My home village shares a boundary with the village that harbours the source of River Ethiope in Delta State, Nigeria. At the extreme end of our street, there is this flow this river in a large space, which made us acquainted with swimming.
The feeling that comes when being submerged in the cold nature of a river is second to none, which is why we, as children, always crave for it. Sometimes we would sneak out of school to the river just to go and feel the soft touch of the water in the river.
But in all these cases, our parents were against us going to the river without an adult accompanying us because we were made to believe that mermaids (gods) possess the rivers, and these mermaids occasionally drag people into the water as their food.
In as much as we tried to assume it's just a myth, we witnessed encounters of such, which humbled our addiction to rivers to some extent.
But even in the mist of the warnings and the awful encounters we witnessed, it was just so hard for us to stay off rivers; the sweetness of being submerged in the flowing current, especially in the hot afternoon, was just so strong.
There was a day I returned earlier from school than usual, my dad and mom had gone to the farm, and my siblings were still in school. The sun was so hot, and it was the perfect weather condition to feel the sweetness of the river, so I saw it as a good opportunity to visit the river. I pulled off my school uniform, put on casual wear, and passed through the back route to the river, which I got there within some minutes.
On getting there, I met a lot of my street friends enjoying themselves in the water. I felt a big urge to rush in, as if my body were magnetic to the water; it was drawing me so hard to enter, so I pulled off my clothes and jumped in with speed to satisfy my quest.
One of my friends, upon seeing me in the water, screamed, "Your dad will kill you today, ooo!" That was him, trying to warn me of the judgement that awaits me at home, but I didn't care, I was all for the water.
We had fun playing water games such as racing and going to the deepest part of the water to bring out white sands.
I was totally carried away by the fun and wasn't interested in checking the time,the blazing sun was so deceiving, and I didn't know that time had gone far.
It was when the sun came down that the weather automatically became humid, and it looked like 6:00 p.m. already.
"Haaaa!" I exclaimed upon seeing the change in weather, rushed out, put on my clothes, and ran home with speed, hoping that my dad had not returned from the farm, which was impossible because the time had gone by.
It was a judgement day for me because I met my dad waiting for me with his long cane. I saw him from afar and tried to sneak into my room, which is a little bit distanced from where he was sitting.
"Where are you coming from?" He asked as soon as he saw me tiptoeing.
I moved towards him to answer him with a cooked-up lie, "I went to meet... haaaa!" He interrupted, grabbed me, and made sure he cast out the 'ogbanje spirit" (marine spirit) that's always taking me to water with his punishment.馃ぃ馃ぃ
Even after the punishment, it was so hard to stop going to river...impossible!
When I turned a young adult, we had the freedom to go to the rivers without being queried, unlike the days when we received punishment because we went to the rivers.
We would go there for evening showers, and it was always satisfying and refreshing. Bathing in the shower or swimming pool cannot be compared to that of river.
In one of the evenings I went to the river with my friends as big boys, they all marvelled when I pulled off my clothes to enter the water. According to them, my skin colour looks exactly like that of the mermaids, and to them, I'm one of the goddesses without being aware. Lol馃ぃ
Thanks for reading.