Marangi and Mbeya: A Tale of Intertwined Spirits

The rain splashed onto Marangi’s face as she stepped out of the car. The drive had taken more time than expected and despite the warm summer night, she was cold. As she walked towards the door, her short steps were heavy with every step. She sighed as she fumbled with her keys.

Marangi had always wished her life could be different. It wasn’t that she had lived a bad life, it just was not what she wanted. She had married young to give her parents the granddaughter they always wanted, but after Imani was born, she felt like something was wrong. Her husband worked all day while she stayed at home raising their daughter and looking after the house. He had never been interested in sex and even after giving birth to a child, he still looked at her like she didn’t exist.

The only thing that kept her going was knowing that one day Imani would grow up and take care of her. When Imani turned eighteen, she left for University without a word and Marangi sat alone in the house that had seemed so big when her husband was alive. She cried herself to sleep every night until one day she woke up to an empty house. He had left everything behind; his clothes, his shoes, even his toothbrush, leaving nothing for Marangi except for an old photo album where he hadn’t cut out any pictures of himself or Imani when they were growing up together.

Marangi finally managed to unlock the door and went inside. The strong smell of mothballs welcomed her as it stung her eyes and clogged her nose. She dropped her bag on the floor and kicked off her shoes before walking into the kitchen to make herself some tea. She turned on the radio as usual before picking up a chair to sit down as she waited for the kettle to boil.

She looked around the living room with a frown on her face before spotting a spider web near the light bulb in the ceiling above the armchair where Imani used to watch TV after school every day. She wondered what Imani would think about all this if she knew about it but quickly pushed away those thoughts from her head as she slowly rose from her chair to get rid of it before sitting back down again and sipping from the tea cup on the table next to it.

As usual, Marangi sat there for hours without moving until exhaustion finally caught up with her causing her eyes to close and drift off into sleep. In this state, Marangi found herself floating through space before landing on a planet that could have been Earth but wasn’t quite right either. Large red trees were everywhere while small green creatures were running around aimlessly trying not to run into their own feet or each other’s bodies but somehow managing to do so anyway whenever they bumped into each other or ran into another tree trunk. As Marangi took a closer look at them, it became clear that they were having fun being clumsy instead of being bothered by it which made Marangi smile despite herself as little creatures flew straight past her head making funny noises but not actually hitting or disturbing her in any way which would have been quite odd considering how many of them were running around like crazy little children lost in their own world of imagination and dreams all filled with rainbows and unicorns dancing around their heads singing songs about peace and joy while dandelions danced around their feet scattering their seeds into all corners of existence rendering everyone happy wherever they may be at any given time without fail no matter what happened because happiness is important! The thought made Marangi laugh despite herself again as these tiny little creatures continued flying past unaware or maybe unaware of themselves in general like some sort of dreamlike existence which wasn’t really existing at all because who would be able to see something that doesn’t exist? No one! This thought made Marangi laugh even more but then suddenly stopped mid-laugh because someone had touched her shoulder making contact with flesh which is somehow strange because nobody should be able to touch anything here! Not even Marangi! It couldn’t be possible! Nobody exists here! Nobody except for…

Marangi opened her eyes in shock when suddenly something grabbed hold of both hands making sure Marangi couldn't move them anymore before lifting them high above Marangi's head until she was pressed against something hard making breathing difficult for a moment before letting go again allowing air back into Marangi's lungs again while small particles entered there freely making breathing easier again after which they decided to stay there causing Marangi's mouth to taste strange while being held tightly against a hard surface by two hands preventing movement while also causing warmth somewhere deep within that caused heat rise inside body starting at cheeks followed by neck reaching chest intensifying until finally travelling down stomach accompanied by shivers down spine creating goose bumps across entire body while warming hands gripping tightly until blood circulation disturbed causing slight numbness followed by tingling sensation when touching something soft yet hard at same time causing reactions in unexpected places below waist until finally wrists begin hurting slightly making movements restricted further creating sharp pain biting deep into skin turning searing painful as beautiful voice whispers sweet words directly into ear asking questions about pain followed by laughter asking questions about pleasure increased gradually increasing intensity until…

**

“Miss! Miss! Wake up! Are you alright?” said worried male voice shaking Marangi violently causing coffee cup to fall from table spilling its contents all over carpeting covering old stains caused by coffee cups belonging to husband when still alive upsetting person shaking Marangi further due to falling coffee cup almost crushing hand shaking person shaking Marangi causing coffee cup falling from hand breaking on floor making noise waking person up who fell asleep in armchair listening music after drinking too much coffee watching spider webs disappear all around leaving behind dust in corners of living room wondering where spiders went disappearing thinking dying species disappearing into nowhere same way husband disappeared leaving nothing behind except photo album full of pictures taken long time ago when holding baby daughter smiling showing teeth teeth teeth while baby daughter smiling showing teeth teeth teeth while mother father smiled looking happy standing next baby daughter standing happy standing next baby daughter standing happy standing next baby daughter standing happy standing next baby daughter standing happy standing next baby daughter standing happy standing next baby daughter standing happy standing next baby daughter standing happy…

**

“Oh my gosh! Miss! Miss can you hear me? Did you hit your head? Do you know what year is it? What is your name? What is your address? Who are you going out with tonight? Where did you really meet him? Are you sure he isn’t lying? Are you sure he isn’t dangerous? Is there anything else you need before I leave? Can I call someone for you first? Anything else at all? Anything else I can do for you? How does your head feel now? Can you walk ok now? Do you want me to pick you up later today so we can go shopping together tomorrow morning so we can buy nice new clothes together so we can go window shopping together leaving husbands behind who don’t deserve our attention anymore while waiting patiently for things we deserve like children who will love us just as we loved our husbands when they were still alive playing happily together helping each other grow up happily together sharing everything happily together wanting us happily together forever happily together…