That night, we gathered by the river bank. Emeka swore he had seen the most
beautiful woman on the planet. He called her- Mami Wata. She gave him a message
for the village. Ola, Ani's priestess, Ani is our goddess of fertility and
mother earth led the way. We followed like lost children behind her. It was
almost midnight. The river was calm, but the sky thundered. It's still the rainy
season.
We sat huddled under a coconut tree, and listened for her. At the stroke
of midnight, the calm river stirred from pouring rain. Then stopped. An eerie
silence enveloped the night. The crickets, and croaking toads stayed quiet as if
on cue. We shivered from the cold rain under the gaze of a moonless night. I
pointed to the river. A green light glowed, flickered, then moved towards us.
The river became a green watery mass. Ola, instructed us to close our eyes. We
obeyed, Heard her move, and speak in a strange language we did not understand.
It sounded like a language from other worlds. We were clueless about the strange
language, but knew she was communicating with other worlds.
I peeked, and there stood the most beautiful woman at the river bank illuminated by the glow of green light.
Ola walked towards her. Her voice faded as she walked away. Emeka tapped my shoulder. He
was peeking too. What we saw, overwhelmed our senses. We passed out in unison on
the cold wet ground. When we came to, the green light was gone, and so was Ola.
The river was calm. Everywhere was pitch black. The moon stayed a no-show. Emeka
whispered, as if afraid to admit the obvious, "where is Ola? How do we go back
to the village without Ola? Ani's priestess.
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