Crying Buffalo

A fiction story for children (9-11) and adults who wish to feel this through a young girl's point of view. It transports the reader into another world. An African world, where its fiercest Zulu secret showed a girl how to cope with a traumatic family event. All the same, this story doesn't necessarily focus on suicide, merely sets aside for awareness. At eleven-years-old, Jordi experienced this awful change. On the evening of that heart-ripping day, Jordi's Ma mysteriously vanished. Along with her dog, Lassie, who doesn't look anything like the T.V. Lassie, and brother (Hayden) they set out to find their Mother.
When they entered a spooky cave, Hayden decided Jordi's tunnel looked far too creepy and decided to find a better route. Lassie followed him and at first Jordi's angry she was on her own, but then remembered her Pa's still with her.

To her disappointment, she noticed he had also left and she's forced to find an exit all on her own. When she fell into an even darker, colder and wetter tunnel, she realised this wasn't an easy route! Thankfully, Jordi found an exit and crawled out but into dense fog and smelly mud. A few seconds later, Hayden and Lassie bumped into her. However, her happiness soon faded when the mud squelched in the distance as someone plodded through it. Her dog saw something and ran towards it. While they're strained to hopefully see something, too, the fog slithered away and revealed a small, grass hut. Shonga, the Tokoloshe's home. Within seconds tortured screams surrounded them, Hayden fled but Jordi couldn't follow because the mud clamped her feet.

Shonga slowly crept out and Jordi's never ever felt so terrified. After a tense period of staring at each other, he hailed her over but this time, she's glad the mud sucked her feet like an octopus. However, the mud had a mind of its own because it released her and something pushed her towards Shonga. Being so close to him frightened her even more but then something strange happened... He smiled. A creepy smile but a smile nonetheless. Somehow, that weird smile won her over and she followed him into the dark hut. After a few seconds he stopped, faced her, grabbed a butcher's knife, stuck out his long tongue, and deftly sliced it down the middle. After introducing himself she learned this awful swamp wasn't hell, but a land for lost souls, forced to live in the cold swamp and guarded for an eternity by Shonga and his best friend, the fog.

In addition to his guarding duties, Shonga was also a messenger for the African (Zulu) gods; they will guide her through Africa in her journey to find her Mother, brother and her dog. Her first guide was a fearsome Zulu warrior who led her through Africa's biggest Grassland: The Serengeti. In this vast and beautiful lion country Jordi met a regal Zulu Queen and her vulture, unusual Zulu gods, and the wisest of the Zulu and had conversations with lions: Zoa. Zoa led her to her best grown-up friend: Sha. Who was actually a mighty Zulu King and not only their gardener. She also learned he was the mighty god of storms, and the most powerful of Zulu warriors.

This tale covers the five documented stages of grief: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally, acceptance.