THE TREE THAT CALLED MY NAME

I have heard people say that trees provide oxygen, give us shade and make the environment beautiful

Wonderful

Very useful members of society

But nobody told me trees could talk

And honestly, if somebody had told me, I would have advised the person to go and rest

Let me tell you how everything started 

I was visiting a small village called Elaru. It was one of those quiet villages where everybody seemed to know everybody

If you sneezed in your room, somebody three houses away would ask if you were feeling better

I'm not even joking 

The village was surrounded by thick trees, and there was a long, narrow road that passed through the middle of it. At the end of that road stood an old house that nobody seemed to care about

Well, nobody except me

I had always been curious about that house

It looked abandoned, but something about it made me feel there was more to it than met the eye

Anyway, I wasn't there to investigate anybody's house. I was just enjoying my stay

Until one particular morning

I woke up hungry

And when I say hungry, I mean the kind of hunger that makes you start calculating what you can eat before you've even brushed your teeth

I went outside to look for something to eat

Unfortunately, the woman who usually sold breakfast hadn't opened her shop

I stood there for a moment, looking at the empty shop

"Ah. So this is how people suffer."

I decided to take a walk down the village road. Maybe I would find somewhere else to buy food

As I walked, I noticed how unusually quiet everywhere was

No children playing

No motorcycles passing

Not even the usual village gossip I had become accustomed to

Just me, the road and the trees

I kept walking until I noticed something strange

One of the trees had a small mark on its trunk

It looked like an eye

I moved closer to inspect it

"Interesting," I said

Then I heard something

"You're late."

I stopped

I looked behind me

Nobody

I looked to my left

Nothing

I looked to my right

Still nothing

I even checked behind the nearest tree

My brother, if you had seen me that morning, you would have thought I was looking for someone who owed me money

"Who said that?" I asked

Silence

I shrugged

Maybe it was somebody playing a prank

I continued walking

"You're late, Dammy."

...

Hold on.

How did it know my name?

I turned around so quickly that I nearly lost my balance

"WHO IS THERE?"

Nothing

I looked at the trees

All of them were standing peacefully

I looked at the road

Still empty

At this point, I started questioning my decision to leave the house

Food was important, yes, but surely not important enough to lose my peace of mind

I decided to go back

But just as I turned around, I heard a deep voice

"Don't go yet."

I froze

This time, the voice came from the tree with the eye-shaped mark

I slowly approached it

"Excuse me," I said 

Because apparently, I had reached the point where I was showing manners to trees.

"Did you just speak?"

The tree didn't answer immediately.

Then its branches moved slightly, even though there was no wind.

"Finally. Someone who can hear us."

I stared at it

Then I did something I still find embarrassing

I touched my own ears

Left ear

Right ear

Then I looked at the tree again

"Please, am I the only one hearing this?"

"Yes," it replied

I took two steps backwards

"Okay. No problem. I think I should go."

"Wait."

"Ah! What again?"

The tree went silent for a moment

Then it said something that made my entire body go cold

"Have you ever wondered why nobody in this village walks beyond the old house?"

I looked towards the end of the road

The old house stood quietly among the trees

"What's wrong with the house?" I asked

"Something happened there many years ago."

"What happened?"

Before the tree could answer, another voice interrupted

"Don't listen to him."

I quickly turned

This time, the voice came from a tree on the opposite side of the road

I looked from one tree to the other

Wait

So there were two of them?

The first tree spoke again

"He's hiding something from you."

The second tree replied

"And you aren't?"

I stood between them, looking like a confused referee in a football match

"Please, can you people settle your disagreement? I'm just passing through"

Neither of them answered

Then the first tree said:

"Dammy, listen carefully. You must not enter that house."

I swallowed

"Why?"

"Because what is inside that house has been waiting for you."

I stared at it

Waiting for me?

I had never visited that house in my life

Who was waiting for me? A landlord? A debt collector?

I was already preparing to leave when something caught my attention

There was a small piece of paper hanging from one of the tree's branches

I pulled it down

It was old and dirty, but there were words written on it

I opened it carefully

And suddenly, my heart skipped

The paper contained just one sentence:

WHEN THE BOY RETURNS, THE FOREST WILL SPEAK AGAIN.

I read it once

Twice

Then I looked at the tree

"What boy?"

The tree didn't answer

Instead, all the trees along the road began shaking

One after another

Their branches moved even though there was no wind

And then, from somewhere deep inside the forest, I heard a voice

A voice different from the others

A voice that sounded almost human

It whispered

"He's here."

I turned towards the forest

And there, standing between two enormous trees, was a little girl

She looked about ten years old

She was wearing a white dress, and her hair was neatly packed

I blinked

She was staring directly at me

I raised my hand slightly

"Hello?"

She didn't respond

Instead, she pointed towards the old house

Then she spoke

"You're not supposed to be here yet."

I frowned

"Sorry?"

She took one step backwards

Then she said something I'll never forget

"You need to find the first tree before sunset. Otherwise, they'll all forget you ever existed."

Before I could ask what she meant, she disappeared behind the trees

I rushed towards the spot where she had been standing

Nobody

Nothing

I turned around and looked at the road

The trees were silent again

Even the one that had spoken to me earlier wasn't saying anything

I stood there for a few seconds

Then I looked at the piece of paper in my hand

I looked at the old house

And finally, I looked at the direction from which I had come

"See ehn... I came here looking for breakfast."

I shook my head

"Now I'm looking for a tree."

I started walking back towards the village

But just before I left, I heard one final whisper

This time, it came from behind me

"Dammy... don't trust the girl."

I stopped

Slowly, I turned around

Nobody was there

And that was when I realised something

I hadn't told the trees about the little girl

So how did they know she was there?

And more importantly...

WHO EXACTLY WAS I SUPPOSED TO TRUST?

Omoh matter long 

But make i go find my Breakfast first ejoor 🙏

I dey come back 🚶🏼‍➡️🏃🏼‍➡️