Tribe Rules - S01 E05

Story 2 months ago

Tribe Rules - S01 E05

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 5

Episode 5: Tribe Rules

Many years passed by like birds flying across a big blue sky. The time went so fast that Jide sometimes forgot how long he had been away from the Sun Tribe. He was no longer the young prince who had run away with nothing but a small bag and a silver knife. He had become a man of great strength and very much wisdom. He had learned the secrets of the earth. He knew exactly when the rain would fall and when the sun would be too hot for the plants. Jide had become a very great farmer. His fields were not just small gardens anymore. They were huge seas of green and gold that stretched as far as a person could see. He planted corn that grew taller than a tall man. He planted wheat that looked like a soft carpet of gold when the wind blew over it. Every seed he put in the ground grew into something beautiful and strong.

People from many far away lands started to hear about the man who lived in the hidden valley. They traveled across the dark mountains and through the thick forest just to see his amazing farm. They brought colorful cloths and shiny pots and strong horses to trade for his food. Jide was always very fair to everyone. He was kind and honest, and everyone liked him very much. Soon, the people began to call his home the Golden Harvest. It was a very good name for his land. It seemed like everything Jide touched turned into something valuable. He had more money and more riches than he ever had when he was a prince. He had boxes of gold and jars of silver. He had everything a man could ever want to own.

Jide built a house that was truly amazing. It was not just a small house made of logs anymore. It was a huge building made of bright white stone and dark wood that was polished until it shone like a mirror. The house had big windows that let in the bright morning sun. It was even bigger and more beautiful than the palace where Jide had grown up. Inside the house, the floors were made of smooth stone. There were soft rugs from distant lands that felt like clouds under your feet. There were candles that smelled like sweet flowers in every room. Elena had the finest dresses in the world. They were made of silk that felt like cool water on her skin. Jide wore soft tunics and boots made of the best leather. They lived like a king and a queen in their own secret kingdom.

Jide and Elena loved each other very much. Their love was still the same as it was when they first held hands by the black river. In the evenings, when the work was done, they would sit on their big porch. They would hold hands and look at the bright stars in the sky. They would talk about their long journey and how far they had come together. They had plenty of food to eat every single day. They had many servants to help them with the heavy work in the fields. They had the finest clothes and the most beautiful things. To anyone looking from the outside, they were the luckiest and happiest people in the whole world. They had everything they needed to be happy forever.

But inside the big house, things were not as perfect as they looked. The house was very, very big, but it was also very lonely. Whenever Jide walked through the long hallways, his footsteps made a hollow sound. The silence was very loud. He had built the house with a big dream in his heart many years ago. He had built five special bedrooms. These rooms were not for guests. They were not for the servants who worked in the fields. These rooms were built for children. Jide had wanted a big family. He had wanted the house to be full of the sound of children laughing and playing.

Each of the five rooms was very beautiful. One room had walls painted the color of the soft morning sky. Jide had carved wooden toys himself. He made toys shaped like lions and elephants and horses. Another room had soft blankets and a small bed made of the finest wood. Jide had spent a lot of time making sure every room was perfect for a child to live in. But as the years went by, every single one of those rooms stayed empty. There were no children playing in the hallways. There were no small voices singing songs. There were no tiny muddy footprints on the clean white stone floors. The toys sat on the shelves and collected dust. The small beds were never slept in.

Whenever Jide walked past those five empty rooms, he felt a sharp pinch in his heart. It was a pain that all his gold could not fix. He and Elena wanted a baby more than anything else in the whole world. They would have given away all their corn and all their wheat just to have one child. They would have given away the big house and all the gold just to hear a baby cry for real. They remembered the ghost sounds of the crying baby in the forest from years ago, and it made them even sadder. They prayed every single morning when the sun came up over the hills. They prayed every single night when the moon was high in the sky. They asked the stars and the earth to give them a child, but the house remained silent and empty.

Elena would often sit in the empty rooms and look out the window. She would hold a small wooden toy and cry quietly. Jide would try to comfort her, but he was sad too. They had all the money in the world, but they could not buy the one thing they wanted most. They started to wonder if they were being punished for leaving their tribes. They started to wonder if the rules they had broken were more important than they thought. But they never spoke these fears out loud. They just kept working and kept praying, hoping that one day the silence in the house would finally end.

One warm afternoon, the sun was shining very brightly. Jide decided to take a walk through his big garden to clear his head. This garden was his favorite place in the whole world. It was full of sweet smelling roses and tall trees that were full of fruit. The air was warm and smelled like jasmine flowers. Jide walked slowly, looking at the trees. He saw a tree that was heavy with big red apples. He thought about how well everything in his garden was growing. His crops in the fields were perfect. His animals were healthy and strong. Everything he planted grew tall and fast. The earth seemed to love him and give him everything he asked for, except for a child.

As he was walking near a patch of beautiful silver lilies, he saw something moving in the long grass. It was not a bird and it was not a rabbit. It was a snake. But it was not a normal snake like the ones he saw in the fields. This snake was very special. It had scales that looked like they were made of real silver. It shone so brightly in the sun that it almost hurt Jide’s eyes to look at it. The snake did not try to run away when Jide came near. It did not hiss or try to hide. Instead, it coiled itself up in a neat circle. It lifted its head and looked directly at Jide with eyes that looked like small, shiny black beads.

Jide stopped moving. He felt a very old and very cold shiver run down his back. It was the same feeling he had many years ago at the Great River. He felt like something important was about to happen. The silver snake opened its mouth, but it did not try to bite him. It did not make a scary sound. Instead, the snake spoke to him. The voice of the snake was very strange. It did not sound like a human voice at all. It sounded like dry leaves rubbing together on a very windy day. It was a scratchy and whispering sound that made Jide’s ears tingle.

A tree with no roots cannot grow fruit, the snake said.

Jide felt his blood turn to ice. He stood perfectly still, unable to move his legs. He knew exactly what the silver snake was talking about. He thought about the home he had left behind so long ago. He thought about his father, the King, and his mother, the Queen. He thought about the great wooden gates that had closed behind him with a loud thud. He remembered the booming sound from the clear sky. He had cut himself off from his people. He had walked away from his history and his family. He had no roots anymore. He was like a tree that had been pulled out of the ground and moved to a new place. He had all the gold and success in the world, but he was missing the connection to his past.

Jide did not wait to hear the snake say anything else. He turned around and began to run. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran past the beautiful flowers and the trees full of fruit. He ran through the garden and back toward the big white house. His face was very pale, as white as a ghost. His heart was thumping against his chest like a loud drum. He was filled with a great fear that he could not explain. The words of the snake kept repeating in his head over and over again. A tree with no roots cannot grow fruit. He reached the house and burst through the door, gasping for air, while the silence of the five empty rooms seemed to grow heavier than ever before.

What do you think the silver snake meant when it said a tree with no roots cannot grow fruit? Does it have to do with Jide leaving his family?

Jide has a lot of gold and a big house, but he is not truly happy. Do you think money can buy happiness, or is something else missing?

Why do you think the snake appeared to Jide now, after all these years of success?

Do you think Jide will have to go back to the Sun Tribe to fix his roots so he can have a baby?

The Golden Harvest is full of riches, but the heart of the Prince is empty! The mystery of the silver snake has changed everything. Will Jide and Elena ever find the happiness they truly want? The past is calling, and the secrets of the tribes are coming back to haunt them!