The breeze blew fresh air on him, as he stood at the river bank smoking. Prieto kept looking at the direction the water wave was drifting to, while taking his puffs. He was the only person at the Onoku river that evening, walking along the river bank corners smoking swiftly. His eyes went blood shot and dim, his feelings was lifted in him like a high spirited person. All to the effect of the marijuana substance he was smoking. Prieto's mind became open in a certain way that entertains adventurous thought.
Jos ! ! ! . Here I come. His mind traveled to a place, where he remembered being on campus with his friends during convocation. The guys there, the babes and everyone under the influence and joy of celebration at the graduation day. Prieto's thought swore the more, longing for such good old days again. In which, he thought to find again at the camp with new experience. At the flashin of his thoughts, he remembered that this river bank was the same place all his contact, i.d, money he kept in his wallet, the very first week he stepped into the village got missing.
Ahhhh! I remembered all my friends contact and school identity card. Yeeee! This was where everything got missing. At the period Prieto lost his things, it was as if he was behind bars, disconnected from the friendship he had with his friends, with no one of same like mind to conversate with after all this time. Ahhhh! He screamed to himself aloud at the river banks. Tunde, Woke, Tade! Oh my God. This was how I lost their contact, he said to himself. Ooh! my friends must have been calling me. Before Prieto got to the village, he already lost his phone on his way to the village, when he slept through in the bus coming to Delta State. Due to the copy of the phone numbers saved in a written paper inside his wallet, Prieto cared less about the loss of his phone. Unfortunately, it was at this same river bank everything else in the wallet, plus the wallet inclusive got missing. Prieto felt disheartened again, just like the way he felt on the day his items got missing. He saw how separation eventually came into play among his friends and him, he became more angered in sadness. Meanwhile, the marijuana still burn with thick flames coming out of his nostrils. His right and left hand kept passing the blunt in holding exchange to his mouth, "so just like that?" He said to himself, me and my friends will not set eyes on ourselves again. Once more the feelings of heavy burden, weigh down on him again. He looked at the weed in his hands, tears almost fell from his eyes knowing life is just nothing but a dream. If he is to keep wishing and hoping they were with him, how long will that be coming to reality? He thought to himself, that " life goes on". And nothing is an accident. There is always a reason for everything, believing one day that they might get to see each other again.
He smoked the whole ace in his hand, and he decided to go enter into the river again. He walked back in awaken self, to the river bank entrance and as he walked close, he ran towards the waters jumping in with his legs, humping and digging till he forced his entire body into the river. He swam swinging his arms at the surface of the water, to the deeper ends of the river. Prieto paused on his swim, at the middle of the deep to feel the pressure of the waters at it. What he was trying is quiet a risky move, only him at the center of the deep Waters. The tension inside the water was real and quiet different from the shallow waters.
No one ever dares swimming, to this point at Onoku river, the region of the water is Well spacely wide and heavy in it body and boundaries to a terrific width. There Prieto was, floating as if he possess some aquatic nature. He switched his body movement with the water wave, sinking back into the deep in disappearing act. Any one watching could have thought maybe he drowned himself, but Prieto was coming under water back to the shore.
It was already getting dark at the river, coming back to his consciousness, Prieto quickly went for his clothes and belongings hung on a fixed bamboo sticks, at the entrance side of the river. He wore his clothes, took his towels and heading to meet his mother at home. He walked shivering, at the pressure he perceive to his skin at the deep waters. As he walked up the hill, he looked back to view the size of the water body, stretched out to unreachable bounds. He knew it will take a long while coming back again for a swim or maybe never again. He gazed at every corners of the river, from the top of the hill he was standing. The topography of the ground to the river was on a slanted shape. More like a sloppy form, if not for the farm stead of cassave planted at the slope, to prevent erosion of any sort. At some region of the sloppy ends were gully erosions, which had deformed the platform of the ground in big ditch. All this places, Prieto could see from where he was standing and shivering still. It was a remarkable sight to him, knowing they have a recreation as that in their village. He faced the other way round, to continue with his trekking home. He moved along, passing through the same route from where he came to the river. The kernel seeds littered the way, the evening breeze to night falls blew like no other, Prieto put a little more force forward, to his footsteps navigating his way through to his house. He passed the road that lead to the backyard of his house, in hope to meet his mother while coming but he met mama Ejima. The woman share the same lines of kitchen forms, with them at the backyard. She is either pounding yams or frying garri inside the kitchen oven.