THE VIGIL

It was a dark and stormy night when my best friend and I decided to sneak out of our house and join the vigil that was held in our village. We had heard that there would be many girls from other villages attending, and we wanted to impress them with our city manners and clothes.

We borrowed our uncle's motorcycle and rode through the muddy roads, dodging the raindrops and the lightning. We arrived at the vigil just in time to see the bonfire being lit and the drums being played. We quickly mingled with the crowd, looking for some pretty faces to chat with.

We were having a good time, flirting and dancing, until we noticed that the vigil was about to end. We realized that we had to get back home before our uncle woke up and discovered our absence. We said goodbye to the girls we had met and promised to call them later. Then we got on our motorcycle and sped away.

However, as we were leaving the village, we realized that we had taken a wrong turn. We had no idea where we were, and the storm was getting worse. We tried to find our way back, but we only got more lost. The roads were dark and slippery, and the trees and bushes looked menacing. We started to panic.

That's when we saw a familiar figure walking towards us. It was Gbenga, one of our distant friends in the village. We had not seen him for a while, but we were happy to see him now. We stopped the motorcycle and greeted him.

"Hey, Gbenga, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was just coming back from a night hunt. I caught a big antelope. Do you want to see it?" he said, pointing to a sack he was carrying on his shoulder.

"Maybe later, Gbenga. We're kind of in a hurry. We need to get back home before our uncle finds out we're gone," my best friend said.

"Oh, I see. Well, you're lucky I ran into you. You're going the wrong way. This road leads to the swamp. You don't want to go there. It's dangerous," Gbenga said.

"Really? Then how do we get back to our village?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I'll show you. Follow me. I know a shortcut," Gbenga said.

He asked us to get off the motorcycle and leave it by the side of the road. He said it would be safer to walk. We trusted him, so we did as he said. We followed him into the darkness, carrying only a flashlight. As we walked, we talked and joked with him. He seemed to be in a good mood.

After a while, he stopped and said, "OK, we're almost there. But there's one thing. We have to turn left here, but it's a little sloppy, so we'll go one at a time. I'll go first and after 30 seconds, you go, and then he follows. OK?"

He pointed to a narrow path that was barely visible in the dark. It looked steep and slippery. We hesitated, but he assured us it was safe. He said he had done it many times before.

"OK, Gbenga, if you say so. But be careful, OK?" I said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just count to 30 and then follow me. See you on the other side," he said.

He entered the path and disappeared into the darkness. We heard his footsteps and his voice fading away. We waited for 30 seconds, counting in our heads. Then we heard him call from the other side.

"Hey, guys, I made it. It's not so bad. Come on, you can do it. You're next," he said.

I looked at my best friend and he looked at me. We were both nervous, but we didn't want to chicken out. I decided to go first.

"OK, Gbenga, I'm coming. Wait for me," I said.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the path. I held the flashlight in front of me and tried to see where I was going. But it was too dark and too wet. I slipped and lost my balance. I felt myself falling down. I screamed.

"Help! Help! I'm falling!"

I expected to hit the ground any second, but I didn't. Instead, I felt a strong hand grabbing me and pulling me up. I opened my eyes and saw my uncle, who was also our catechist, holding me. He had a worried look on his face.

"Are you OK, son? What are you doing here?" he asked.

I was confused and relieved at the same time. I looked around and saw that I was still on the road, not on the path. I saw my best friend standing behind my uncle, looking shocked. I saw our motorcycle parked where we had left it. I saw no sign of Gbenga or his sack.

"Uncle, what are you doing here? How did you find us?" I asked.

"I was coming back from the vigil when I saw your motorcycle by the road. I recognized it as your uncle's. I wondered what you were doing here, so I followed you. I saw you walking with someone, but I couldn't see who it was. It was too dark. Then I saw you turn left and enter that path. I knew it was a trap. That's why I ran after you and caught you before you fell," he said.

"A trap? What do you mean?" I asked.

"That path is not a path. It's a cliff. If you had fallen, you would have died. There's nothing on the other side but rocks and water. Whoever told you to go there wanted to kill you," he said.

"Whoever? You mean Gbenga?" I asked.

"Gbenga? Who is Gbenga?" he asked.

"Gbenga, our friend. He was leading us home. He said he had caught an antelope. He said he knew a shortcut. He said he would go first and then we would follow him. He said he was on the other side. He was just talking to us. Didn't you hear him?" I asked.

My uncle shook his head and looked at me with pity.

"Son, there was no one with you. I saw you walking alone. And there was no voice on the other side. It was just the wind. And there was no antelope. It was just a sack of bones and feathers. And there was no Gbenga. Gbenga is dead," he said.

"Dead? What do you mean, dead?" I asked.

"Gbenga died two months ago. He fell from that same cliff when he was returning from a night hunt. He broke his neck and drowned. His body was found the next day. Don't you remember? We all went to his funeral. He was buried in the cemetery. How can you say he was with you?" he asked.

I felt a chill run down my spine. I looked at my best friend and he looked at me. We were both speechless. We couldn't believe what we had just heard. We had been walking with a ghost. A ghost that wanted to kill us.

We didn't know what to say or do. We just followed our uncle as he led us back to our village. He told us to pray and repent for our sins. He said we had been saved by God's grace. He said we should never sneak out again or go to places we didn't know. He said we should be grateful for our lives.

We nodded and agreed. We were grateful. We were also terrified. We never wanted to see Gbenga again. We never wanted to go to that road again. We never wanted to think about that night again.

But we couldn't forget. We couldn't forget the face of Gbenga, the voice of Gbenga, the laugh of Gbenga. We couldn't forget the path, the cliff, the fall. We couldn't forget the horror, the shock, the miracle.

We couldn't forget that we had walked with a ghost.

The End.

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