Everybody Needs To Read This To The End
Everybody Needs To Read This To The End
šÆ CONTESTANT 120 STORY šÆ
NAME: HENRY ZIBIMA
OCCUPATION: STUDENT, CREATIVE WRITER
THEME: BETRAYAL
It was a beautiful day in the blissful town of Brass, a riverine area in the southern part of the Glory Of All Lands- Bayelsa state to be precise. My dad had taken my brothers for a stroll that serene evening.
The clouds were dull and the evening sun cast long shadows on the ground. The light emanating from the sun guided us natives as we went about out daily lives.
Mama died many years ago, after battling a rare disease which no one in the community could find a solution to. My mother was a very strong woman, she fought with all her strength for more than a year, till she could fight no longer.
I cried my eyes out when I got to know that the angel of death, the unavoidable visitor, had separated my mum from me. I wept bitterly for months, it took a lot of encouragement from my best friend; Tari to get me emotionally stable once again.
Tari was like a brother to me, but he had lost his both parents on the same day! That day, they both went to cut down fire wood. I had seen a fresh log when I went to get herbs for my sick mother. I decided to do good by calling it to their attention, Tari’s parents sell firewood and had been in the business for a very long time.
Unfortunately, they were both bitten by a very poisonous snake while in the bush. We all in the village refer to the snake as “Agbilage” meaning bite and kill. Tari’s parents were found dead by some villagers and that day, my best friend became an orphan. I felt a little bit guilty, because they wouldn’t have been in the forest if I had not told them about the firewood.
Few months later, Tari vanished from the village and no one heard from him again.
My dad would frequently take my younger ones for a walk whenever he is free. And as usual, he took them out that “Mournday”. It was barely minutes when they left that I heard a deafening loud bang, it was so loud that I was shocked out of my skin.
What could that be? Boom! it sounded again, I quickly rushed down to our wooden window to take a look.
Boom it came again, and again until it became repeated. They were sounds of explosion. Soon there was a rain of bullets, people had began running helter skelter.
Jesus! I screamed. I was so awestruck my nerves couldn’t function any longer; I was rooted to the spot. It was when a bullet flew through the window just a few centimeters from my head that I regained complete consciousness. The bullet sank into my dad’s glass plate, shattering it into tiny bits.
I remembered what my mum taught me when I was still very young and as swift as I could, I lay flat on the floor, covering my head with my hands. The gunshots continued and my heart was not at rest because of my siblings and my father who were out in the open, prone to much danger.
“Ebiowei, Ebiowei” I heard a familiar voice scream my name, I thought it was a figment of my imagination but I immediately sprang up on my feet when I realized it was my dad’s voice. I looked out the wooden window and tears from no where flooded my eyes.
I saw my younger ones racing towards our house while my dad limped after; his leg must have been hit by a bullet. My brothers ran as fast as they could, their heels almost touching their backs. Men dressed in black clothings from head to toe revealing no parts of their body chased after them and many other villagers, firing indiscriminately with the big guns they carried.
They were pirates, which carried out all sorts of maritime crime. They rob, kÄ«ll, rÄpe and act like they’ve sold their conscience to the devil. I was scared shį»tless, it had been years since they last attacked our village so no one expected it.
I ran quickly to open the door, my brothers ran inside the house but before my dad could, he got shot more times; a few on his head and one on his heart region. He fell down to the floor, blood running over from his head to his jaw. He smiled at me in immense pains.
“Take care of your siblings” he shouted.
“They are the only family you have left”
I was deep in misery, I quickly ran inside and bolted the door.
I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t believe it and even till now it’s hard for me to accept it. I had lost my both parents, in just a space of two years.
I cried so bitterly, and instead of me consoling my brothers, they were the ones consoling me.
The pirates came to ransack our village and were robbing every house.
Soon, there was a loud bang on our door, it was an explosion, it was dynamite, it was the pirates. They kicked open the already disintegrated door and stood gallantly, frightening my siblings and I to the floor. Fear gripped me and I wished I could just wake up from this terrible nightmare.
“Please, there is nothing here. We are poor, we have no food… no money… we have nothing. Please spare us” I said quivering vehemently.
They didn’t respond and remained as still as a statue. Maybe they feel pity for us, I thought. But I was stripped off the thought when one of them who looked very muscular said in a deep low tone
“They are all yours”
He turned and vanished with the rest out of my house, leaving only one behind. I could swear I knew the person in front of me but I just couldn’t place it.
Slowly he pulled off his mask, my jaw fell open and my pupils dilated.
“Tari!!!” I shouted.
“No… No… No. Impossible”
“We came around town, so I decided to pay my best friend a visit.” He smirked.
“You know; ever since my parents died and I went in search of greener pastures, life has not been easy but this people took me in, sheltered me and took me as a brother. They gave me the love, care no one could give to me, not even my best friend”
“Tari, what are you talking about. Those people are evil.”
“Those people are my family, YOU are the one who is evil” he said pointing furiously at me.
“Tari, why would you say such a thing”
“You caused my parents’ death, you made me an orphan”
“Tari, how can you say such? You and I know I never meant harm for your parents”
“You see, I don’t care” he said sniffing his hands.
“But I’m going to give you a taste of your own medicine”
“What do you mean?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t what I was insinuating.
“You see; there’s something you don’t know, I never really liked you Ebiowei. You’re always the best at everything you do, and that got me really jealous, you know”
He raised the gun and cocked it,
“I have three bullets here, but not to worry, it will go round; one for everybody”
“No! Please don’t do this, we’ve been friends since childhood.” I begged. My brothers were whimpering on the floor, while I silently said my final prayer. Bang! Bang! He shot my both brothers.
Jesus, I choked in tears. What sort of trial is this? I drowned deep into the well of misery.
“You don’t have to do this, please, I never meant bad for your parents” I cried aloud.
“My regards to the devil” Tari said. He pointed the gun at my head, and moved his index finger slowly towards the trigger.
Bang! Came the sound.
The door was pushed open by one of his gang members
“Sniper, let’s go, let’s go. Hurry!” The man shouted.
He gave me a deadly stare and said in a furious tone.
“You won’t be lucky next time”
He turned back and dashed off with the other guy.
I couldn’t believe it. I never thought for once, that my best friend could even feel an iota of envy for me.
Sorrowful. Miserable. Griefed. I couldn’t believe that Tari that I could die for, Tari that I was ready to take a bullet for, was the one behind the trigger.
