THE GRAVE OF LOVE
BY

NABENDE EMMANUEL
LEONARD CHIPUKIZI


CHAPTER ONE

All his life Lukombii desired a metamorphosis of his life from sorrow to joy and jubilation. His life was characterized by only tears and fears that had piled in his Gishu heart. It was the need for true love that made Lukombii’s life miserable and a dustbin of love; Lukombii, a young man in his early twenties, strong and determined to hold his future. His life has been all the same throughout his primary studies even up to university. All he meets along his way is but heartbreaks, disappointments and regrets only. He kept on wondering whether he was misfortune himself or he had a lot of misfortunes. When he delightfully expects joy and victory, what come his way are nothing else but sorrow, sadness and tears. Before he sat for his Uganda Certificate of Education, a young lady who was one class behind him studying in a different school delightedly swept him off his feet and caught his eye. She lived in the same village with him. A short brown chocolate girl whose dimples and fat cheeks made her the most beautiful in her village. Many young men desired to be her fiancé but only her nature never gave them a chance to do so. She was such a quite, short tempered lady who would not wait for her words to cook up before she says them out. Dorcus was the first born of Mr. Alex whose wife was working in Lampaka city. Alex’s family was a stead of its own nature.
One cool evening, the melancholic Lukombii decided to walk along himself deep in the thick forest near their village, he had wanted to buy some sugar cane to quench his thirst. It was the same path that most natures of his village passed to collect their firewood, graze animals and do their farm work. After longing his piece of sugar cane, he walked back sluggishly and dumped his disturbed life under a cool greeny tree to chew his cane under its shade. Shortly later, without dilly dallying, Dorcus is seen walking along the same path carrying watering can heading to their farm which was just a stone throw from where Lukombii was sitting. She glances at him and happily walks towards him forgetting about where she was heading to. Her face was bleeding sweat mixed up with joy because she had finally met the person she had longed to see for a number of months. One could see the smiles that collided on her face as she tried to gather courage to face Lukombii eye to eye when she was surely ready to face him; she drugged her legs on tip-toe like a cat in order to meet him uninformed. She stealthily came by the back and closed Lukombii’s eyes in game-like style and breathed the following song in complete joy and jubilation.
“I found you Again
The long awaited morning has come.
It has come to pass.
I have seen you again.
My dead dread has resurrected
And moved to the seventh heaven,
My tears have ended.
I know I will no longer go tired
Wiping the over flowing tears
From my tiny spherical eyes.
My visage is happy to cry happily.
The long awaited afternoon has come
It has come to pass.
I have seen you again.
I have come out of
The coffin of loneliness
And death will never again
Storm my demanding heart
My friends are good
And indeed very good
But you are best and excellent
Please, my lost one
Clap hands for yourself.
The long awaited e evening has come
It has come to pass
I have seen you again
The dimpled piggy cheeks,
The shiny well created eyes,
The gorgeous happy face-
A face never gloomy and sad.
The warm gifted bosom,
The soft palms of your arms,
And the succulent lips.
I will kiss again
Because you’re the chosen Mary
Among the virgins.
You are homely welcome
And the rest I don’t know”.
Turning in front of him, in a moderating less speed she said;
“Finally, I met you!”
Lukombii mingled his face in bid to manufacture a short-lived smile for her in agreement to her words.
“Here I am, happy to meet you Dorcus”
They then looked at each for about five minutes or more without breathing any word. There was a dead silence within their confines as their eyes short directly into each other. Joy could be seen plastered on Dorcus’ face to have met...