Kingdom In Distress: The Original Story/play By Udoinyang Mbat

It was a gloomy night. From out of the darkness came a dog; a dog of war. Big, mangy, muscular, Scary dog. As the king moved down the valley towards the torrential dark ocean, the way became increasingly choked with fallen structures and signs of tumult as if the rains were waiting for the command of the furious king. The
eagerness of the King to carry out his enterprise made his steward, Mendes to wonder what must have gone wrong with His Highness. King Amoneba screamed as he descended the rough
edged valley with passion. I know it! Yes, I know it! Tell me what the Priests said? The King enquired with anger.
Alarmed by the thunderous sound of the King's voice, the steward submitted and whispered:
"The heir to the throne is in the offing and the household of Amedom, your first cousin has opted to nurture the Prince to achieve that with the
help of some ambitious elders.. "My own subjects condemned me! They dare judged me? And what emboldens this treachery.. King Amoneba yelled. You are mistaken, my King None would risk your anger".. the steward retorted. Tt is that uncircumcised self-acclaimed Prince, born by an outcast queen sent by the mean gods to defile my kingdom and put me in the nose of the flies to smell like wound. This cannot be!
The bird must be shown its nest. To the dark ocean he will sojourn. The King vaunted.
This talk sobered the steward instantly;, he looked about fearlessly compromising the wrath of the king against the innocent newborn Prince.
He wondered how the king got to know about the rumour which had been peddled among the commoners in the kingdom when it was not officially disclosed to him. "This has cuckolded me in my castle, traversed the justice of the kingdom and raped my precious peace! This is a low connivance against my exalted throne...
But I will shake the Ostrich nest to put the daring bird on scare; I will humble the Great Prime and banish him to the unknown ebb". The King boasted. "I beg you, Your Highness..! Temper justice with mercy and pull the dagger off the innocent Prince because the revenge may hang in the steward's throat. The steward lamented.
The king arrived the sea shore in company of his kitchen cabinet members alongside the King's personal crime detector, the wild heavy dog. As he came down from the horse others followed immediately. The forerunners had brought Amata the widow queen and her new born son, Prince Fabius and a big wooden crate that looked like an ancient Greek can prepared tor them. King Amoneba said taken you this day and the bastard you gave to, and has thrown you to meet your goddess in this dark ocean tor flouting the tradition of this great kingdom and there shall you ever be" He turned to the moonlight and said: "Bear me witness this day you solemn ray, that the bastard so banished to the sea goddess shall henceforth cease to be among the living till the last man in the kingdom of Ama becomes King The King's Generals who were in the company of the King saluted in uniform and turned immediately as the king mounted the war horse in utmost rage.
The sayings of king Amoneba angered the dark ocean goddess thus, the water was immediately thrown into chaos wafting ashore dangerous inhabitants of the ocean at the peril of the people. Innocent people in the kingdom became the first casualty of the goddess rage as the upsurge of the water destroyed several buildings around the shore line and continued as far as the major roads in the tiny KingdoPeople gasped for help as the ocean surge criss-crossed objects here and there hitting whatever crossed the road in anger. There was uproar in
the land as bodies, frozen in contorted deaths littered every nook and cranny of the affected areas. AS corpses piled to the horizon, the dog climbed a heap of casualties. At the top, the do
looked back across the flooded field. Iis eyes were sad, wearIed and disgusted , furious Survivors began, hand-to-hand fighting amog nemselves. Confusion also ensued among King's Generals as they disagree loudly on Strategies to adopt to cushion the effect of the carnage. As contentions raged on, a loud banging Sound, heavy like the Hiroshima nuclear bomb could be heard piercing the hubbub, and the officers became quiet, turning to King Amoneba, a striking man in his prime; his handsome face marked by one crooked scar on his jaw. Behold it was a building upon which the king and his aides stood collapsing in protest.
The Generals who stood a bit away from the collapsed building ended abruptly the debate about tactics to adopt to ease the flood and began
efforts to rescue the King from the impending death staring upon the king's face like silver in the midst of coal. As soldiers hurried the king on
his horse and attempted to move fast out of the scene, a big stone from the collapsed buildings in an act of fate rolled to hit the horse which the
king rode and in an unfortunate swing, the horse tumbled down and the king became a 'pillar of salt. There was pandemonium in the land as the
goddess ensured that the kingdom of Ama witnessed a level of reprisal only comparable to the biblical Sodom and Gomorra in the Jewish history. The dog stared at the King's littered body then slipped away.
Night fell, all creatures became terror to the eyes. Fear griped the inhabitants of Ama kingdom. Unseen by exhausted and confused remnants oI the king's guards, the dog bounded up the stairs of the dilapidated castle. The dog
approached a doorway and maintained Vigilance on every shadow that moved around the collapsed territory of the late king; hoping to revenge the death of its master. But the people themselves powered by great intuition of the mind kept away in fear.
Ama kingdom became strange and despairing.
Everybody detested the throne for fear of the unknown. Meanwhile Prince Fabius and his mother had sailed to a safe harbor in the Island of Lepof into the waiting hands of a Good
Samaritan as the wooden crate where Prince Fabius and her mother are caged berthed.
The destruction of Ama kingdom seemed abated as water retreated to its former level. The people counted their losses and gnashed their teeth for the wanton destruction occasioned by
the three hours of terror which erupted in the tiny kingdom ordered by the
goddess in protest for the atrocity committed by King Amoneba against Prince Fabius and her mother, Amata.
In another twist of fate, as people tried to re-start their life all over again, a little boy was spotted leading a blind old man along a road near the late king's palace.
Abruptly, the old man halted. Puzzled, the boy Scanned ahead. Immediately, a spray of dust broke out in the kingdom. All creatures became dusty. Everyone walking along the roads were Coloured from the crown of their heads to their feet with dust. The mysterious plague forced everyone to their tents. Fear gripped the people.
Elders Council quickly summoned a meeting to enquire from the Priest what must have gone wrong in the embattled kingdom of Ama. As the Priest was being awaited, a little girl was spotted coming from the direction of the dark ocean walking With an old woman. Their heads covered with black Silver linen and tied round to the lower cheek close to the throat. People were Scared of these strange creatures that bore the structure and semblance of human but denied their true form. No one could recognize them as Citizens ot Ama Kngdom. As they approached the desolated palace of the late king. a mighty Wind ensued exchanging rool tops rendering them wasted. As the storm began to settle down graduaily, flies ot assorted type invaded the kingdom and ensured that ne one was tound on the roads. it is often said tuat "wen the sun gins its retlection, ship-wrecking and diretul thunders break". Sorrow knocked on every door as people were forcefully banished to their homes for fear of the unknown.
The morning sun gave the inhabitants the hope that Ama Kingdom was still habitabie despite series of life threatening circumstan prevalent in the land. The Priest arrived to earnest expectations of the Council Members
who were in deep prayers that the dreary night should finally break to herald a what There was eagerness; eagerness to know what had gone wrong in Ama Kingdom. The priest wasted no time in letting the cat out of the bag.
He told them that Ama kingdom was under siege from the dark ocean goddess. "The goddess is in a revenge mission. The only way out of the spiritual upheaval, the Priest went on, is to ensure that the throne of the king is left vacant as long as the heir to the throne, the Kingdom's Dream King, who was banished with his mother, remained in exile" On how to stop evil Visitations on the kingdom, the Priest said: purification work must commence in earnest otherwise worst scenarios would become common sights in Ama Kingdom".
Determned to see an end to the uglybSituations, the remnants of the council members consorted with a few elders across the kingdom and carried out appeasement rituals on the land to ensure that the dark ocean goddess retreated at least for a while but not without scars. Scars that are sufficiently suffocative. The long war With the gods has wounded this kingdom, but life goes stubbornly on. Among the crises-ridden buildings is a bustling market where assorted wares and shoes are sold. Merchants,
pertormers, noise, and music could be seen and heard despite odds.