Ikenga episode 2 & 3

Ikenga- Episode 2

Theme: (The Demon I Saw)

By Praise Chidera Obiora 

Just like one who had received a sudden pound of energy, I stood up immidatly and jumped one of
the heads of the snake. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me. The snakes which appeared
hungry, chased me behind as I ran.
I jumped throu-gh thorns and pas-sed throu-gh the thick bushes. I threw all that was in my hands at
the snake except for my sweet red Igbuala apples.
When I had gotten to a safe distance, I st©pped and turned back to see the tree which had turned
into the seven snake heads. The snake heads had mysteriously disappeared. The horns where no
longer there. What I saw was the same tree I had seen earlier. It was a tree with seven br@nches
and broad leaves.
I sat down on the gras-s and kept p@n-ting with my ton-gue out like that of a dog. I was out of breath
and exhausted. This must be where the gods dwell I thought to myself. There must be something
strange about this path grandma knew which she never told me. No wonder villagers rarely
followed this bush path.
No wonder parents advised their children who intended going to the stream to fetch water, not to
take the short cut, or any available road, but to follow the normal road which led back home. They
were also advised not to st©p to look at the red Igbuala mango tree, so they do not get tem-pted to
eat it.
Young maidens where the ones usually attra-cted to the red Igbuala Mangos. They would drop
their water pots on their way back from the stream, just to have a glimpse of the red mangos,
which flaunted its smooth red colours.
Most of the girls who had stared at the Igbuala tree for so long, had claimed to hear voices telling them to climb and pluck it. Grandma had told me that it was a tra-p. She said it was the curse set
by Agundaobi, which spoke to the maidens to get them to eat the fruits. Most of the girls who
heard the strange voice, quic-kly picked their water pots and ran away, while some stood still
admiring the beautiful fruits.
It was said that the strange voice selected only the beautiful ones to talk to. This was because
Ijeoma was a very beautiful maiden when Agundaobi met and fell in love with her. The curse only
spoke to the beautiful ones. It told them how beautiful they could become if they ate the fruit from
the tree. Some of the maidens testified to have seen pictures of their magnificent beauty being
shown to them, supposing they tasted the fruit from the tree.
After so many years of avoiding the temptations from the red Igbuala mango tree, today I had
finally fallen prey to its charm and the sweet voice that spoke in my head.
I didn’t go to the stream to fetch water. Neither did I have any reason to have left my house that
morning. All I nee-ded was to take a morning walk. It was that walk that brou-ght me face to face
with the Igbuala mango tree.
My eyes beheld the beauty from the red fruits. I was enchanted and stood for a while, wondering
why the gods will plant such magnificent fruits and yet keep it away from the reach of mankind. So
many question crossed my thoughts at that moments.
Why was the gods so wicked? Why didn’t Agundaobi plant a fence that was going to cover the
fruits from the eyes of the villagers?
Why didn’t he make the tree invisible so that no one could see the tree or even eat from it?
Agundaobi had so much power. He could do it if he wanted to, but why didn’t he?
Why must he plant the tree at the only path leading to the only village stream that was the only
source of water to the villagers? Why didn’t Agundaobi plant the trees in the evil forest? Why did
he have to set the tree here?
This was like cooking a very delicious plate of h0t Abacha, or a serving a bowl of ‘ji akwukwo nri’ to
a hungry child, yet leaving him with a warning not to ever t©uçh it. How would the child bear the
Aroma? How was he going to overcome the temptation?
I was still in a plethora of thoughts and staring at the red Igbuala mangoes, when a sweet feminine
voice spoke to me In my ears.
“Eat from me, and I shall show you so much sweetness.”
At first I thought it was one of the maidens who had decided to pl@ya trick on me. I turned left and
right in search of the voice but could see no one.
I saw the tree shake, and the voice echoed in my ears again”
‘Eat from me young boy and I shall show you sweetness.’
I felt a sudden spark of energy in me. I do not know what made me climb such great heights like a
monkey.
No one had ever climbe-d such heights to pluck mangoes. Not even the greatest palm wine
tappers in Agugu. I only realised the great height I had climbe-d down from, when I took to my
heels with the red mangoes in my pockets.
After I had regained my strength and breath, I thought about heading back for the roads. I thought
about leaving the bushy paths. But when I remembered the hvge snakes with seven heads, I
decided to keep going and face what ever that c@m£ my way.
I stood up, dusted my cloths and began to make my way throu-gh the bushes.
“Ikengaaa… Ikengaaa…” A sweet soft voice called out.
I st©pped to listen again. This time I was sure it was a human who spoke. This voice did not sound
like the echoes I had earlier on heard while running. It was too real to be true- a real human voice.
I wondered what a female would be doing in such Isolated forest.
I searched with my eyes and my n£¢k turned in all directions.
“Who are you? Who calls my name? Show your face.”
“Ikenga it is me. Do not be scared.”
“Who? Tell me. plea-se come out of the bush you are hiding.”
“Promise me you will not run Ikenga. Promise me.”
“I will not. Have seen greater fears alre-ady. I have seen a giant snake with seven heads. What
more now do you want to how me? Show your face. Come out!” I thun-dered boldly.

Ikenga- Episode 3

Theme: (The Demon I Saw)

By Praise Chidera Obiora 

There was a sudden silence that erupted. All I could hear was the wind b!ow the br@nches of trees
from left to right. I felt my fear slowly creeping again. My boldness seemed to have disappeared. I
wondered if this was actually a human voice that had spoken to me or another spirit. I stood with
my feet trembling, while I turned round in terror.
“Ikenga.” A soft hand landed a firm grip on my shoulders.
I freaked out and gave a short loud scream. I fell to the floor and turned in a hurry to see the hands
that had t©uçhed my shoulders.
I turned to find her laughing. It was a fair maiden. She laughed like I was tickling her armpits. She
laughed so ha-rd . She had seen the fear on my face and the funny expression too and couldn’t
st©p laughing.
“You said you were not going to be scared. So why are you scared? Why have you fallen to the
ground when I have not even pushed you yet? Why do you want to run when I wasn’t even
chasing you. ” She asked.
This was a young lady standing in front of me. She was slender and very beautiful. She had long
black hair that fell neatly behind her shoulders. Her hair was so long that it ended below her w@!st.
I felt like combing it with my f!ngers. I wanted to feel its texture and softness on my skin.
She was clad in two white wra-ppers. One of the wra-ppers was wra-pped around her brea-st, but
expo-sed her flat belly. And another was tied to her w@!st, but st©pped below her l@ps. She was
standing ba-re footed on the rocky floor.
My eyes went to her big toes, and I saw how beautiful her nails were. She had straight legs, and
well shaped curves. I stared at her face, and saw the beauty she possessed. Her eyes were like
candle lights. Her nose were pointed and looked like one I could yank off her face.
Herl-ips were pinkish in color. They were well shaped and neatly curved. When she smiled, I saw
her set of white teeth sparkle like the pearls gotten from the Aguja shrine. Those teeth were like
that of a babies own. They were sp©tless and neat. They looked like a teeth that had never
chewed on any food substance before.
This was a god mother of beauty- the most beautiful maiden I had ever set eyes on in the village
of Agugu.
When she spoke, the wind stood still like a servant waiting for instructions from its master. Even
the sun smiled in plea-sure. Her voice echoed sweetly in my ears
“You must be a god. If you are not, then you must be a human but not from this world.”
I watched as she smiled while she stared at me with her head tilted to the left.
“Who are you? Where do you come from? You are not from this kingdom.”
“How do you know I am not from this Kingdom?” She asked.
“You do not look like any of the maidens I have seen in Agugu. Your beauty is one beyond the
walls of this land. Your type of person is only told in stories for all to listen and imagine. plea-se tell
me your name. I want to know who you are.”
“Why do you wish to know my name?” She asked.
“Because you know mine. I am even wondering how you know mine. Tell me. How did you know
my name.”
“You ask too many questions Ikenga. Too many many questions for your age.”
“But I only asked you just two questions. What your name is, and how you knew my own name. Is
that too Much to ask?”
She stooped and looked at my pocket. She sighted the pregnant left pocket that carried the
remaining three red Igbuala mangoes.
“Ikenga, You finally plucked fruits from the Igbuala tree. You must be a stubborn lad. You are
really determined to challenge the gods.”
“No I didn’t. I saw them on the floor. Me? I do not pluck fruits. It was a great wind that blew and
shook the tree. The fruits fell to the floor. The mangoes were alre-ady over ripe. When I saw this, I
picked them up.”
“Ikenga, you are not only a thief but a liar. A big liar. In the next few hours, you shall be dead. You
shall face the gods wrath. Your spirit shall burn in the fire of the gods. Look and admire this eyes
and beauty now, because this shall be the last face you shall see..”
I stood up from the floor and walked towards her. I did not un-derstand what she meant by a few
hours to live. How was she so sure. She spoke like one who knew I was going to die.
“A few hours? Dead in a few a few hours? How do you mean? Tell me plea-se.”
“He who takes fruit from the red Igbuala mango tree shall die. You know of this alre-ady.”
“No I do not. My grandmother only told me about something like a curse. A curse that makes us
see things the gods alone can see.”
“Wait! Was that why the giant snake with seven heads chased me. Was that why I kept hearing
voices? Was it because of the mangoes.”
“Yes. Demons. That is what they are. They are called the Demons of Agugu. That was just the first
demon you saw. You are really lucky to have escaped that demon. Many have been swallowed
and eaten by the snake demon. Many more demons shall come after you. You have eaten from
the fruits of the tree, now you shall die.”
“Who creates a snake demon and plants it as a tree?”
“Agundaobi does. He is the god of beauty and love, but he has power to punish the stubborn and
beautiful too. Agundaobi created seven separate demons he uses to punish and protect his
villagers. Each of this demons comes with its form and power.”
“And who did he punish? Who did he turn into a snake with seven heads.”
“The seven headed snakes were the seven widows who killed their husbands. Agundaobi
gathered them up and turned them into a big giant tree with seven br@nches. He uses them as
weapons to hunt those who have disobeyed his instructions.”
“For now Ikenga, you have escaped the first demon- the seven headed snakes. There are six
demons left.”
I quivered in fear and trembled. I di-pped my hands in my pocket and pu-ll-ed out the three red
Igbuala mangoes and flung them on the floor.
“I do not want the mangoes again. He should take them away from me. He should forgive me.”
“Ikenga, it is too late. With or without eating your mangoes, you must face the remaining five
demons.”
“How did you know this? Who are you? plea-se tell me.” I demanded as I took my steps
backwards, slowly moving away from her.
“My name is Amara Agundoabi Ochebe. The first daughter of Agundaobi, the god of beauty and
love. And the daughter to the queen god mother of beauty, Ijeoma Agundaobi.”
“I am the seventh demon and the strongest of them all. If you manage to defeat the rest, you shall
not defeat me. Ikenga I am s£nt to kill you.”
To be continued….