The Quartet’s Calls for Peace: Snakes in the Cool Shadows – The Tale of the Terrible Valley

Minni Arko Minnawi

In one of the remote valleys stretching across the heart of our country, venomous snakes hide beneath the sand in cool, shaded places. This valley, which at first glance appears an ideal haven for rest and tranquillity, carries within it a deadly danger. The valley is filled with lush trees whose foliage casts calm, cool shadows that soothe the body during scorching summer days. The soft sand beneath these trees invites passers-by to stop and rest, but what many do not know is that this beautiful place conceals a lethal threat.
The valley is a sanctuary for a particular kind of snake—one that can bury itself in the sand and vanish from sight, making it difficult to detect. These snakes live in the dense shade of the trees, which no human or animal dares to approach, neither for rest nor for food, because the presence of venomous snakes poses a genuine danger to anyone bold enough to draw near.
Local people in the area know well that the tempting shade of these trees is not a safe place to rest. Instead, they choose trees with little shade—trees that do not harbour such deadly creatures. But many strangers or travellers, unaware of this secret, fall into the trap of the cool, inviting shadows, only to find themselves facing a potentially fatal danger. They may be bitten by the snakes, or even by the animals that prey on them.
These cool shadows remain a blend of beauty and danger: a place the knowledgeable avoid, while the uninformed are drawn to them—paying a heavy, sometimes fatal, price. Thus, the valley remains a refuge for venomous snakes and a story that warns against being deceived by appearances, and against seeking comfort in places far more dangerous than they seem.
It is a lesson in resisting the misleading ease of shade, and in valuing the knowledge that protects one from the traps nature hides in its most beautiful scenes.
These so-called calls for peace may at first seem to promise calm and stability, but their substance reveals an agenda to hand the country over to the Rapid Support Forces—acting merely as a façade for foreign projects. Anyone participating in this path must confront the glaring question: why speak of peace after ethnic cleansing and genocide in Al-Fashir—atrocities that could have been prevented early on?

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