The storm could not be quietened the night Adanna went into labour. Lightning fractured the dark sky, while thunder bellowed like the voice of many rivers. When the midwife muttered in despair “Two children…twins,” she nearly lost her mind.
In Umudoro, twins were a taboo, with their birth considered a sign of an evil curse that would bring great disaster upon the land. One must be abandoned in the evil forest, only one is allowed to live.
The midwife swaddled the male and presented him as the child while attempting to take the female away. Adanna, cried, holding onto her. “No! You can’t take her. She is mine."
The midwife recoiled. The only person left was Adanna's younger brother, Obinna. He had just come of age, but fire blazed in his eyes and strength gleamed in his limbs—beyond what he even knew he had.
“What will you do Sister?” he asked.
Her lips were trembling. "The boy will live in the open, but for the girl, she has to be concealed, or they will kill her. I don't have much strength left in me but if I die, this is the one favor I ask of you, you will protect her and raise her as your own.''
Obinna now looked at the girl, clenching the air with her fist and screaming like she already knew her fate. How could anyone ever blame this innocent being for calamities and disasters? Something soft stirred inside of him. He knelt and laid his hand lightly on her small forehead.
"I swear,'' he spoke softly. "As long as I live, no harm will come to her."
For a while, Adanna managed to keep both her children alive. During the day, she was mother to one, and at night, she would cross the stream to feed and comfort Amarachi, the secret child. Obinna constructed a mud hut for her in the forest and was able to supply meat through his hunting. He kept his promise, shouldering the weight of their secret.
But, fate is never kind. When the children were only five years old, sickness claimed Adanna. In her final moments, she held tightly to her brother's hand and whispered, “Don't forget your oath.”
From that day, Amarachi became Obinna's shadow. For her, he hunted, and he taught her to speak softly and to walk unnoticed. He was Chike's uncle during the day, and during the night, he became father, mother, and guardian for Amarachi.
One day, Chike fell ill with a burning fever, restless and calling “Sister… Sister…” in his sleep. That was when Obinna realized that the truth could no longer be hidden.
He crossed the stream with Chike in his arms, carrying the boy to his hut. Amarachi came out to meet them, her small hands shaking as she brushed it against her brother’s face. Immediately, Chike’s breathing calmed, the fever melted away as if her very touch had offered reprieve.
His chest tightened. The twins were connected by a force greater than traditions and customs. One truly could not exist without the other.
But unknown to him, they were being followed.
Hunters appeared behind them with flaming torches, bursting into the clearing.
“Sacrilege!” they yelled. “He’s hiding a twin!”
Obinna planted himself in front of the children, drawing his sword. “If you want to strike, you will have to strike me first. On the very night she was born, I took an oath before the gods. This child is never a curse. She is the other half you refused to accept. Can't you see the proof with your own eyes?”
The villagers murmured among themselves, torn between fear and the undeniable sight before them. The boy, who had almost given up the ghost was now strong, sitting by his sister’s side.
Chief Okorie, the eldest in the community leaned on his staff. Although his face was wrinkled with the lines of age, his words still carried much weight.
“Maybe we have been blinded by fear and tradition. These two are not death—they are balance. What the gods join, man must not sever.”
The hunters dropped their torches. The crowd became silent. And for the first time in generations, a twin was allowed to live.
Obinna stood tall that night, the flames outlining his features. He lost a sister but gained a daughter. He had kept a secret that birthed the truth.
The wind blew gently through the trees as the twins' laughter floated into the night. This was not as an evil omen, but as a promise of life. And Obinna, Adanna's brother, not only fulfilled his oath, he shone the light where fear, customs and traditions once cast only shadows.
Images are AI.
Thank you for reading.
