OK, Now I’m Scared

I was awoken early this morning by some ruckus outside. (I really hate being woken up before my alarm clock goes off.) Kijuju is always noisy in the morning because everyone is usually up and about by the crack of dawn. I’ll never understand that. This morning I didn’t hear the usual hustle and bustle that always grates on my nerves in the morning. I heard shouting, angry shouting. I reluctantly got out of bed to see what all the fuss was about.

What I saw I don’t think I’ll ever forget. This was a hundred times more bone chilling than seeing that dead dog. There was a mass of people in the assembly place, and they were stacking these sacks of God-knows-what in the middle of it. I saw a black viscous substance oozing out of some of the sacks. It wasn’t oil. Blood perhaps?

When the pile was about two meters high, that guy with sunglasses from the bar the other day came out and started speaking through a megaphone. I don’t think “speaking” is the right word. It was like his words were fire and he was spitting them out. I couldn’t make out what he was saying clearly (too many people shouting, not to mention my heart was beating in my ears), but I heard him spew out words like “justice” and “celebration of death.” The hair on my neck stood on end every time I heard him say “death.”

The crowd was riled up good, but then I saw them clear a path as a man carrying a torch made his way toward the pile. He set it alight and the whole mob burst into cheers. I never thought people cheering could fill me with so much dread. It made me shudder. As the fire consumed the pile, one of the sacks rolled off the top. The fire had eaten through the sack, and the thing inside it fell out. I couldn’t make it out clearly, but it looked like the body of the butcher himself! Just what in the name of God’s green Earth is going on around here!?

I quickly pulled my curtains shut and ran back to bed. I only worked up the nerve to write up this post after I was fairly certain the mob had dispersed. Needless to say, I won’t be making an appearance at work today.