SC-S29/W6 – Nostalgia Of The Little Me: A Childhood Story That Taught You Something

Childhood was a beautiful season filled with good memories. Some good, some sad, some merry and nolstagic and it’s a beautiful thing that we have this challenge to relish some of the beautiful moments of our childhood.

My life story won’t be complete without including some of the beautiful moments and stories of my childhood. As a child we enjoyed folk tales a lot from my mum after dinner. We would huddle around her while she told us the most interesting, fun, scary and sometimes bizarre stories that held us spell bound as children. One of those scary stories that never left me was the story of a child and the encounter with a spirit named Nwisu.

(image generated by meta AI; symbolic of how we happily gather around mum for story time)

What is the childhood incident or story you want to share?

There was a man and a woman who had an only son named Afam. The parents loved him so much and made sure he had everything he needed. They ensured he never lacked a thing or had need because he was their only child. As the boy grew older, the dad died leaving just him and the mum to survive.

Things became hard for them along the line and the mother was left to Carter for her only child through farming and meager earnings. Sometimes she would have to work on other people farms for days just to feed and sometimes she would travel to the other villages to stay over and work on farms that belongs to other families before she returned home to Carter for her son. Afam learnt how to stay alone and fend for himself while his mother was away.

Sometimes she would leave him instructions on what to do and what not to do. Afam was a stubborn child. Sometimes he listened and sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes he just wants to do his own thing without seeking his mother’s counsel. She would always reprimand him and tried teaching him the importance of obedience.

She would tell him that what an elder sees sitting down, even if a child climbs the iroko tree, he won’t see it. (The iroko tree is a symbolic tree know to be strong and grows very tall).

One day Adam’s mother was to travel to a neighboring village to get victuals for them. Their food has depleted and they have little left. Before she left, she gave Afam the last piece of yam in the house and snail to roast and eat while she was away and she specifically left him an instruction not to go out of the house and that he should roast the yam in the fire first before roasting the snail.

(image generated by meta AI; yam and snail, which should go first?)

The village had a particular day when children are not allowed to come outside because it was rumored that strange spirits go about that day and will kill any child they see. Hence children are instructed to stay indoors. Afam’s mother left him with this instructions and took on her journey.

Afam didn’t heed his mother’s instructions. He went to roast the snail before the yam. The snail produced some water and quenched the fire. He had no means of lightning the fire again. He had not roasted the yam. He became very hungry and had to step out to look for where to get fire to roast his yam even when his mum told him not to leave the house.

(image generated by chat Gpt, a graphical representation of Nwisu the evil spirit)

The village was dark and eerie and no one was seen on sight. A strange sound cried in the distance. It was an evil spirit named Nwisu. Nwisu was a dreaded spirit and never spared its victims. It used its head to walk and carried fire on its legs. When it saw Afam it shouted on him and asked him what he was doing outside and Afam began to sing his ordeal to the evil spirit who didn’t listen to him. Nwisu killed Afam.

How old were you, and what exactly happened in that moment?

I was about seven years old when my mother told us this story. As a child it was a moment of fear and suspense. I was actually very scared. Not just me but my entire siblings. The gravity with which my mum described the evil spirit Nwisu left us in fear.

I was trying to imagine what it would look like to see a spirit walking with the head and not the legs. How can one walk with the head and carry fire on the leg? It was a gruesome imagination to behold.

The story held us spellbound, especially when we heard that he left the house that night.

What emotions did you feel during and after the incident?

First it was a loving moment to know that Afam was loved by his father and mother. I saw him as a privileged child. And then the emotions shifted to pity when he lost the father and the thought of the hardship they had to endure due to his death was quite touching.

My emotions shifted to fear and dread when he disobeyed the mother and when my mum described the fearful nature of the evil spirit Nwisu. I couldn’t help but be scared for a creature that walks with the head.

What lesson or realization did you learn from this experience?

source

The lesson I learnt is the importance of obedience. We should learn to obey our parents. They are there as a guide and counselors for us while growing up. Even when we are grown, we still have a lot to learn from their experiences.

Aside obeying our parents, seeking their counsel in situations can help us avert a lot of inconvenience. Just like Afam’s mum told him, what an elder sees sitting down, a child cannot see even if he climbs the tallest tree. It talks about experience and guidance.

There are something’s they have been through in life that would help us be better people if we learn from them. We do not have to live through the same bitter experiences they went through just to learn. Experience is a good teacher but it’s better to learn from others experience and learn to obey when they counsel us.

How has this lesson influenced your life until today?

I’ve learnt to be obedient to my parents. When they tell me to do things, I may not understand it yet but I obey before questioning their intentions because I know that have my interest at heart.

I have also learnt to seek counsel from people who have gone ahead of me in life. I’ve come to know that I can avert a lot of mistakes and do better than them if I learn from their wisdom and experiences.