"Tunde stand up…Tunde you have to wake up"…A voice Tunde did not know or recognize roused Tunde from sleep. He sat up, rubbed his eyes with his left hand and tried remembering what the voice was trying to tell him but he couldn't remember no matter how he tried. He shrugged and stood up from his bed. He looked at the clock on the wall, the time was 7.25 am. He shuffled to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
His memories though fuzzy from sleep remained crystal. His eye caught a figure's movement from the corner of his eye but he nonchalantly continued shuffling around the room as if he did not notice. On this day he didn't know what life had in store for him or what tragedy that fate had conspired to have him taste. Tunde had always heard voices when no one was speaking and sees shadows move in the background when there was no one there. These phenomena resulted in a childhood of nightmares, hiding under the sheets and continuous pastoral visitations inspired by his mother. In the end, his parents and all his siblings had convinced him to relegate these happenings to the back of his mind. If he saw or heard anything nowadays, it was muffled or muzzled and even if clear, he always ignored it.
Tunde's family was a large family of 5 children with him being the second to the last. His father was a hulking man of considerable presence who never really paid him any attention except when he was still experiencing the night terrors of his childhood. His mother was a beautiful woman hardened by the years. His mother was there for all her kids. To Tunde, she was his friend who always told him stories of wonderment and fantasy, who never mocked his night terrors or demeanour but she always encouraged him to ignore them. His sisters who were the first and third children and his brothers who were the second and last children always formed a cocoon of protection around their brother. He was the proverbial family nut case who everyone protected.
But, this day was not about his issues, it was about the family travelling to their hometown Iganle to visit his grandparents. He knew there was a serious reason for the visit but he did not, as usual bother himself about what was going on around him.