The Devil's Tricks

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tj doxa
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The Devil's Tricks

Post by tj doxa »

Once was a boy named Chris who lived at a certsin village with his father. Chris's father used to go to town each month to sell vegetables. Chris liked to go with him.
The vegetable were grown in theie big back garden.
From chris's village to town took about five hours' travelling by bus. The road was bumpy and the weather was usually hot and humid. Only the last part of the ride, just befor town, had paved roads. Despite the long hours spent in the hot bus, 11 year old chris still enjoyed going with his father.

When they reached town, their progrme was more or less the same. After arrival at the bus depot they would hire a scotch cart to carry their produce to the market. They would enter the big gates of the big market, and chris's father would go to the market supervisor to whom he would pay money to use the market. The supervisor would show him the place where he could spread out his vegetables, and he eould begin to sell them.

Chris was good at selling. He knee how to persuade customers to come and buy vegetables. In the evenig, just before the market close, Chris would help his father covee the vegetables with thick papee. Then they would walk to his uncle's home where they would spend the night. It was usually half past five in the evning when they left the market, and the supervisor would close the big gates for the night.
Chris's uncle was always happy to see them and his auntie would prepare his favourite meal, rice and chikande. Chikande is a meat-like relish made from a certain roor which is dried and ground into flour. The flour is made into patties which are then cooked together with ground nuts. The root, though found in the forests, unfortunately did not grow in the ares where Chris lived.
Early in the morning Chris and his father would return to the market. Try would be there when the supeevisor opened the gates at 7am. If business was good, their produce would sell out in just two days. But there were times when it took three or even four days. After selling the produce, try would spend the next day buying few things for the family. On the following day they would ride back to their village.

One late evening, following a good day's sales, Chris's ther decided to give Chris a treat. They wenr to a restaurant. Chris could not believe his eyes. He had never known such places existed. His eyes almost popped out as he saw all kinds of food before him. He was allowed to eat as much as he could. After his father paid tje waitress, her amd son walked out and started off to his uncle's place.

Chris was very happy and was asking his father a lot of questions when, suddenly, they saw a boy of about 17 year old, chasing a smaller boy of about Chris's age. They saw the big boy throw a stone which missed the small boy by only a few centimetres. The boy was running towards them as fast his little legs would carry him. For a moment they watched the unfolding drama. After Chris's father saw the big boy miss the smsll boy with another big stone, he decided to intervene. He shouted, demanding that the big boy stop what he was doing. While the small boy continued running towards them, the big boy slowed down, probably fearing what Chria's fathee might do to him.

The small boy came and hid behind Chris's father, clinging to him and shaking like a reed. Chris's father told the big boy that if he wanted to fight he should pick on someone his own size. The big boy, with a stone in his hand, kept his distance as he walked away. After sometime the small boy thanked Chris's father and began to walk away himself.
In just a short time they saw something they could hardly believe. The small boy ran straight into the arms of the boy who was stoning him! The big boy and the small boy began to walk away together.

Chris and his father looked at each other, wondering what was happening. As they watched the boys closely, they saw the small boy take something out of his back pocket. When they looked even more closely, they could see that it was Chris's father's wallet! Chris's father's heart skipped a beat as he reached for his back pocket. To his dismay, the wallet was gone. All the money from the sale of his vegetables had gone. The truth dwaned on his mind. The two boys had been thieves.
The two boys were far away by then. They took a sharp turn disappeared behind a building and were gone.
The two boys had used trickery on Chris and his father. The devil uses the same sort of trickery on boys and girls today. Unless we spend time in prayer and reading our bibles, day by dsy, we will become victims of the devil's tricks...
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