Hard to believe

Greetings, everyone!

Upon reading this prompt, my mind wandered in search of stories or happenings I've heard and witnessed that appear unreal to me. I thought of many, which I got a lined up stories that seems popular but I wanted to share one from my early school days.

During my second year in school, I had a friend who lived in an area populated by the indigenous people of the community. When I asked her why she chose to stay in such a place, she said she liked it because it made her feel like she belonged to the community and also because she wanted to learn the language before graduating.
To be honest, the few times I visited her, I saw how much she enjoyed the place and how she interacted with everyone, including the children in the neighborhood who walked in and out of her house.

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One particular evening when I visited her, I found people gathered in the compound, with women crying. She had gone to buy something, so I was told to wait for her a little while. I took the opportunity to scan around and saw what was happening. It seemed like someone had died, but the scene was unusual. Traditional items like palm fronds, plantain leaves, native chalks, and other traditional items were scattered all over the place.

Lost in thought, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Kingsley, let's go inside," she said, dragging me indoors.

Once inside, I couldn't contain my curiosity and began bombarding her with questions. "I know someone died, but what are all those things for? Are they planning to butcher the dead for some kind of ritual?"

"Hmmmm! How did you know?" she asked, tapping me on my leg.

"How did I know what? I mean, all those things look like they're preparing for some kind of weird ritual sacrifice."

"I thought you knew. Well, it's a child that died, a three-year-old baby. According to them, they want to sacrifice the baby before burying her in the cemetery. They believe the baby had a somewhat unpleasing spirit, and this is the only way to ensure it doesn't return."

Goosebumps covered my entire body upon hearing that. I don't usually believe such stories easily, and I would usually laugh them off, but the way she said it made me take it seriously, maybe because of what I had seen earlier too.

"Wait, you mean they want to butcher the baby with a knife and...?" I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence because the whole idea seemed unthinkable.

"Yes oooo!" she replied before heading to her kitchen to prepare what she had bought.

Although I didn't ask anyone else because I felt it wouldn't be appropriate to bring up such a question in a mourning environment, especially since I wasn't from the area, I couldn't shake off the feeling that what my friend had told me might indeed be true.

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Do you believe it?
It's unbelievable,
but it seems true.

Thanks for reading!

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_{This is my entry to Hivenaija prompt of the week}

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