Jahra's world.

The Villages

• World as far as the villagers know has 5 villages.
• All 5 villages in a whole is called the "Living Quarters"
• Each village (except Uzoma) has 100 adults (50 men, 50 women), 50 children (25 boys, 25 girls)
• Uzoma has over 500 villagers
• Each village has 10 Patrol Officers 
• Patrol officers have guns, they keep order in each village
• The villages are Lesedi (Light), Obi (Heart), Zuri (Creative), Sefu (Sword) & Uzoma (Good way)
• Lesedi is a Tswana word
• Obi is an Igbo word
• Zuri is a Swahili word
• Sefu is a Swahili/Arabic word
• Uzoma is an Igbo word
• Lesedi is the village of agriculturists & land preservation 
• Obi is the village of healers & nurturers 
• Zuri is the village of art & expression
• Sefu is the village of order & compliance 
• Uzoma are the outsiders & the untouchables
• Villagers must stay in there villages until Crossover (18th Bday ritual)
• Patrol officers can travel between home village & Sefu (for training)
• The Kirin mountains block the villages from the outside, uncivilized, wild.
• Uzoma is the closest village to mountain
• All villages have a symbol, uniform, chant & purpose
• All villages except Uzoma follow the same rules with exceptions, run on the same schedule and are sticklers for time management and punctuality

Jahra's Family

• Jahra's family consists of: Jahra, Nuru (Younger sister), Ganya (Older sister) and Qwame (Father)
• Their ages are: Nuru (5) Qwame (Past Crossover) Ganya (Past Crossover)
• Jahra's mother has probably died, but fled to Uzoma.
• Jahra's family lives in Obi
• Jahra and Nuru are students, Qwame is a patrol officer and Ganya is a digger 
• Jahra's family is more privileged because their father is a patrol officer
• Jahra is ambitious, a dreamer and different from many of her friends
• Nuru is energetic, bubbly and outspoken
• Ganya is stern, stuck in her ways & rarely happy
• Qwame is kind-hearted, stern, hard-working and loves his girls more than anything

The Obi People

• The Obi people have green thumbs.
• They are kind and joyful
• Women wear their hair in french braids, men wear their hair cut low and neat
• Obi women wear Akwete cloth dresses, silk shawls, leather sandals and shoulder sacks
• Obi men wear Akwete trousers, brown dashiki, Fulani straw hat and leather sandals and satchels
• Obi girls wears Akwete cloth skirts and loose blouse and leather sandals and smaller sacks
• Obi boys wear Akwete shorts, beige dashiki, fulani straw hat and leather sandals and smaller satchels
• The Obi symbol is a Barberton Daisy
• The Obi chant is nsọpụrụ ìhè (honor light)
• The purpose of the Obi village is to cultivate the land, feed the masses, appreciate the sun.
• The jobs of the Obi people are diggers, planters, crop distributors, crop packaging, foresters, scientists, farmers, traders and members of village court
• Biggest issue: land is poor during winter because crops have died out and trading is low
• Obi people greet each other by saying "Anyanwu" which means sun

The Rules

• Time waits for no man
• Life is about Time management and Punctuality
• Your days are numbered
• No running, jumping, crying, thinking too much, speaking to patrol officers and royal family without permission, fleeing to other villagers unless it is job related
• No talking to people of the Uzoma village
• No going past the Kirin Mountatins
• No hugging, no kissing, no touching for too long
• All hours must be fulfilled
• No more than 2 children to a family
• No secrets, no whispering
• No holding grudges
• No stealing, no killing, to fighting

1

The sun crept over the Kirin Mountains, and Jahra could feel its warmth beaming on her mahogany-toned cheek. After a lengthy, unforgettable winter, Jahra had almost forgotten what the rays felt like against her skin. She was pleased. Almost more than the pleasantness she felt during family hour, which was surprising considering the fact that not many pleasant moments passed her by. It was just two years since the Village Court implemented Family-hour every evening after Supper-hour. It took place of the village’s first Sleeping-hour, which now lasted only eight hours long.

  A time change was very rear. For some of the younger villagers it was a first, but for Jahra, it was the second time in all her life that time has been altered. In her early adolescence years, she witnessed an extra hour being added to the village clock and for months it caused nothing but chaos in the living quarters. But this time it was different, Family-hour created stillness amongst the villagers. It was a necessity. For the first time in a long time, change was good.

  So on the last day of winter, as promised by the Village Court, the sun shined at its highest peak in the sky. Peering through her tiny, oval-shaped bedroom window, Jahra spotted a cluster of patrol officers circulating the grounds one last time in preparation for summer. Besides law enforcement, there was no one else in sight.

EARLY RISING COMMUNITY. PLEASE WAIT FOR THE MORNING BELL THEN PROCEED TO MORNING DUTIES. AND REMEMBER, TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN.

 Look at those leg prisons, Jahra thought staring at the patrol officers. Pants were not permitted amongst women in the living quarters, and Jahra was okay with that. She couldn’t understand why a man, or anyone for that matter, would want to wear something so tight and constraint.

  The hour horn blared through the village speakers and right on cue, the sound of footsteps sprinting across the hallway straight through the doorless arch of Jahra’s bedroom belonged to her tiny, five–year-old sibling Nuru.

  “No running Nu, you know the rules!” Jahra said, pointing a very stern finger at her very excited little sister.

  “Jahra! Summer is here!” Nuru squealed, climbing onto her sister’s bed.

  “Don’t you dare jump on the bed Nuru, you will hurt yourself. Contain your emotions,” Jahra said helping the little one onto the gray rug planted on the floor near the foot of the bed.