What started off as an unfortunate trip to my mothers' hometown at the edge of the universe ends with us in chains and the entire town of Azuzuama in ruins.
We had been on the boat for 3 hours. I felt the signs of peril coming, but I couldn't quite explain it.
You know that sixth sense that tingles when something bad is about to go down.
I begged my mother to cancel this trip.
"Your sister has been gone for only 2 years, mom. We do not have to do this", my voice trailed through the phone, and the silence that came next made me certain they fell on deaf ears.
"Are you coming home or not?", she asked in that voice of hers, that voice set on defiance.
I took a long breath and chose my next words carefully before I said them.
"Mummy, I loved her too, maybe not as much as you did, but taking the whole family, especially Tari who isn't healthy, over to your hometown for a remembrance is unwise". I paused, "but since I know your mind is set on this and there's nothing I can say to stop you, I'll come because whether you admit it or not, you need me."
"Thank you", she said and the line went dead.
Well, I kept to my word and ignored all the signs blaring before us to just stay home and enjoy our weekend.
We arrived at Azuzuama and settled into my cousin's apartment when Tari needed some air. We decided to take a stroll along the jetty.
"If this sickness doesn't kill me, I'm pretty certain this river will", she said in her satiric humor.
"Oh shut up, Kitty". I started calling her Kitty the day after we thought she died. I told her she still had 8 lives to go.
She looked at me for a long while, I could feel her eyes on me as I looked beyond the dark river.
"You didn't have to come, you know"
"I know, but..."
"No, you don't. I'm going to be just fine, Em, and..." she paused.
"And what?", I turned to look at her, but I found her facing the other part of the river, her face looking pale.
"What is that floating down the river?", she asked, pointing at what looked like a fire extinguisher.
We paused, watching and waiting for the object to reach the bank of the jetty when we heard the first explosion.
That's when it dawned on us. That was no fire extinguisher.
We ran towards the house, and right before we reached the compound, we heard the second explosion and saw the wood from where we had just stood shatter and burn.
That was how it began. The destruction leads to my mother, my sister, and I held as captives for a crime we know nothing about.
Our fate depends on us now...
I made use of Imagination Tickler 8
"What is that floating down the river?"
I reside in a part of my country with the most rivers. So any statement mentioning rivers just brings a story to mind. We see a lot of objects floating down rivers quite often.
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