African horror story

Only real men were allowed to go hunting and when they did, they brought back tales of their adventures with spirit animals and demon possessed trees. I begged Papa right before every full moon but he refused saying in 10  years, I could join the men on their hunting trips.

Being the only boy with five sisters, Papa always said before his hunting trips that I was in charge and it was my duty to protect the women including my mother. At first I handled that delegation with pride. I woke up at interval to walk round the family compound checking every hut to see if everyone was safe but after awhile, it became mundane. I wanted something new. I wanted a heavier task. I wanted to experience the adventures Papa and his brothers always told us about when they got back. There was only one way to make that happen. I would sneak behind Papa and his hunting party at the next full moon to experience for myself and I would run like never before to my hut and pretend I had been asleep all along. My plan was solid and therefore I was not only empty of worries but filled with bubbly excitement.

It was full moon, Papa and the hunters were at the shrine adorning their bodies with protective charms. As they left the shrine, I ran into it myself. My first time inside but I was utterly confused as it was dark and smelled like something was burning. As I tried to go in further, I heard a loud thud. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I ran out of the shrine. ‘who needed the fake charms anyway’, I thought to myself. They were already heading into the forest so I followed they stealthily amking sure to remain in the shadows.

They walked and cleared the path way before them allowing free movement for me. I began to get bored for there was absolutely no excitement. These old men must have conspired to tell all the children lies and we foolishly believe them. I made a mental note to tell all my friends. Before I laid my thought to rest there came a very loud sound and I screeched. Thankfully, Papa and his people did not hear me, they seemed to be occupied with the noise maker.

It was the mighty Giroko tree. Papa said that the bark of this tree had the power to cure any kind of sickness and disease but he also mentioned that this was a very dangerous tree and even experienced hunters had died in the process of securing a piece of the tree’s bark. The tree moved, up and down and the secret was when the tree took its branches up in the air, the hunter had to quickly scrape off the tree bark before it came back down and run past. If the tree branches were to come down whilst the hunter was still at the trunk, the hunter would die. Just as I was telling myself that such a tale was too bogus to be true, a bush tried to run past the tree but it didn’t get far. Immediately, the tree branches came down with a loud noise and struck the rat. I almost fainted from a combination of unbelief and fear. Whilst I was trying to gather my bearings, Papa had already gotten the bark he needed off the tree and the hunting party had crossed. I tried to run past the tree but as soon as I got close, the branches came down loudly in a rush so I ran back looking for another exit.

I wove myself through the trees hoping to see the hunting party but I didn’t.  After walking for want seemed like hours, I gave up and just sat down under a tree, after checking to make sure that it wasn’t the Giroko tree. I was tried and already nodding off when I heard a small but very audible voice say to me, ‘Children are forbidden in the forest’.

Fear paralysed me at that moment. It was the forest spirit who collected children’s eyes. I tried to get up and run but I couldn’t.

‘Don’t you know what happens to little children who disobey their parents and come here without the protection of charms? We keep them in the forest forever and  take their eyes so that they never again see their family or anyone ever again.’

Panic and fear filled my tiny body. I started to admonish myself for not listening to the warnings Papa had given during story time.

I started to cry and beg.

‘GET UP!’, The voice commanded in a shout.

I jumped up crying and scared out of my mind. So scared that it was shock when I heard the trickling of water and when I looked down, I saw that I had wet myself. I began to hear laughter and then a familiar voice said, ‘Where is the big adventurous man?’

I looked up and saw Papa and the hunting party strolling out of the bushes holding fire torches.

At that moment I was dumbfounded, if Papa was behind the spirit voice, who made the tree go crazy?

Oluwaseyi Lawal