They started to charge forward, both of them, and I knew what to do. For real, this time.

“KAYLAY!” I screeched. This is another word I know-it means stop. “KAYLAY!!” I sprinted around the huts in the dark, early night sky. Skidding to a stop in the middle of the two tribes, I shouted ‘Kaylay’ again, facing the Jakaki side, and again facing the Rawatvis, and finally the war painted people stopped advancing. “Khorana,” I called, and she scampered out of the Rawatvi side.

“You need to stop!” I commanded, and it echoed around the island. Khorana translated loudly and the two chiefs, Malakiku and the fat man stiffened up. “This is not, the way, to deal, with your, problems,” I continued, stopping frequently for Khorana to translate. “Now. Andara, the votazy evoltfos, is pregnant,” I pushed out my belly and rubbed it, signifying…fatness, I guess. “And she, is having, her baby.” My miming, however amateurish, seemed to help the translation, for I was now cradling an invisible child. “And she can not, release the magic, at this time.” The symbol for magic was apparently wriggling my fingers in a circle. “But, it cannot wait, it must be, released tonight. Actually, now.” I paused a moment. “So, do you, want me, to release, the magic?”

Once Korana had translated, Malakiku faced his son and said, in his own tongue, “Son, you will soon be chief. Do you think it is a good decision?”

Sevte’s chiseled face was strong and solemn in the flambeaux. “Yes, Father. I believe it is time to merge our tribes and become one.”

Korana whispered what they had said to me. “Jonathan,” she continued. “You must understand that…this mean that you must stay with us. You can not release the magic and leave. This be the first time male has released it. You be a part of Rawatvi tribe. Do you want join us?” Her brown eyes and her dark skin were striking. She was twenty three, I was twenty four. We were both in love.

Yes, with each other.

“Yes, I do, Khorana. I will join the tribe.”

I turned back to the tribes. “I will release the magic, and this will signify the joining of the Jakaki and the Rawatvi tribes, creating the…the…Rawakaki tribe!” The two chiefs nodded at the translation. “Well, let me get the jar.”

I ran back to Andara. Her face was whiter than the sand, although it was usually darker than a ripe coconut, her toes were curled, and she was tearing at her red clothing in stress. “Lasahi,” I whispered to her again as I grabbed the clay jar filled with tropical magic. “Lasahi.”

By the time I reached the new Rawakaki tribe, all the women and children had gathered along with the warriors and other men, and the two cheifs (who had decided to have two rulers over the one tribe) had lit a bonfire and everyone was dancing and singing a tropical song, and some were beating samba drums and some were clapping coconuts, but it sounded like perfect harmony.

Khorana found me and elbowed through the crowd, cupping her hands around something. “For you,” she gracefully uncapped her hands, and a small red moth fluttered out of her hands, encircled my head, and dove into the fire. Instantly, the fire grew taller, and turned red!

“Release now! Khorana gleefully called to me. The pace began to quicken in the song, all the eyes were on me, so I uncapped the lid, slowly, slowly, the drums beating crazily, the fire flickering red flame, I let the lid and the jar fall to the ground because the vibration was too much and---

Like magic, the bright red fire died out-like you flicked a switch. Actually, all the fires ended, they just evaporated, and all you could see were the stars, the moon, and the magic. Everyone’s singing and drumming and clapping had all stopped too-and the constant noises of the jungle, rainforest island stopped, the crickets and the monkeys and the birds and lizards and everything stopped chattering and just stared into the yellow spheres of magic.

The magic resembled miniscule suns, and acted as such, illuminating the jar and the areas close around it. And then, one by one, each fluttering wildly like a butterfly, the magic specks began to fly out of the jar. The drums started up again, and the singing replayed, soft at first, but growing. All the animals returned to their din. And Khorana leaned over to me and whispered in her exotic accent, “The magic flies to tribe member that needs it mostly. There only ten-four (fourteen). Everyone has wish they want fulfilled. The magic chooses which ten-four (fourteen) are most important, and grants those ten-four (fourteen) tribe members their greatest wish.”

The fourteen balls-o-magic made a large mass directly above the jar, and churned around, as if determining which wishes to grant. After a moment, one ‘sun’ wobbled away from the crowd of magic and danced across the air. The music grew again, getting louder every second. I was the only silent one. The magic eventually dawdled over to a little boy, no more than four. I knew this boy, I recognized his short hair and his blue eyes. He was the only one with blue eyes in the entire tribe, and had often been ridiculed for that reason.

The magic ball seemed to have found his match. Through the air that smelled of bananas and smoke, the ball sped around the boy (his name was Erano.) Erano giggled and tried to catch the orb, but eventually it stopped waltzing around him and dove into his naked chest, enlightened his body for a moment, and then dulled until it mysteriously disappeared.

Nothing seemed to have happened, until his mother, Cada, gasped and cried out, “Erano! Tebil fer sekidika!”

Khorana leaned forward to get a better look, and then exclaimed, in English, “Cada is right! Erano’s eyes are black!”

“Black?”

“Um…brown?”

“Oh. Wait, they were blue!”

“The magic changed them!”

“KALU KRANA FAHUHO!” the tribe cried, enveloping it into the song.

“What?” I asked Khorana, who also said it.

“The magic speaks! It has chosen Erano and made his eyes bla…brown.”

Erano’s smile lit up the night, and his brown eyes flicked across the crowd.

Another magic ball jumped out of the mass of magic and floated over to the chiefs second son, Maize. He, being the second son, would never be chief. The magic danced around him and delved into his chest.

Sevte whispered into his father’s ear, and Malakiku nodded. Sevte slipped into his royal hut and took out his crown.

“Yu rejoja leret chefe, wooha. Merti jakarti chefe whikakarte, MAIZE!”

Khorana translated, “I never wanted to be chief anyway. All hail new chief, Maize!”

“KALU KRANA FAHUHO!”

The serendipitous magic was changing people’s lives! It was amazing!

Nine more magic balls were distributed, giving one man a pet monkey, one mother the gift of sight to her newborn baby, and an old bald man a little hair. So many miracles…

There were only three magic balls left. The music was very loud by now, and was constantly interrupted by Andara’s cries. Her lover (for they do not marry) was by her side, helping her, for it was his daughter, too.

One magic piece broke apart and started toward…well, toward me.

It swarmed around me, and I laughed when it grazed my skin. The whole tribes were shocked that the magic would chose me. Me, a silly American journalist with a funny name and weird gadgets.

It danced around me, and I could barely process it-until it stopped. I sucked in some smoky air, and the magic delved into my chest. It felt warm, and it seeped down all around my body. I could see the yellow light underneath my shirt. I felt like I was on top of the world!

Almost too soon, it faded into nonexistence.

“What happened?” I asked Khorana. “Nothing happened! Did my wish not come-” At that point I realized that I didn’t understand the words that were coming out of my mouth.

“You are speaking our language!” Sevte exclaimed.

“KALU KRANA FAHUHO!”

“Jonathan!” Khorana wrapped her arms around me, and I swung her petite body around in a circle. Tears of joy were streaking down her face and onto my neck. “Oh Jonathan this is wonderful! I can barely believe it! Now we can be together and--”

“Khorana, look!” her sister, Unhsiv cried. A magic ball, one of the last two was crawling towards her. She fell out of my arms and sweetly laughed when the magic swerved around in her braids. It dove into her chest.

Once it dissolved, the fat chief from the old Jakaki tribe approached her. “Khorana, you do realize that there is no need for warriors now that we are one. However, the killer animals such as the snapping turtles, venomous reptiles, nasty moneys killer fishes, and other things still put us in danger, and we would like to award you with the privilege of being our first Animal Warrior."