It was 12:05 pm. The long break was over and we were back in our space, but it was just us.
Then, the brightness of the day suddenly started getting dark like it would rain and gradually, the sun faded and it turned almost dark. Tap tap! It was a gentle touch from Opeyemi, shivering and speaking in whispers, she said, Monsurat! Come and see something! Shhhhh. Don’t shout, just come with me, Opeyemi said. He has never been like that for the whole years that we’ve known each other, so, I just quietly obeyed.
Suddenly, he stopped, pointed towards a direction and still speaking in whispers, see that? Look closely and quietly. Wait, what’s that? Okay! Ope! It sounded like I screamed, but I screamed in whispers. I was very careful not to attract it to us. Quietly, we walked back to the other children around and invited them to see the guest we had… Yea, a guest.
Actually, I was looking for a stronger person. At least, someone that would be able to calm our nerves, tell us it was a hallucination or something. Someone that would sha tell us it wasn’t true. But, the reverse was the case. Everyone was terrified when we confirmed that it was REAL! Then, we started running. To where? To who? Actually, we all ran to a spot to console one another and keep calm. We didn’t want to attract it to ourselves still.
Even though it was almost dark, we were sure it was just 1:00 pm. My head wouldn’t stop telling me the time. Then, what’s happening? It wasn’t even on a Thursday. At least, that’s when they say Ghosts visit their homes. How come? Why here? What’s happening? And more were the thoughts in my head when suddenly, it stood and walked like a robot towards a house. Shhhhhhhhh! Be quiet, please, it’s about to enter that house, I said. Even though we were terrified, we wanted to satisfy our curiosity. We were not cats, so, we were sure we wouldn’t die like the cat curiosity killed.
Then, 1, 2, 3, 4, it walked like it counted its steps. Like a robot, it walked quietly into that house. We waited a while to see what happened next while praying someone would at least walk past that spot because it was a walkway, but, no one passed. Again, 1, 2, 3, it came out of the house, but this time, it had something wrapped up in its arms. What’s that? We couldn’t move closer, but, we paid utmost attention. Don’t blame us, blame it on curiosity.
Ah! It is a baby! It has a baby! One of us screamed. It sat on a reservoir, a spot very close to the house, carried the baby in its arms and fed it with what I don’t know. Shhhhhh! Be quiet! Don’t attract it to us oooo. Let’s just watch. At this time, the fear in me has risen to a point I thought I would faint. I had never seen such a thing before! A ghost! At 1:00 pm? Ah! How did I know it was a ghost? It was wrapped in all-white attire, with no face and it walked like a robot. The day turned into night and no one walked past? Ah!
Our imaginations ran wild but it wasn’t in our heads this time. We spoke what we imagined.
What if it comes towards us? What if it killed us? What if… until we had no more what-ifs to think about. We stood there with our eyes fixed in that direction. It was still feeding the baby.
While trying to wrap my head around why it was present at that time, I remembered that a week before, a new mum died but the baby was alive. Could it be that the popular Yoruba adage that ‘òkú olómo kìí sun’ (meaning dead parents don’t sleep) is true? There was no way we could confirm that, so, we still stood there watching.
After some time with the baby, it stood up and walked towards the bush… We screamed yet again! The baby!!!
Throughout this time, no one passed by. Guess what? That route was never a dry one, but at that time, it was. Like a robot, it walked 1, 2, 3, 4, still with the baby into the bush nearby.
The sun started coming up gradually once again. It was around 2:00 pm. It was walking till we couldn’t see it again.
And?
Our voices were audible again. We could talk now and not in whispers anymore, but we were terrified! It happened in school. Our teachers went for a staff meeting and we were alone in class. They came back and we welcomed them with a summary of what we saw. But guess what? None of them believed us!
Why would they? Or why not? Lol.
The baby? We resumed to receive the news of his death on a morning like that. Well… We shut up. None of us could share what we saw with the family.
