say that the child was taken away by the river. After the lost child parents came to Deng and accused his dog as the reason for their child disappearance-something he disputed, the dog immediately arrived home with nothing that evening, the first time since its started hunting! Deng instantly began implementing the suspicion of the lost child parents, ‘why of all times should it return empty-handed today?’ he questioned. ‘he might be satisfied with the flesh of that innocent child”, Deng convinced himself but kept it as his truthful secret
One of the mornings of December when the sky is blank and barren with the scorching sun that sent the animals afar in search of shade when the grass and leaves of trees are yellow and fallen only waiting to burn off. Mr. Dengwhimsical left for harvesting, several minutes later was a cracking sound through the dry leaves and grass moving straight to the direction of the house. Deng’s two-year-old child was in the house. ‘What would this be? It is windingly encroaching crawling, an elephant! But would be taller than the grass. A snake! But why this long?’, Konybaai was waiting with anxiety only to appear before him an enormous snake! Python! But had teeth and an eye on its forehead! It was later known as one of the rarest kinds – rivers’ beast!
As it was struggling to squeeze itself into the room, Konybaai jumped over it in protection of a child – the war has just begun, it’s either a dog and a child to die or a giant snake until the dog finally killed the snake inside the house right at the entrance
After the job was successfully done, Konybaai slept under the shade in the compound tired and blooded waiting for its master. It had sustained two big injuries in the neck and the right shoulder – All were snake bites! A short while later Deng appeared and abruptly began sobbing suspiciously upon seeing the dog, Konybaai guessed that Deng was heartbroken for its injuries.
Deng was holding simsim and the sickle in his right hand and the spear in the left. He slowly put the simsim and the sickle slowly down while shaking with rage and horribly weeping and had the spear to the right hand. He moved closer to the dog with his head bent down and the dog at the corner of the left eye. The dog still knew that its master was too sympathetic of the wounds. Before more thoughts could flow in, the master (Deng) with the blinking speared the dog at the left ribs through its diaphragm down its heart and proceeded to the house. Not even did the dog cry, neither did it howl nor shriek, it was flat down dead and gone
At the entrance, he found the big snake coiled dead in a disorganized way sending shivers through his spine but later recognized that it was dead. As he moved in, he saw his son playing on the floor unhurt at all. He realized that he has killed his dog on an empty suspicion that resulted in whimsical decision making. He thought that the dog was covered with the blood as it was eating his child but instead the dog was helping the kid from being hurt by the snake. It was then that he was named Dengwhimsical by the village fanatics for executing his dog on the unjustified claim.
Kon Joseph Leek has a bachelor degree in Mass Communication from St. Lawrence University Uganda and PGD in Linguistics from the University of Juba, South Sudan. While at St. Lawrence University, he saved as a Speaker for International students and thereafter as the Student’s Guild Vice president. Joseph currently lives in Juba. He can be reached at his email: j.konleek@gmail.com
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