The lemon Orchard

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Kibria Ali

They walked a little way further in the moonlight and the man with the lantern said, ‘This is as good a place as any, Oom.’

        They had come into a wide gap in the orchard, a small amphitheatre surrounded by fragrant growth, and they all stopped within it. The moonlight clung for a while to the leaves and the angled branches, so that along their tips and edges the moisture gleamed with the quivering shine of scattered quicksilver.

The dog started barking in high yaps again. This time it was louder than before. ‘Somebody shut that dog up,’ the fifth man shouted. It seemed like as if the dog’s bark was getting louder, as though it was coming closer to them. Unexpectedly, the dog suddenly stopped barking.

‘Thank god the dog has finally stopped,’ said Andries. ‘I want something to drink now.’ He sat down and grabbed a bottle of water. He completed it all.

‘Go and get some more water for him.’ Oom ordered the coloured man.

‘You might as well go with him,’ Oom said to the fifth man.

‘I don’t want to go with that hotnot,’ the fifth man replied.

The lantern bearer looked at Oom and said, ‘I’ll go with him. ‘Here hold the lantern.’ He gave the lantern to the fifth man and began to walk towards the fresh water spring with the victim. The coloured man was shivering and couldn’t protect against the coolness of the night. It was so dark that they couldn’t even see just a few centimetres ahead.

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After a little while, the lantern bearer asked the coloured man, ‘What was it that you have done to get this punishment?’ The man remained quiet. ‘Go on say it, I won’t tell anyone.’ The coloured man started to speak inaudibly.

‘Speak up,’ the lantern bearer insisted.

‘A few weeks ago I was going past the minister of the church and he called me. I thought he was probably calling me because of something important but he called me towards him and started beating me up for no reason. Then I went to the court to get ...

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