“Mwa Maita Na Auwa Eu Chok Me Kot, Eu Chok Me Kot!”

The title was a quotation by a famous reWanikar of Oneop Island. It was blurted out in a sudden fit of anger and disbelief at what every Oneopese took for granted—that when it rains after a drought, it is only because God decided that it is time.

Here is the story:

It was a very humid Sunday morning and people’s hopes were very high. It was overcast and the cumulonimbus clouds coming over Kurum were heavy and very promising. Everybody wished that it would rain today because the drought was taking too long and people were tired and thirsty and angry. Tempers flared and fights and arguments were frequent. The rain would bring relief, renewal and reconciliation.

Our protagonist was angry. He had been for quite some time. His taro plants had shriveled up and died. His water tank gave up its last drop long ago and he was forced to boil and drink the foul and brackish well water. He was fuming and he had a huge chip on his shoulder.

On this particular Sunday morning, he decided to sleep in. He decided that he would stop going to church because God was either absent or He just didn’t want to listen to the pleas of his soulengs anymore, especially the finalisis. So, when everybody was getting ready to go to church that Sunday morning, the protagonist was pulling his blanket over his head trying to go back to sleep. “Maan kasemwel,” he muttered as his family left for church.

He must have dozed off and slept for hours because he was awaken by the sound of people talking, laughing and celebrating. Church was out and it was raining! From under his blanket, he could hear his wife talking with her finalisi friends, praising God for his loving kindness and for heeding their prayers that He had sent the rain.

Hearing those praises from those poor women sent him ballistic! He flung his blanket off, grabbed his six-D-sized-battery flashlight which was near his bed, threw it against the wall with all his might and yelled, “Mwa maita na auwa eu chok me Kot, eu chok me Kot!!!!”

His flashlight shattered into a million pieces.