"Mama, mama, mama.....!!!"
"Mama eh, mama ooo...!!!"
I grabbed a cloth and wrapped around my waist as I heard Amaka wail from a distance. I barely remembered to wear a shirt over my bra or a slippers for my feet. Amaka was the most serious minded of my five children, my smart Ada, I never took her words for granted.
"Amaka, ke kwanu (what is it?)", I asked.
Amaka was sobbing and rolling on the red sand in the compound. Something bad had definitely happened. I was worried now and did a mental rundown of what might have gone wrong and put Amaka in such terrible state.
"My Ada, what happened? Did anybody die? Why are you crying?"
"Mama, motor car, moootoooooor car hit the children ooooo", she said in between sobs.
I immediately dashed off to the the only road cars ply in the village. My heart raced and I felt unusually cold in my feet. My children were little and often played around the house. They were never left to wander off to a far distance. Amaka didn't specify who was hit but it didn't matter. What mattered was getting to my children.
There was a crowd gathered and everyone paved way as soon as I arrived. Blood was splattered on the tarred road and as I bent to look at the children I felt a tap on my back.
"Mama, mama, wake up, they're dying"
"What? Who is dying?", I was already running out of the room leaving Amaka. I had been dreaming and now the dream was coming alive. I couldn't afford to lose my children.
"Mama where are you going?", Amaka was asking as she tailed after me. I screamed at her to hurry up before we lose the children.
"Mama wait, is it the goats that's making you shout like this?"
"Goats?", I paused in between my steps.
"Ah, mama what did you think? The goat's three children just died this morning and it seems more are falling ill. We need to find out the problem"
I looked at Amaka, speechless and we both burst into laughter.
This is my entry to the daily freewrite challenge by @mariannewest
Poor goats 😭. If it were me, I'd have fainted .
Lover of goats 😂