With a sign of contentment, I replied “yes, my Lord, ọmọ Ṣango” before drifting off to sleep.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange place. I struggled to lift my head up to look around. I saw my parents and Henry sitting next to me. I was in a hospital bed with all sorts of monitoring equipment attached to me.
Author Bio: Abiku: A Battle Of Gods is the first book under the name Elizabeth Salawu. She normally writes children's books under the name Segilola Salami.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange place. I struggled to lift my head up to look around. I saw my parents and Henry sitting next to me. I was in a hospital bed with all sorts of monitoring equipment attached to me.
I coughed and everyone jumped “Ah Dayo, you're awake, thank God. You gave us a scare” they more or less all said at the same time.
Holding onto my splitting head “what happened?” I asked confused.
“You've been in a coma for three days now” mother cried. “Your flat mate called us when she tried to wake you up, but you didn't respond. Well, you opened your eyes once, but became unconscious again. So we had to bring you to the hospital. The doctor said that there were some illegal substances in your blood. What is strange is that the doctor said there wasn’t enough of the drug in your system to put you in a coma, but somehow, you ended up unconscious” mother continued.
Before she could say anything more, the doctor walked in “Hello Dayo, how wonderful, you're awake. I'm the doctor on call today, I'm Dr Davies. How are you feeling now?” He asked
“Thirsty” I replied.
Henry poured me a drink of water from the bottle by my bedside table and handed it to me. Our fingers brushed for a second. I took the cup from him and offered my thanks.
“When can I go home?” I asked the doctor.
“We'll observe you for another 24 hours. If everything is OK, you can go home the day after” Dr Davies replied.
At first, I thought everything that happened in the dream world, was just that a dream, until later on that night when my parents and Henry had gone back to my apartment. The doctor had refused to let mother spend the night with me.
Whilst everyone was around, I didn't have the time to fully process that I had been in a coma for three full days.
When I was finally alone, thinking I had the time to process my thoughts, I saw Akin standing at a corner smiling at me, looking as dashing as ever.
“YOU! How are you here? I'm not asleep” I said to him, I turned to pinch my wrist to make sure I wasn't actually asleep. It was then that I saw the tattoo on my wrist.
With shock on my face, I turned to Akin “it wasn't a dream?”
“Don't be silly my love, of course not. Why are you in a hospital?” He asked.
“It seems that when I was dreaming, my flatmate tried to wake me up and when I didn't respond, she called my parents” I said.
“By the way, you said this time around, time flows slower between your world and the real world, so why did three days pass by here?” I continued. I wanted to scream at Akin, but I knew that would be a one way ticket to a psych ward.
“When someone tried to drag you out of our world, it messed with the flow of time. Time was reset as a result. Do you remember who you are?”
I looked at him confused for a moment, then it ALL came back to me...
“Yes I do, I am... well you know we cannot say our true names out loud... I am Ọsun's daughter, the goddess of love. You are Ṣango's son, the god of thunder” I said smiling with a knowing look in my eyes.
“My love, you had me worried there for a second” Akin said. With that, he walked over to me and gave me a most electrifying kiss. Just as I was returning the kiss, there was a knock on the door and it opened before I even replied.
The nurse looked at me weirdly, probably wondering what was wrong with me and why my hand was raised and my lips puckered.
“Hi Dayo, I am the night nurse on duty. My name is Ṣola. I've come to check up on you...”
Akin was sat on the chair next to me smiling (he seems to always be smiling), but ordinary mortal nurse Ṣola couldn't see him.
The day after I was discharged from hospital, I was in my room relaxing and chatting with Akin. He was teaching me how to control my ability to move from the mortal world to the immortal world whilst I was still trapped in my human body.
Can you believe this? I am a powerful goddess and didn't know it. Those kids that mocked me growing up don't know how lucky they were.
I used every trick I knew to get my parents to return to Lagos, saying that I was OK and only needed a little rest. My parents conceded only after I agreed that Henry could stay back to drive me to school and back or anywhere else that I needed to go to for at least the next one month. I was also to visit the hospital for rehabilitation with a substance abuse doctor.
The door to my room was only half closed and it creaked a little. Both Akin and I turned to look at the door as it opened. It was my flatmate, Kemi.
“Hey Dayo, who are you talking to?” Kemi entered asking.
“What do you mean who am I talking to? Who else do you see here?” I retorted.
“Sorry oh, I just got back from school and I heard voices so I thought there was someone here with you,” Kemi continued.
“Well as you can see, there's no one else here. Surely there isn't anything wrong speaking out loud to myself now, is there?” I snapped, annoyed.
Before she could reply, I asked her about her day, coyly changing the topic.
Two days later, Henry arrived from Lagos for his babysitting duties. He had had to drive my parents back to Lagos and also pick up some essentials he would need whilst here. Oh my gosh, he looked so handsome... I hadn't realised how much I had missed him until then. At that moment, I instantly forgot about Akin.
'Awakening' did not stop my mortal heart from beating extra fast at the sight of Henry.
After our initial passion was spent, Henry held on to me like he never wanted to let go of me.
“Dayo, you can't imagine how scared I was when Kemi called me. What possessed you to start taking drugs?” Henry asked.
I didn't have an answer for him, so I simply sighed and kept mute. I looked straight ahead of me and there was Akin with a frown on his face. What am I saying frown? In fact, he looked murderous like he was about to kill someone. I thought I saw flames come out of his nose, but when I looked properly to make sure that what I thought I saw was actually what I saw, it was gone.
Moments later, Henry offered to give me a massage. He had bought some fancy orange fragrance massage oil. I hesitated at first . . . you see, every time we were together, I always ensured that my back was never to him. Whenever he tried to grab my bum, I stilled his hand and did something else to distract him.
At the back of my mind, I always wondered if he would find me less attractive if he discovered that I had no bum. Would a man as gorgeous as him still desire me?
Lots of musicians have written songs dedicated to praising the beauty of a woman's backside... so what does that make me? A woman not worthy to be called beautiful?
Holding onto my splitting head “what happened?” I asked confused.
“You've been in a coma for three days now” mother cried. “Your flat mate called us when she tried to wake you up, but you didn't respond. Well, you opened your eyes once, but became unconscious again. So we had to bring you to the hospital. The doctor said that there were some illegal substances in your blood. What is strange is that the doctor said there wasn’t enough of the drug in your system to put you in a coma, but somehow, you ended up unconscious” mother continued.
Before she could say anything more, the doctor walked in “Hello Dayo, how wonderful, you're awake. I'm the doctor on call today, I'm Dr Davies. How are you feeling now?” He asked
“Thirsty” I replied.
Henry poured me a drink of water from the bottle by my bedside table and handed it to me. Our fingers brushed for a second. I took the cup from him and offered my thanks.
“When can I go home?” I asked the doctor.
“We'll observe you for another 24 hours. If everything is OK, you can go home the day after” Dr Davies replied.
At first, I thought everything that happened in the dream world, was just that a dream, until later on that night when my parents and Henry had gone back to my apartment. The doctor had refused to let mother spend the night with me.
Whilst everyone was around, I didn't have the time to fully process that I had been in a coma for three full days.
When I was finally alone, thinking I had the time to process my thoughts, I saw Akin standing at a corner smiling at me, looking as dashing as ever.
“YOU! How are you here? I'm not asleep” I said to him, I turned to pinch my wrist to make sure I wasn't actually asleep. It was then that I saw the tattoo on my wrist.
With shock on my face, I turned to Akin “it wasn't a dream?”
“Don't be silly my love, of course not. Why are you in a hospital?” He asked.
“It seems that when I was dreaming, my flatmate tried to wake me up and when I didn't respond, she called my parents” I said.
“By the way, you said this time around, time flows slower between your world and the real world, so why did three days pass by here?” I continued. I wanted to scream at Akin, but I knew that would be a one way ticket to a psych ward.
“When someone tried to drag you out of our world, it messed with the flow of time. Time was reset as a result. Do you remember who you are?”
I looked at him confused for a moment, then it ALL came back to me...
“Yes I do, I am... well you know we cannot say our true names out loud... I am Ọsun's daughter, the goddess of love. You are Ṣango's son, the god of thunder” I said smiling with a knowing look in my eyes.
“My love, you had me worried there for a second” Akin said. With that, he walked over to me and gave me a most electrifying kiss. Just as I was returning the kiss, there was a knock on the door and it opened before I even replied.
The nurse looked at me weirdly, probably wondering what was wrong with me and why my hand was raised and my lips puckered.
“Hi Dayo, I am the night nurse on duty. My name is Ṣola. I've come to check up on you...”
Akin was sat on the chair next to me smiling (he seems to always be smiling), but ordinary mortal nurse Ṣola couldn't see him.
The day after I was discharged from hospital, I was in my room relaxing and chatting with Akin. He was teaching me how to control my ability to move from the mortal world to the immortal world whilst I was still trapped in my human body.
Can you believe this? I am a powerful goddess and didn't know it. Those kids that mocked me growing up don't know how lucky they were.
I used every trick I knew to get my parents to return to Lagos, saying that I was OK and only needed a little rest. My parents conceded only after I agreed that Henry could stay back to drive me to school and back or anywhere else that I needed to go to for at least the next one month. I was also to visit the hospital for rehabilitation with a substance abuse doctor.
The door to my room was only half closed and it creaked a little. Both Akin and I turned to look at the door as it opened. It was my flatmate, Kemi.
“Hey Dayo, who are you talking to?” Kemi entered asking.
“What do you mean who am I talking to? Who else do you see here?” I retorted.
“Sorry oh, I just got back from school and I heard voices so I thought there was someone here with you,” Kemi continued.
“Well as you can see, there's no one else here. Surely there isn't anything wrong speaking out loud to myself now, is there?” I snapped, annoyed.
Before she could reply, I asked her about her day, coyly changing the topic.
Two days later, Henry arrived from Lagos for his babysitting duties. He had had to drive my parents back to Lagos and also pick up some essentials he would need whilst here. Oh my gosh, he looked so handsome... I hadn't realised how much I had missed him until then. At that moment, I instantly forgot about Akin.
'Awakening' did not stop my mortal heart from beating extra fast at the sight of Henry.
After our initial passion was spent, Henry held on to me like he never wanted to let go of me.
“Dayo, you can't imagine how scared I was when Kemi called me. What possessed you to start taking drugs?” Henry asked.
I didn't have an answer for him, so I simply sighed and kept mute. I looked straight ahead of me and there was Akin with a frown on his face. What am I saying frown? In fact, he looked murderous like he was about to kill someone. I thought I saw flames come out of his nose, but when I looked properly to make sure that what I thought I saw was actually what I saw, it was gone.
Moments later, Henry offered to give me a massage. He had bought some fancy orange fragrance massage oil. I hesitated at first . . . you see, every time we were together, I always ensured that my back was never to him. Whenever he tried to grab my bum, I stilled his hand and did something else to distract him.
At the back of my mind, I always wondered if he would find me less attractive if he discovered that I had no bum. Would a man as gorgeous as him still desire me?
Lots of musicians have written songs dedicated to praising the beauty of a woman's backside... so what does that make me? A woman not worthy to be called beautiful?
Author Bio: Abiku: A Battle Of Gods is the first book under the name Elizabeth Salawu. She normally writes children's books under the name Segilola Salami.
You can follow her on Twitter @iyayetunde1 and subscribe to
her blog http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog for updates.
