Greetings everyone 🙌
There was a time in my life when all I ever wanted was to be stinkingly rich. I wanted to be able to get whatever I wanted and I didn't want my family to be in need or lack anything. Who wouldn't like to cruise the world in a yatch or in a private jet at will? Do you blame me? 🤷♀️. My desires were hinged on a certain old wives fable that I heard when I was only six years old.
It happened that my family and I travelled down to the village for the christmas festivities and my aunts and uncles with their kids were also around. I will never forgat that period because that was when the big lie was sold to me and I bought it hook, line and sinker. It so happened that while playing with my cousins at the backyard one fatefful night, one of them named Chima decided to treat us all to some fascinating tales. We all sat down in a circle form and paid rapt attention to Chima.
"Have you heard of bush baby?" He queried. My eyes widened to a full 360 degrees with my lips in an ooh shape. The words bush baby was a new concept and it piqued my curiousity. I must know what this means and so I held his palms urging him to continue.
"My dadddy said the bush baby is a spirit in the forest that usually cries like a little baby and when it cries behind anyone's window, a person will die in that house". Chima continued.
"Ah ah, what kind of spirit is this one self. I don't like it again". I said feeling scared but Chima tapped my shoulder as a way to comfort me but he still went on with his tales.
"My daddy said the bush baby always carried a golden mat under its armpit and whoever could get that mat will become incredibly rich". Chima said finally earning a wow from us. Others who had also heard something about the spirit began to chip in their own tales but nothing was entering my ears. The only thing on my mind was how to get the golden mat from the bush baby. Unfortunately, no one knew the time when the bush baby usually came out of the bush or to which house he would visit to start crying.
I was so determined to get that golden mat that I didn't sleep early that night and for the next four nights. The bush baby never came but my belief in that tale told by my cousin did not wane. Year after year, when we travelled down to the village, I would always hope that the bush baby would stroll down to my compound so that I could overpower it and collect the golden mat, I mean how hard would it be.
As I write this post in retrospect, I can't believe for how long I held on to that superstitious lie. It wasn't until I was almost fifteen that I learnt that there was no such thing as a bush baby and that it was a myth. I felt like slapping my cousin hard, too bad he resides very far from me. I guess his dad told him that myth to dissaude him from going into the bush at night ( it was a common practice in the village to seek out snails at night) and he bought into it too much and even sold us the lie.
Another lie I recall believing for a long time was to put my fallen tooth in a paper with seven smooth stones, wrap it up and throw it on top of a distant roof to prevent lizards getting to it or else my tooth won't grow back.
Thank goodness for education and exposure that delivered me from those superstitious lies.
Thank you all for reading. This is my entry tto the second question posed by the #hivenaijacommunity for week #64.
Images credit: Meta Ai
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