40 A lot of strangeness (2/2)
”Am I losing my sanity?” she asked looking like a child about to cry.
”No! Not in any way. Alright, let me share with you an experience I had not long ago. Maybe it will further prove your sanity is intact” he said, paused, cleared his throat and began.
”Not long after your sudden disappearance, I went out to check on my traps as usual. I went past a hut not quite far from here. It is twice the size of this one, had a strange decoration outside of it, and a human skull hanging on the doorpost with bloodstains. I think it was an abandoned old dibia's hut.
”I think I know the hut. It also has the skulls of two goats at the entrance” she interrupted him with her eyebrow raised.
”Yes… but how come you know about it?” he asked looking surprised.
”Because I went there that night you saw me. The old lady led me there after convincing me that it was a safe place to hide from my accusers. But let's not talk about that right now, it further makes everything unclear. Just continue”.
”Alright, I do pass that very hut almost on a daily basis and it is always quiet and deserted but this very evening was different. On my way back, not far from the hut I began hearing the cry of babies; maybe about two or three, I am no longer sure. The closer I got the louder the cry. At first, I thought it was babies that have been thrown into the forest and left for dead.
This is a very common sight here. I have seen over three sets of babies left like that. You hear them crying today and when you return the next day, they have been eaten by wild animals. After the last horrible sight of a baby that was eaten by an animal, I made up my mind to save the next one I came across. So I began tracing the cries to get the location. This led me to the strange hut, the cry seems to be coming out from it. From a distance, I saw three old women dressed in white sitting in front of the hut. Taking a closer look at the women from a concealed place, I saw one of the strangest things in my whole life”.
”What? What did you see, tell me?” she asked curiously.
”The three old women were one person,” he said with a weird smile on his face.
”How do you mean one person?” she asked looking shaken up.
Demonstrating with his fingers he said, ”The same old woman dressed in white was sitting on three different stools”. He hesitated and looked at her face for feedback, but she only took a deep breath, so he continued ”I was gripped with fear; my head felt so big that I thought it was going to explode. I quickly turned away my gaze, bent down to process what I just saw and probably hold my head, preventing it from exploding…”