I can never forget that night. It was 2 am, and there I was in the corner of my bed, breathing so heavily as if I had just escaped from a monster trying to devour me, but you might ask, "Corner of your bed? Monster? How is that even possible?"
After waking up from this terrible dream, I couldn't sleep again because I was so scared of closing my eyes. I sat at the corner of my bed with my legs close to my chest while I hugged my legs so they wouldn't let go. With sweat pouring down my face, almost entering my eyelids, I watched every corner of the room, hoping nothing would crab my hands, but the more I stayed in the room, the more I became more scared.
The sound of the frogs living inside the never-flowing water in front of our house and the ringing of the cricket coming from the back of our home made me feel more unsafe in my room, so I ran to my parent's room in my shorts and singlet. It was the only thing that came to mind as a 12-year-old boy.
"Ko Ko Ko," I gave a gentle tap on my parent's room door, hoping for someone to come out and pick me up. There was no answer. I could feel the darkness in the passage to their room pulling me, but I stood at the door, gently tapping it. Then I started knocking harder and screamed at the top of my lungs after I felt a hand on my shoulder.
The door flung open, and it was my dad who opened the door. "Tioluwa, what is wrong? Kiloshele?" My dad asked me what was wrong with English and our native language.
"I had a bad dream; I can't sleep again, and it's like there is someone in our room," I said while my hands were trembling in fear, my mom pulled me closer and hugged me, and I became calm. After he had confirmed it was just my brother and sister that were in the room, he asked my mom to go back to sleep, then took me to the dining table, put on the light, made some tea, and asked me what really happened.
"I had a dream," I said.
"Is that all?" he replies.
"No, in the dream. I saw a man putting on a black robe; he was chasing me inside the kitchen, and I was running. It was just the two of us in the kitchen, and there was no door to run out. I was running round and round until he caught up to me; he held me down, and I couldn't do anything." I stopped to look at my dad, and he asked me to continue assuring me I had nothing to fear again since he was there with me. His words alone gave me the courage I needed.
"He held me down, and I was trying to call everyone, but no one was answering. I tried to call the name of Jesus, but I love my voice; the more I scream, the more my voice reduces. I couldn't do anything but beg for my life."
"You mean you beg for your life in the dream?" He asked me with a surprised look on his face. He smiled at me, then took a sip from his tea.
My dad pulled his chair closer to mine, and this time I could see the little wrinkles at the side of his eyes, and his white teeth, and I could smile at his fragrance already. He stretched out his hands to me, held my hands, and spoke
"You see, this is only proof that your spirit, man, is weak. You eat every day to become strong, but you are not feeding your soul. Don't you know your soul needs food too?" He asked me, and I shook my head, giving him a no.
"We humans are three in one: the spirit, the soul, and the body. You eat normal food every day to keep your body strong, but your spirit and soul are hungry. That is why that man could hold you down because it was a battle in your soul. You will give your spirit and soul food starting from tomorrow."
"Soul food? Spirit food?" I asked him. "Yes, you will give them food," he answered. From tomorrow, you will start reading the Bible because the word of God is the food your spirit and soul need. They are the spirit food and the soul food."
After much explanation, he pulled me closer and prayed for me; we both walked to my room. "You are a strong boy, and no one can harm you, ok, now go to sleep." With those words alone, the fear within me vanished, and I had a good night's sleep.
Thanks for reading.
Images used are AI-generated.
Your father is very wise and gave you excellent advice. It is true that humans need spirituality in our lives, like the need to believe.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Excellent Monday.
Yeah
The role he played that night hold a huge impact in my life
Thanks for reading 🫶🏽
What a wonderful craft of a story. Through story you have stressed on importance of nurtured of soul for us. We take care of our stomach and physical hunger but don’t care much about spiritual food
Yes
We need to take care of our spirit too
Not just the physical body
Thanks for reading
Excellent handling of pacing; you build tension expertly and leave the reader quite breathless while on tender hooks waiting for the monsters to pop! Your father is a gifted man, more than able to find a solution for his family. Fabulous writing!
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A beautiful piece, The first paragraph is so intense. Nightmares can get one to be overly anxious.
Yeah
It was a nightmare that woke me up
Thanks for stopping by
I love how you played with the prompt. Making it sound spiritual. Nice play bro.
Thank you sir.
I am glad you enjoyed it
Nice story. You are lucky because a Christian background is very important in a child's life.
Yeah
I was very lucky to have a father like him
🫶🏽
Thanks for the comment
!BBH
You are welcome ❤️
@fashtioluwa likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH(2/5)@blaqbarbie! to your account on behalf of @fashtioluwa.
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It's one and good thing for a parent to give attention to their children. Your father did that greatly and helped you clarify what soul food means and how you should go about it. Interesting read 📚
Thanks for reading princess 🫶🏽🫶🏽
The first paragraph is quite relatable, nightmares leave gasping for breath.
😅😅
Yeah
As kids when we have a terrible dream
We always find it hard to sleep
Nice story. It's amazing how your dad explained it to you using simple terms like that.
Yeah
Having good parent that can guide your heart and mind are rear
I love your father's explanation. The soul needs food to keep going. The food for the soul is not the type ate with one's mouth but prayers and faithfulness.
Yeah.
That is what my father thought me and I’ve stick with ever since 🫶🏽🫶🏽
Thanks for taking your time to read
Your experience could be seen as sleep paralysis.
I used to battle with that a lot in the past. Really scary, thank God your father is there to help.
I noticed mine was because I over stress my body lol. At a point I told myself if you keep stressing this much your soul will give up on you. Immediately I cut down on my activities.
Ahaha
The part you said
“Your soul will give up on you”
I don’t want that to happen which is why I rest properly now
😂🤣😂... More rest time 😌