No one knew where the little girl came from, she staggered out of the bush with leaves in her hands. She had long hair that was just a few inches away from the ground, she had expensive traditional wear, and beads but was walking barefooted.
Her face was perfectly molded, her dimples were deep enough to hold a few drops of water, and everything spiced up her beauty.
Oladele and his wife were busy harvesting their maize on the farm by the roadside when they noticed the little creature coming from the bush, they paused a bit as they drop their farming equipment.
"Did you see what I am seeing? Is she lost?" Amoke asked as she turned around to see if there was someone around.
"I don't know if she is lost but I can't see anyone around". Oladele replied.
They watched her as she walked to where they were standing, the little girl gave different funny expressions while standing in front of the couple.
Amoke stared at her for a while before she had the courage to carry her, she asked questions but the little girl was too little to answer them. She gave her some of the snacks they brought while Oladele went looking around in search of the little girl's guardian
His efforts arrived at nothing till it was time to go back home, the couple contemplated for a long time before they agreed to take the little girl home. They went straight to the Palace to report and the king gave them his consent to keep the child until someone shows up for her.
The couple have been married for a decade but they couldn't bear a child, Amoke was happy about it but the fear of someone coming to claim her sometimes makes her depressed but she didn't stop caring for the little girl.
Amoke started a conversation with Oladele while coming back from the farm a few years after.
Amoke: "Could she be a gift from the gods? It's been four years now and no one showed up for Afunto".
(The little girl was named Afunto meaning Given to me, to be cared for.)
Oladele: (sigh) I don't know but she must be a blessing to us, it's been a while now and even her parents might be dead or something terrible happened to them.
Who knows what happened to her on the day we saw her? She might as well be a gift from the gods since we couldn't bear a child.
Amoke: What if her parents eventually show up? I will be happy she found her family again but will our efforts go to waste over her?
Oladele: My wife, we can't run faster than our destiny. No matter how we try, the will of the gods will come to pass.
He adjusted his basket and hurried Amoke to walk fast since the cloud was changing quickly
They didn't stop loving Afunto, years passed and everyone soon forgot the story of the little girl. The villagers now called Amoke the mother of Afunto, she emotional whenever she looks at how beautiful Afunto had grown.
Oladele became a proud father, he smiles whenever he sees her playing with her mate. He made her acquire bead-making skills, she was good at it and everyone loved her products.
He forbade her from hawking her goods like every other lady even when she was old enough to do so because men were always chasing after her. He didn't want anyone to destroy his daughter's life, he was always on the lookout for strangers in his vicinity.
They lived as a happy family, they became rich and more famous in the neighboring village, Afunto was a star that couldn't be hidden.
On a fateful day, Afunto was having a chat with her mates when she fainted. She was rushed home but she didn't gain consciousness and they could tell she wasn't dead because her heart was still beating slowly.
Oladele hired the best doctor in the village to treat her but all efforts were futile, and the couple became sad. Amoke didn't leave her side as she wept day and night, she refused to eat or drink for days; it got so worse and Oladele was shaken because he thought he might lose the both of them.
Amoke slept off while watching over Afunto and she had a dream, it was very unusual for her to dream. In it, she saw Afunto at the river bank fetching water. She was approaching her when she vanished into the thin air and a voice came from nowhere saying, mother, "I am sorry for the pain I caused you and father".
"You have sacrificed a lot for me and it hurts a lot to leave you in the pain, I am not just a child you think I am; my story is a complicated one".
"My name is Ella, the daughter of the goddess of the ocean. I was cast out from the water as a punishment for disobeying my father, I came to the human land as a baby because I didn't have my powers and needed to be protected by humans".
"The twenty years of punishment elapsed the day I fainted, I have returned home but I couldn't take my mind off you because of the love you have showered on me".
"By the time you wake up, my body will be gone but I will be back and you must name me Afunto again."
Amoke woke up with confusion, she tried turning to look at her daughter but she was gone. She screamed in fear and ran out of the room, she narrated her dream to Oladele and they both wept all through the night.
A few years passed, and Amoke clocked sixty. They had already given up on having a child and they started giving out their things to people since the couple was getting too old to maintain the properties any longer.
It was a simple celebration between the couple and they ended up making love that night just for pleasure. Three months passed and Amoke was having strange signs, it looks like something was growing in her belly.
Amoke didn't pay attention to it but weird things were happening in the house, she notice there were invincible helping hands in the house which made her very uncomfortable
On a fateful day, she was about to drink a herb for fever when she had a voice saying "You don't have fever, those are symptoms that I am here".
She looked around but didn't see anyone, the voice came again saying, "I am in your belly".
She told her husband and they visited a doctor who told her she was pregnant, it was unbelievable. She went home and told her husband who didn't believe it until her belly had grown bigger.
She heard voices throughout the pregnancy but she didn't tell anyone because she didn't want her baby to be tagged evil.
Amoke news traveled across different towns, no one believe the story until they saw it personally.
The night she would put to bed, she had another dream where she saw the little girl from the farm many years ago playing with her pregnancy.
She woke up and remembered Afunto again, she called her husband to narrate the dream when her water broke. A doctor was invited to take the delivery, the baby was born after three hours of labor. It was a beautiful girl and her hair was longer than that of an adult, Amoke having a baby at 61 wasn't as surprising as a newborn baby that was born with long hair.
They named her Afunto and she brought back the memory of the past to the villagers again. Oladele and Amoke were happy for the remaining days of their lives, Afunto grew into a woman before they passed on.
