Aba and Shamana

The story is set in a fictitious Middle Eastern region two thousand years ago. The tale begins with the arrival of a mysterious stranger to a goat herder’s campsite, who captivates a little girl named Alimud with a story about a giant donkey and his young mistress who cared for him. The story is ultimately one of Love and Friendship between an unusual giant donkey named Aba that has preternatural abilities, which also includes having a very strong intuition unlike any other animal, and of Shamana his young mistress who, after the death of his mother Jenna, raises him from a gangly foal to become a mammoth donkey that reaches over two meters in height. Aba is often regarded as a beast, but his fearsome appearance belies his true gentle, golden hearted nature. Shamana herself is imbued with a Visionary gift which enables her to interpret through her vivid dreams other people’s destinies and fates. The story was refashioned from an old familiar one which brings the characters back to life again by depicting them in what may have constituted typical daily life during those times. It highlights the importance and value of family being the cornerstone that strengthens the ties that bind each member within it to the other. The story brings together two families through unusual circumstances which over time forms the basis for their unbreakable bond to each other throughout their lives and shows that being a family does not necessarily require being blood related. The advent of a third party to their friendship initially brings with it a lot of joy but this union becomes impacted upon through a series of tests. Tests that shake the very foundation of Aba and Shamana’s unique bond. Aba’s trademarks are his strong sense of love, devotion, duty and protective nature towards the ones he holds dear. Aba is set to experience great despair when he fails to protect the one he loves, which has tragic consequences. While wondering the wilderness, it is through Aba’s strong love for his beloved mistress, Shamana, that he is able to endure all that he comes to face, to finally find his way back to his original home. Shamana’s unstinting devotion to Aba is the powerful antidote which would eventually set him free from his despair. At last, the tale once again returns to the young Alimud who on receiving a gift from the nomad before he vanishes from the campsite, realises upon opening his gift the true meaning of the nomad’s tale about the golden hearted, gentle giant donkey, Aba.