The seismograph reading was steep and shallow, signaling the recession of the seismic waves that had caused a shake in the earth crust. Geological engineer, Anthony 'Tony' Sampah, hurled the perpendicular metallic pole that was fastened to the seismograph for easy reading, as he recorded the seismic frequency of his location in a notebook. Tony was tall, dark and a bit plump. At age thirty-seven, he held a master's degree in geological engineering. He stood on the highest mountain in the whole of Ghana – the mountain Afadjato. Behind him was the massive lake Volta that stretched itself, covering the whole of the mountain enclave.
The atmosphere was serene and charged with little solar radiation. He loved what he did, especially when it came to geological analysis and meteorological survey. Like any other day, he was not alone. He was working with his partner. He placed the seismograph down and observed the horizon. Not satisfied with what he saw, he moved forward and that was when he saw her – his partner.
"Honey, I think we have to leave early today. The waves are receding," a woman said.
The woman was Tony's wife. She busily wielded an altimeter – eager to ascertain the current altitude of their location.
Diana was dark skinned and slender with a pointed nose. At thirty-six, she worked as a meteorologist for a multimedia company. Together, the couple had a daughter.
"I did not quite expect that. The altitude is similar to that of yesterday's. How many hours do we have left?" Diana enquired.
"I think we have about three hours to go. Remember, today is our last day," Tony replied.
"Monitoring the weather and the climate gets boring at times, and it is not because I am a meteorologist," Diana chortled.
"And why is that?" Tony enquired.
He stood closer to her. Diana had placed her device aside and they stood facing each other. From where they were standing, they had a panoramic view of the towns and cities below them.
"See all these towns and cities… you only realise they exist in this country when you are up here."
"Yes, that is the work of nature and in a higher sense, God – His intelligent design." Diana quickly turned to face her husband after he had made that comment.
"Do engineers acknowledge God in everything they do?"
"Often times, yes. God is the Supreme Engineer."
"You do a lot."
"That is my cup to bear."
"You know; I regret not bringing Excel along on this trip."
"Don't worry about her, she will be fine with Ruby."
"I know, but it bothers me that we always leave her in the hands of Ruby. She is our daughter and we need to spend more time with her."
"I know, Diana, I wish we were all at home enjoying ourselves. But we need to work. Living in Accra these days requires more than prayers," Tony said.
Diana shrugged a little upon hearing that. "And what is this life all about? Just to work, work, and work?" she said and moved away to a small hut that had been erected on a side of the mountain.
Tony watched in surprise as his wife glided away.
"Where are you going to?" Tony enquired.
"I want to record a video of our last day so I can show it to Excel. I am sure she will be very excited," Diana said and reached for her mini-recorder in the pile of her belongings.
Tony smiled and muttered, "You are breaking protocol. We are not supposed to record our expedition."
"Yes, I know, engineer, but last time I checked, video recording was one way of gathering data," Diana said, and turned the mini-recorder on and started recording.
"I forget sometimes that you are much smarter than me."
"That is an overstatement," Diana said, as she started taking perfect glimpses of the land on which they stood. Tony was alerted by the beep of the remote in his hands, signaling the return of the seismic waves. He turned to leave.
"Where are you going to?" Diana enquired.
"I want to check on the seismograph. I will join you soon," Tony responded.
When Tony reached the seismograph, he was surprised by the amplitude of waves that the device had recorded. The current reading was unprecedented. Instinctively, he turned around to look for his wife.
Then, suddenly something mysterious happened.