We had roamed the late hours of the night for a football viewing centre,and after one was found, we spent two hours showing support for our separate teams. Nine of us had come by the same way, consumed by a fervent zeal for our football clubs. This zeal may be one of unequal proportion,as was with many, but to have decided to leave the comfort of our homes,and made through the rough sketches of downtown Lagos at the dead of night,to share in a brief moment of team-manship, may be considered borne out of the ordinary. It was our primary intention to cheer,laud and pique fans of the opposite team,as was the custom among lovers of football, but the night- with the frightening cluster of darkness,and the expressive warnings of a frigid night, stood against our frolic flare,for we had to return to our homes through the dark patvhes of Ladipo ,now with a fewer men,most of whom lived a few buildings from one another. It was about 1am on an unsually silent Thursday.

The night sent cold pats down our spines, heaving strange comforts that bore likeness with falsely calm sensations experienced when the lights go out suddenly in a cinema,in the middle of a ghost movie. All that was in sight borrowed from the shades of darkness the intimidating figures of southern mountains and bed-like rocks, especially the tough structured houses sitted gracefully on both sides of the street,and the 'danfos' carelessly packed at different corners of dark streets. Making through the caliginous streets with heightened fear,we stumbled upon grave darkness,and were once more reminded of the dreads of night,when suddenly,by a far observation,a frightful sight brought us to a halt,with a bit of queer setting off the scare behind our timorous state;but,as was the nature of man,inherent curiosity made us approach the mischievous.

I had sterly asserted that we maintained our position, but it seemed as though the god of the night had promised a conference somewhere in his dreadful chambers, for the others with whom I walked suddenly developed a false confidence; and,hiding their fears unprofessionally behind the numbers we had, matched toward the unknown. I followed. The figure,from a hundred steps away and hiding its rear in the darkness so that only a tiny projection of its head was witnessed and its eyes which conveyed the light in reave of darkness, advanced towards us with the stealth of a thief- swerving confidently to the rhythm of the growling wind. At this time, we had all come to a stop- again,with all the confidence with which we had marched deliquesced into heavy sweat. Just when we were only a few steps away from the unknown, it suddenly dawned on us that we were locked within its reach; and as if it realized that fact, it slowly gave away another part of its head: from its bright eyes to its firm nose,letting of a territorial growl. We were pulled by its dreadful gaze,its eyes radiating its ferociousness,blazing with utter vexation,its body firm as it growled with confidence, like a predator assured of its own snare,ready to pounce with defensive brutality. One of the men charged at it with a stone,aiming to scare it off,but running off when he was almost within its reach(a defensive act only to buy his own freedom). Menaced,it came at the rest of us with a frightening leap,and while others had fled many ways, only i remained- stilled to my feet- with all but chagrin at heart.

Nothing could be done,except to hug the momentary sentence,and be lost in its felicity,which I helplessly met with much trepidation rather than awkward grace,the moment I realized the last,slowed breath could as well be my last.
At last the much dreaded figure stood in place of light,body in sight,with its stale face and the rest of its entirety,making a show of its appearance. Now,it was I who was met with a streak of disappointment, with a gauche release of tension,sliding down my back like melted ice on a sloppy hill;for it was only a dog,a frightened dog lost in the adventures of the night,just as we were.