THE BAG OF MONEY (A MUST READ) – Praises Chidera Obiora
So eight years ago, while serving in the remote village of Aguja in Delta state, Francis my very good friend found a bag of money worth 400million naira in an uncompleted building while he was about to defecate.
He picked it up and brought it to our house.
I was shocked when I saw the money.
That night we bolded the door four times and locked ourselves in the room with three padlocks.
We could not sleep.
Every knock scared us.
We switched off our phones because every call scared us too.
Francis and I took turns waking up at night to check the money just to make sure it was still there.
And when we went out of the house, one person was left inside the house to keep an eye on the bag of money.
For one week we waited to hear news of any missing money, but there was none.
We watched the network news but heard nothing.
Francis and I took turns visiting the spot where he had picked the money, but no one seemed to be talking about it.
After five weeks of waiting and sleepless nights, we then decided that God had answered our prayers and lifted us out of poverty.
We both planned to share the money in two.
Francis will take two hundred million and I will take two hundred million too.
The following night, Francis had a dream.
He said in his dream he saw the money change to a snake, and the snake swallowed him.
I was looking at Francis with one eye.
Francis then suggested that we should take the money either to the police station or to the church.
“Which police station? Francis I say which police station? We should take four hundred million naira to a police station?”
“Praises that is why I say or we carry it to church.”
“To do what in the church eh? Francis what will four hundred million naira be doing there?”
“Praises stop shouting now. I am only suggesting.”
“Stop suggesting. Because this your suggestion is causing me headache now. How can you, Francis of all people, that drank garri for a whole week, choose to carry four hundred million naira and give to police just because you had a dream that the money changed to snake and swallow you.”
“But it is not a good dream, Praises. It is a bad dream. How can money change and swallow me in the dream.”
“Francis, if money change and swallow you, you should change and swallow it back. The poverty I have seen in this life will make me change to lion and swallow the money that changed to snake o.”
Despite shouting at him, Francis refused to listen to me.
He then suggested that we returned the money back to where he had picked it, so I can go and pick it myself.
“I don’t want anything to do with the money. I don’t want the money.” He dusted his hands and sat back on the bed.
I immediately agreed.
Francis took the money back to the uncompleted building and returned to the hostel empty. He told me to go and pick the money myself.
I agreed.
I went to pick the money but discovered that I had lost my way around. I could not even locate my way back to the hostel.
I was still struggling to find my way, when Francis my roommate, tapped me.
I jolted up from sleep screaming and asking where he kept the four hundred million naira.
I was seriously sweating.
Francis was in shock.
“Bros, which million are you talking about? I wake you up make you drink garri and you are talking about millions.”
“Francis where is the four hundred million you took to the uncompleted building? Where is it?” I thundered with tears in my eyes.
Francis discovered that this dream was very serious and immediately brought me paracetamol to drink first.
When I was calm, he asked about my dream and I told Francis about the money and the plan he had to take it to either the police station or the church.
Francis shouted a loud “God forbid.”
He immediately covered the Garri we were supposed to drink, and we both ran to the uncompleted building in search of the money.
When we got there, I showed Francis where he had found the money.
Francis brought a digger and we started digging the exact spot, just in case the money was buried inside.
We dug until we dug a well.
Today people now fetch clean and portable water from that well.
That locality will never forget us for the charitable work we’ve done for them.
Till today, they still ask us what prompted us to dig a borehole in that uncompleted building, and how we knew there was going to be water there.
Francis and I stopped believing in dreams.
In fact, we began to pray against bad dreams like that one.
