"Will someone please help me?, please I have a family,"cried the old man. I could not go back. After me seeing that they were going to mercilessly cut him to pieces, there was no way I could go back. Besides that, I was too tired and wounded as well. I had to find help from the nearby village, I rushed through the woods till I came to a stream which I jumped over quickly as I dashed through the woods. I made my way upto a nearby village as I could see it a few kilometers from where I was standing. I knew I was safe so I ran at a slower pace till I reached the village. Most people were asleep besides those that were taking beer besides the fireplace. I asked them for their help and they directed me to a village clinic where the doctor attended to me using herbs from a nearby bush,..I never believed in local medicine but now it seemed to be my only saviour. To look outside, the villagers had surrounded the old grass thatched hut I was in. I heard them call me,"the white ghost" My father was a native of this land but my mother was American so it was simple for me to understand the language they were using. One of them asked what I was looking for in their land. I replied," I am looking for my father Odupe, I was raised from here but I went with my mother at ten years old to America but now I am back to visit my father." "Ohhh, Monti you are back," said one of them," it is me your old friend Batu" "My brother...!"I said happily. My other friends also entered the hut and welcomed me back. There was some dancing of our local dance to the beat of the drums . As I danced and drunk beer with other villagers, I realized something was wrong. I had totally forgotten about the old man who was screaming for help. "Oh no!" I exclaimed. "Batu, I survived being killed by some savages at the top of the hill who I followed after seeing them kidnap an oldan who was rearing his goats. What I saw is they were at some kind of ritual ground and they had pangas. I quickly ran away but I stumbled down the slope hence the wounds. And that is how I reached here but before I see my father, I think we should go and check out the place and see what happened to the old man,"I explained to Batu. He first opened his eyes widely as if he had seen a ghost. "Wait, you say he had been rearing goats?"he asked. "Yes," I replied. "To the evil mountain, our father is being killed!"he shouted angrily. The warriors of the village picked up their Spears and ran directly to the woods. Batu handed me a spear and said, "Hurry, we have no time!" and then sped off to the forest as well. At first, I didn't connect it until i finally got to know that they were talking about my father. At that moment, I ran faster than I had ever done. Straight up the hill with the warriors.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, the warriors fell down to the ground and started creeping towards the fireplace where the savages were dancing from. One mentioned that these savages had always been killing their people and today, there was no mercy for them.

They drawed their weapons and at one time, they attacked the savages slashing them down. Tearing their stomachs apart , ripping out their eyeballs, until no savage was recognisable. They then piled them up and set them ablaze. "Monti! where is the old man you claimed to have seen?" asked Batu angrily. Before I could speak, one said picked a rib bone and while shivering, he said, "They have eaten him." I stumbled and fell backwards in a pool of blood. When I turned around, the o,Odupe's head was placed on top of a spear head and left to stand on a spear firmly pierced in the ground. It was the most horrific thing I had ever seen. The other warriors including some of my brothers couldn't believe it. When they saw our father's head, they dropped their weapons and some even seemed to have lost their minds already. "Batu came staggering towards the spear and knelt in front of our father's head in the pool of cold blood. We all started loudly mourning. One warrior blew a horn to call the other village members. I could here them mourn from a far. Batu never said a word. He turned around a looked at me and said, "you let our father be killed, I won't let you live." He got out his knife and swung it towards my neck and I felt myself falling into an endless hole and this woke me up to the conductor telling me that I had reached my destination. I had reached my father's village. And the children who knew me ran towards me to welcome me. I felt relief that it was a mere nightmare but indeed,it was a journey to tell.
Victor Manuel
© Victor Manuel