₦airaland Forum

ghostwritter:
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“Baba…Baba!” a voice kept calling from behind him, Fabian turned around to see it was a young boy of about six years of age running towards him. The boy was running desperately to reach him. He ran passed him heading towards the man working on the farm.

“What is it again, kilode? I had told you to stay at home with your mother, she is ill and needs you more than I would need you in the farm” the man barked at the boy who appeared nervous.

“Mama…mama said I should call you, won ni ke ma bo bayi bayi, that you should come with me immediately” the boy stammered trying to catch his breath.

“Ma lo…go, I will come when I am done with work in the farm, I need to finish before this rain starts” the man said pointing his cutlass to the sky.

Fabian who stood his distance realized the sky had turned ash brown with the thunder rumbling and lightning strikes within it. The little boy ran passed without taken notice of his presence. He wondered how the boy wouldn’t acknowledge his presence; he thought the boy might have been warned to keep away from strangers.

Fabian moved closer to the man who had then resumed working, as he was about to greet the farmer, he saw the man picked up a small shinny object from the soil. The farmer looked at it closely wondering what it was and so was Fabian. With a closer look, Fabian soon realized it was a necklace, a shinny one, the same type he had got stocked to his neck. He felt his neck and realized his own was still there.

The farmer too his time to admire it before he dropped the object in his pocket and resumed work, few minutes later, screams and wailing were heard in the sky, Fabian looked up and was shocked to see many creatures with feathers falling loosely from within the dark clouds.

They dropped carelessly on the large farm, piling upon one another. The farmer watched in shock at the creatures in front of him, he heard them grumble, wailing, and most of them crying as they stretched their hands up ward to the sky like there was someone above hearing them plea. The farmer had the great urge to flee but his legs stood rooted to the earth like he wasn’t in control of it any longer. The rain poured heavily on the earth and made it muddy but still Fabian watched the farmer stood looking dumbfounded at the strange creatures as the rain poured on them, it slowly changed their beautiful white glowing colors into a dark one, every part of the creatures turned dark and gradually their faces appeared monstrous with horns popping-up from their heads and a long tail growing from their back waist. A thunder strike suddenly causing loud bang that shock the ground, the monstrous creatures cluttered amongst themselves in fear whimpering aloud.
The farmer was already trembling; his cutlass unknowingly dropped from his hand and immediately it touched the ground, the creatures slowly turned their heads to him. Fabian’s heart began to beat faster and he wishes to flee away from such sight but he couldn’t like he was been controlled.

“Release us!” the creatures all screamed in unison and their voices echoing far into the distance. The farmer looked scared thinking he could be easily attacked by the creatures if he tries to flee. But he took his chances for the sake of his little boy and his sick wife, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the farm towards his hut.

On getting to his small hut, his saw his little boy squatting outside in the rain and hurriedly picked him up into the room before locking the door tight behind him. As he tries to catching his breathe, he kept visualizing the images of horror he saw on his farm. He finally rested his back on the wooden door like he wanted to prevent something from coming into the room. After a while, he realized his son had been crying.

“What is it? Kilotunde? Why are you crying?

“Baba, mama is no longer breathing”

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Fabian felt himself on his feet; he opened eyes to see it was the room, the room Mustapha had gotten for him. In front of him was the big book opened, he looked around wondering what just happened. He was certain what he saw moments ago wasn’t a dream nor vision, it was real, it was concrete, like he could feel the winds, the smell of the soil, the voice of the farmer and his boy and likewise the farmer fear. He placed his palm on the other chapter of the book but nothing happened, he did it over and over but still nothing happened.

Quickly, he rushed to a room where few men had gathered performing ‘Dikhr’, he waited some minutes till it was over before calling for Mustapha’s attention.

“Please, I would like you to help shield lighter about this book, it’s very strange”

“What did you see?”

“I…I don’t understand”

“That book, where did it take you... what were you shown?”

“How did you know?”

“It’s called The Book of Secrets for a reason, a book that allows a man’s deepest secret be hidden and shown to whomever he wishes”.

“Like a diary?”

“This is far more secretive than that, it is believed that man can mysteriously inscribe any visual account of his past into it”.

“Like a video recorder?”

“Exactly, just that the book of secrets allows you to feel the pain, the fear, the joy and any sought of emotional feeling of the recorder, it’s like been taken back to that exact moment when it all happened and made to feel what the person had felt”

Fabian looked so puzzled, Mustapha’s words sounded so weird and created a mixed feeling of joy and fear at same time. Joy because he could see into other people’s life like he had always wished and fear because he never know what more of evil things could be inside of it.

“But who’s life was that I saw, was it that of my grandfather the Sheikh?”

“I’m not sure but your great grandfather Abubakar Soleimoni Dingin was the only black man who first used it”

“How did you know so much about this?” Fabian looking at Mustapha surprisingly

“Because that was how sheikh your grandfather had narrated it to me in case you ever asked”.


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