I woke up all of a sudden in the middle of the night and felt like I was woken by someone. I looked left and right to see if it was my mom or sibling, but they were all asleep.
After a few minutes of moving back and forth with my eyes tightly closed, I couldn't get back to sleep. I stood from the bed and moved around the room before sitting back on the edge of the bed again.
The thought of waking my mom crossed my mind, but the lantern at the corner of the room started giving a sign that it would go off, so I quickly refilled the tank with the little quantity of kerosene left in the keg.
"When you wake up at midnight and can't sleep, always pray for some minutes." My mom's words crossed my mind, and I decided to pray.
I whispered while praying because everywhere was quiet and I didn't want anyone to hear my voice, especially mom, who came back home from work very tired. The prayer somehow made me sleepy, and I just laid on the bed, still whispering.
I was barely asleep when I heard footsteps approaching from the backyard. It was very unusual at that time of the day, and I became alert immediately.
I heard voices, but they were barely audible. I paid attention with the hope of identifying at least one voice, probably it was our neighbors.
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"We are inside the compound already," a baritone voice said, and he was definitely making a phone call.
"These aren't our neighbors," I thought and immediately rushed to turn off the lantern.
I heard footsteps approaching our room window, and it seems one of the men noticed the light that went off. The person stopped for a second, and I was shivering already.
"Check the back door while we check the front door," one of the men said, and as they walked away, I quickly woke my mom.
"What's it? Let me rest." She stuttered in a low tone.
"There are people in the compound," I whispered.
"So, what should I do?" She replied and paused.
"What did you say?" She asked with her eyes clearly open.
"There are people in the compound," I whispered, and she immediately got out of bed.
She wore a trouser and top before waking up her younger brother.
"Lay on the floor," she whispered, and we did immediately. For a few minutes, we heard nothing, and the next thing we heard was a loud bang on the iron door into the house.
I shivered and burst into tears immediately. I was barely 6 years of age when we first got robbed, and the whole drama that happened that day played in my head immediately.
"Shhhhh! Stop crying," my mom whispered, and at that moment, our neighbors had woken up. They started screaming, but my mom forbade us from saying a word.
The bang on the door continued, and my heart was pounded so hard that I thought it would burst out of my chest.
With my hands covering my mouth, I wept bitterly. Likewise, my brother and mom kept assuring us that nothing would happen to us.
She was still consoling us when we had a loud crash and it was terrifying. They successfully broke the front and our fears tripled.
"Get under the bed quickly," Mom instructed, and we did so.
"Don't come out, okay?" Mom said to us, and I could only see her leg moving around in the room. I was shivering, crying and consoling my brother while the our neighbours screamed for help.
The intruders had gained entrance into the house and started breaking down doors to different rooms. It was only a matter of time before they got to ours, and immediately the door was kicked open. I screamed and woke up panting heavily.
My mom was awake, and she quickly held me down.
"Deedee, I am here. What happened? Did you dream?" She stuttered.
"Thief came, and they entered. I heard their voice behind our window," I replied, still trying to catch my breath.
"Ha! You have come with your dream again," Mom replied and hurried to get her bible.
"You can go back to sleep, I will pray about it. Evil won't befall us in Jesus name," she said to me, but I couldn't sleep back.
I joined her in prayer, and while we were praying, we heard footsteps coming from the backyard.
We stopped praying immediately, and right there, I peed on my body, remembering everything that happened in the dream.
My mom was pissed, but she couldn't scold me at that moment. She turned off the lantern, and we paid attention to their movement.
They started moving around the compound, and just like I saw in the dream, my mom quickly wore a trouser. Seeing things play just like I saw in the dream piled pressure on my and I was really terrified.
My mom reached for her phone and called the landlord immediately since he doesn't stay around. She whispered all through the conversation, but the landlord got the message clearly and did the needful.
The intruders were still trying to gain access into the building when some local security started blowing their whistles, and before we knew it, those people left in a hurry.
We felt relieved they left, but nobody could sleep again that night or even a few nights after the incident.
It wasn't my first time having dreams that came to pass almost immediately, and the annoying thing is that only the bad ones come to reality most times. Instead of the dreams preparing for what's to come, the playback in my head only cause more fear for me.
