...“After Alabidun, once you have crossed the Oshipo River, you just walk a few kilometers to Ogodo”.
I
was making a bid to thank the old man and leave when he suddenly started narrating
another story:
“In
fact, if not that I would not want to be seen as a deceitful old man. I would
have
told you I had even had an experience of ghosts in the past. There was a time I was with my parents at Edi Farm Settlement. We learnt that ghosts sometimes passed through the settlement before we were born, that their coming was usually greeted by wild barkings of the dogs. And truly there was a night we were in the settlement. In the dead of the night, we were suddenly woken up by abnormal barkings of dogs and nearly all those in the settlement were gripped with fear. Some men including my father made bold to go outside the huts to find out what was amiss, for at times like that, it was merely a thief or a gang of thieves trying to ravage the huts the dogs were scaring away with their barkings. As the adults stepped out of their huts, the lights of the oil lamps they held went out almost at the same time and all their effort to put them on again were futile, and the only thing everyone could hear was a bell-like sound passing by and later fading off. Then, the dogs stopped barking. When my father re-entered our hut, he disclosed that it was a ghost passing again and no one could ever doubt that fact. So, my son, you can see that stories about ghosts are not telling-tales unless a man chooses to disbelieve them…”
told you I had even had an experience of ghosts in the past. There was a time I was with my parents at Edi Farm Settlement. We learnt that ghosts sometimes passed through the settlement before we were born, that their coming was usually greeted by wild barkings of the dogs. And truly there was a night we were in the settlement. In the dead of the night, we were suddenly woken up by abnormal barkings of dogs and nearly all those in the settlement were gripped with fear. Some men including my father made bold to go outside the huts to find out what was amiss, for at times like that, it was merely a thief or a gang of thieves trying to ravage the huts the dogs were scaring away with their barkings. As the adults stepped out of their huts, the lights of the oil lamps they held went out almost at the same time and all their effort to put them on again were futile, and the only thing everyone could hear was a bell-like sound passing by and later fading off. Then, the dogs stopped barking. When my father re-entered our hut, he disclosed that it was a ghost passing again and no one could ever doubt that fact. So, my son, you can see that stories about ghosts are not telling-tales unless a man chooses to disbelieve them…”
Having thanked the old man,
I knew my next journey should be towards the dreaded forest. I was not bothered
by the fear of death or any fear whatsoever. I had been hardened by my
situations and was prepared for the worst. Of what use was my living in the world
anyway? In a place where I was not accepted and where no one was willing to see
my face?
That
same evening, I left home with virtually nothing save my tattered clothes and
the cutlass I had purchased at Imore, hidden in the animal-skin bag given to me
by Gbobaro when the going was still good, dangling under my arm.
I
had thought my journey from there was to be Lantoro Forest straightaway, but
that, however, was not to happen as things later turned out. As new situations
unfolded themselves, I almost lost my zeal to continue. Initially, my new
stance was on an interesting note though.
As
I was journeyed with full determination to the bush, I watched a young girl,
almost bare-bodied, walking towards me. She had only a short skirt on and as
she drew nearer, I surveyed her developing breast and for the first time ever,
I felt some warmth in my manhood. It was only when I was forced to remember
that I was a man and, human too. Her legs were straight and neat. Watching those
legs from her ankles up to her thighs, infatuation got a better part of me and
something told me I must not allow her to pass by just like that.
As she made bid to walk pass me, I felt
like holding her hand, yet, something restrained me from talking such action.
What would I say had come into my head if suddenly the girl raised an alarm?
What would be my explanation before the villagers? With all I had gone through,
I needed no one to tell me that I required very great caution in all my
actions. It is of no use given a useless explanation in order to get out of a
trouble that could have been avoided altogether. Or what sense would there be
in a man accused of stealing a goat trying to explain that he was merely playing
with it?
I however managed to speak to the girl
and was happy that she was responded well to me with a smile that suddenly
raised some hopes. I noticed that she had gapped-teeth which added another
dimension to her beauty. Even though I had come across many young girls of her
age In the course of my wanderings, I knew this one stood out as a perfect
example of beauty to every beholder. I asked where she was heading and she
disclosed that she was on an errand for her mother, I probed further whether
any village was nearby and she pointed towards the path from where she was
coming from.
‘’There is Ilodo Village over there
before our own’’ she explained still smiling as if she had begun to understand
what I had not expressed… to be continued on Tuesday.
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