MOONSTRUCK

Ibingo couldn't sleep.

There seemed to be an ongoing dispute between the various groups of blood thirsty insects hovering above her head.

" Don't scratch them. It only makes it worse"
Tarila always warned her. But she couldn't help it that night.The monstrous tiny vampires were heartless.

The compound was still.

And the weather was so hot, even the crickets were silent.

Sweat poured from her body in large beads, unto the wrapper used to cover the raffia mat.

 Ibingo was wide awake and wondered how Ibiso could sleep so soundly under such harsh conditions.

Ibiso lay by her on the mat, and hadn't stirred since she fell asleep over three hours ago.




Ibingo had told her father that sending them to the village for holiday, was a cruel and unusual punishment.

 "You have to know your roots and family culture. You are not a Lagosian, you need to know who you are"
As usual, father's words were final.

So after their exams, he'd shipped them off to the Village.

The boat ride was really tedious,......okay, it was scary....very scary.

When they finally got to the place, it was like a scene from a 50's movie. Leaving Lagos to the village was like going from HD to black and white in one day.

Ibiso adapted immediately. And going to the "Waterside" to take a s**t was no longer strange.

Ibingo on the other hand, was counting the days till they had to return to civilisation. To her, Father had simply put her life in this cruel limbo with this 'fantastic' idea of his.

The only thing that made her stay even bearable, was Tarila their cousin.Tarila was a story teller who wanted to hear all about 'City-life'.

 Ibingo made sure she gave her the most exaggerated fictional stories she could think of .

In return, Tarila gave her tales of "Mammy Water,Bush Babies and witches" in the village.

Ibingo stood up from the mat, when she could no longer stand the heat and mosquitoes.

She needed fresh air.

The heat in the room was stifling.

The door opened with a creak, and she hoped her grandma wouldn't wake up to check.

She tiptoed out of the house, taking her torch with her.

The moon was out, and shone really bright.In fact,it was so bright, she didn't even need the torch to make her way out the gates.

She thought of waking Tarila, but didn't want to make any noise, or draw the attention of her snoring relatives.

She walked to the river bank, and sat on an overturned canoe.


 Her mind wandered to the tales Tarila had told her, concerning Mermaids. She didn't believe in such nonsense.



The Sixteen Year Old Girl stared at the full Moon, and thought how beautiful it was.

Guess its better than tweeting.She thought to herself.

Odd.She thought.

The night was deathly quiet......... and still.

Something caught her eye.

 A sparkle on the surface of the river.

 She stood up to get a closer look.

The Air had suddenly grown colder.

She moved closer.

The water was icy against her skin.

She kept on going until the water was up to her waist.

What I'm I doing? she wondered to herself.

But the sparkling object suddenly seemed farther away.

"Go back,IB" a voice in her head warned.

"Don't be a wuss....." another voice said.

"........Go  for it, after all you can swim"

So she surged ahead. The chill of the river enveloping her like the wintry embrace of a phantom.

Before she knew it, she was swimming towards the object.

No matter how hard she tried, it seemed just out of reach.

Looking behind her, she saw how far away she was from land.

Why was she still going? What if she drowned?

 But for some reason she couldn't fathom, she couldn't stop herself.

The moon shone even more brightly on her.

She stretched her hands, and reached out for the object.

"Welcome" a voice said. she turned around startled, her heart racing as salt water entered her mouth.

There behind her, was a young woman.

"Who are you?" Ibingo asked

"Welcome" other voices echoed.

All around her, were girls of various ages. Beautiful faces staring back at her,like faces from a dream.

Some faces were familiar, people she had met around the village. Others were strange.

Fear gripped Ibingo.But at the same time she felt safe....at home even.

She looked towards the shore, but couldn't find any trace of land.

 "Who are you people and where I'm I?"  She asked.

"Welcome. we have been calling out to you. " the woman replied

"We are daughters of the moon " she continued.

"I want to go back home" Ibingo said, but she couldn't move. She realised that she had not been swimming, but like the rest of them, was sitting on the water.

"This is your home. Be a daughter, or  die" the woman said pointing at her.

The other girls began to chant

"THE MOON IS OUR FATHER, THE MOON IS OUR FATHER"

"I don't want this!!!"

  They laughed.

The sound was like the cackles of a hundred hyenas.

It chilled her bones.

 "You are one of us......... You cannot escape us."
the woman replied.

A figure ascended to the surface of the water...a dark, muscular figure .......a man.

"Mate with your husband!"The woman's voice chuckled.

With strong hands,he grabbed her and pressed her body to his.Even in the chill she could feel the heat from his loins against her body.

It excited her,it aroused her......it terrified her.





Ibingo opened her eyes.

It was morning.



She sat up from the mat.Thank God it was a dream.She sighed.

But she felt her heart race when she realized....her whole body was dripping with salt water.

 She went about her chores, and by evening she had nearly forgotten about the dream..

They returned to Lagos a month later.



It was night time when they arrived.Their father picked them up from the bus park.

On their way back home, Ibingo looked up at the full moon, and immediately her head started aching her like it was going to break in two.

The insides of her thighs were burning up,as if Flames had suddenly engulfed her midsection.For many nights,she had felt his embrace....the grip of his strong arms.

It repulsed her....it aroused her.

She found herself searching for him in her dreams.

She felt guilty for wanting him.She felt guilty for suddenly being repulsed by men in general.

It was as if no other man or boy existed.All she secretly craved for,was to close her eyes, and see him.






"Honey, wake up" their mother shook their sleeping father.

"What is it?" he said opening his eyes.

" Can you hear that?" came her whisper.

The house was quiet.

Too quiet in fact.

He wondered why he'd been torn from the fantastic dream he'd been having.

Then he heard it.

 A steady drumming sound

 He was alert,.....and actually a little panicked.

Down the corridor they went.

His wife followed closely behind him.

The noise was coming from Ibingo's room.


They got to the door and tried to open it, but the door didn't budge.

The drumming was louder.

Father and Mother exchanged fearful glances.

They banged on the door.

Nothing.

The drumming was louder.

They banged again and again.

Still nothing.

Their knocking roused Ibiso, and she came out of her room and joined them in knocking.
Then the drumming stopped...

"Ibingo!Ibingo!!!"Father and Mother screamed in unison as they continued banging at the door.

Then the chanting started "THE MOON IS OUR FATHER !!!".

Mother's face was drenched in panic.

Then suddenly the noise stopped.


Ibingo's door never opened that night.



The next morning, Ibingo woke up, to do her chores, and met her parents and sister in the sitting room.

 "Good morning" Ibingo sang the next morning as she came downstairs.

Her parents didn't respond.

They sat silently in the living room.

They hadn't slept the whole night.

" What happened in your room last night?" her father asked gravely.

"How do you mean?" Ibingo asked curiously.

When they told her of what they heard, she laughed at them, telling them that they must be joking and proceeded to do her chores as if nothing happened.


The next night, her parents listened to hear the drums again.

No sounds came.

Because she wasn't in her room.

When she woke up, she wondered how she had gotten to the beach.

 She was still in her night gown, her feet were dirty and her whole body ached.

She was covered in blood.

There was a bloodied knife in her hands.


Fragments of a dream came back to her. She saw herself and her lover bathing in a strange dark liquid....as they made love.The taste of the liquid was exquisite....like nothing she'd ever tasted before.Somewhere in her head,she could hear screams.....and then laughter mixed with the sound of her lover's moans.

In the dream, she was dancing, as strange women clapped for her.

"Welcome,sister!!!" they giggled.

Her lover took her in his arms again......

Then nothing.


According to the police report,both her parents had been murdered in their sleep.Their bodies had been stabbed multiple times by an individual with tremendous strength.

All that was found in Ibiso's room was a severed forefinger.

Ibingo was later found covered in blood roaming the streets in a trance.She still had the bloodied knife with her.

Ibiso's body has never been found.


The Spiritual Realm is real and can be an evil place......we should all be more Prayerful



written by Ivy Brown


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