LAURA...💖💖😱😱

I never expected the long vacation to end so soon. How disappointed I was when my dad announced we were finally leaving for home. 'Home?! Really? I haven't even gotten to go fishing with Usman' I mumbled angrily despite knowing that wouldn't help. My dad's word was always final.
'At least you have interesting stories to tell them. Like Aunt's Funmi's wedding for example' My younger sister had told me shutting her bag close. She has been packing all night. I never doubted anyway. She had always hated the village.
'Aunt Funmi's wedding is the driest i have ever attended. Why must all the women dress in the same attire? It's so lame' I had said shutting the wardrobe.
"Paul, you are so strange. That's 'aso ebi''
I didn't care. All that troubled my mind was how I would get to go fishing with my new chub in one of those amazing looking canoes. I shared my thought with my sister Shola but ended up cursing myself under my breath. She hated anything village except the weddings of course. she could barely stopped taunting me when I had told her my thought.
"Fishing you say! Are you a fisherman? Your mates are looking for ways to get back to the city, you are looking for a chance to go fishing. No wonder you are least in class. Always worry about nonsense' She had hissed at this words. Her words had caused me great pain. I never expected her to speak like that. I hated school and everyone knows it. I wasn't interested in school. I wanted to swim and fish.
Water was always my best friend. While others shun it or try avoiding it, I get closer. I can't forget the last swimming competition I attended two weeks ago. It had occurred in the village stream. Everyone was there except my family of course. My dad warned me not to show up there but I never listened. I so much loved swimming like hell. Arriving to the stream with Usman and Jamiu having sneaked out of the house, I had put off my shirt waiting for my turn to hop the cold stream. The first three contestants tried and only one had won that round. He was skinny, good looking. Of course with his shape, I couldn't help but think he had a stream like shape. Now the other two were disqualified and another two were called. They tried but failed. Another was called. The same occurred. This got us all tensed a bit. Had the swimmer used charm or what? How come he could swim so well? The audience were beginning to loose faith in the rest of the contestants. It was very obvious the dude had won but I never ones lost hope. I knew I could do it.
'Guy, that swimmer is something else. Just step back' Usman had said to me but I didn't listen. I ignored him and jogged toward the stream in my kanki shorts. The guy gave me a smirk wishing me good luck. I only threw him a stern look. He doesn't scare me. As the competition was about to begin, I caught sight of two beautiful pair of eyes staring straight into my eyes. This weaked me for a moment. I wasn't sure who the beautiful damsel was but to be frank that was the first time i was seeing her.
"Go!" The so called time keeper who was no other than one of the elders in the village had screamed. In no time, I found myself flapping my hands in the water trying to get to the other side of the stream. The guy was much more skilled than I thought. He began swimming ahead of me. The villagers had began chanting his name. This weakened me. How had he done it? I flapped my hands and legs faster trying to catch up with him but couldn't. Suddenly the pompous swimmer cried out with pain as his feet had knocked over a stone which he hadn't seen earlier. I smiled and was able to get ahead of him. Some villagers saw this as cheating and ordered the competition to be stopped but the judges didn't. The guy wasn't focused. This was why he had lost the game. I couldn't hide my excitement as I announced the winner of the competition. No one seemed to care except my friends who lifted me up in the air singing a victory song.
'I tell you! The stone wasn't there. It is not normal. This boy did something' The guy had tried defending himself but no one seemed to be interested anymore. The game had ended sour. As I walked back home with my friends, I stared around for the girl I had seen earlier and caught sight of her behind one of the trees staring at me. She gave me a beautiful smile and I smiled back. My friends followed my gaze and hissed seeing her.
'That is Laura. Everyone knows her for being quiet. She hardly talks' Usman had told me as we walked past her. It was just as if he had read my mind. I definitely was interested in knowing about her.
"That girl is strange. Don't even look in her direction" Jamiu added. The words of my two friends ought to scare me but it didn't. It made more curious about her instead. Looking back quickly to catch a glimpse of her, I discovered she was gone. After that day, I had seen her couple of times in the market square with her sisters selling some farm products. She had no farm of her own nor does she have parents. But according to what Usman had told him, they lived with one of the chiefs as servants and helped him with sales during the harvest seasons. How hard I have tried to approach her but I couldn't. My friends tried discouraging me telling me so many guys had tried wooing her due to her beauty but ended up being rejected. I hated being rejected but it was worth trying. She might end up not rejecting me. As in, just recall how she had smiled at me. That meant something right. Having full faith in myself and her, I decided to approach her the following weekend without my friends knowledge. As soon as I did, we had a brief but dry chat. I was very nervous and didn't want to try forcing her. The girl seem to have doubted I wanted something from her.
"What do you want?" She had asked me with a calm voice. This got me less confident. I wasn't aware of how to begin or where to start.
"I...I...I.." I stammered with a trembling voice.
"Why are you scared? I am not cruel or do I look cruel?" She asked with a worried look. I shook my head immediately. How can a girl as beautiful as her be cruel? There was no flaws in her at all. She was more like miss perfect.
"No Laura. You are not" She laughed
"I love how you pronounced my name. Say it again" I did and she giggled. I did too even though I had no idea what was funny. Her sisters weren't around so I felt more comfortable speaking to her. "So, what do you want from me?" She asked again. I felt more confident this time.
"I like you Laura and I want you to be my girlfriend" I said promptly.
"Alright" She had said almost immediately. This got me tensed a little. She showed no sign of surprise.
"Are you sure?" I asked looking stupid.
"You are the one asked. You are not a bad person so I have no reason turning you down. You are also an amazing swimmer too. I love swimmers"
"Actually that guy could swim better than me" She twisted her nose and hissed.
"He used charm. He can't swim at all. I know him well.By the way, I will like to know your name"
"Paul Dolapo" I had told her. She smiled.
"Your dad is that rich guy from the city and your mum is a well known seamstress. Your sister hardly comes out of the house. She hates here" she had reminded me making me nervous a great deal. How the hell did she know about my family?
"How do you know?" I decided to ask. She smiled and slapped off the mosquito of her beautiful long leg.
"There is nothing I don't know Paul. I know everything. Get use to it" She had cautioned me and I smiled weakly. She was really as strange as they say. Who the hell was she? How does she get so much information about the village. I wanted to ditch her that moment but changed my mind realizing I might be exaggerating. She was a nice girl. Of course she meant no harm. From that day henceforth, I tried as much as possible to avoid being so close to her but she seemed to have sensed it.
"Why are you avoiding me Paul?! What have I done" She had asked me with a sad voice. She wanted to cry but didn't. I felt relieved at that .
"I am not avoiding you" I defended myself.
"You are. Do not lie to me! You are scared of me Paul. I see you are scared of me" She had went on shaking me vigorously. I frowned and rudely pushed her hands off.
"We are over Laura! I don't understand you. You get me scared. I can't have anything to do with you anymore" The girl gave me a hurt look and stepped back. In no time, she rushed into the woods as fast as she could. I never saw her again. This got me restless a bit but it surely was best for me and my family. The girl was wired and could be anything. Maybe a witch?!

I thought I had heard Usman voice calling out to me in my dream. I ignored at first but when it got louder the second time, I woke up immediately from my deep sleep. Us man was at my window waving at me to come. The window was open again! That is always due to my carelessness. Everyone was asleep so I was sure no one knew he was around.
"What is going on with your head na? You don dey craze ba?" I had asked furiously imagining the type of trouble I would have gotten into if he was caught.
"You are not going fishing again? I thought you are leaving tomorrow morning" he reminded me.
"But it's late. We cannot go fishing by this time"
"No time is late when it comes to fishing. The fishes aren't running away. It's either now or never" I got tensed. Perhaps Usman was right. That might be my only chance to go fishing because there is no way I will be opportune in the city. I thought for a while and promised to join him soon. The house keys were with the house maid who was my very close friend. I was able to convince her in sneaking me out even though she hated it.

"Come back as soon as possible" she had advised me. I nodded and sneaked off into the darkness with Usman.

In no time, we were at the river. Usman had two fishing lines with him so it was easier for me since I had none. She stole one of the boats tied to a stick by the fishermen and rowed it down the river. How fun it Was! I couldn't believe I was actually in a boat because I never expected it. It was like a dream come true. As we went on splashing our hook line in the cold still water waiting for our catch, Usman broke into a folk song and I hummed along having no idea the lyrics of the song. As we went on singing our hearts out. We didn't notice a storm approaching. A slight breeze had blown at first penetrating our skins but in no time it began to blow stronger getting us both tensed a little. The moon disappeared and the sky got grey.
"I think there is going to be a storm. Let's go back" Usman had said paddling the canoe back to shore. I became very tensed. He couldn't paddle fast enough to escape the disaster awaiting us. The wind overpowered the canoe and dived it farther into the river rendering Usman paddle useless.
"I hate this! I hate this!" He had said as he angrily placed the paddle in the canoe.
"Tell me this isn't what I am thinking" I had told me seeking words of comfort but Usman was too scared to comfort anyone. We were both in the same shoes. The river wasn't still anymore. It became very unstable that the canoe we were in had turned over sending us straight into the river. We both tried swimming away to shore but unfortunately the wind blew stronger and the part we had been thrown in was very deep. Deeper than the rest actually. I couldn't swim out of it. In no time the rain began to pour making everything worse. I turned toward Usman direction and discovered he was beginning to drown. I dived toward him and held his neck high above the cold water trying to get him to breath. Though I thought of saving him but it was all useless since I couldn't help myself.
"Help!" I screamed out with my whole strength hoping someone hears but no one did. The river was a bit far away from the village and not only that, the rain drowned my voice too.
"Help!" I yelled out again and this time with my neck completely immersed in water. I couldn't hold on to Usman anymore for I was already getting weak. The rain had poured down faster and faster. In no time, I was completely buried in water. I had lost grip of Usman who was already to drown. My eyes began to shut slightly. I felt my head go blank. The volume of water I drank, I couldn't say. As I was beginning to see myself as dead, someone grabbed hold of me and pulled me out of the water immediately. My eyes was blurry but I was sure I was no one. There was none in sight. I only saw myself diving as fast as I could toward the shore against the force of the waves. As soon as I had arrived to shore, someone laid me down to the ground and bent over me. I opened my eyes slightly to see the person. It was a image of a girl. A familiar image of a girl. Due to how weak I was, I got unconscious.

As soon as I opened my eyelid, I ffound myself back in my room with my family gathered round me.
"He is awake!" My mum exclaimed happily. My sister held my hand with a blood shot eyes. She seemed to have been crying for hours.
"Thank God you are still alive Paul" she had told me.
"Why will I die?" I had asked naively.
"You almost drowned in the river last night but someone saved you" She had explained. My dad walked past the excited family members fuming. He was the only one who was in a bad mood that day.
"How dare you sneak to that cursed river?! How dare you go there against my wish?" He had screamed at me. I had no words to say in defense. It was obvious he wasn't angry I left but was annoyed due to the fact that the day's trip was ruined. My mum tried calming him down but he didn't.
"I don't care if you are strong or not. We are leaving tomorrow morning" I didn't argue against this. Few minutes later I had asked for Usman. The guy had survived too. The same person must have saved him but the fact on who the person was baffled me. No one in the village was awake that day. Who had saves me? Few hours later, when I was strong enough, I went back to the river to get answers. My parents had no idea because I never told them. Arriving there, I caught sight of a female sitted on the shore with a fish tale. This got me shocked. She stared back immediately in alert and I discovered it was Laura. She got nervous and dived into the river immediately.
'Laura wait!' I had called her but she was gone. From that day henceforth, I never saw her again. No one did.

I arrived back to school ready to say a different story. When I had told my friend about Laura, they never believed me. They thought I was making up stories but only I knew I didn't. I had been right about her after all. She really was a strange person. So strange that any guy could easy doubt her right aware. Though she was strange but she was a nice person too and I wished I had never broken her heart the way I did.

#THE END...

I wrote this story for the
https://steemit.com/contest/@anikekirsten/fact-to-fiction-writing-contest-20-steem-in-prizes-open-for-entries hosted by anikekirsten.

Thanks for reading...