Ndakika, a diehard traditionalist who was once a Christian believes a man of principles marries early and surrounds his father with grandsons. But he also strongly believes that when the donkey married the horse it begot something that was neither here nor there. 'I don't want a mule for a grandson', he says emphatically. But his son, Moses, is madly in love with Mwende, the beautiful daughter of Nzemeli, and Nzemeli happens to be Ndakika's topmost enemy.
At the same time, the strict Sunday school teacher that is Mwende had sometime in the past tasted the fruit of maturity with a 'butterfly', which went against an oath she and Moses had taken ten years back to remain faithful to each other. Clearly, the roots have caught the blight; will the fruits also taste it? The stage is now set for a major collision, at a time when a strange fever has hit the village.
The playwright, David Mulwa, is a senior lecturer in Theatre Arts, Drama and Creative Writing at Kenyatta University. His other major works include The Bullfight and Champion, both for primary-school level; and Glasshouses, Buriani and Daraja for senior secondary school and post-school readers and dramatists.