IPA

Once upon a time, there was a town known as Ipa. In its glory days, she was the go-to town for peace-seekers. It was said of the town that her air possessed healing powers and people from all other towns gave their all to have that experience for just a moment in their lifetime. Ipa took pride in her powers and then started to get cocky about her powers. The other towns did not like this for they believed that Ipa was no better than them, but was just favoured by All Wise, their creator. However, Ipa didn’t see it this way.

The other towns called an intervention on Ipa but she did not listen. They begged and pleaded, yet she paid no heed. Some wanted them to consult All Wise and ask him to come into the situation, but majority were against it. Instead they opted to take matters into their own hands by teaching Ipa a lesson.

In their various domains, the other towns recruited their citizens under the guise of giving families an all-expense-paid trip to the land of Ipa. Residents were thrilled and a great number of people applied. When Ipa heard of this, his pride only grew and he made jest of the other towns by singing,

“Who is the fairest of them all? Ipa, Ipa is the fairest of them all.”

The other towns were infuriated by this, but they pacified and encouraged one another to pour all the anger into their plan.

Of all the citizens that applied for the trip to Ipa, the towns as part of their revenge  chose the most vile of them all, the dirtiest and the most uncouth citizens. Ipa was oblivious of what the other towns were up to. Her plan was always to welcome her guests as usual and give them such a great time that they would not only spread the good news afterwards, but also abandon their towns permanently. When the guests from the other village arrived, Ipa was on his best behaviour. He provided them with the purest of healing air, the coolest breeze, the cleanest and most serene environs, but poor Ipa was in for the shock of her life.

The guests from the other towns were not aware of the mission they had been sent on. So, as soon as they got in, they were taken by all that they saw and were on their best behaviour. Those that were vile masked their lack of moral content; those that were dirty cleaned up nice and those that were uncouth discovered their hidden manners. So it was business as usual in Ipa and the other towns bubbled over with anger because their plan had failed woefully. Ashamed of themselves and how bitter they had gotten, they decided to give their maximum attention and time to their towns in the hope that they would one day be like Ipa.

As Ipa had planned, the guests were having the time of their lives. They went back home and returned to Ipa with their families as permanent residents. Ipa laughed at the other towns and was very proud of herself and her seemingly ingenious plan until things began to go south.

Oluwaseyi Lawal

To be continued…