Abobaku
The guards dragged him, kicking and screaming and struggling, back to the palace. Everybody looked on, some with derision, mouth down-turned in scorn. Some looked on in wide-eyed wonder, taking it all in.
"Now that we have found the Abobaku, Ooni can finally meet his ancestors in peace".
Everyone cheered.
He, still wriggling, looked up at the people gathered around, tears in his eyes.
"No. No, please".
A chief bounded over in three great strides and slapped him.
"Look at you. When the Ooni was alive, you lacked nothing. He gave you everything you wanted, and now, in his death, you run away and cry like a child, unwilling to perform your duty. Do you want calamity to befall us? After you've enjoyed? You disgust me".
Other chiefs rushed forward and pulled him away.
"It's enough. We've found him. All's well".
"Take him away", a chief said.
The tears began to fall as the guards dragged him away.
*
Two days later, the burial rites began. He could only hear distant sounds of the burial, and he could see nothing in the dark room he was being kept in. The tears had stopped falling for quite some time.
*
He heard footsteps and his door was kicked open. Two guards walked up to him, and dragged him out of the room. He no longer struggled, and his legs trailed on the ground as the guards moved. The sounds grew louder, but they now seemed eerie to him, otherworldly. The light of the sun was harsh on his eyes, and he kept it tightly shut.
The guards stopped, and he opened his eyes. The dead Ooni was in an open coffin, looking as regal and majestic as he was in life. By his side, a freshly dug grave gaped emptily. The priest began to incant, but he could hear nothing now, only a memory in his head.
"...Ooni has said you are his Abobaku", his sick mother had told him. "There's nothing I can do to stop them from taking you away, but always remember that when it happens, I'll be waiting for you, and you'll see Baba again".
*
He was lifted bodily and placed on the coffin. "It's really wide", he thought as the first heap of sand hit his body.
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