Enigma

by: Omotayo Taofiq Suleman

 He looked down the street, all was deserted, and it seems as if he was the only person in the city. It is dark and the breeze was cold. He could not tell how he got to the street in the middle of the night. “Hello, is anybody here...can anyone hear me?” he shouted into the dark street only to hear his echo talk back. Gradually, he began to get scared and wasn’t comfortable as the mid-night breeze blew harder. He slowly walked down the road not knowing where to go in particular, he hears as thunder strikes with sharp lightning which only brightens his environment every second. He was able to see buildings, cars, shops….he saw dead bodies laying in pool of blood “o my God….where am I?” he screamed as he rushes to go see who the dead victims might be. He could not identify any of the seven dead bodies but they all looked familiar. Gradually the rain which started as drops of water now got heavier, this made him panic and began to run seeking for shelter, he saw a building at the end of the street with it light on and this brought relief to his troubled heart. As he was moving closer to the house, he was hearing people screaming “please help us….save our soul, we are about to get killed!!!!”. Though he was scared but he had to summon courage to go save those who needed his help in that room. As he opened the door, he couldn’t hear any more noise and as he entered into the room, he saw a very old woman dressed as chef and welcomed him into the house happily as if she had being expecting him all along

.

 “you shouldn’t stay out so late next time, you’ve got me worried all day…..have your sit” said the old  woman as she walked towards him carrying a tray of hot soup, she served it on the table and said he should come sit close to her. He was surprise at the manner at which the old woman had accepted him like her son without even knowing him before. “you must be feeling cold….let me go get you a dry cloth to change in” the old woman went into another room while he settled down his body and mind to drink the hot soup…….gradually he felt dizzy. He opened his eyes to see himself being held tight with a chain to the table, he couldn’t move any part of his body and was surprise at not knowing who could have done this to him. As he was struggling to free himself from the chains which tide him to the table, the old woman walked into the room with a sharp dagger in her hand, she was laughing out loud as she walked towards him, “foolish boy…..you are now one of my victims, you will die tonight” said the old woman as she raised up the knife to strike through his heart. “No…..no…..somebody help me, somebody please save my life…. I’m about to get killed”!!! He screamed out loud.

 “Wake up, Eric wake up… another bad dream, isn’t it? Some Policemen  would like to talk to you downstairs....don’t ask me why coz’ I don’t know, hurry up” said Benjamin as he pull off the bed sheet off Eric who was still looking scared and trying to familiarize himself with reality.

  “I had a terrible night-mare, it was very scary and…….” He tried to explain to his elder brother who was busy dragging him out of bed to go see the visitor waiting for him. As they both walked down through the stairs into the living room, Eric couldn’t figure why the police would need any information from him, each step he took forward added fear in him……………. “Happy birthday to you Eric, long life and prosperity!!!!!……” chorused by a large number of people in the large living-room who had being waiting for him. Eric was taken by surprise and shocked beyond words to see his friends and family all present to celebrate his twenty-fifth years birthday with him.

....to be continued.....