Alex saw himself running in a pitch-black environment, similar to his previous dreams. He was pacing aimlessly and perspiring a lot, due to the terrifying sight he saw.
He stopped running, after he thought that his pursuer had dissipated and stopped chasing him.
"That was extremely close." He said, heavily panting.
He was still trying to catch up his breath, when he heard a swift footstep coming from where he was racing from.
His heart beat faster than it was before, so, he turned to face the direction in which the pursuit was coming from and started to move backwards.
He stopped moving after he stopped hearing the footsteps, and pondered why it stopped. He thought it had ceased pursuing him, and sighed in relief.
He noticed someone was behind him due to the shadow behind his, and slowly turned back to see what it was.
He winced as soon as he recognized the appearance he had been running from. He attempted to move back, but tripped, as it got closer to him.
He has never witnessed the unsettling appearance, since he had started experiencing the weird dream.
He has grown accustomed to the dream and the spook woman who does show up in it, but this specific one frightened him more than the others had.
"Who are you? And where am I?" He cried out and questioned.
"Do you have a death wish?" It asked him.
"Death wish?! No, I do not have one." He replied in confusion.
"Disembark on this journey if such is the case. Dangers await you here."
"Dangers?! What do you mean?" He replied, still in the falling position and used his hands to drag his body on the floor, so he could be distant from it.
He found it difficult to know if the person was a male or female, due to the person's voice.
The old woman who usually appears in his dreams, appeared in his front, while he was still wondering who it was. He noticed her presence by the shadow he saw, while crawling with his hands.
He peeked by turning his neck in her direction, to be sure if his his supposition was correct.
He knelt down at her front, after confirming that his assumption was right.
"Save me, please. I have no idea who this is or what it is talking about." He rubbed his palms together and begged.
"We await you. You are the only one who could give us a winning chance in our lost wars."
He screamed in confusion, "What the fuck are you talking about?!" because the elderly woman had never told him about any battle, since she has been showing up in his dreams.
"Fighting a conflict, which you will ultimately lose, is merely a waste of time. Return, and don't even consider coming back again." The other apparition said.
The last statement lingered and echoed in his head, which made him scream "leave me alone!" in frustration.
He screamed it also, as he woke up.
"Alex! What happened? He became calm after his mother asked him.
"Are you good, son?" His father asked him also, just like his mother did, but did not turn to face him.
He said that, as he peered in the rear-view mirror.
He took the earphone out of his ear, before he responded.
"Yes, I am. I just had the same dream again, but-"
"But what?" His mother interjected, before he could finish speaking.
The dream is a little weird compared to others I've had." He clarified.
"How? What do you mean by that?" His dad enquired.
"Someone I didn't know, or that I've encountered in the dream before, mentioned that I was waging a lost war and even urged me to disembark from this journey." He explained.
"What do you mean?!" His father screamed, but looked back to make an eye contact with Alex.
They were on a two-way road when it happened. A car was at the front of their car on the right hand side, while a truck was coming from the opposite direction of theirs.
He was distracted while driving by looking behind him, so he was unaware that the car in front of them, had trafficated to indicate its intention to turn into the alley that the signal indicated.
If he had been aware of the situation, he would have slowed his speed, but was called to notice by Alex's alarm.
"Dad!" Alex yelled and pointed forward, alerting his dad of the situation.
His father swiftly turned to the front and attempted to cross to the walkway-side of the road. Unfortunately, by the time he realised it, it was too late for him to drift successfully.
He couldn't get to press the break early since he lost control of the vehicle, which resulted in the car, accelerating towards a tree.
"Jesus!" His mother screamed, as the car moved towards the tree.Alex gripped his seat belt, which was already fastened to his seat belt, while his mother also did so, and held the dashboard. His father persisted in fending off the steering until it bashed a tree.Their head twitched forward, as the car slammed into the tree . Their skull would have collided with anything inside the car, if the seat belts had not stopped them. Smoke erupted from the car's hood, as it struck the tree. "Is everyone all right?" His dad enquired."Yes." Both he and his mother responded simultaneously."I mean, I hope nobody got hurt." He questioned his wife and Alex, to inspect if they had not sustain an injury from what happened."I'm good." Alex's mum replied, while Alex nodded his head in affirmation, since his father's eyes was still gazed at his."What about you, honey?""I'm good, thanks my love." His father replied his mum.People had gathered around the car while they were having the conversatio
The ride to the rest of the journey, was so silent. Alex was just busy observing the fascinating places they passed.The buildings and places he admired as they traveled changed as they continued their journey. He took pictures of the buildings and places he admired with his phone."Why is there still a mud house in this century?" He wondered, as they drove past a house built with mud with a thatched roof.He saw similar buildings like that, and some worse ones compared to them as they drove-by.He wondered, if his story would be like that of one of his schoolmates who went to spend a Christmas holiday in his village.According to the boy, it was the first time he visited his family members, along with his immediate family, in their village. He said that they planned to spend over a week for the Christmas and New Year holidays in their village, but only spent three days due to the barbaric ways of living in the village. He said that the only source of water in the village, was a strea
"How am I going to live and cope in this house? Is it even qualified to be referred to as a house? I mean, how the heck am I going to live under a thatched roof, for God's sake?!" These thoughts ran through his head, as he alighted from the car to join others. "But I heard, he owns a new house now. He built a new building some years ago." His father asked the driver. "Yes, that's true. The building is at the rear of this hut. You'll just pass through the narrow path beside the building." The driver pointed at a small, narrow road beside the hut. "He only does his things in this building." He added. "Which things does he do? And who is he?" Alex asked out of curiosity, but his father intervened before the driver said anything. "That's okay. Have you ever been told that you talk too much, young man? ." Alex' father remarked. "Come on, get these bags out of the booth." He commanded Alex. While his father was counting some money to pay the driver for his service, after they had unlo
The old man led him and his parents to the house so they could have their bath and get ready. "I know you have a lot of questions to ask, a lot of mysteries to grasp, but first have your bath and come to join us at the dinning to eat a sumptuous, delectable meal." The old man said, as he ushered Alex into the room. Alex only nodded. "Although this room might seem abandanoned and vacant for long, you don't need to feel discomfort staying in this room, because it was properly cleaned when I got notified that you'll be coming from the city." The old man said. After he left, Alex took some minutes to observe the room. The room had undoubtedly been empty for some time based on the fragrant odor. Being used to sleeping on the regular bed in his room, the bed was a medium-square size without a bed base, which he knew would hurt his back when he lied on it. Just like the sitting room, the room was also painted in white. "Who the fuck uses carpet in this day and age?" He said, as he fe
"There lived a couple with a daughter in the city. The husband worked as a chauffeur for a generous banker, while the pregnant wife was a petty trader."One day, the husband received a call from a neighbour while he was at work informing him that his wife had been brought to the hospital to give birth."He swiftly requested and received his boss' approval to accompany his wife during the delivery. He left for the hospital immediately."After impatiently waiting and praying for his wife's successful delivery, the doctor that operated on her informed him that his wife had delivered, and both his wife and the son were alive. He screamed with excitement and went to meet her in the ward where she was."He called his boss to inform him of his wife's safe delivery, and he congratulated him, and promised to pay the hospital bill. He thanked him earnestly for his generosity." The town's chief priest was summoned by the king of that town, after he had a terrible dream and asked him to interpre
"You mean these two are not my parents? This whole story was cooked up, right? Just tell me it's a joke." He scoffed, hoping the old man's last statement was a lie."As much as you wish it were a lie, I'm sorry to break your heart, what I said is nothing but the truth." He conceded. "They are not your parents, but they are the only ones left as your parents, and you should be glad they brought you up responsibly, because to be quite honest, I was worried they would not take good care of you as they had promised." He added."What the fuck do you -""Language, son!" His adopted father interjected."Don't - don't ever call me that! Who is your son, and who are you to tell me what is right or wrong?" He stood up and pointed fingers at his adopted parents, which bemused them."I mean, I've been surrounded by lies and deceit all my life, and you expect me to accept this and thank you for doing what exactly?!" He sniffed, trying to stop tears from flowing from his eyes."Son, we did all this
"Hey, can I come in?" Vivian asked."Yeah, sure." She went to sit on his bed immediately, because there was no chair in his room."You're now a big boy, you are already growing some strands of hair." She said, as Alex sat next to her. Alex only smirked, as he was confused if it was a compliment, or if it was meant to be a joke. There were some moments of silence between them, as Vivian deliberated on the right, nonoffensive word to say. "You see, I'm glad to have you as my brother. You can't imagine how long I've yearned to be with you, or for you to know that we are siblings." She explained. "Oh no! Don't say that. What do you mean exactly? That keeping the secrets away from me until now is the perfect thing for me? Cut the crap, man!" He fumed. "Fine! The decision they made concerning all these may be wrong because I didn't partake in making the decision either, I mean, I was a fucking kid when all these mysteries happened! I accepted to dance their tune, un-willing-ly." She e
Alex also went to sleep immediately after his sister left.He dreamed about his encounter with the old woman again, but not at the same place as previously. This time, he was in a remote and perilous forest, and all he could hear were the chirps of birds. He was perplexed because he had never envisioned or actually been in a forest of this kind in his previous dreams.He was aware that he was dreaming, and that he could end it by choosing to wake up, but he resolutely decided against doing so in order to see how the dream would end and who he could run into. This was because he was curious about it due to its change in environment, contrary to the previous dream he had.He was confused about whether to walk forward or backward, due to some Nigerian barbaric belief that moving backward or doing things backwardly usually regresses one's life,so he resolved to move forward. He walked for several minutes without spotting any people or footsteps, and he wondered where he could be."Is thi