Shadows

Shadows 

She was used to being disliked
Even her mother didn't like her
Sometimes she would catch her mother looking at her from the corner of her eyes
That look of pity, worry, disgust and "rubbish"
She was used to the look too
Her mother always wore the look around her
Sometimes she would look at her mother's rapport with her other siblings
And she would go green with envy
Why couldn't her mother love her like she loved them
Why couldn't her mother feel free around her 
She was the fourth of six children
The first three were male and the last three were females
Her siblings also didn't really like her
They were not mean to her in any way
But they seemed to find something weird in her
They sometimes try to get along with her
But something always went wrong
One afternoon her siblings were playing hopscotch in the compound
She wanted desperately to play with them and they allowed her
Halfway into the game, she held her tummy and screamed
She was seven years old at the time
She was rushed to the hospital
The doctor's said she had a stomach bug
At another time, her siblings were playing football in the compound
She joined them only to faint halfway into the game
She was a proper party pooper
Her siblings learnt to leave her out of their games after then
Eventually they learnt indoor games
LUDO, Checkers, Chess, Scrabbles, Monopoly, Snake and Ladder and Card games
The problem was she couldn't bear to lose
When ever she was losing, she would start vomiting and feeling feverish
When they play "Donkey" or "Jackpot"
Nobody wanted to partner with her
She would cry for hours if her team didn't win
She would sometimes get violent and throw fits
She tried to control it, rein in her emotions
But she found it tough and sometimes impossible
It was her if there are several personalities inside her
She wanted to play, one wanted to watch, another one wanted to cry
One person with so many shadows
It was a nightmare of a life and she couldn't cope with it
It was worse in school
Nobody wanted to be her friend
She didn't know why people look at her as if she was weird
She would spend hours before the mirror
She wouldn't call herself a stunning beauty but she wasn't ugly too
Over time she got used to it
That "Get thee far away from me" look
When she got into the university, it got worse
Nobody wants to be her bunkmate 
The lady that was paired with her kept saying she was having nightmares whenever
she slept on the bunk right above her own
Another roommate dreamt one day that she piled her five 
roommates on top of one another and sat on them while reading
Nobody said anything to her face
But her roommates stylishly left the room for her
It was worse in class! Nobody wanted anything to do with her
She walked by herself, ate by herself and did everything by herself
It was a lonely and frustrating life
One Christmas when they were in 200 level
Her father took them to the village 
As soon as her Father's elder sister saw her she started singing
"Mama mo, Mama Mo" meaning "My Mother, My mother"
Her Aunty told her that she looked exactly like her father's late mother
Her aunty was the only person who didn't look at her weirdly
Her aunty told her, her late grandmother was a very powerful woman
Everybody was scared of her!
"When your father had three children and said he has had enough
your grandmother didn't say a word but weeks before she died
she sent for your father, gave him a Kola to eat and said, 
I have returned your prosperity to you, once you eat that Kola you will begin to swim in money
But the money is meant for you to take care of me
I must not suffer! I must not lack anything!
I am going later today but you will bring me back next year. 
Somehow your mother got pregnant again despite having had her tubes tied -Tubal ligation- 
as a result of family planning! 
She delivered you and your birth so scared your parents that
your father had refused to come back to the village since then
He thought he could somehow change his reality by becoming a Christian
He had to reconsider when your grandmother appeared to him in a dream last year and 
Ordered him to build a house in the village and bring you home with a threat that
all his businesses would plummet if he refused!
It was when I saw you that I fully understood the message!
"Mama mo! Mama mo! Mama mo!"
Later that evening, some elders came to their compound (Not her Father's new house)
Her father took her to meet them
They killed a cock and poured the blood on her legs
She started spinning round and round and round
After a while they poured some palm oil into her mouth
She fell asleep immediately
Nobody explained anything to her afterwards
Perhaps they thought she would get it and feel at home
But she felt totally out of her depth! Out of her skin even!
All she wanted was to be herself, live a normal life
But what she was seeing was tilting her reality in favour of the unusual
Was she really a witch?
The most remarkable thing that happened to her immediately after
they returned to the city after the ritual was in her dreams
She would have sex with a man!
She loved the experience, it made her feel loved and wanted
She thought it was a vision of the things to come
She had never ever dared to dream of having a boyfriend or a relationship
She had resigned herself to fate until the nocturnal spiritual visits
Somehow she became a Christian
Some believers on Christmas did not mind her uncomeliness 
It seemed Jesus didn't mind too
Somehow she was able to interact with people at the fellowship
She graduated and everything went back to normal
No friends (apart from church), no relationship, no job
The job issue was the most frustrating
She was not by any means a poor student but interviewers cringe at the sight of her
There was something about her that puts people off strongly
She had tried all sorts of perfumes, designer clothes and make-ups
The more the tried to look appealing, the more people cringed
Someone once told her seeing her irritates him
She touched a guy one day and the guy said "goose pimples" were all over him
She had prayed, she had fasted, she spoke in tongues! 
The only way she had been able to manage the situation was to be like a shadow
Hide behind other people or get a strong letter of reference to make a way for her
She avoided getting into people's faces and touching people unnecessarily
Eventually one of her letters of reference got her a job as a reporter
But things only got worse
Her editor, other reporters, cameramen, producers were put off by her
Nobody wants to be paired with her on an assignment
Nobody wants to be paired with her in production
Everybody distanced themselves from her
One day the management of the Television Station invited the 
Brother in Jeans and T-shirt to hold an hour service with them
It was the beginning of a new year and they wanted God's blessings on their endeavours
As soon as they started worshipping God
She closed her eyes and lifted up her hands
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt laid hands on her
She usually avoided the laying on of hands but she didn't see it coming
She was in the office!
Bam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She fell backwards and started rolling on the floor
Her grandmother's voice started speaking through her
Then another voice took over
She slithered like a snake and cried like a baby
After twenty minutes of all sorts of display, she stood to her feet
He laid hands on her again and she fell on her knees
The prayer meeting closed and work began
The next morning, she woke up happy! 
She was singing melodies to the Lord in her spirit
She was sprightly and blissful
She prepared for work while happily praying in the spirit
The cringing, fearful, hurtful, depressed, damaged "her" was gone
The new creature was let out of her cocoon 
She had colour all over her, she had colour oozing out of her
Her mother was the first to notice
Her mother said "Are you in love? You are shinning all over"
She beamed!
When she got to the office, she was treated like a human being
That very month, a brother said "Hi to her for the first time"
She never saw the nocturnal visitor again
Two years later, she got married!

PS: Evil spirits always lurk in strange places to share the human experience
The problem is they are parasites
They plunder and destroy their host inside out
The Holy Spirit is the only power that could rid a victim of such spirits
The Holy Spirit's relationship with the believer is symbiotic
He builds and quickens the host to live a better life
I have seen "Born Again" Christians whose ability to believe seemed impeded
They speak in tongues but their realities negate the word of God
Do not settle for a "victim", "weak", "Damaged" and "Sad" reality
Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost is the kingdom of God!
As you read this, I set you free of every shadow of darkness in Jesus name!