LION OF JUDAH.

“Lion of Judah, we worship you. Lion of Judah, You are Holy, Mamuri ndawana zororo, Mamuri handina kutya, Muma papiro enyu, Ndaka chengetedzwa, Ha e dume. Tau ya letshwoa la Judah”

The long night drive on the freeway was going dreadfully. The cat’s eyes were making me more sleepy than usual, hypnotizing me in an odd way, riding over them a few times with a thump-thump made me pay close attention to the road snaking its way through the dark. The gospel song of Lebo Seksgobela’s CD - iThemba Lami was doing the ploy to keep me awake and the fact that the driver’s side window was rolled down slightly letting the night air seep through, keeping me alert. I needed sleep desperately. Then I saw the lights in the distance, flickering like fireflies in the mist filled darkness.

The motel was a small dim island of light. Coming over a little hill. I saw it slanting along one side of the road. A neon sign shaped like a Star announced it with burnt out and flickering letters as the _OWE_ MO_E_. Lights were on in the office, and in a little coffee - shop in the gravel parking lot. There was a sick old Oak at the opposite end of the strip of rooms, leaning over the furthest room from the office like a reproachful parent. Two near identical cars in the parking lot with, NHL LABS, stickers suggested that these cars were used for transporting human samples of some kind. The road went on slightly downhill and straight, through the country side as empty as the motel. It was the Coke machine that made me stop, and a lonely set of petrol pumps, the ancient bubble-head kind. I parked in the lot, went to the office and asked the lady on duty to give me a room. Short, dark lady with blonde, dreadlocks, name tag read Juliette, insisted to know how long I was staying and what was my purpose there. I responded that I was going to stay a while, work obligations. She handed me the key to room 11, the green key chain caught my attention, as Juliette placed the key in my hand. Very large with white lettering, and the name of the motel clearly edged into the plastic, DOWER MOTEL. Juliette helped me with my luggage as she opened the door to room 11. I noticed the King sized bed and large TV mounted to the wall, a bar fridge was filled with all types of beverages. It was the grey bottle of Slenda that I found most appealing as I was so thirsty and I needed to quench my thirst. I tipped Juliette with a pink R50.00 note for helping me settle into the room for the evening. I needed the rest to recover from the long distance driving. The beige, stone, oval shaped bath was seductive, luring me to remove all my clothes and relax in the lavender scented bubble bath. I buzzed Juliette to find out if she had any scented candles she could forward to my room. In two ticks she tapped on the door with scented candles and a box of matches. Once again I thanked her for her competence.

The hot water soothed my tired muscles, throbbing neck and aching shoulders, soaking up the bubbles in my bath crunchy. After a half an hour of soaking and bathing, I dried myself off and plonked onto that soft, huge King sized bed and sipped on the Tropical Slenda Pineapple drink. Once again I buzzed Juliette for room service and ordered the Peri Peri pineapple and chicken burger. 25 minutes later there was a tap on the door and I was astounded to see another lady delivering the meal. Her uniform was a light blue blouse, navy skirt and white moccasins. Her name was embroided into the blouse with white cotton, Veronica. As she laid the round corner table with a red and white cloth and placed the pale pink plate with the burger onto it, I noticed that she had a large tattoo of a butterfly on her left leg. I thanked her and informed her I will be needing her services again in the morning for breakfast before I left for a meeting with my blesser. The desolate location of the motel worked well in my favour as I needed a serene place to escape for a week. I hungrily ate the burger and gulped another Slenda juice whilst flipping through the channels I came across the God TV channel. The TV evangelist was preaching about Daniel in the Lion’s Den. “When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.” The second time this evening I hear about the Lion. Firstly Lebo’s song, Lion of Judah and now Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Was this a message from the universe? The Lions of the universe. .. I drifted off as the sand man sprinkle his sleeping sand over my eyes. “You are the chosen one Maybelle,” Chosen what?? What! I awoke from a very quizzical dream. An older man dressed in a fine linen Punjabi, purple to be exact and black, leather sandals was conversing with me. His salt and pepper beard and dark eyes peering above his spectacle frame, adorned in gold jewellery spoke to me in this weird dream. I managed to get to the bathroom in time as my tummy growled and cramped. Not sure if I had to bend over the toilette to vomit or sit down with a loose stool. What ever happened in that moment of discomfort shall remain unknown? I ran another bath to clean and freshen up. I remember my mom‘s words, “You have an extreme virus of Upstairs and Downstairs” it made me giggle, feeling a bit nostalgic but the discomfort of an upset tummy was too overbearing. I drank the tonic water which was in the bar fridge to help settle the indigestion. Returning to the comfortable bed I noticed that the red digits on the electronic clock was 02:00AM. I still could get some shut eye before I spoke to my male friend. I needed to tell him it was time for him to invest further into my business. “Buzzzzzz, Buzzzzzz” the room’s phone woke me from my deep sleep. It was Juliette letting me know it was time for breakfast. Have I really overslept? I told her the night before I needed a wakeup call at about 8:00AM. Informing her that I would be an half an hour late for breakfast. What a night I had, was it all the fresh air of the country side that made me have weird dreams about bearded men and Lions? The dining hall of the motel was very rustic, décor was mostly of colours burgundy, brown, burnt orange and Portraits of and old Xhosa couple. The old gentleman was smoking a pipe. Near the buffet table there stood an old wooden chest of drawers. Placed on it were a few Odds and Ends, pictures of scenery. I went to the corner table near the window to catch a few sunrays. I saw that the coffee shop in the parking lot was still closed. Just a few birds and pigeons were visible from the window. A stray collie dog was eating scraps from the dirt bin which was located near the coffee shop were the only activity at the motel, besides myself in the corner booth there was a younger couple at the other end of the dining hall having breakfast. The lady, tanned in complexion, very petite and much shorter than her male companion, seemed very oblivious to his physical contact. I ate and left them to have a quiet breakfast alone. The short drive to the other end of town was very suspenseful as I had to tell Masababa, that I needed more funds for the business I acquired of buying and selling. It did not matter what I bought or what I sold. It was a business I invented and Masababa needed to give me further money to live comfortably for the next six months until I needed another injection for my business. I slowly pulled up next to his Silver grey BMW, with his personalised number plate, Mr JFK., I noticed a picture stuck on the left side of the windscreen, near the passenger seat just below the ER Emergency licence disc holder. A Lion sitting on a rock. With these words in gold font, “When life puts you in tough situations. Don’t say “Why Me” Just say “Try Me” Are you the Lion or the Gazelle?” This was bizarre indeed. What was this Lion symbol implying…? I was a bit shocked to see this again. I thought it was only yesterday, but another sign of the Lion… Masababa agreed to further finance my business and handed me a brown envelope filled with R200.00 notes totalling to the sum of R89 000.00. He assured me it was all legit and that his accountant would not find out about these amounts siphoned to me. I thank him dearly and told him if he needed to spend time together I was at the Dower Motel in room 11. Would be there until Sunday morning. I gave him a huge hug and he responded with a sugar coated bear hug and kiss. He slowly left the picnic area and hooted to let me know that everything was going to be OK. First things first. I had to deposit the money into my banking account and settle the motel bill. I expected to see Juliette at the reception area but there was another lady, with a bubbly personality and hairstyle to match, her name was Patricia. I gave her the balance owing for the stay at the motel. I requested that they send me some magazines and a menu to choose supper from. About 15 minutes later there was a slight knock on the door, and Veronica left the magazines and menu on the round corner table. I picked up the menu, a pale orange and green flimsy papered menu. I noticed in handwriting that they added a Vegetarian meal and steak combo onto the supper section of the menu. I decided to have that instead of the Peri Peri chicken burger again. Weren’t sure if that hot sauce gave me indigestion and nausea the night before. Dressed in the light blue gown provided for me, I removed it and slowly slipped into the delicious hot water in that beautiful stone bath. I turned on my Tablet and listened to the last song played, I sang to the upbeat song of Pitbull and Stephen Marley, “Options” the words seemed to reverberate through my mind. “We are not perfect, yet we want to choose the perfect man….” Will Masababa ever commit to our relationship, I wondered... I ate my Vegetarian Meal and steak, because I felt a bit naughty I also ordered the Chocolate Mud pudding with cream on the side. Yummy, I could relax now and get a bit of reading done. In one of the magazines there was an article about dreams and interpretations. I wondered if the Purple, bearded man or the Lions were listed amongst the dreams. Low and behold, the symbolic meaning of lions, as one might imagine, primarily deals with strength. The fact that it is a nocturnal creature means that the lion is a symbol of authority and command over subconscious thought (as night is an ancient symbol of the subconscious - or dream estate). On the next page the meaning of colours in dreams were also there. The colour purple is indicative of devotion, divine healing and healing abilities, kindness, love and lovingness. Compassion, care and empathy. Purple is also the colour of mysticism and spirituality, justice, wealth, dignity, high rank. Overall the colour purple resonates with power and inspiration. Just below the different colours was a section on people, so I moved my finger to Elderly men. This was the definition in the magazine. If the unknown elderly person looks strong in the dream, he represents one’s strength. Otherwise, if he looks feeble, then he represents one’s weakness. Whatever physical conditions an elderly person is seen with in the dream, such conditions will reflect in one’s state. The God TV channel was on and the TV evangelist was preaching on 1 Kings 18, but he turned to the Revelations 5 in the bible and read from verse 12 “Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory and blessing.” With these encouraging words, once again I turned on my Tablet and listened to the music playing. “Anyone can find the dirt in someone. Be the one that finds the gold”…. Mr Sandman sprinkled his magic sand over my eyes once more as I dozed off... “Where I am, I don’t know. I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I’ll will Go-Go on”.

"MY VOICE"