BLACK COCKTALE

Fire!Fire!!Fire!!!...the voices kept clamoring,the footsteps were closing up,the noise was coming near..Now what is happening?i keep wondering...is the time for the festival near?maybe it has begun already..No!that isn't it,a voice keeps telling me something dangerous is happening...I stand up from my mat,move closer to the door,throw it open only to see soldiers beating helpless children,shooting every male in sight..Oh!I can see one of them struggling with my friend Halima...What is really happening?

Oh!it seems the war is finally here!..Yes it definitely is!!!I can feel the sweat trickling down my face,my heart pounding fast...I have to make an escape,run for my dear life but where is mother,my sisters?
Mama!Mama!!Chioma!!!Tochi!!!Nneka!!!Where are you?The war is here!we have to run....They aren't answering,the panic sets in. Have they been killed?Perhaps they have escaped and must have forgotten to wake me up!Oh why did i fall asleep?why does this have to happen now?I've got to go,I need to hurry....Suddenly,the pictures become hazy,it's all becoming blurry!flashes everywhere...why i'm i going in circles?Somebody Please Help!Draw me out of this labyrinth.

Now the pictures are suddenly brighter,the flashes are gone,the images,clearer...I look around,mama is right here,my sisters are snoring softly..Alas,'twas all a dream!
I really should go back to bed now,'tis too early to be awake..Surprisingly,i can hear the noise again,it is clearer this time,there is someone banging hard on the door,we all jump almost at the same time..Suddenly,they barged in..we shrieked and cried...Clubs,rods,iron rammed on us n everything went blank.

I'm cold,I'm shivering,why can't i feel ma hands nor my legs?i'm so wet and all tied up..Slowly i open my eyes,i'm surrounded by men,they are laughing and drinking,eyes so red and bloodshot..who are this men?the memories are coming back..yeah,they are the same soldiers who raided our village!and now it's all glaring..i was actually captured and separated from my loved ones.


Day after day we matched,memories of my loved ones haunted me,knowing that i might never get to see them again scared me.....(to be cont'd)....