Once upon a time, there was a littleman. He was a part of the body that never really had a place. Every other part of the body called him the littleman because he was too short to be called a limb and he was also too large to be called a projection. So one day, littleman and his twin brother (who was also a littleman but less popular because he always did things the opposite way and nobody really liked him) decided to find themselves a home on the body. A permanent home.
So they went to the village called Head. Head was the fanciest of villages. All the residents of Head had special abilities. Their leaders, Mr and Mrs Eyeballs welcomed them and asked, “How will you be an addition to our community?” So the littlemen said, “Your Majesties, we are a very handy lot. We could help draw your eyelids every morning and shut them for you every evening. We can also keep guard of the ear drums’ home and protect him from any strange noises. We could also keep guard at the nose’s house and guard his nostrils from strange smells.”
After quick consultation and consideration, Mrs Eyeballs responded to them, “Unfortunately, we cannot let you stay. You see, my husband and I blink every other second and that would be a lot of work for you littlemen. For the homes of eardrums and Mr Nose, how will you know strange noises yet you don’t have the special ability to hear? How will you detect the strange smells if you don’t have the ability to smell? We are sorry littlemen, but you have to be special to live in our village.”
The littlemen were heartbroken. They spent the night inside the cave of Teeth that was named mouth. The teeth people were very courteous, and let the littlemen borrow their tongue as covers for the night. All was well until one of the littlemen, the less popular one, started complaining that their covers were becoming wet from the saliva in the drool. Even before morning came, the littlemen were kicked out of the cave.
So they went to the village of the throat people. It was a very small village. It was so small that one of the littlemen was asked to wait outside. The discussion this time was so short and precise. Mr Epiglottis or as he was commonly called Epman told them, “This is a very crowded space, we cannot let you and your brother in. The only job here is to ensure food goes where its supposed to and air goes where its supposed to and that is a job only I can do.”
So the littlemen took the highway down to the foundation city of Feet. The feet people welcomed them in and offered them something to eat. “What is this meal called?” the littlemen asked. “This is our staple food; dust and fungus. Do you like it?” However desperate the littlemen were, this was not a meal they wanted to enjoy every other day. “We’ve tasted better food. For the amount of work we are willing to do, this payment is very unfair.”
So the 10 elders of the feet village, spoke on behalf of the sole and ankles and heels and told them, “We were also littlemen like you but we became irrelevant to the body functions. We have been reduced to be bouncers- to kick things around and transport to move the body from place to place. We can no longer even come together to clap and appreciate, or even hold on to anything. We have been despised and we have become accustomed to this life. We have become so miserable that the owners of the body spend fortunes on shoes that are pretty enough to hide our ugly faces.”
“However, if you feel you have what it takes, there is that new village upstate called Hands. They are very picky about what they touch, and even more, who they let in their circle. None of us have ever gotten the courage to go up and measure ourselves against them, but you can. I’m sure you’ll find no dust and fungus there.”
So the littlemen were in the hands village before daybreak, worn out and swollen. The Wrist, the timekeeper, welcomed them warmly and escorted the littlemen into the presence of the Legendary eight littlemen of the Hand village. Before the two littlemen were eight of others like them. They had ivory crowns and beautiful rings around their knuckles. Their crowns had a crystal nail-polish lustre and were well filed. The Palm Arena was work of a skilful architect. The floor has superficial creases, some darker than others. Three of these lines stood out. The surface wasn’t flat either. It had irregular bumps with streaks of green vein. It was beautiful.
Unlike in the previous villages, the littlemen decided to speak first rather than answer. “We have travelled far and wide in search of this village. We combed through the Head village, but their people said we were not special. The Teeth people chased us away from their cave. The space in the throat was not enough for both of us to thrive. The Feet people deliberately refused elegance and decided to be a shoddy lot. Alas! We have come home.”
One of the elders, who had an extra ring made of silver around his knuckles, looked around the Palm Arena, then at the other elders, then back at the two travelers. “And how will you help us?”
“We are very strong. We will help grip from the other side. We will make the Hand village firmer. We cannot work alone. All we can do is join forces so that we become stronger together. We will also keep watch at night.”
The Ring littleman was impressed. So the littlemen were stationed at the flanks of the village. The elders called them ‘The Thumbs’ because of how swollen they were. When the eight elders crawled in for their sleep each night, both littlemen stayed wide awake and stayed upright to signify everything was okay. Finally, they found a home they belonged. A home where they mattered.
And the thumbs are the young writers.
The different villages are the different writing platforms.
And the hand village is MANENOZ.com
What People Say
Good job. I am impressed. Your creativity still topnotch. All the best!
cmwandiko
Savory, humorous, and so real. I fell in love with the piece lol. Great work!
Ogola
Projecting humor through such a magnificent piece is priceless! One of the many that I’ll read,,,I saw that Shakespeare hand in the slave’s words
uniquenotalwaysspecial
Let’s be stronger together.
Connect with Sarush on his social media pages alongside
Manenoz 