Benjamin
Nimoh Junior.
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Adventures ofBen Drexler
(Tale of the mystery
gold city)
Written by Dhaar Pneumoh Jhunne; a pseudonym.
He is a prolific writer; The Soldier(mission of God), The Silent Takers, Gemini
and The Unseen Code. The Adventures of Ben Drexler is a Ghanaian based
researched story (which can also suit any other country), that seeks to
entertain and educate Ghanaians about their country through both fictions and
facts. This story dived into the history of the country and created a story on
its own out of it.
Drexler is a legacy passed on from generations
to generations in the Drexler family. Any boy born into the family eventually
inherits this legacy and takes up the mantle of becoming an archeologist and a
famous one of course. But, something horrendous nearly happened when Ben
Drexler was born. He chose to become a scientist rather than continuing the
family’s legacy, so he changed his name, identity and went incognito.
CHARACTERS:
Benjamin King- the Ben Drexler incognito and a
science geek.
Zai- the undercover secret agent investigating
the issues around the Stalwarts.
Shene- Ben’s best friend from childhood.
Jinx- the traitor in the stalwart group and
the villain in the story.
Inferno- the disguised accomplice of
Jinx
Mrs. Drexler- step-mother of Ben Drexler
· Chapter one
(The strange letter)
(Ben Drexler’s voice in narration). “My name is Benjamin Drexler jnr.
Weird?.I never understood the meaning of my name and the bizarre legacy around
it; i usually asked myself, why my father would name me after such great men in
my family’s lineage. I was perplexed
about one thing, that why anybody should be born and have his fate and destiny
already and strictly laid down for him. I wanted something different, something
I had wanted for a long time, something that nobody enjoyed in my family’s
history, I wanted to be free….free from all the family’s burden of heritages
and legacies…………………….”
(The movie starts)
“This one time on a Friday, I came home
after a boring lecture and….. I came to meet anunusual home; a sad, mourning
atmosphere that I could ardent to immediately I entered the house. I saw many
relatives wailing, some singing dirges and others soliciting Mrs. Drexler who
was in much agony. My appearance in the room even boosted her morale to wail
the more. I was bewildered at the scene. Who could have made my balmy home turn
suddenly into a clammy one? I was left in a quandary, did someone die? It was
obvious from the act displayed, I twigged. Who could have died? I shrugged and
went upstairs to my room to retire; after all it’s been boring and a hectic
day. Suddenly, as I tried to fall
asleep, I could hear my dad’s name in their wailings especially in Mrs.
Drexler’s dirges. Why will they mention my dad’s name when mourning their
relative? I couldn’t ignore this one, after several tossing and turning on the
bed, I decided to make enquiries.
I hurriedly wore a black Lacoste shirt
and stepped down. As soon as Mrs. Drexler saw my face, she threw herself down
and wailed pathetically as if sad words were scribbled into my face. Fear
gripped me; I started to quiver involuntarily and felt I had been robbed of
something very important. My curiosity rose and needed to be satisfied but, I
reluctantly reached to hold her up as iasked with a strange stammer….. ‘W…..who’s
de…..dead, Mrs. Drexler?’ she couldn’t look up straight into my eyes to respond
but rather pointed to the guest room. I gulped as I walked into the room with
so many hesitations. I slowly held onto the door handle…. My heart beat
increased in rate then I sighed and gulped again before I let open the door. As
the door opened wide, I started to see the corpse from his feet upwards; it was
the most dreadful moment I’ve ever seen. I gasped in dumbfounds and tears
stroked down to my chin. A great fall of a tree in my family- My dad, Mr.
Drexler senior, lied down rigidly and lifeless, wreathed in cold. I tried to
retain my tears but my grandmother who stood right behind me encouraged me to
let go freely off my tears and then,
came to cuddle me, to give me a shoulder to cry on.I sobbed for all day because
there were so many questions I needed him to answer but how could he…...now
he’s dead. I didn’t even get the chance to say ‘I’m sorry’ and explain to him,
my intentions about not inheriting the family’s legacy. I felt like I’ve let
him down and failed him miserably. The police report shows that hesuffocated to
death and they believe that it could be a murder. Who could have held such a
grudge with a peaceful man to the extent of killing him? The mystery about his
untimely death struck me like a blow.
Everything really began, a week after the
burial. It was a holiday and I was relaxing away the tragic events and scenes
from my memory. Then I received a letter which was a month old. The letter was
purposely addressed to me with my real ‘hidden’ name ‘BENJAMIN DREXLER JNR’
boldly written at the back. Strangely too, it had my father’s hand writingand
it was sealed with our family’s unique ring. It seemed very special and urgent.
With all curiosity, I hurriedly unsealed the envelope and it read………
01-08-27
Dear son,
Sometimes
when I remember our game of puzzle to puzzle,
It makes
me wanna come home immediately,
But unfortunately, I know as you are reading this missive,
I might be with your ancestors in the other world; paradise
I hope.
I know there so many whys in your mind that you needed me to
answer but I hope someday, you’ll learn to understand them yourself.
Benjamin Drexler Edward Junior, the name and legacy I left
you to inherit. Always remember that great names cometh with greater
responsibilities. People may see you as an outcast but believe me, their lives
depend on you. Your friends might call you a freak but trust me you are extra
ordinary. Always have in mind that I love you and will always do. Be the light
of your family and the man of own life.be courageous, innovative and wise to
conquer and I dare you to make a legacy as I have left you with. Godspeed and
farewell. Your dad
I felt happy and sad amidst. I could not
comprehend as to why so much importance was attached to this trivial letter and
again, why would my dad write to me instead of calling. Then, for a moment I
realized how much I’ve missed him; his scoldings, jokes, our secret game of
puzzles and his sages. I really would have given so much to just see him again
even if for a second. I read the letter over and over again. ‘But why would my
father be bidding me farewell as if he was going somewhere?’ I realized and
twigged, ‘he knew at the time I receive his letter, he might be dead; thinking
of being in Paradise with my ancestors. Was he ill or something? And I never
knew?’ so many questions started popping out like bubbles. I read it again and
again then I recalled our secret game of puzzles. Though I hated it from my
infancy but my dad always lured me into playing. He mostly, hid stuffs and
information-mostly; he puts answers to my homework in codes of Alpha-numerals,
stories and even notes. I wondered, could this be the last puzzle for me to solve.
I chuckled and took out a pencil to try it. I recalled from the past the rules
he gaveme, “point out the key words given”, I started to jot down the words
that I could make out from the letter; ‘game of puzzle-to-puzzle’, ‘paradise’,
‘Benjamin Drexler Edward Junior’, ‘light’, ‘courageous, innovative and wise’
and ‘legacy’. “Convert them into numbers” he’d say. I tried to put them all
into numbers by counting each alphabet, i.e. “the game of puzzle-to-puzzle=20
alphabets’, ‘paradise=08’, ‘Benjamin Drexler Edward Junior=27’, ‘light=05’,
‘courageous innovative and wise=27’, and then, ‘legacy=06 alphabets’.
But I notice that the first three key
words were all in the introductory part of the letter and the last three key
words were from the inspirational and compliments part. Therefore, I segregated
them. i.e.…..
20-08-27 and 05-27-06. I wasconfused;
both didn’t have any linkage, but, how was it possible. I had to look for a
link at least, there had to be one. I glanced through the letter again and
noticed something; the date of the letter had a bit similarity, 01-08-27, to,
20-08-27. Then again, I compared both in simultaneous.
20-08-27------------- (1) from the
convert
01-08-27------------- (2) from the date
By merging, and by ignoring repeating
numbers, becomes…. 2001-08-27, which can be read from right to left as 27th
of August, 2001. I Considered the other digits too; 05-27-06, but, did not have
any linkage or whatsoever, in the letter. I recalled again the next rule,
“think of possibilities” my father would say. I thought, both resemble dates
and, dates are found on calendars. With this shrewd guess, I ran upstairs to
dad’s study room to check on his schedules. To my surprise, the 27th
of August was already circled and written beside it, was, “DAIRY”. “Bingo!But why
would dad use this process to lead to his dairy when he could have just tell me
to get it”, I complained but my curiosity kept me searching through his luggage
and ward ropes. It was nowhere to be found not even the least place he always
kept his personal stuff. I sighed with both hands fixed on my waist as a peered
around. Working like magic, I saw a small wall paper with the inscription,
Godspeed. Just then I remembered from the letter, Godspeed and farewell. I
hurriedly took it off and there was a safe which was coded. I tried using my
mom’s name, Mrs. Drexler’s name, my dad’s name, even my name, but none worked.
Then I decided to log in the 05-27-06, and it clicked opened, there it was,
after 5 hours of wasted time, I got what my dad tested me with. I felt a huge
sense of accomplishment but another question whiped up my curiosity again; what
past did my father tried to hide, am I his only son? , what are my humble and
kind….. simple dad’s dark secrets? , I was so anxious to read them; after all
he must have wanted me to read them that are why he led me to it. I lied in the
couch relaxingly and started to read.
· The
secret
The diary had only six pages. I flip
through it and wondered how much secrets could be hidden in just six pages. I
was a bit disappointed but yet, my curiosity was in the upper level and Icouldn’t
quench it. My dad started,
“Well done son, you’ve done pretty well to have figured out
the puzzle.
I wrote this because I’d wanted to tell u something very
crucial. Everything I’ve wrote is all about your future. You knew the father
before your great-grandfather, and the father before your grandfather and the
father before you as they were all simple but famous archeologists. Your
family’s legacy goes beyond that. From generations, we’ve been linked to a more
than 2000 year old buried treasure. Your great-great-grandfather tried
discovering it but he only found very few traces and passed on his findings to
your great-grandfather who also discovered tiny further pieces of the traces.
Your grandfather inherited the pieces and continued with the search but only
left pieces also. I took it from there and all our lives, your mom and I, we’ve
only searched for the remaining clues. Then your mother died and I took on the
search alone. After 50 years of search, I happened to find the buried treasure
atlas but there are villains who have clung to it. They want it for themselves.
I had no other option than to hide the map to the hidden treasure into codes
and puzzles. I want you to find it and share it to the benefit of all your
country men”.
I slammed the book closed and thought;
why would my father ask such a thing from me? I can’t burdenmyself with the family’s
curse of‘legacy’, I just- simply- can’t. What my father was asking from me was
absolutely impossible. I wasn’t as good as him or as my great-grandfather
Drexler and he wanted me to shoulder such a huge burden and later in the
future, ignore my children as he ignored me; he was never at home during my
birthdays, he was never there on my first day at kindergarten, he was never
there when I needed scoldings, none of them were there, my dad and mom, except
my nanny. They were both busy digging down the earth for their so called relics
and antiques. I never wanted to be as such a parent like all my predecessors. I
threw the book away after just this one page. I wasn’t interested again; I made
myself believe it.
The next day, i came home with Shene, my
best friend; we’ve known each other since we were toddlers, our families have
had this real cordial relationshipand she’s been like a sister to me, we’ve
shared rooms for a couple of years before, the thing is we quarrel a lot, but,
we’re always together, we came to meet my home in a haphazard. “Someone broke
into this house…” Shene pointed out but I was rather concerned with what was gone,
everything seemed to be there- the flat screen TV, the sofa, the expensive
artifacts, the antiques, they all were there. I rushed upstairs to my dad’s
room and it was really in a mess. But the monies were all on the floor and
nothing important was gone either. I went to my room and it was the same thing
but nothing was lost. “What did they want then, if not money or your parents’
antiques and jewelries?” Shene asked again.I was perplexed as well. “What could
they have wanted?” I wondered as I helped Shene to arrange the stuffs to their
original places. Shene picked something up beneath the sofa “Why’s this here……
a dairy?” She asked and triedto open it. Without hesitations and in a hurry, I
snatched it from her. “What do you want to look at? Why do you poke your nose
in peoples’ privacy?” I yelled in a stern voice. She was startled but just said
in a low voice, “I’m sorry” and glared at me. I glared back at her as I walked
away to my room and she left too. “Could they have come for this?” I wasn’t
sure but I had a prompting instinct to look at what my father had gone through
pains to give to me. I had to read it to the latter in order to really know his
wishes.
Page 2
Once very long a time
ago, even before the birth of Christ, about 2000 BC, there lived three
different tribes on the land first known as Xhamia, the three natives inhabited
the land and lived peacefully as one kingdom under the leadership of the great
Oodah, the most powerful fetish priest. One afternoon on the day of the Khail,
the day of purity and sacrifice, a recalcitrant teenager from the youngest and
feeble clan among the three tribes, flouted the law of the Khail and went to
the forbidden territories of the sacred land and discovered the most beautiful
god of all. Its glitches enthralled him so much; its beauty was incomparable to
anything he has ever seen. He couldn’t hide his joy though, he knew blabbing
about it could cost him his life but he took the risk and announce what he had
discovered to the people. One by one the people gathered to see the new god as
claimed by the discoverer. It was a
large place of gold deposit; a mine and they named the place Sar-Mha, meaning
the god of beauty mystery.
Years passed and they
mined the gold and forged it into a 10 feet goddess called Sar-Mha. But
something unexpectedly happened. The Sar-Mha created chaos among the three
tribes. Hanra tribe claimed to be the custodians of the Sar-Mha since it was
their tribe member who found it. Wiensa tribe claimed to have all rights of the
Sar-Mha since from their tribe every great fetish priest emerges from. Akimsa
tribe claimed to be dominant and the strongest among the three tribes thus,
should have all rights to own and guard the Sar-Mha. Joy turned to arguments,
arguments turned to raged and raged turned to war. Lives perished and the land
was defiled with innocent blood. The great Ooda was dumbfounded and could only
wish for peace and that the Sar-Mha was not found. In order to make his wishes
come true, he cursed the tribes and banished them from the land and buried the
Sar-Mha in the deep mountains of the sacred forest and sealed its gates. Now
its story was buried alongit.
1000s of years
passed and its relics were washed away by floods to the far southern part of
the land but left only few traces so its life will not be hidden forever.
Different tribes started migrating into the bare and deserted lands but none
knew the mysteries around it. Then came
the whites and discovered its relics at far south near the coast and name the
entire land as Gold Coast; But the most ambitious and curious fellows wanted
more and started hunting for more. That’s where your great-great-great-great
grandfather Drexler comes to play. He was the first man among his tribe to
learn the foreigners’ language and became their first interpreter to the chiefs
and the people. They taught how to read and write and sent him abroad to learn
more.
Posted 7th November 2013 by Benjamin Nimoh Junior
