A Masvingo man got more that what he had bargained for when goblins pulled his bicycle as he cycled downhill and pushed it as he pedalled the bicycle uphill.
The jovial James Mutana had just finished his Christmas shopping at Roy turnoff shop, off the Masvingo – Mutare highway when he headed to his homestead around Gumbo township area which is approximately 15 kilometres from Roy turnoff.
Even though it was now getting dark everything had worked out fine for the father of three who was planning to have a successful Christmas celebration for the first time in many years.
The Christmas mood that had driven James into a jovial mood was soon to turn into a nightmare. As he negotiated the curves of the highway a soft whistling of his favourite Christmas tunes could be heard by other people using the same highway.
About two kilometres into the journey, the jovial mood that had driven James to pedal with vigour at a terrific speed suddenly came to an end when he approached Ndanga hospital .As he was approaching the steep gradient just after the hospital’s residential area his problem started.
“I just started to feel a warm wind brushing against me and all of a sudden a rush of very cold wind followed and finally the smell of sadza remhunga (millet meal thick porridge).” He said.
For the people living within and around the said area it is common knowledge that the area is infested with mysterious things which include spine chilling goblins, owls, witches seen riding on hyenas backs, flying winnowing baskets, goblin fires, huge flying two headed snakes with beads around their necks and ghosts.
With this knowledge fresh in his mind, James explained that he decreased the rate of pedalling and reduced speed since he was convinced that he was passing a deadly area.
‘’As I continued with the descent I started to feel hair rising from my head and all of a sudden the bicycle reduced the speed drastically. I started applying more force on the pedals so as to increase speed hence cross the area faster but it didn’t work that way.’’ He said.
To his surprise as he cycled down the slope the bicycle started to be harder to pedal as if he was climbing a steep gradient. He claims to have put his maximum effort but all to no avail. By this time James was sweating heavily. This could have been due to both harder pedalling and extreme fear.
Finally James got to the base of the depression and was now aiming for the uphill cycling. Luckily no major incident had happened and that was a good sign for James. All his thoughts were now focussed on finishing off the last part of the most feared part of the journey. James expected this journey to be a frustrating experience.
“Just a few metres into the uphill ride, I felt I should get down and start pushing the bicycle since I had exhausted all my energy due to the heavy pedalling on the downhill slope. I felt I had no enough energy to ride uphill since it was obviously going to become harder to pedal .I was afraid that I was going to break the bicycle chain.” He said
Before he decided to give up, pedalling suddenly became easier and the bicycle started to gain momentum and speed bringing shock to James.
“I started pedalling faster so as to gain more speed and not lose the momentum. Some few seconds later I could feel that I was quickly losing control of the bicycle since the speed was becoming tremendous. I was so confused since this was not supposed to be on the uphill ride. To me everything was completely reversed. At this moment I actually removed my feet from the pedals and applied hand breaks but this was to no avail.” He said
James confirmed that this was time he got convinced that something was pushing his bicycle and that this cycling experience was being influenced by some unknown force.
“I could feel that there was something sitting on my shoulders and hands yet there was nothing I could see. I could feel that controlling the handle bars was becoming increasingly difficult. The bicycle was gaining speed and shaking violently.” He said.
“There was a bright light coming from my head lamp but I was totally sure that the bulb had broken long back and the dynamo was not pegged on the hind wheel and there was no way the head lamp would work. I tried to stop the bicycle but I could not do that. I tried to remove my hands from the handle bars and something was forcing my hand to keep clutching on the handle bars.” He explained.
“It is like I was now bound to the bicycle and I could now see fires burning all over the place and squeaking and hissing sounds all over. The only phrase I can still remember is “…….lili kunakija wena (This ride is fantastic) .” He added
When James got to the top and level ground he felt the bicycle was now reducing speed and he started pedalling again but to his surprise he could feel that the rear wheel had lost contact with the ground. He claims that as he looked back he was splashed with a barrage of sand into his eyes.
“All I could remember is that my bicycle was pushed into a nearby thicket. As I was groaning with pain some drunken neighbour came to my rescue. He accompanied me home but I had lost some of my groceries and what I cannot make out is whether the goblins had looted it or it just dropped off the bicycle carrier as it was speeding uphill.” Explained the father.
The drunken witness who came to his rescue confirmed that the first statement from James was linked to goblins attack and he also confirmed that the area is known for such weird happenings and this was one of the several incidents that took place on that river crossing during that night.