Magical interludes and Transformations

It was not actually regarded as a mango plantation partially due to the way it was planted. It’s regarded as a flower to by the people. That was how masses refers to anything seen as decoration items.

If it were to be in a city, it would have been regarded as an Avenue, maybe longest one in that city. Since it wasn’t city but rural area, the mangoes were seen as beautification items not even regarded as economic items due to its neutral ownership.

It stretched kilometers covering three towns and those places it covered were even far from inhabited areas of those towns hinting on the idea in the first place.

Legend has it that the leaders of the towns came together in early sixties and after some indoor meetings, the mangoes and the manner of their planting were the outcome.

The said road were being ply by about three percent of the inhabitants of the town each year. As the years flew by, the mangoes produce itself by not having enough visitors. The fallen ones germinated and thrived undisturbed for years, multiplying itself that it turned out to be what it’s today. Unintended plantation. Only few of the towns inhabitants go there to pluck them and its usually those that returned to the village from city for one reason or the other. they took he mangoes back to the city and sell there. Indigenes has family mangoes and has no needs for them.

In early Eighties, Obika was around Nine years when he passed those plantations road for the first time with his parents. He had been hearing of that area from his elder siblings, and on his ninth years he was lucky to see the place with his own eyes. Since then, he had been wondering when he will visit there in person probably with his friends. 

The route was kind of quiet, lonely and a little bushy, but those were what made the area more enticing and tempting to visit. Obika was wondering how the place was in early sixties if it’s like that in early Eighties. He knew that his parents will not grant his request to visit there if he asked, so he was not even planning to ask. His intentions were to quietly visit there with his friends during holidays if there agree to his plans. The plan seen to be diminishing too for almost all his friends were against the idea when he presented it to them.

“ What for, I thought you has three mango trees in your compound?”

“Not for the mangoes, we are going just to have the feel of the place”

“ Feel of the place?, I heard that some people got missing there”

“ What happened to them?”

“ I am not police or their family members, how would I know?”

“ When you don’t know about twenty percent of story behind any incident, it is intelligent to keep your mouths shut”

“ Yes sir. But am still not going, the place I heard is not friendly to adults let alone kids”

“Kids, I am not a kids and its important that you realised that you are a kid”

“No problem, I still not going. We has five mango trees in my compound, why should I travel kilometers to get what is going to waste in house?”

Obika was boiling in anger. He saw wisdom in some of his friends utterances but the crude manner it was delivered made it to be negative in his estimation. The impact hit him hard. It made him to look like a wayward person trying to sway or ensnare them into deadly voyage or something like that.

He put his dream in a kind of cooler maybe incubator waiting for better opportunity. The zeal was damped by the rejection but not extinguished. 

Lake miikii that passed through their town was the next to attract his attention. He had in many previous occasions visited there but the attraction this time around is of different kind that equals the mango plantation pull.

The town union had earlier done a wonderful rehabilitation in the lake. They had demarcated the place where males and females shower and where other things were done there.

It happened that the radicals he suspected were from his school had made a hole on he zinc that demarcate the showering areas and where peeping at the unsuspecting females as they take their baths there. Their conquest of how naked girls they have seen were circulating in the school and the number of make visitors to the lake tripled, when the girls during breaks or after school schedule to visit the lake and it entered the ears of any male flock, he sell the information at the school canteen to the interested buyers who were always willing to buy the information. 

The make flocks will reschedule their activities to meet the time table of their unsuspecting victims. 

One Wednesday morning, one guy sold the information that one senior girl that were absence from school will be going to the lake that morning, All the male flocks in Obika’s class found it one in a life opportunity to view first class movie live and most all sneaked out of the school after morning assembly praying that they were not late already. They ran all the way to the lake and through to the information, the girl was there with other girls from another school washing clothes and the guys were sure that shower must follow after cloth washing. They thanked the god of providence that their investment wasn't in vain. They silently went to the male side, shade their school uniforms and hanged it outside where provisions were made to keep clothes and were splashing around in water waiting and praying that their coveted price should hurry the washing up. When one that positioned himself from the hole signaled to the others that action has begun, they all forgot themselves and went to see the movie they came for.

Meanwhile, there is this mean guy from the village that most people refers to as the full time son of a bitch, who was observing events from his hiding place. He quietly came out, gathered the school uniforms the boys kept a outside and faded. 

Soon, the weather changed and the boys were still lost in the live movie they were engaged in, oblivious of the clouds that has gathered. The girls noticed the changed weather and were hurrying home. The boys when they finally got the grips on their senses went for their own clothes but was surprised to see empty hangers. The rain had started dropping seriously and they were still confused on what happened for they can swear that they were alone there. The rain turned into hail storm and Obika and his friends has never seen hail storm before in their young lives, ice falling from sky added to their confusion and fear set end, they contemplated on the next thing option to take.

Whether fig leaves or banana leaves would cover the nakedness and whether running home or back to school for their bags first. Most, school were nearer than their houses, they opted for thee school. Running like ranged fellows and being pelted by ice that were too painful to bear by some, they rushed into school compound and where surprised to noticed the window of the class broken and the uniforms they were teaching at the lake on their various desks. Their fear intensified and as they were still comprehending all before them, the door quietly opened, Headmaster with two other staffs entered and quietly closed the door. In their hands were canes and letters.