No sound broke the morning calm except the gentle splashing and sloshing of the water as Nomusa pulled her jar from one side to another. Then a sudden screech coming from one of the trees overhanging the stream made Nomusa look up. Above her head she saw two parrots sitting side by side. Their brilliant feathers bristled stiffly, and they shifted uneasily on the branch. What was worrying them, she wondered?
The parrots flapped their wings, and again they screeched, this time more insistently. A long scarlet feather slowly fluttered to the ground, and Nomusa dashed out of the stream to catch it before it landed. She did not want it to get wet and bedraggled on the moist ground.
But it was not easy to clamber over the rocks and stones. The feather fell into the deep grass beneath the tree before she could catch it.
Just as she was about to grasp it, there was a shriek from the parrots and a loud hiss. Nomusa jumped back and almost fell into the stream as she stumbled against a tree stump. She jumped up on the stump and looked fearfully down into the grass to see what had hissed at her.
It was the imamba, one of the most dreaded snakes. Its body was a bright flame color; as she watched, the creature raised its head from the ground and spread out the brilliant skin on its neck so that it looked as if it had a hood.
The imamba turned toward Nomusa and hissed again. Nomusa knew that this meant the snake was about to strike. She could see its short fangs, its back-curved teeth. Its lidless eyes were round and cold and cruel.
Nomusa broke into a cold sweat as she saw the snake’s long, slender tongue, forked at the end, waving like an antenna to detect the odors and vibrations in the air. The imamba was looking for her so that when he spat his poison at her he would make a direct hit. She knew just how he would do it.
He would throw his body forward, and two jets of his venom would shoot out from the ends of his fangs. If this poison reached so much as scratch on her skin, it could kill her. If it got into her eyes, it would blind her, perhaps forever.
There was a large stone nearby, but Nomusa knew that her people never killed snakes, no matter how dangerous they were. Snakes were full of evil spirits that would avenge themselves on the killer.