(By Oluwatoyin Ikuomola)
The rain had just stopped. The air was cool, gentle with a calming effect on the usually busy village. The birds sang as the trees swayed and danced to their melodious rhythms. Tranquil; such solitude and peace I found. I loved the rain, the serenity and newness it brought with it was unmatched; unparalleled. I was always temporarily relieved of every single care in the world. I looked out from my tiny window; it was beautiful! The vast blue expanse that hung above, the fresh and lush green beneath; simply breathtaking. I prayed for that moment not to pass. Then I heard Chike’s voice, like a thorn piercing into my flesh,
“She’s back o! She’s back! Sister Ngozi is back o!!!”
For a moment there, I sat motionless, until Chike burst into my room screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Get out!” I yelled back in annoyance, frightening him so much that he jumped. In fear, surprise and confusion, my tiny brother scurried out of my room.
Why? Why was she back? Why couldn’t she have come another day? Why today of all days? I felt the hot tears swelling behind my eyes. She was back to ruin my life once again, the demon! I couldn’t fight them back anymore. The tears gushed out like springs of water; I could not stop them.
My heart hurt. She was going to take everything away from me. I could not take it anymore. She had to be stopped. My head soon began to hurt. I cried and cried, eventually falling asleep.
The chilly breeze hit my skin hard causing me to wake up with a start. It was dark, but for the tiny ray of light from the lantern in the corridor. As I got up to close my window, I noticed how heavy my head felt; it still ached. Leaving my room for the parlor which was chilly and silent just like a morgue, I wondered if all that had happened were just a dream. I walked in to find my family seated there, in the poorly lit room, silent as if they had been frozen in the cold.
I was scared stiff.
“Mama, Papa, is all well?”
My father said nothing, neither did he make even as much as an attempt to move. Had they indeed been frozen by the cold? I saw Ngozi; she was the first to move. She sat beside my mother, her back turned to me. She looked back at me and smiled; a very sad smile. I had hated her for as long as I could remember, but I could not lie to myself; she looked radiantly beautiful. I had never seen her like this. But I could tell she was sad. Not just sad that she’d have to contend with all the evil I had planned for her, but genuinely sad. It was almost as if…
Second chapter comes up tomorrow
