IN THE DARK

My dad had just completed his house and this was my second week in this creepy community. It was a rural area, we had poles but no wires; speak less of power. The only place where we could fetch water was quite far from my house. In our “estate”, we only had three houses and these houses were separated by thick bushes and huge trees. When I say huge trees, I mean trees fifteen times my height.

These trees were the habitation of many animals. I remember seeing squirrels, birds and even snakes on them. Some were kolanut trees, others were palm trees. About four of these trees surrounded my house so you could imagine how creepy it was at night. I hated the place; it was as if I moved from grace to grass. But where was I going to see money to build my house in an urban community? I could save my lunch money for ten years and still not purchase a land so I just had to deal with it.

In the daytime, these trees served as cover crops and also humidifiers. It was an advantage at daytime and something “unconventional” at night. Their shadows looked like demons at night.

My dad worked in a steel company so he had to change shifts intermittently. This particular day, he was on night duty so he left for work in the evening. So basically, it was my first night alone. I’m not saying I was alone but my sister slept as a dead log of wood so literally, I was alone.

I closed the doors, made sure I didn’t miss any bolt and went to bed by 9pm. Prior to this time, my sister was dead asleep. The mosquitoes woke me up intermittently, so I was partially asleep. Around 12pm, I heard something strange. “Hoo hoo hoo”, the voice cried.

Now, my eyes were wide open. What was happening? You mean, my village people finally tracked my location? I tried to decipher what was making noise but then, what would I do? I realized it was an owl. “Just one owl? I could deal with that”, I said in my thoughts.

I started praying silently hoping it would go away. “Hoo hoo hoo”, the voice grew thicker. Now, it was a baritone voice. It was so thick that I could bet it was a man. I couldn’t hear myself praying, my voice became so low, and I started sweating profusely. The prayer warrior in me disappeared. Now, I was just begging it to go away.

Just when I thought it was one, I heard the sound of two others. Now, I was sure it was a choir ministration. “Hoo hoo hoo”, “uwu oh”, “hoo hoo hoo”, the three owls hooted. I’ve never been so scared in my life.

Despite the breeze coming in through the windows, I was sweating and couldn’t even pray anymore. Thoughts clouded my mind; “what if these are my village people in another form?”, “what if they’re swallowing destinies with their mouths?”, “what if they’re invoking spirits?”, “even worse, what if a spirit enters my house?”

By 3am, the owls stopped hooting. I could only hear the sounds of crickets and frogs. I had stayed on the same position for over three hours, my whole body was aching me. As I closed my eyes to say a thanksgiving prayer to my God, I fell into a deep slumber.

“Knock knock”, a sound reverberated from my door around 7am. I quickly jumped from my bed and got prepared for anything.

It was morning so I had a little bit of courage. I picked up my father’s cutlass and asked who was there. My neighbor replied, “na me oh. I just wan carry small salt”.

I dropped the cutlass, took some salt, opened the door and gave it to her.

Another reason to thank God cause I was about to butcher her into pieces if she didn’t say anything.