EXCERPTS FROM ATUPA

Oshunfunke had a burning lamp left in between her thighs. It was that of her only child.

She kept praying. She had shut the hut’s window. Not even the wind could tamper with this one.

Then, it flickered off.

She continued praying like nothing happened. It couldn’t be true. Maybe she was getting tired.

“Oro o!”

She released at last.

The world ended for a few seconds. When it restarted, she stood and marched out.

She knew a night like this would come. She was prepared.

Her eyes went icy as she began new chants. She got to a shed, went in, and carried out a gourd wrapped in white clothe. It contained oil. She proceeded to take out a white wrapper.

Tying the wrapper round her waist, she drenched herself with the oil, went on her knees, and started a fire.

She lit up herself.

“Oshun shinginshi o, sho omoo mi dele! Iku o gbodo pa! Aarun o gbodo gbe de!”

As she burned, she yelled for Oshun, the kind Mother, to provide light for her daughter.

The reply came in rain and lightning. The way the lightning forked and twined around her made her appear like a goddess for a brief period.

Despite the rain, in the middle of the compound where she kneeled, she kept burning.

She became a lamp.

***
Back in the forest, beneath the beast’s massive paws, Ogunbunmi gasped to life.

In one easy move, she heaved the beast off and rose into the air and she stayed suspended.

While the beast fought to find its balance, Ogunbunmi landed, ran towards it and delivered a deep blow to its neck. This sent it tumbling backwards, into a branch-breaking,...