Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot

Fire in the Night

Saba feels as if she’s only been asleep a few minutes when the chickens wake her up. She scrambles in the darkness and sits up. Mesfin calls her outside. For a moment, Saba sticks her head under the gahbi and curls up tightly. Maybe this is only a dream. But Emama’s commanding voice brings Saba out.

Saba scurries out the door. In the thorn fence, she sees a flickering of small orange flames. Mesfin points toward the stream and says they can run. Emama, shaking her head, tells Saba to bring some coals from the fire, and hands Saba a broad leaf and twig. Saba dashes inside, and in her hurry, trips over a chicken and falls. She crawls to where the fire lives and touches a warm stone Emama uses for balancing the griddle. Saba blows urgently until a coal glows. She uses the twig to push the coal onto the leaf and goes back outside.

Emama looks like a spirit creature, with her face half-lit in shadow. She piles pieces of straw onto the coal. Mesfin grabs Saba’s hand and pulls her as they hurry away. Saba asks Mesfin what Emama is doing, and he explains she’s preparing to make a second fire to run toward the first fire and bite it. But she’ll only do that if she must, to save the house and animals. They’re going to try to prevent the fire from getting near.

They’re very close to the fire now, and Saba can feel the heat on her face. How are they going to keep the fire away? Mesfin lifts a branch and beats the sparks that fly from the fire. Saba lunges at the nearest tree and yanks off a green branch, the bark tearing at her hands. Saba begins to beat the fire. She imagines she is Makeda and the fire is the terrible snake. One of them has to die.

Saba continues hitting the fire over and over until she feels Mesfin’s hand on her shoulder. She stops her beating, and says they’ve conquered this fire. He prods a piece of the fence with his branch and nothing comes out. He smiles, his voice full of pride. Emama thinks they are children, but they were strong enough to beat back the fire. Now she’ll know they don’t need to stay huddled inside at home. She will finally let them go to the market.