And because of this, we accorded so much respect to her. From time to time, we ask her about her experiences, and she narrates them passionately.
Sometimes they feel so true, and other times, honestly, they don't. But they ain't our encounters; how can we tell?
It was the Christmas celebration season, and we loved it, not just because of the gifts and the free food, but for the activities that come with it.
Those days, there used to be parties till daybreak; we fondly called it “till Mama calls.” I personally love it.
It usually starts around 8 PM till the next morning; you have the liberty to go home whenever you have had enough or when your Mommy comes looking for you with a cane.
Luckily, we had one of those parties coming; Leo, my best friend, and I were definitely going to be in attendance.
I saw him on my way to Mama Susan's house when I was going to buy soap for my mother.
“Leo,” I shouted his name from a distance; he caught an emergency brake that stirred some dust. “Howfar,” he turned, holding his power bike on one hand (a motorcycle tire) and his riding stick on the other.
I dashed to him and gave him a loud handshake, “My guy”.
His shirt was wrapped around his head, and sweat was dripping from his body.
“I am good. Where are you going?” he asked.
“Mommy Susan's house. I want to get soap for my mother,” I replied.
“Okay, let's go, na," he replied and drove slowly as we walked.
"Will you go to the party at the mango tree tonight?” I asked after some minutes of silence on the road.
“Sure, why not? Jessica, my crush, and her sisters would be there; there is nothing stopping me, bro,” he responded.
“Bad guy,” I hailed him. “Okay, come to my house when you are set so that we can go together, okay?” I pleaded.
“Okay, I will come, but please don't waste my time, o,” he warned me.
“I won't, I guarantee you.”
While still discussing it, we got to the shop. I had to take a break and get the soap before we continued and eventually parted ways.
That evening it was my turn and Juliet, my big sister, to do the dishes. She really got me angry with the way she kept procrastinating until the place started to get dark.
I was in my room burning with anger when she called me, “Emreal, please come, let us wash now; it's getting dark.”
“I heard you,” I grumbled and came out hesitantly.
She was washing while I was rinsing and placing them in the basket. “Emreal, I promise myself never to ever go out and come back late again,” she started.
I hissed and ignored her.
“Did you know I met a ghost last night?” she continued.
“Ghost?” A chill went down my spine, please don't start those stories,” I replied.
“Fine, if you don't want to hear, I'll hold my peace, but don't stay late outside; ghosts take the shapes of animals and chase people once it's 12 midnight.”
“Leave me alone, please,” I interrupted and focused on the job.
Just when we were finishing, Leo came around wearing some nice clothes, a neatly ironed packet white shirt and a tight blue jean, with a cover shoe. From his appearance, one can tell they are the best of his clothes.
I felt intimidated by his outfit, but
I only had my white polo with black stripes and plain trousers to wear.
When we got to the venue, the place was already on fire; the DJ was playing some nice trending songs, some people were dancing, and a majority were singing along with the song.
Being a shy person, I and Leo just hung around observing.
“I will be back,” Leo whispered into my ear and walked away.
I am sure he went to look for Jessica. I stood there for some time, and when my legs began to hurt, I decided to take a walk around the place to release the pressure.
Minutes turned into hours, and Leo didn't come back, and I couldn't find him. Some people were leaving, and some were coming.
My eyes were already heavy with sleep, so I decided I was going to go home, but the problem was that the road to my house is lonely and scary, especially the palm plantation area.
The place is very quiet and very dark at night, and the worst part is that a group of dogs always lies there.
If they bark at you and you retaliate, be prepared to run the race of your life.
My mood got spoiled; I can't stay there till morning; my father is going to crucify me. I decided to face my fears and take the road.
I was quietly whispering the Lord's Prayer under my breath as I walked; my pace was fast and controlled.
I saw two people going in my direction, a boy and a girl, and although I didn't know them, I let out a deep breath, “Thank God!” I followed them from behind.
Unfortunately, a short distance from where those palm trees were, those people branched off to another road, leaving me alone.
“What the hell?” I screamed within; my heart began pounding.
I had no light, except the moon that shone brightly. “God, help me,” I said in my heart as I entered the palm plantation; the light of the moon gradually faded.
Lucky me, those dogs weren't there, but just as I was about to breathe the breath of relief, I saw a creature on the ground, and it rose its head tall, towards my direction.
My heart skipped. I ran some distance forward and then came backwards a little to get a clearer sight of it, and boom, it lifted its expanded head even higher this time around, it was a giant cobra.
Immediately, I felt like my head was swelling; the skin on my body rose.
Honestly, I can't recall what transpired next in detail, but for the first time in my life, I tapped into the wonderful dashing power of the Hedgehog, running almost faster than the speed of light.
Fear overtook every part of me, I was panting like someone that wants to give up.
When I got home, our gate was already locked. I began to bang on it heavily; each second that passed seemed like the cobra was getting close to me, and my sister's stories kept playing in my head, making me imagine crazy things.
“Who's there?” a masculine voice shouted from the compound; it was my father.
“It's me, sir, Emreal.”
“Where are you coming from at this time of the night?” He asked.
I couldn't respond; I just wanted to get inside and shut the gate. As soon as he opens up, I rush in like someone that is being pursued.
Dad was supposed to beat me or scold the hell out of me, but the way I rushed inside and rushed to lock the gate was off.
He stood puzzled for some time with his hand around his waist without saying anything further.
When I got inside, I hugged my pillow and slept, my heart racing and my body shaking with so much fear.
The next day I narrated the story to my sister, Juliet, and she felt like a Boss that finally, someone is confirming her stories.
She asked me to take her there in the afternoon, and when we got there, behold, the mighty scary cobra lying dried on the ground facing the road.
Guys, it was a dried palm tree branch that was lying there. There was never a cobra anywhere.
My sister laughed hard, and I joined her. Since that day, I stopped going out at night.
N.b: All Images Were Generated Using ChatGPT