THE MAP

Returning back home was quite stressful for Emma, not to mention the heavy downpour of harsh rain that fell down hard few hours into the evening after she was done with her private meeting with her uncle in his abode and had taken a cab to the main part of the city instead of finding her way back home under the rain in a train which would have been much faster and convenient for her to transport her dejected fragile body back to her house that was still a quarter mile away from where her uncle resides.

The tempetous rain that came falling endlessly on the city actually started few minutes befor sundown after she made a poor decision of taking a taxi cab from the neighborhood her uncle lived as an affluent residence to a rowdy traffic jam of noisy cars that was ensnared by both the tempetous storm and the immovable line of heavy traffic comprising of cars that crowded the streets especially other cab drivers who were trying hard to successfully get their vehicle through the traffic that seemed not to be moving forward neither moving backwards partly due to the intensity of the harsh weather mixed with the glossy darkness that added more strain to the automobiles whose tyres got stuck in stagnant pool of water which kept splashing against the alloy body of different cars that were highly unfortunate to be amongst hasty drivers who blindly drove on a bad route that was highly prone to be waterlogged and muddy as a result of the harsh rain but the rain affected them lesser than it did to those dwelling in the remote areas.

Unfortunately for Emma, the cab which she took was among the cars that got stuck in the heavy traffic and she had no choice than to stay inside the taxi, sitting down behind the old driver, on a tight corner on the left side of the passenger's seat against the closed door as though she was a cornered frightened little girl who had caught a cold under the rain but she wasn't bothered about the ferocious downpour of the rain for she could hardly listen to the continuous splashing of rain outside the car, drumming harshly upon the roof of most cars crowding the streets giving no room for people carrying umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain, to freely pass through even when the rain receded slowly.

For several hours, the taxi haven't left the same spot as well as other cars that were also stranded on the road with nowhere to go, and Emma was feeling a bit sleepy where she sat, placing her head against the window and was putting up a good fight to keep her eyelids wide open enough to take shufti glances at people with umbrellas scurrying to and fro for shelter from the immense rain whilst the driver kept snoring at the front seat in front of her after fallen asleep as a result of the profound silence that had dawn upon them the moment he parked the car behind a Mercedes Benz but she didn't mind at all for a mind was heavy and lost in thought way deeper than she ever felt before for the first time in her life which compelled her sob silently without a rousing any noise that would disturb the driver and just relaxed herself to shed quiet tears at the backseat without caring much for colorful rays of beautiful streets light and the resplendent light that shone forth on the roofs of every taxi including theirs from the tall skyscrapers above through the windows to the streets below. She did not pay attention to lights shining on the glass windscreen of the car as well as the storny rain falling unceasingly upon the face of the earth because her world was collapsing before her very eyes for she had had a terrible day, one which she cannot redeem herself from nor rewind back to where it all started at the office where she had to suffer humiliation in hands of the Director right in front of the other staff workers that were below her current position in the company and her unexpected visits to her Uncle's house from whence she had taken a cab which inevitably got stuck under the rain with a little or no chance of returning home safely without an umbrella since she didn't had one with her when she left for her Uncle's place. Only her pretty looking outfit and her handbag was the only thing she had with him when she transported herself to the other side of town in response to an urgent call she received from George, her uncle's butler without having to care much about what the Director might say about her disappearance after giving her a direct order to get his job done even when he felt that she had erred in failing to compile the work on time for the show to take place but that was least of her concerns and she knew that she would have to deal with it next morning.

For now all she could think of deep down inside of her as she rested her hair on the window where several splashes of rain failed to get her hair wet, was the conversation which she had with her Uncle not quite long ago, since the time was exactly five pm when she left trying to return back the same day instead of spending the night in the duplex before going back home in the morning after the conversation that ended in sheer disappointment intertwined with disagreement between the two parties involved.

Emma felt a lot tired and more weakness sipping into her lungs that was about to choke her throat as she kept sobbing, wallowing in solitude while recounting most of what she could recall from the meeting with her uncle especially the frightful words she heard from her uncle which she found appalling and was highly dissatisfied with the outcome of how she handle the situation that got her screaming in anger inside herself when she read what was written in the papers.

How she poorly handled the situation that was highly against her favor, all started after she beheld the strange papers opened wide by her Uncle's butler for her see its contents that were utterly different though somehow a bit similar to the ones she had signed in court on the day her late father was honorably buried in the city's central necropolis, a memorable day of sorrow which Emma won't forget.

She had made a costly mistake of inquiring what was the reason for her handing over the lawful rights of her Father's inheritance to him when he knew that she would not do so even if he were to compel her to have her signature written boldly on the last page of the document but her Uncle chuckled in a funny way that reminded her of what the Director did before making her look like an unserious fool in front of the junior staff workers.

"Let me remind you, Emma. You and I both know that you really don't have the cash to repair the abandoned property your father left behind as your inheritance after he did",

"And you do, right?",

Emma questioned trying to put up a bold defense against her uncle even though she knew that he had more than enough finance to transform the desolate house her father left for her into a paradise.

"Of course, I do. Perhaps you will love to hear about my new private estate downtown and a golf site I built near the estate that got completed last week",

"It's none of my business if you have a new estate or not. The bottom line is that I am not giving up the rights to you",

She replied feeling more contentious as ever before while her Uncle sat upright as though he wanted to pounce on her for he had been resting his back against the couch after he sat down facing her directly.

"Don't be stubborn and listen to me. That property will fetch a good fortune if it gets mortgage at a better price and it will really be worthwhile for you as well only if you accept my terms",

He responded fixing his gaze on her but she remained undeterred by his bold stare.

"No, Uncle. I'm not ready to receive any cash from you just to let go of that old house",

"You ungrateful bastard. How dare you refuse to comply with my offer,huh? It's only an old property that has been abandoned for a long time now after your mother passed away and you still wanna let it decay",

"I don't care what you think but I'm not signing these papers",

Emma said keeping her knees from shaking with fear which had almost rendered her heart helpless with fright staring hard at her face.

"Come on, Emma. Don't be foolish and think carefully about what I said earlier before deciding in haste",

"There's nothing to think about. I already made my choice",

She said retracting her hand from the papers widely exposed for her to see the terms and conditions of what was stated as part of the agreement she would enter if she signed the document but he did not give up in his fervent demand to convince her to comply with his bidding.

"You are just like your old man who had nothing except pain and grief to show during his career the entire time he was alive and now he's gone, only to leave behind a stubborn wench",

"I'm no wench",

"Then don't act like one especially now when you have yet to settle down with some man who would like your pretty looks and get married to you at an instant.....",

"Because of the cash I'll get from you in return for the mansion",

She deduced sneering at him even though he did not bother to say anything about her demeaning stare.

"Exactly"

"What makes you think that men will come to me because of your money?",

She inquired feeling evermore hatred for her Uncle whose stereotypical view about money had been one of the major causes of her despising him with all of her being.

"Let me show you instead of telling you the reason. George, turn the page to annex three and show it to her from the document",

"Right away, Sir",

George replied and went to the glass table where he stood beside it and flipped the pages one after the other to the right, lifting it carefully enough that each of the pages opened perfectly till he ended at another scribbled page which reveals another line for signing at the bottom of the page and also some texts written before the end of the line. At once, something struck her attention the moment the butler stopped flipping the sheets and went back to where he stood behind his master earlier. She had caught sight of a fairly large sum of money stated in the document as the actual cost of selling the house and the other party involved in the transaction would kindly pay the same amount of money to the lender if only the lender agrees that the borrower can have the full legitimate rights to claim ownership over the said property. Her heart skipped a beat at once when she saw the huge amount of money the property worth, not counting the stables and other buildings that were erected within the vicinity of the house and which now lay in desolation and complete abandonment, she would receive in return from giving the property to her Uncle. For a brief moment, she wanted to change her mind from her earlier decision to rightfully remain in control of the her father's property and felt more confused if she would accept his offer which was tantalizing enough to convince her to make a choice that will end her suffering to get meagre earnings at the end every month in an instant or still remaining unwavered in fervent refusal to abide by the price of selling the house that holds a lot of beautiful memories about how she lived with her father till she graduated from college before her father's regretful decision to leave the house for some reasons best known to him and had to secure a place elsewhere which he regretted doing to himself and his only daughter though he had no choice but to make such a hard decision that partly contributed to his early demise.

Before she could utter a word out of her tongue tied lips, her uncle who had noticed her sudden change of countenance, intruded without prior warning.

"A cashable sum of a hundred million dollars for the house alone",

"How... is that... possible?",

She asked in utter disbelief and brushed aside a ringlet of hair away from encroaching into her left eyes.

"Because of the stones that held it firmly to its foundations and the exquisite architectural design that was used to build the interior and exterior parts of the house",

"I can't believe it. This could be a lie",

She almost cried out and stifled a teardrop from falling from her tearduct.

"It's not what you think. Trust me on this one",

"Trust you?",

She rejoined.

"Yeah. Believe it or not, I don't have any ulterior motive in trying to get what I want by falsely stating a large amount of cash to get you confused. That's the real cost of the property and you are aware that I have more money than that amount",

She kept quiet, pondering inside of her if it would really be in her best interests to accept his offer or decline it.

"I'm not sure what to say about this",

"Sure you do but you are free to think about it though you only have a week to do so",

"A week? What happens if I don't get to give you an answer after a week then?",

"Then you leave me no choice than take this matter to court where I have some few friends who can help me out with taking over the property from your hands without giving you a single dime in return",

"With all due respect, Uncle, please don't do this",

"I won't do it unless you agree to sign the papers and you'll still possess the rights after you do so until I pay you in cash otherwise you want to see me take over the property legally in court",

"You can't do this to me",

She murmured feeling evermore scared of her Uncle's plan to usurp her rights of ownership over the her late father's property.

"Oh, yes I can and I will if you still want to hold onto those fantasies of not letting me have what I want, in your head. I'm willing to give you a chance because of the damn fact that you are my niece but don't push me to the edge",

He said resting his back on the soft couch yet again feeling more satisfied with his persuasive efforts to get through to her. Emma stood up slowly trying to digest the whole situation and took one last glance at the papers in front of her before taking a final look at her uncle and then, to George standing behind him.

"Tell me how much it will cost for you to leave the property and look elsewhere",

"That ain't no option, Emma but if you still wanna fight me on this, you can pay me the exact the same amount in return for forgetting about that damn property",

He replied staring squarely at her till she trudged out of their midst leaving everything intact just the way George had left it including the papers and the ballpen lying on top of the papers. She did not remember much of how she stumbled out of the duplex to the gate but she knew that she was feeling lifeless with an empty stomach when she got out of the house for the cookies she ate wasn't substantial enough to keep her from getting hungry again. The entire time she was trapped in her subconscious mind, the heavy traffic had reduced quite a bit and other angry motorist were beginning to depart from the crowded streets slowly whilst the rain had ceased completely only for the chilly wind to follow soon afterwards. The taxi driver had driven the vehicle away from the previous spots till he met another up ahead although it was fewer than the first one whilst she kept her head down without moving an inch from her spot all the time the driver kept his hands gripped firmly on the steering wheels as he took her through the streets of the city now covered in the darkness of the night that had already descended upon the whole city along with mixture of the sparkling lights emanating from the concrete skyscrapers densely occupying most part of the city, by the time the cab driver reached the central part of the city. The cab driver dropped her at the front of her house without arousing any noise from the quiet neighborhood that had gone completely silent by the time he slowly drove the car in and left in haste to hurry back home to get some sleep immediately after she paid her fair.

Emma felt heavy as she trudged into her house ignoring the huge pile of dirt and the old cartons that hasn't been yet taken out of the vicinity along with several other dirt lying inside dumpsters in the neighborhood only to find herself lost in the darkness inside of her house but she didn't feel bothered about it.

She went straight to the her bedroom to change her clothes leaving her handbag on the sofa in the living room but she had a second thought instead and went to the bathroom which was far more quiet and darker than the other rooms inside her house.

Having found enough strength to move her weary feet and her giddy head, Emma plodded to the sinker that was quite close to the door, not feeling scared of the darkness that enveloped her completely. Then she switched on the lights which failed to respond twice till it obeyed her persistence to turn on the lights and brought forth a bright light that didn't last long like she had hoped only for a low power surge to take over from where it left off.

"Shit",

She muttered to herself as she peered into the mirror whence her pale reflection revealed her botched makeup and her whitewashed lipstick that had completely dried into her cracked lips. Before her mind could venture further into depression, she heard the rumbling of another thunderstorm outside followed by another heavy downpour of rain that came so sudden upon the city and left the bathroom soon after the flimsy light coincidentally went off immediately as a thunderclap resounded violently amidst the tempestuous storm.

Curiosity drove her out of the bathroom and took her to the kitchen window where she could barely see the grasses getting profoundly wet on her front yard but feel the heavy raindrops descending upon every thing that lay exposed under the broad misty firmament above the city which attracted her eyes further to the spark of lightning striking and dashing in the sky above. Under the harshness of the rain outside, she could see an odd shape of a man scurrying out of the vicinity for safety till his shape disappeared into a nearby alley but she wasn't concerned about his whereabouts and just simply focused on the series of rumblings in the unstable sky. She was about to close the window and draw her curtains over it when she spot the pile of trash and the old cartons getting drenched by the rain falling outside her apartment. She had thought that those enforcing the duties of the public waste management in the neighborhood would have already done their job of taking out all the trash in the dumpster out of her front yard by now but she was wrong and found thatthe trash was still right there getting soaked with water under the rain where she had left it earlier in the morning before she left for work.

Her heart felt ripped apart at the moment she realized that bulk of the memories her father left behind were getting destroyed by the storm though part of her wanted to leave it alone but she decided to save some important memories of her father if ever she would eventually lost the only property her dad gave to her in his last testament to her uncle. At least she'll be able to satisfy herself with the thought of not being an orphan without no one to depend on now that her father is no more.

Without warning, she bolted out of the kitchen and unlocked the front door before scurrying into the rain to the dumpster forgetting to take an umbrella along with her. With her doggedly attitude to save the cartons, she took the cartons, one after the other, keeping them at a tight corner and at a shorter distance under her roof till she was done succeeding in taking out most of the trash back to shelter away from the rain but she had her natty suit completely drenched to her bare skin by the rain.

Afterwards, she took the surviving cartons back into the house even though her barefeet tainted the smooth carpet with wet mud as she stepped into the living room and then,to the kitchen where she scattered the boxes on the floor regardless of the fact that a lot of them were already badly damaged by the rain except for few.

Then she tried to switch the power on and kept trying to make the switch button in the kitchen work but to no avail. She gave up afterwards, and searched for an alternative light in her bedroom where she took a flashlight and went back to the kitchen with it. Two hours later, she was done turning on the gas to heat up the room and began to check the cartons one after the other with the aid of the flashlight if any item inside got completely damaged and found out that the water had not severely affected some of the cartons despite the fact that upper layer very much vulnerable to the rain was wet from top to bottom.

As she searched a fourth of the wet cartons, she somehow came across a strange kind of scroll securely wrapped in a tight material made of turgid bear fur along with a tight rope whilst a fairly long wooden stick protruding outside on both ends of the material from within. She observed the toughness of the material and tried to figure out if she remembered that her father had this kind of thing in his collection but she found no memory of this odd thing in her father's possession. She felt perplexed about it till she gave trying to find out how it came into her house and how it founded its way into one of the old cartons in the attic and started to clear out each of the other cartons before keeping closer to the heated gas on a pot of hot water rested upon. Then she shit the door and went back to her room to get the wet clothes off her body.