The Holiday

Chapter 1

"Mom!!! Pleassse can't we go with you and Dad?" I begged.

"No, honey. You have to study for your upcoming exams. And you know that your brother also has a test next week. So you all are staying here. Besides it would be fun. You could hang out with your friends."

"Really? I can't hang out with anyone considering the fact that we just moved in here last week and The only friends I have are more than 200 miles away. Mom, pleaaassse." I did my best puppy eyes with the hope that this time my mom would agree.

"Mmiri," she sighed. I knew she was going to persuade me again. She never used my traditional name often. And when she did, I knew it was going to be serious.
"You just have to stay with your siblings for 3 weeks. That is all I ask. That is all We ask. Please. You don't have to do any tideous job. Since your brothers are old enough to take care of themselves on their own. All you have to do is this. Listen: Wake up in the morning early so as not to miss school, wake your siblings up, get ready for school and ensure that they also get ready, eat breakfast, go to school together, come back home together, eat lunch, hang out together, eat dinner, then sleep. That's all honey. Then you just repeat the same routine everyday until we come back and everything comes back to normal. Make sure that they don't destroy the place. Keep and eye on them very well.
I have made sure that everything is okay until our return. You can order food if you want to. Since the restaurant and fast food joint is nearby. You can also cook anything. But be careful with fire," She warned. "Gas can be very very dangerous. Just cook noodles or... well just noodles since that's what you can only cook."

I laughed.

"MOM!"

"What? It's the truth. Anyway, I have kept food in the fridge. You just have to warm them. And that's it. Please you can do this okay? It's not hard. Really."

For once I thought, maybe she was right. Maybe I could do this. This was the time to show everyone that I was not a little girl anymore. I always said I could take care of myself. Didn't I? Well now was the time to prove it.

"Ok Mom. I'll try my best."

Mom smiled. "Really? Aw that's so sweet."

"But I'm not promising anything. You know how your kids can be especially Ikenga."

"They're your siblings. Learn to take care of them." Before i could respond, the door was pushed open.

"Ready?" Dad called out. I dragged one of mom's boxes down the stairs to the car. Dad hugged us all, reminding us to follow the rules and stay indoors.

"We'll talk on the phone everyday ok? God bless you all. Stay safe o. Toh"

"Safe journey. Bye!" I watched as their car left the building. Before the gate was even closed, Ikenga and Nnamdi were already running off. The day was going to be so boring. I already knew it.
I opened all the windows and lovked the door.  It was a bright day, the sun reflecting directly on my sofa. My legs looked bright brown, if that is even a thing. I could still hear Nnamdi and Ikenga shouting from the game room.

'''

When we arrived last month, i thought i would be able to familiarize myself with the environment and make new friends quickly. But that soon became a dream. A distant dream. In the first few days we had a welcome party thrown for us by our neighbours. And by neighbours, i don't mean a house  next to us that we can walk to. No. The nearest house is a ten minute walk, and that's if you're walking fast. The entire area looks deserted, houses sparsely scattered about.

I met few kids my age. Though they never spoke to me again. I wondered why. One time, after a few days of meeting, we were walking back to the neighbourhood. We had spent the afternoon in a bowling stadium. We were laughing and making jokes, but as soon as my house came into view, i noticed they all looked solemn. I told them to come inside, since mine was the first we reached but they refused. They began giving me these crappy reasons, what and what not, yada yada yada. Okay, i gave up. They must Really not want to come in. Suit them fine. I didn't take it as any big deal. A couple of days later, my still okay okay friend Mercy stopped by. I was thrilled to have someone in the house for the first time. We made cake, some fruit drinks and sat on the couch eating. All of a sudden, it became super breezy and Mercy practically freaked out. I locked the windows and rolled my eues. Then she explained that she had good reason to be.

" Do you guys know whom this house belonged to?" she asked.

"um, no idea? How am i supposed to know?"

"okay, look, the thing is... Don't freak out though. This house belonged to a group."

I looked at her wierdly. "and..."

"They were more like a... Umm... Cult."

The temperature in the room dropped. You could literally m smell the fear in the room... Then i burst out laughing.

"yo seriously believe yourself?"

"Girl I'm serious. Five families have moved in. But all didn't stay for more than three months. That's saying something, no?"

"Mhmm. Yeah. It's saying they got another place to stay girll. Ha!"

"but I'm telling..."

I sipped my ribena juice, twirling ny hand to shut her. "let's just chill, okay? We don't need no scary movie 2 vibes here."

She nodded her head solemly. And that was it. We never got to talking about the 'cult' she claimed lived here. Though sometimes I catch her trying to give me hints one way or another about the scary house I'm in. But seriously. They're all nonsense.

I turn on the cushion, facing the window. Mom amd Dad must be on the plane by now. A little frog was staring at me. How did it even get in? I thought. Maybe it was always there. Perhaps yeah. I blinked a loong blink and opened my eyes again. I was tired. When I looked outside again, there was no frog.