Story night

               

         There was a fire place which they made in order to keep themselves warm. All of them where seen gathered around the fire like it was a committee of witches having their meeting, planning on a mission to devour. Each of them was putting on thick article of clothing to help the body warm faster. The cold was much like it was winter. It’s a known phenomenon that areas surrounded by water are most often cool especially the cool breeze that makes one thing that he or she was about to freeze. That’s because, during the day, the sun heats hard on the ground producing heat that helps warm the rivers, then at night, the river produced immense cool breeze that helps to keep the ground cold. It exhibits diffusion, not like the we are talking about liquids though, but it works in a more likely way; which means, it’s coldest in areas closer to the river or sea and colder in areas far apart. 

One may ask why those friends weren’t afraid of the dark and the seclusion of the area, amidst creatures that normally pull up at night. Well, like I said earlier on, the environment was properly treated and maintained because it served as a source of tourism and reserve. Besides that, securities were always put in check. Who went in and who left were always on record. So, to some extent, safety was guaranteed.

“Please who has a story tell us?” Michelle asked.

“I have one, but it sounds rather too scary”, Clinton chipped in with a crazy chuckle.

“Wow! Bring it on, I love scary stories. My favorites movies are horror movies”, Enola said with certain level of boldness. The guys were already challenged because they can’t object at that moment owing to the one fact that a girl was already bold. They wouldn’t want to be the weak ones. 

“Please don’t make it too scary…. I want to sleep well this night”, Ella warned. With her warning, it was obvious that everyone of them wanted to hear the story, no matter how scary it looked.

            “It is a story of a guy who fell in love with the river goddess”, he started and paused, looked at everyone to see their reactions.

”Don’t worry, it’s not scary……. It’s a normal story, my grandma told me some years ago”, he said directing all eye contact to Ella who at that moment seemed to relax a little.

“In a little town of Orbs, they had a tradition that every year, they would make an awesome sacrifice of a virgin girl or boy to the goddess of the river. The name of the river was Orbs and that was how the town got it’s name. They believed that it was the goddess of the river that protected them and saved from the snares of their enemies. It was the goddess that made their crops and vegetation blossom. No one has ever questioned the existence of the goddess and the position of the river. It was held that the river had once wiped away an entire town because they neglected the warning of the goddess. So, Orbs or any neighboring town wouldn’t want their fate to be like that of the unfortunate town. Concerning the sacrifice, the head of the town gets the victim for each year’s sacrifice ready before the consecrated time. For instance, if they used a boy this year, the next year would probably be a girl and just like that”, he paused again because someone interrupted.

“This must have been very tough for them… I mean, providing someone to be sacrificed every year”, Enola interrupted.

“Just imagine living with the condition that you would be gone some day for a goddess….. that’s so weird though”, Michelle added.

“Can you guys allow me to conclude the story first”, Clinton said as he continued.

“So, there was a certain year when things changed and eventually affected everyone in the town. Before then, the past individuals that were sacrificed, no one knew what the goddess used them for. If they died or lived, they couldn’t tell, but to them, they were gone. 

It was time for a certain guy called Omek to be used as a sacrificial redemption for the good of the community. He didn’t refuse or struggle or cried like the rest, he just allowed himself be thrown into the river like they normally do. Omek was very mature and handsome. He looked like Bruno”, he paused and laughed out loud and others joined the laughter.

“Please it can never be me ijn”, he exonerated himself and someone had to shout Amen for him.

“So, it happened that the goddess fell in love with Omek or maybe Omek fell in love with river goddess. The way it happened, no one knew and don’t even ask me because I wasn’t there. That was when Omek noticed that the victim that were sacrificed alone the years were not killed but turned to river spirits for the sole positive of serving the goddess in the best way. Omek dinned and slept with the goddess and eventually with time, he knew things that no one else knew about the goddess”, he paused.

“So, I’m narrating and the both of you are cuddling”, he said jokingly and everyone looked at Bruno and Enola and they separated from each other.

‘As I was saying’, he continued, “So, Omek observed a secret. He noticed that the goddess had something called heart of the river, it looked like a small staff. Without that staff, the goddess would turn to water and the water would overflow. He didn’t know about this issue because when he asked the goddess, the goddess lied that without the staff, she turns to human and the sacrificed victims regains their freedom.

Omek thought about those in the town and a way to end the sacrifice they offer every damn year. One certain afternoon as the goddess was resting, he stole the staff and ran away. He had the freedom to go anywhere he wants but not the town. Before she could notice it, she was turning to water already. There was a heavy wind blast and the water knew no bounds. It flooded the entire town and wiped everything and everyone out leaving no survivor behind. The deed was already down and wouldn’t be reversed. The victims regained their freedom and later occupied the town, by so doing, life came upon the town again and the started reproducing again. That’s where story ends”, he ended.

“Wait, what happened to Omek?” Ekaris managed to ask.

“I think he became the new head of the town”, he answered.

“Mehnnn, this story somehow, I don’t think I understood anything throughout”, Bruno said honestly.

“Who was expecting you to understand, you that was cuddling”, Clinton said amidst silly laughter. And everyone laughed so loud not even recognizing it was night and everywhere was quiet.

“Tell us what you were thinking sir”, Ekaris said with full interest.

*Take it easy on him please, why do you wanna know?” Michelle asked him.

“Guys, it’s ok……let’s relax. Ella, hope you will be able to sleep tonight, at least this one wasn’t scary like you thought right?” he asked focusing on Ella.

“Please leave me oo, I’m just feeling for the goddess. This is why it’s not good to be foolishly in love. It’s better to use your head”, Ella concluded.

“That’s why I keep liking myself, I will never be a victim of that kind of love”, Clinton justified himself.

 They had less to talk about after Clinton had shared the story with them. Everyone was already tired and sleepy. Bruno wasn’t even paying much attention during the story session, where his attention was, no one suspected apart from Ekaris.