The Raise of Esu

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Adewale had a dream.

The walls were white; 5-inch square ceramic tiles. One side of the room, the left side, reflected the sharp and clinical white light. Stretched across the white ceramic tile walls like veins were tree roots, coated with green filaments.

Zooming out, the whole room was dominated by greenery; greenery overflowing over plant pots; greenery overflowing to surrounding tables; greenery spilling in varying sizes to the ground.

He heard a sound. A quick, soft and sweet sound. The innocence of the sound tug at your heart strings; where did it come from? His ears chased the sweet sound to its origin. At the centre of the room stood a tall and proud tree; bursting with branches and coated with green veins. He slowly danced around the right side of the tree, only to discover a woman; her skin was pale; her hair short and brown; her coat was fading burgundy. Her face was hidden in her small hands, leaking muffled cries. This was strange; her sadness was incongruous to the juxtaposition of the marriage of clinical white and thriving greenery. This was strange.

He calmly approached her. "Why are you crying?" He whispered. She pointed to the top of the tree; a pale baby was entangled between veiny roots and branches, screaming and screeching for help. Long green stretches of rope circled around the baby; Adewale focused his vision; that is a snake! Wait, that is just a tree branch. You double checked. Triple checked. He should leave, he told yourself, this is not my problem. But each muffled cry from the woman chipped away your will to say no. To save face and play hero, he concluded that no snake is present on this proud tree; it was the light playing tricks on the mind's eye.

Cautiously, he scaled the tree, pulled the baby tightly across his chest with one arm, and descended to the ground. In each descend he was hyperaware of any serpentine villains lurking by. In each descent the mother came out of her shell, exhilaration building up. He reaches the ground; he saved the baby. He felt like a hero. Immediately the mother ran to him; her face was pretty and large, her eyes watery green from the tears which flooded her slim cheeks. She thanked you, hugged you, praised you.

As he turned his face back towards the tree, he froze. He stared in horror as a thick green snake hung three inches from his face. It bared its long, wet white fangs, and quicker than the blink of an eye, it launches towards his face.

Instinctively he backed away, it was futile; he accepted the inevitable.

Then, silence.

"Open your eyes," a voice echoed. "Open your eyes."

Adewale tried to, but he felt he could not. Maybe because he was scared.

"Open your eyes."

Slowly, Adewale opened them. In front of him were two doors; one was the door of his tutorial room; fading white paint with a glass window in the center. Inside the room were his classmates and tutor, laughing, talking, enjoying each other's company. Above the door was a long green snake, its gaze fixed on Adewale. Its forked tongued flickering in intervals, seducing him to approach it. The second door was not a door; it was a cavern with a red and black curtain shielding the entrance. In front of the curtain was a clay bowl, and in the bowl was a staff.

"Wake up. Choose wisely. Beware the old man."

The snake seemingly floated in the air, again bearing its long-wet fangs. Adewale, entranced, walks slowly towards the serpent.

Stop! He told himself. He commanded his legs to stop walking, but they did not listen. Stop, please, please! No, no!

The snake launched towards his face.

He shot up from his bed, drenched in cold sweat. He took one, two, three deep breathes, focusing on hid surrounding. The old man. The snake. The baby. The room. 'Choose wisely'; choose what wisely? What the hell did it all mean? He sat up on his bed for a while, staring at his blue walls, focusing on the distant sound of early morning traffic which soothed him. It's Friday today. Damn, I have a 12pm lecture. I am not going to go into lecture this morning, he told himself. He will catch up online. Right now he needed to think.

BING. 

He checked his phone. A text from Nicholas.

"Hey bro, gonna be at lecture?"

Adewale texted back; "Naa man. Are you?"

BING!

"Yeah bro. There's this hot chic in Sciences. Gonna make my move!"

"Nice bro. I'm just gonna set up for this party tonight man."

BING!

"Sick! Come meet me in uni!"

"No way, man! I'm too lazy."

BING!

"Please bro!"

BING!

"Pretty please!"

BING!

"We can go and get the drinks and dragon after."

Adewale smiled to himself. "Alright, alright. I'll leave in an hour my son."

BING!

"Thank you, my boy!"