TALES BY OVII

Just like every Saturday morning it was time to clean up the house and keep it tidy. Everyone was apportioned a section of the house to clean except the basement. Oyin was very much curious as to why the basement was always left out during the Saturday clean ups. This was a repeated act year after year and Oyin wasn’t sure why.

‘Mum! Aren’t we going to clean up the basement too?’ With a stern look at Oyin from her mother ‘you should be at your apportioned area of the house doing your cleanup rather than throwing unsolicited questions at your mother’. Oyin immediately felt a force bring her shoulders down,she had no choice but to walk away after it obviously looked like her mother wasn’t buying her curiosity or ready to give her answers to any question.

Moving On........

Oyin felt so Unsatisfied as she cleaned up her apportioned area of the house. Oyin had two sisters {abike and lola} she was the oldest of them both and her mother wasn’t of child bearing age hence her long wish for a brother had died. Their father abandoned them to marry another woman and his excuse was that Oyin’s mother couldn’t bear him a son and he needed an heir forgetting that children come from God and variably it’s what he gives the woman that she’ll give back to him[X and Y chromosome].

Later that evening Oyin decided to take the bulls by the horn and go down the basement. Her curiosity knew no bounds and it’s satifaction was the only way out. At exactly 5:40pm, Oyin took a torchlight and headed towards the basement. Her younger sisters were outside the house playing with other children and her mom was nowhere to be seen at that time so she assumed her mom must have gone to the grocery store to get supplies for the new week and so she had to seize the opportunity. She got a hammer as the basement door was always tightly locked but on getting there to her greatest surprise the door was slantly opened, cold shivers went down her spine, her grip on the hammer became tighter and she suddenly felt the room get hotter. Her legs couldn’t move as she stood transfixed contemplating within her whether to take a step or not.

The Decision

Oyin gently took a step forward and pulled the door ajar. She turned on the torchlight and pointed it towards the dusty dark space at the entrance of the basement. Her heartbeats increased tremendously as though she had competed with usain bolt in a race. She gradually made her way down the dusty old wooden staircase and was careful enough not to miss her step as most of the stairs had broken off. She finally got off the stairs and immediately the basement door slammed closed. ‘Oh my God!’ Oyin stuttered, her eyes gave a wild rush all over the place. She could barely see much as the torchlight looked as tho it was getting dimmer.

‘Helloooo!’ Oyin beckoned, she wasn’t comfortable anymore and wanted to leave. She feared the unknown as she perceived a rotten,purging smell, she nearly passed out. She turned the torchlight and to her greatest surprise she saw her mother but in a more terrifying figure, much older and unkept in a manner she had never been. ‘You child! You shouldn’t be here’ her mother yelled. Oyin had no words as her tongue suddenly went numb. Oyin was so afraid, she took some steps backwards as her mother walked towards her ‘mother is this you?’ Oyin tearfully said ‘I have protected you enough but you’re too stubborn,today is definitely your last day’ she hit Oyin with a hard object so bad that Oyin saw the place spin and she fell hard to the ground. Was today definitely her last day? Oyin didn’t know what was going to happen next or what was going to become of her as she felt her soul go into a trance while she lay helplessly on the cold floor of the basement.