CHAPTER FOUR
FIRE
The entire neighborhood was quiet as usual. We were tired of playing ping pong, and there was no electricity to watch television.
So… we decided to try something dangerous.
"Guys, let's set all these bushes on fire," Victor said.
"Why set the bush on fire?" Tunde argued.
"Setting the bush on fire will make the environment cleaner and neater," I said.
"I hope we won't regret this," Tunde said, looking worried.
So we got some matches and headed to the bush. After many attempts to set the dry bushes on fire, we failed.
Suddenly—
"NEPA has brought light!" Tunde shouted.
"There's light!" Victor confirmed.
"Let's go and watch a movie," Joseph suggested.
"What about the fire operation?" I asked.
"Who cares?" Victor said sharply.
"I didn't even support it in the first place," Tunde added.
So we all went back inside.
Unknown to us…
The matches we had used were still burning.
And slowly—
The bush caught fire.
About ten minutes later, we sent Tunde to get us cold water.
That was when he saw it.
"Haaaaaaaaa…!" Tunde screamed.
"What is it?" we all asked, still relaxed.
"The bushes are on fire!"
"What?!"
We rushed outside.
The fire was already spreading fast. It looked like something out of hell.
We didn't know how to put out fire…
But we definitely knew how to start one.
"What do we do now?" Joseph asked, panicking.
"Nothing," I said.
"That's exactly what you said during the goat incident!" Joseph shouted.
Before we could even think of a solution—
The fire spread to the nearby house.
The woman living there ran out screaming.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" she cried.
"Oh no!" Victor started crying.
"We are doomed!" Joseph added.
"I told you this was a bad idea!" Tunde said quickly, trying to clear himself.
"Guys, stop crying!" I shouted. "We need to help put out the fire before it burns the house to ashes!"
I looked at Joseph and added quietly,
"Besides… we didn't write our names on the fire. No need to confess."
Soon, the entire neighborhood gathered.
People were bringing water, sand—anything they could use to fight the fire.
After a long struggle…
The fire was finally put out.
Only the bed in the house was burnt.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt.
After everything calmed down, the elders began asking questions.
"How did the bush catch fire?"
Nobody answered.
We all stood there quietly like innocent children.
"That was a close one," Tunde said with relief.
"Let's never play with fire again," Victor said, wiping his sweat.
"I'm just glad nobody saw us when we started it," Joseph added.
"At least… we saved the house," I said proudly.
"After we nearly burnt it down," Tunde replied.
"Eh, we didn't burn the house," Joseph argued.
"We only burnt the bush," Victor supported.
"And the bush burnt the house," I concluded.
"All of you are just trying to defend yourselves," Tunde said.
"Of course," we all replied together.
We went back inside to finish the movie like nothing had happened.
But that night…
As I lay on my bed, something didn't sit right with me.
The fire had spread too fast.
Almost like…
It wasn't ordinary.
And then I remembered something.
That same bush.
The same shortcut my mother warned me about.
The same place with the strange dogs.
Now this fire.
Suddenly, a cold feeling ran down my spine.
Was something in that place trying to send us a warning?