FEVER

Chapter One

The sky was a bit cloudy and the wind was also howling very loudly all around the village of Asempa.
A shadow was moving and stopped suddenly. 'Aggie, safe me, Aggie.... no don't kill me. 'Hurry Aggie, my soul is leaving me!!!'. Aggie looked frantically around for the voice that kept screaming but she couldn't see where the voice was coming from. She was deep in the forest of Asempa, the wind was not ceasing its howling and the trees were blowing their leaves through the forest.
Then through all the screeching and screaming sounds, she heard the cry of a baby far off to the side of the Odum tree.
What in the name of God was happening, she turned and ran to where the odum tree was, and there, under the tree, was a baby wrapped in plantain leaves and crying his lungs out. Aggie took a step and before she could pick the baby up, a hand tapped her shoulder and when she tried to turn, she couldn't.
  It was like a spell had been cast on her, she felt a voice close to her ears whispering words of nothing in her ears. Her body sagged to the ground after the voice was gone and she could feel herself move again. She was a bit drowsy but when she came to consciousness, she turned to look for the baby but he was nowhere to be found.
Aggie got up and saw that there was blood on her clothes. She became hysterical not knowing where the blood came from. She began to think, 'did I kill the baby, n..o, bu..t, I..was not moving. 'Oh my God, the voice, it was that voice which was whispering words of nothing in my ears'. Then, she felt a shadow move and when she turned, instead of a baby, there stood a very handsome man but then on a whimp, he was gone with the wind.
   Aggie woke up suddenly and felt that her pillow was wet from crying throughout the dream. What sort of dream was that, what does it mean?.
  There was a tap on her door and then it was opened. Her mother came in and saw the state that she was in, with dried tears on her face and fresh ones still flowing. Her mum rushed to her bedside and sat down bedside her, she touched Aggie's face and wiped the tears from her eyes. She drew Aggie close to her and hugged her. Mrs. Akan cradled her daughter's head and said words to her. ' I know love, it was a bad dream, mama is here for you my darling. Please stop crying, tell me what the dream was about'. Aggie lifted her head and then told her mum everything. Mrs Akan was quiet for a long time and then told Aggie it was just a dream and that she should forget about it.
  Aggie said nothing but felt doubtful about her mum's words that it was just a dream. From infancy, it has been made known in the village of Asempa which means goodnews that dreams play a significant role in our lives. She felt her mum was keeping something from her but didn't know why. She wasn't a child anymore, she was a grown woman in her early twenties. There wasn't anything to scare her at this age, she was strong , bold and brave just like her father.
   Her mum stood up and told her to get ready for a trip they were about to embark on to her grandparents house at Fakye meaning forgive. Her mum's parents were good people and she liked them a lot but her dad's side was another story. She felt excited that they were visiting her mum's parents.
  Aggie kept it at the back of her mind to tell her friend Dede about her dream. She might even be able to ask her dad for interpretation since Dede's dad was a dream interpreter.