“Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.” Robert Louis Stevenson

Susi and her family lived in a small tin-roofed house on the coast of Tilafaiga. Unlike other families in the village, her family did not have much. They lived on what they could get from their plantation and on the pigs and chickens they raised in their backyard. So, most of her daily tasks involved feeding and caring for these animals.

One day, as usual, she woke up at 5 am, which to her meant time for the Catholic morning mass. After her first smoke for the day, she proceeded to continue weaving mats left from the night before. She knew that the day was going to be hectic with the typical house chores and family commitments that were both mind-boggling and energy-draining.

After a morning cup of koko, Susi made her way to their extended family's coconut plantation to get coconuts for the pigs. Unaware of a hole dug by the men of the village the previous day, she fell into a deep and dark hole. It was the entrance to an ancient tunnel that ran underground connecting her village to Vanimonimo, the village next door. For the next several hours, Susi had to feel her way along the tunnel walls, looking for just a sliver of light to help her find her way to the exit.

Moving her hands along the stone wall, Susi inched her way towards a small opening. Suddenly, a thin, dark face appeared a few metres in front of her. She let out an enormous sigh. “Who is it?” she wondered. As she got closer to it, and with hope, she reached out to touch its face. She froze in place. The face looked familiar. It was hers but without the wrinkles of tiredness. 

As she watched in horror, a tall, slim figure began to appear. She felt a shiver of fear through her body. 

“Who are you?” she wanted to ask but couldn’t.

As the figure turned to walk away, Susi finally gathered the courage to speak. “Mum.” She uttered.

Slowly, the figure turned around to face her. Her smile was wider. Susi felt her presence. The next series of actions were clear to Susi. First, a soft streak of cold air swept briefly around her. She could also hear the distant calm roaring and the serene sound of waves inside the tunnel. But what caught her attention were the whispers of her mum’s voice that were so familiar. 

After that brief encounter, the figure disappeared. Susi crawled out of the tunnel. She glanced both ways to make sure the coast was clear, before slipping out. She knew she had so many loose ends to be tied.

The following month, many incidents happened in Susi’s family. An uncle who lived overseas at the time ordered Susi not to collect coconuts from their extended family plantation for her pigs anymore. He choked on a piece of pork he was chewing and died. An aunt, who took Susi’s father’s lafo from a funeral a week before, just stopped breathing and died in her sleep. A cousin who got drunk and threw a stone at Susi’s house slipped on a banana peel, fell, broke his neck and died. Another cousin who bad-mouthed Susi’s father in church drowned in the sea while swimming with the rest of the village girls. 

The series of deadly occurrences in the family got the minister involved; he called Susi’s family to mourn the loss of their loved ones. During the service, Susi sat quietly in the corner. She knew the power she had. She could choose anyone to die. Whoever would be Susi’s next victim, only she knew...

• Potomanuula Fialauia is a Year 13 student at the Itu o Tane College in Savai'i. This literary piece earned her 1st place in the Year 13 English category of the Samoa Observer Short Story competition. She is from the village of Avao in Savai'i.