The Ancient One - PART NINE

[Original picture]

When I was in Jss1, about 9 years ago, I had taken my younger brothers to a place in Bariga called Ebute. Ebute was close to the body of water that washed out past third mainland bridge, into the gulf of guinea and out into the Atlantic Ocean. When driving in third mainland bridge, going towards the Island, on the right, you can see shantytowns in the distance built on top of the water, wretched looking homes built by the very poor of the very poor. That was Ebute. There was a Sandy looking area close to the water that could loosely be termed a beach. The first day I took my brothers to Ebute, we stood at the "beach" watching the waves as its washed towards the shore, observing the boats and small ships that came and went, and most interestingly, the youths playing in the water. They swam gracefully in and out of the dirty water, laughing and playing with joy in their faces.

The second day we went back there as soon as my mum left home for shop, this time we were brave enough to dip our toes in the dirty, faeces infested water. The third day, we took our tight boxers (as swim trunks) and went to the "beach".

My mother gave birth to three children only, all boys. And I took all of us to the beach to swim. Later, as I grew up, I realized the potential disastrous consequences that could have arisen from that foolhardy decision.

We got into the water and started to swim, diving into the murky depths and coming up spraying water everywhere as we laughed and played. The water tasted salty, either from the urine and faeces in it or the natural saltiness of water from the ocean. At one point I actually saw poop float pass me in the water. I swam away from that spot and kept playing. As we played, I noticed if we sunk low enough we could feel the ground so it was relatively safe, although we were all floating due to the buoyancy caused by the salt in the water. At one point I drifted a bit too far and when I dived I realized I could not feel the bottom anymore. It was like the word suddenly ended and I was perched at the edge of a bottomless chasm.

I panicked.

I came up for air and realized I could not float anymore. I struggled with the water and pushed towards the part where I could see my brothers still playing; where there was ground under the water; where there was life. Slowly and steadily the water began to push me farther from my immediate family and I couldn't hold it in anymore. The first scream that came out of my mouth was involuntary but my younger brothers heard it. They looked back to see their elder brother, their strength, being taken away by the water.

I will not say I had powers here, but I know that something happened. Suddenly I could hear the voice of my brother inside my head. They were much too little to form intelligent sentences in states of panic but I could feel their panic. Then I felt it like a tether, a rope, a bond connecting me to my brothers who had already gotten on the shore and were looking out at me. I pulled and it tugged, I pulled and it tugged again. I pulled and the tug shot me through the water, fast enough to propel me towards the part that there was "ground" underneath me. I had never felt so happy to be on dry land.

In the deepest recess of my dark, black mind now, I felt that tug again. I tugged and it tugged back, I tugged again and it shot me up out of that darkness and into the light.

I was in a white stainless room that seemed to stretch on for miles. My retinas burned at the sudden onslaught of light. It compensated by forcing my iris to shrink to reduce the amount of light streaming in. I looked around and spotted a blip against the whiteness of the surrounding. The blip was far away and grew in size as it moved closer. It continued to grow till it was about seven feet tall. The tug that had pulled me out of the darkness was stronger now and I could feel the other end connected directly to the thing in front of me. It stopped three feet away from me and I could now see what it looked like. I gasped .

"Daddy?"