Challenge Yourself
One of the methods I use to nurture whatever little talent I have, is to challenge myself to produce writing in the style of something I like. The Anansi stories of the clever spider who always gets himself out of trouble is a type that I have always been fascinated with. I dared myself to invent an Anansi story, and came with this one:
Kaku Anansi and Sarki the Python are travelling together in the savannah.
They are suspicious of each other of course, so before setting out together, they agree that anything they picked on the road would be shared. They have been travelling for a bit and have found nothing, and they’re both hungry. After one whole day in the dry savannah they find one groundnut. Anansi opens it and finds
2 small nuts inside. He gives one to Sarki and takes the other one. Next day they find an egg, whereupon Sarki pounces upon it, breaks it open and swallows yolk and white. Anansi reminds him of their agreement, and Sarki replies, “I ate the inside, now you’re welcome to the outside.” Anansi smiles and in one quick move commits Sarki to his mouth and eats him in one go. God who was watching frowns at him and says, “Kaku Anansi, what hast thou done?”. Anansi smiles. “God,” he says, “Sarki ate the inside of the egg, and invited me to eat the outside, and he happened to be outside it.”
