FOLKTALE: STANDING OUT AND STANDING ALONE.

It was a bright night as the moon was gleaming and all rounded. Granpa adjusted himself on the chair for the last time seeking to find a comfortable position. "A story, eh?" He asked the many children. Chidi, a boy in his early 13's and the eldest amongst them as was expected, echoed a long "yes". Though I'm not certain that the length of his 'yes' made any difference, as a short one would have made the same effect. Among the children there where Chinonso, a boy from the neighbouring compound, Chioma, Tessy and Chinwe, Chidi's sisters. Also, the newborn baby twins were there too, Jack and Jane. Grandpa had Jane on his lap and Chidi bore Jack, who acted all grown-up though they both just turned 6 months. Grandpa cleared his throat and be began, as was his norm, "as every great story begins, 'once upon a time'", the children, excited, loosed up a little. And grandpa allowed them all the time they needed, then he began again.

"Once upon a time, long before animals stopped speaking human language, there was a village, an oracle foretold the villagers that in two months time, all the streams, rivers, lakes and ponds in the village would be poisoned and anyone who drinks from it would run mad." Then, he paused for the children to take that much in and he continued, pausing here and there to take deep breaths. "All the villagers neglected this message except one man, and within this two months, he stored up water that would last him until whenever things become normal. Then it happened, this foretale came to pass. After two months, all the streams, rivers, lakes and ponds in the village became poisoned, but the villagers kept drinking from it and consequently, they ran mad! Our man, who drank only the water he stored, remained sane. He kept up with this habit, as days turned weeks and weeks months. But finally, he gave up. It was hard because there was lack of understanding between him and the mad villagers. So he drank from a stream in the village and ran mad. When he ran mad, the villagers celebrated, that this once mad man has become sane. The end." On getting to this point, most of the kids had dozed off, only Chidi and few others were still up and listening, as some others that were awake weren't doing the listening part. As was grandpa's norm, he asked for morals learnt. And Tessy raised her hand to answer, standing she said "I learnt that when everybody is wrong, everybody is right". Saying this, she sank back down into the mat as though she never intended standing at all. Then, grandpa James, as they fondly called him, leaned back on his chair and smiled. He had always known Tessy to be the smart one. As it was getting late already, the children started scuffling home and into their huts. Grandpa still has some time to spend under the moon before retiring for the day.

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