Mother (Short Story) – Blenn Dan
Few weeks ago, I was chased out of my husband’s house because my children were only females and since then my children had gone missing.
I have been married for eight years and since then, I have only had girls for my husband.
When I was on my fourth pregnancy, my husband’s family began to pressurize him to take a second wife.
They were tired of having only girls from me.
My husband insisted that they wait for the unborn child. And if it was also a girl, he would take another wife.
Those nights were my sleepless nights.
I would pray, cry and plead to God to give me a son. Just a son.
But my prayers weren’t answered.
As soon as I had given birth and they heard that it was another girl, they chased us out of my husband’s house.
Me and my kids.
I had no other place to go but my parents house.
For many days, I cried and questioned God.
My mother tried to console me but I cared less. I became lean and unkempt.
One morning, I had woken up to see that one of my children was missing.
I was perplexed. How did Ifi go? And where?
We searched everywhere, asked every single person but their response was negative.
My pains increased. I became inconsolable.
And again, two weeks later, Dora, my second child also went missing.
That morning, I had gone to the toilet and had come back to find that where Dora once slept was empty.
Immediately, I raised a voice of alarm.
People gathered and began to ask questions of which I couldn’t give answers to.
My mother quickly sent for her women union and instructed them to search every crook and cranny of that village.
My in laws were after me. I knew.
They hated me. But there was no evidence that they had been stealing my children.
Many nights, I would wake up and think about everything, praying that they are safe.
A night came that as I turned to where my other children laid, I saw a figure gently carrying my third child who was deeply asleep.
Quickly and silently, I grabbed my torch, put it on and stretched it towards the invader.
The light shone directly on the person’s face.
I was shocked.
“Mother!… ” I shouted.
“Mother! “
She turned to me and her face displayed shock.
She dropped the child and the wrapper, immediately.
“Mother, where are you taking my child to? ” I asked, but all I got was a blank and unnerved facial expression.
I stood from the mattress and walked closer, despite the darkness.
“Where did you keep my children? Tell me! “
Her voice shook as she spoke.
“Uju, I’m sorry.I had to do this. My fellow witches instructed me to bring my grandchildren to the coven for them to eat. I have been eating theirs ever since. ” she pleaded.
Tears flowed freely. I grabbed her dark cloth.
“Give me my children! What have I done to deserve this? Who have I wronged? I didn’t know my mother was a witch! ” I sobbed.
She kept on pleading. “Please, I needed to fulfill my part, or, I will be banished and eaten. It was beyond me. “
I looked at her. “So, where are my children? Ifi and Dora, where did you keep them. ” I twisted her cloth tightly on the neck.
A tear dropped from her left eye. “They are gone. We ate them. In the coven. “
I bent my head and cried my heart out. My life was completely shattered. No escape.
The door creaked. It was my father.
“Why are you crying at the middle of the night? ” he touched my shoulders.
I looked at my front, oh! She had disappeared.
I turned to him. “Is Mom in the room? Have you seen her this night? “
He looked at me like I was màd. “Yes, she’s sleeping now. What is it? “
I wanted to tell him that only her body was there, in the room, her spirit and soul wasn’t there.
But I could mutter was “my children… my children…”
The next morning, my mother avoided my eyes as I packed my luggage. I would feel her stares, but whenever I turned, she would avert her eyes.
Though, my father tried to know my reason for leaving, I couldn’t tell him because he wouldn’t believe it.
I took my remaining two kids, our luggage, and walked out of that house to an unknown land, never to return.
After I had spent many years in the city toiling to become what I became with my children all grown, I remembered my husband.
I wondered how he was faring and decided to pay him a visit in the village.
But as for my mother, her sin was unforgivable.
I drove down to the village and reached there mid noon.
I went alone.
I halted at his house but it looked deserted and dry.
Confused, I decided to walk into the nearest shop for enquiries.
The woman looked at me with jealousy as I explained everything to her. She, repeatedly eyed my fabrics. When it finally clicked in her head that it was me, she exclaimed.
“Chimo! It’s you, Uju. I didn’t even know, you’ve changed a lot. ” her eyes ran through my body.
I smiled. “So, where is Ikem, and his new wife? “
Her facial expression changed to sadness.
“Your husband, Ikem, married a lady because of a male child. After two years of been together, the lady couldn’t conceive, not to talk of giving birth. When his in laws started to pressurize her, they all died mysteriously and she ran away. We haven’t seen her till today. ” she narrated, gloomy.
I sighed. I knew what my husband and his in laws did was inhumane, but I never wished them bad.
She turned to me. “And your mother also vanished. We just woke up, one day, heard that she wasn’t found. Your father cried for many days. ” she said.
My heart skipped. That would have meant that, my mother was later eaten due to her failure to bring my other children to the coven. How awful!
She continued. “He later died of heart attack. His death shocked the whole village. He was a good man. He was later buried by some men. “
This wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. I have always loved my parents, but my mother proved to me that not everyone close to me loved me.
We chatted for a while before I eventually entered the car and zoomed off.
This life isn’t what you think it is.
The end.
It was my mother.
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