A SHORT STORY

THE MASSACRE

..... Mmmm, the smell of the morning's fresh air and dew , not yet contaminated with the regular daily activities like smoke from burning bushes,dirts,mama caro's firewood,motorcycles and so on...
Mama good morning,
Emrys my son how are you this morning , hope you had a great night?...
Yes mama i did and you?
We thank God
I also wanted to greet my father but then i remembered that every morning when he wakes up he goes to the backyard where he keeps his goats and chicken to count and feed them and make sure they are alright. My father , Mr Okpanachi is a very hardworking man, he is a bicycle repairer and my mother a petty trader , I am the only child so they work extra hard to pay all my fees and i hope one day i would pay them back for all these....

Mama I am off to school....my father comes in angry saying"all these good for nothing boys with no future are at it again ,i had three matured hens now one is missing , dont worry every day for the thief but one day , just one day , one very sweet day for the owner and on that one day they will smell pepper "
Me and Mama were laughing so hard because of papa's facial expression
Papa Emyrs calm down, you worry yourself too much .
Oh i worry too much right,ok let me see who will be wanting some fresh eggs tomorrow morning.
I was still laughing then i looked at the time ,it was already 7:05am, oh mama i must leave now if do not want to taste the sweet bulala and morning tea of Mr Merlin on my bum bum this morning , i kissed her on her cheek and dashed out before she could say anything else...
My Son has grown into a man said Mr Okpanachi
Oh because he is a good boy and an intelligent one too,he is now YOUR son,if he was like Mr Okafor's boys now im sure he would have been my son, men! Men! Men! If the child turns out to be good it is theirs and if bad , it is the mother's , shakes her head while Mr Okpanachi is laughing......

Mama Caro goodmorning
Aha morning our doctor, you dey go school?
Yes ma
Oya go come you hear, go well
Thank you ma ....

Mobassa is a small peaceful town with barely a thousand people in it. Some said it was the land of the some people called the Druids but it was taken away from them by the first Chief of Mobassa years ago.Some people believe that the Druids will fight for their land some day. To me its some thing that will never happen because right from when i was born till now Mobassa is the most "peacefullest" town , if there is any word like that ..there was no hospital in Mobassa just a nusery, primary and secondary school that is why mama caro believes i will be a doctor and my Mama n Papa always pray that i build a good hospital and also treat people ..
Mobassa had a couple of rich merchants for example Mr Okafor , he is a nice man too but his wife is a big troublemaker in the town and oh his boys , "the notorious "ejima"" as people call them were very stubborn and always stealin peoples goats n chickens and big bullies too..

.....7:20am , as i was getting to the school gate ,i met my best friend Chike, Chike is also an obedient and brilliant boy too, smallish in stature with a square shaped head...
Hello Emyrs ,we escaped Mr Merlin's cane today, though its a narrow one ,see him leaving his office ,i am very sure he is going to stand at the gate now.
Chike you are very right o , i do not want to ever taste his cane , i don't think i can stand it..

Good morning sir..
Good morning boys,it is a chilly morning , do you want some mornin tea?..
Oh no sir , they replied, we are very warm they said laughing...
Are you boys sure?
yes sir, very sure sir..
Very well then run along boys ...

Mr Merlin is our mathematics teacher, he is a friendly but very strict man and all the students dread his cane .In his office he has like 5 canes some fat some thin some long but none short but they all looked really scary with black cellotape around both ends ..

Miss Ruth walks into the class, she is the English teacher...the class captain bangs his desk , "all stand"...
Good morning ma, we are happy to see you ma, may God bless you ma.
Im happy to see you all too, may God bless you too, hope you all had a wonderful weekend ?....I told everyone to answer the 2009 and 2010 questions in your waec past question booklet..now submit ,pass your notes to the infront..
Everyone submits his or her notes ...
There are 30 students in this class and i see just 28 books here , who isn't in class , captain ?
Obi , the short and plumpy boy , gets up,takes a look around and answers, every body is present Ma..
Who hasn't submitted said Miss Ruth, I had a feeling it was Peter and Paul because they never do their assignments, finally Miss Ruth found out they were the ones who haven't submitted, she punished them infront of the class and they were laughed at...
Just as the bell for break went , every one went to the cafeteria to eat , but me and Chike stayed behind to solve some sums in our past question booklet .
Peter and Paul approached us but we remained calm, then Paul slapped my head he said , "oh u want to carry A1 right, so you little rats think we are fools because we don't kill ourselves with book ?"
Paul do you know they were laughing at us when Miss Ruth was punishing us?
Can you imagine, now the both of you give us the money you have with you...
They searched us , i had only 20naira on me and Chike had 100naira , they took it and left..
Chike's father is also rich but Chike is a wise boy he saves his money and doesn't act like he has everything at his beck and call ..
The bell goes again, and that meant break time was over .
Mr Merlin comes in but just as he walks in ,the Principal came in to talk to the class, he advised us and told us to sit up and study hard to get excellent grades and make the school proud and he left, we had a couple of classes and school came to an end for the day.
I went straight to mama's shop .. mama Good afternoon..
Good afternoon my son how was school today.
Very well mama ..
mama always kept food for me , so i ran home as i was very hungry ....
2weeks later , the D-day... Mama and Papa showered prayers and blessings on me and so did our principal when he entered the exam hall, he prayed for everyone and then we started the exam....
Every one was preparing for the graduation party ..Mobassa is a small town, so at every occasion almost all the people living there were present , one of such occasions is the graduation party of the students of Mobassa High School (MHS).It was an event where every one was merry and that day was today.
There i sat , infront lookin all smart in suit and tie with my trousers jumping but i didn't care because i had both mama and papa beside me...
The principal was addressing the audience then it all started..
they had guns and different ammunitions..
There was shooting every where , people running, children crying,goats bleating, dogs barking, chickens cackling,houses on fire ,there i stood in shock unable to move just then mama grabbed my hand , we were running trying to look for safety suddenly it struck her! She got shot, she fell ,my Mama was shot in front of me, she died in my very eyes ,right there i knew my life had come to an end , tears rolling down my eyes, Papa's fate must have been the same ! I had no one , i just stood wanting to die too..then i heard my name ..
Emyrs ! Emyrs!! Over here , it was Chike , my bestfriend he was still alive , we had our own secret hide out where we play and hide from the bullies , we hid there, i cried all night and didn't know when i slept off ...
The town was still...we came out of our hiding place , deadbodies every where , ashes of burnt houses not even a sound could be heard ,at this moment if a pin dropped on the floor ,it would sound like thunder...
I used to like the smell and feel of the early morning fresh air but now it was totally different, stale air ..the pungent smell of blood..Death had layed its icy hand on Mobassa.
Mobassa was over , mama gone ,papa gone ,all my dream shattered !OH GOD!!!!!!! Why! Why! Why!!! I couldn't hold it ,i just wanted to die ...
June 3rd 1997..my graduation party, the day the town was destroyed , the people massacred and killed without mercy, the day i lost my mama and papa !Truly "FUN" begins the word "FUNERAL" , the day that was suppose to be fun and merry for me and every one else became the funeral of Mobassa..

THE END

Hmmm... Nice one. Seemed a bit too straight and hurried though.

Oahray: Hmmm... Nice one. Seemed a bit too straight and hurried though.

Thanks