Mindviewers Stories

The village people named the river the Echava River, E-C-H-A-V-A. That's where I went to swim with some of my friends. I think I had swum there once before, maybe twice, but this time I was swimming very freely. I had never heard of any rules governing the rivers or anything of the sort, and it was Christmas Day, so we went there to have fun.

We brought along some drinks, delicious cakes, tasty chops, and some chicken, which we enjoyed along the riverbank. Whenever we came to the riverbank, we took a few bites of our food before diving back into the water. It was truly a fun day, and I cherished the time with my friends.

While swimming, I decided to take a very long swim back to the other end of the river. I started off, and all of a sudden, I heard people shouting. At first, I had no idea they were shouting about me; I thought they were reacting to something else happening by the river. But when I looked up and waved, I realized they were actually telling me to come back. I quickly realized that I had made a mistake and had ventured too far. I never knew I could swim that fast these days; it amazed me all the way. However, I was also filled with fear and uncertainty as I made my way back.

As I swam and noticed that I was getting closer to them, I switched from swimming to walking when I reached the shallow end to meet my friends. When I finally got to them, they grabbed me and exclaimed how that part of the river had a history of drowning people and all sorts of bad news.
But such is never meant for me, God's favourite!

can still remember vividly that I was about seven years old when I first encountered a snake. It was a beautiful green snake that lived around our construction site, which was an ongoing building project my father was overseeing. One day, as I was playing around the lowgrowing grasses on the site, I suddenly noticed something unusual green design against the wall.

As I drew closer, I realized it was a snake. Surprisingly, I didn’t panic at all. It was my first time seeing a snake up close—truly my first encounter. While I had seen snakes in movies and watched others being killed, I had never realized how stunning they could be, especially this enchanting green one. Its tongue flicked in and out, small me? I found it it entertaining.I was about to pick up a stick and touch the snake when my father appeared out of nowhere. I had no idea he was around. Thankfully, he caught sight of everything just in time and shouted my name. That jolted me back to reality, and I ran through the entrance of the building.

It was the seventh day since the construction had started, and as they reduced some pile of building blocks, the sliddering creature must had seemed another comfort zone. My dad brought a bamboo stick and with that, he was able to get rid of the snake.

It was my first time moving to this new location, having relocated from my former apartment to this building. On my first day there, the weather was delightful; it didn’t rain, and everything felt cool and comforting. However, the very next day, the skies opened up, and that was one of the most challenging times in my life.

Rain poured down relentlessly, and I soon discovered that the roof of my apartment was in terrible condition. Water started seeping in, and it wasn’t just a few drips here and there; it was gushing through the cracks. I watched helplessly as water pooled on my bedside and cascaded onto my bed. It was a disastrous situation.

That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep as I battled to control the incoming water. I tried to reposition my bed, hoping to find a dry spot, but it seemed that no matter where I moved it, water droplets continued to leak from that angle.

When I got tired of the whole process, I decided to go and meet the landlord. When I met with him, this man wasn't making any sense. He told me that I would have to pay for it, even after I'd already spent a significant amount trying to move into a new apartment. Everybody in Nigeria knows that house agents often siphon money from their clients, and I had already spent a lot—nearly twice the amount of the lodging fees. So, I wasn't willing to spend any more money on anything related to the building itself. I tried to make my landlord understand this, but he wouldn’t budge. He insisted that I pay, fully aware that I had no other option. It was stated in the house agreement that once you moved in, there would be no refunds. This was a tough situation for me.

Well, two days passed, and I had to contact his specialist for help to fix the water leakage on the roof.