After all that had happened

After all that had happened, Gunat, the leader of our land, speechless and perturbed, moves his long black hair away from his face and said, “It’s over”.

 

            The Matsés tribe could not believe it. They all stood there, motionless, not believing what had just happened. It was finally over. After all the commotion, they finally had the time to look around and see how their houses and their communities were completely demolished, as if a hurricane had just come in and blown it all away. All those monsters that had attacked them had destroyed the ocean sand which made it impossible for them to see their surroundings. Up in the sky, they could see how these big grey birds were flying over them, as bombs kept falling, it was as if they were being attacked by something unnatural. They could still hear it all, just as if it were a recorder, it just kept on rolling on and on. They couldn’t see the dead people and animals surrounding them, they could just smell the blood, almost taste it. There was nothing left of their city, it was all gone in the blink of an eye. They all stood there, not being able to believe what was in front of them. Yes, it was over, but was it really? Most of their people were dead. Their tribe wasn’t that big, but they were strong, they were better than all those other tribes that had tried to fight them off. They were an independent and peaceful community; they had never done any harm to anyone. “What has just happened?” they all wondered to themselves.

 

            “What is going on daddy?” asked a little girl. She was so beautiful. Her skin like dark chocolate seemed so fragile, she was like a porcelain doll. Into her dad’s big, shiny eyes, she stared attentively, without saying a word. But her dad just stood there silent, with no words left to describe what he was feeling. He just looked up and pointed at the highest hill nearest to them. The girl looked at that same direction and saw her house, the house that used to be the biggest and most colorful house in the village. It took some time for her to realize it was her home, completely destroyed, full of algae and dirt.

           

            Her dad walked towards the house and without questioning, Koina, the little girl, followed. Her dad got close to the house, and rubbed his hand against it. It had taken him years to build this house; it was their dream house. From the inside, the house looked even worse. It was full of dead fish and other sea creatures. As they walked inside, she could smell something; she had never smelled such a thing before. It was a strange smell that had polluted their fresh air just after the battle. She gently looked over at her dad and said, “What is that smell daddy?” Her dad stood tall, scratched his big round head, confused about what was going on and said, “It’s oil, it’s what the Korubo tribe had warned us about.”

            “Oil? What’s that, Daddy?” said Koina clueless about the situation.

“It’s something that is going to kill us all.”

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