The drums were still beating when the king raised his staff and declared it.
“From this day forward, no one is to draw water from that well. Anyone who disobeys will answer to the throne.”
That was all, no explanation, no much story, no curse or punishment were mentioned just a warning.
And in my village, when elders refuse to explain something, it only makes people more curious, especially me.
If stubbornness were a person, it would be me.
I don’t like intimidation, I don’t like secrets, and I definitely don’t like being told “don’t” without being told “why.”
The well had been there long before I was born. The well is located beside the big iroko tree in the center of the market square.
Women used to fetch from it before trading. Children used to sit around it and gossip. Even travelers stopped there to drink.
Why then did they suddenly place a law around it? Why did they say nobody should go near it?
I asked my mother one faithful evening.
“I don’t know, Stella. And stop asking questions about that well. You heard what the king said. You are my only child. I don’t want the king’s trouble.”
My mother’s words still ring in my ears. I don’t like disobeying her.
Everyone kept to their side of the rule nobody went near the well, nobody talked about it.
But water became scarce in the dry season.
The stream at the edge of the village began shrinking.
Old women started complaining.
“You expect us to walk that far every morning when there is a well in the market?”
But no one dared challenge the king openly.
Until one afternoon.
I was returning from the farm when I heard shouting in the market square.
A man was beating his wife near the closed well.
He accused her of wasting water and said she refused to go fetch from Iyiocha.
Iyiocha is the second stream in our village. The first one is closer, but it dries up during the day. Iyiocha remains, but the challenge is the distance. Stories say spirits come to fetch water from that stream during the afternoon.
The path that leads there is lonely. It is only busy in the early morning. But because of Iyi Ani, people avoid going there later in the day.
And here was this man beating his pregnant wife at such an hour because she refused to go to Iyiocha.
She cried and tried to defend herself, but no one stepped in.
People only watched as always without separating or interfering.
I dropped the firewood on my head and pushed through the crowd.
“Are you mád?” I shouted at him.
He turned in shock. “This is not your business, young maiden, go your way.”
It never is.
I stood between him and his wife.
“If you have strength, use it on someone your size.”
“Get out of my way! She is my wife, and I have every right to treat her the way I like!” he yelled, dragging my hand, trying to pull me aside.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Who raised you?” I shot back. “Your wife is pregnant, and you want her to go to Iyiocha at this time of the day?”
The crowd murmured some shook their heads.
“Trouble has come again,” someone whispered.
He raised his hand to hit me, but I caught him by the throat, kiçked his legs from under him, and he landed heavily on the ground.
“Let it be known to you,” I said firmly, “I am not a weaker vessel. She is your wife, not your slave.”
“If you need water, carry the pot yourself and let her follow you. But sending her alone in this condition? What if she never makes it back?”
He stood up spat near my feet and said.
“This is not over, I will deal with you.” He walked away.
Then I turned to the wife.
“Let me know if he touches you again.”
She avoided my eyes, she didn’t thank me she followed her husband. I looked at her with shock, truly putting mouth in married people’s matters sometimes can be exhausting.
As the crowd left the scene I noticed something.
The rope tied around the well’s wooden cover was loose, very loose as if someone had touched it.
I moved closer, the air around the well felt… colder. Even under the hot afternoon sun.
I bent slightly that was when I heard it….I heard the førbidden well in my village calling my name..
As the crowd slowly left the market square, I noticed something strange. The rope tied around the well’s wooden cover was loose… as if someone had touched it.
When I moved closer, the air around the well felt colder even under the hot afternoon sun.
I bent slightly, that was when I heard it.
A soft sound… like someone whistling from deep inside the well, at first, it sounded like my name then it changed.
It felt like humming, like someone was singing.
My heart began to race.
I reached for the wooden cover, trying to shift it just a little so I could look inside…
“What do you think you are doing?” The voice came from behind me deep and sharp.
I turned immediately to see one of the king’s guards coming toward me.
“What are you doing here? Whose daughter are you? Didn’t you hear the king’s warning? No one is allowed to fetch water from this well or even come close to it!”
He stood in front of me, breathing hard.
I faced him boldly. “As you came here, did you see me with any pot that signifies I’m here to fetch water?”
He frowned. “Then why are you close to the well?”
“In fact, you must follow me to the palace. You will answer to the king.” He reached to grab my arm.
I pulled back. “If you touch me one more time, I’m very sorry for what will happen to you. I did not disrêspect you. You are accûsing me of something I did not do and that is what I háte.”
He didn’t say a word.
“What evidence do you have that I was fetching water? Don’t start what you can’t finish.”
I guess the statement hit him hard, he stood there staring at me.
At least there is no evidence and no third party. It’s just the two of us.
I walked back to my firewood, Just as I bent to lift it, another guard approached.
Phew! I exhaled quietly.
If he had met us arguing, it would have been two against one.
I left them there and headed home.
But my mind remained at the well.
What was inside it?
Why did it sound like someone was humming?
Why did it feel like it was calling my name?
Why was the king’s warning so serious that no one dared question it?
I had so many whys on my mind..
When I finally got home, I dropped the firewood.
“Greetings, Mama.”
“What kept you this long, Stella?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “I hope you didn’t go somewhere to fîght.”
“Haba, Mama,” I laughed. “You know I don’t fîght people.”
“I know,” she said, shaking her head. “But you don’t know how to mind your business.”
I held her arm playfully. “So if someone asks you, you will tell them I don’t mind my business?”
“You are my daughter,” she replied with a soft smile. “I know exactly what you can do and what you cannot do.”
Ever since my father d!ed, it has been just the two of us. I am her only child.
And I do everything I can not to hurt her.
“Go and wash your hands,” she said. “Come and eat. I’ve been waiting for you.”
That has always been our routine. She never eats without me, and I try not to keep her waiting.
As we sat to eat roasted yam and palm oil sauce, I took the opportunity.
“Mama… you said people used to fetch water from that well before. Why did they stop?” She froze.
“Is someone inside the well?”
Her reaction was immediate.
“Stella!” Her voice shook.
“I don’t know anything about that well.”
Before I could speak again, she slowly went down on her knees.
“See my knees are on the ground,” she said. “Whatever your mind is telling you about that well abort it. Stop asking questions. And never, ever take this discussion outside.”
My heart melted.
“Mama! Please stand up. Why are you kneeling for me? I’ve heard you. I won’t ask again.”
“Don’t ever kneel for me like that,” I whispered. “Don’t put my head against that of the gods.”
She began to laugh lightly.
“When you don’t let me rest, that is the only way to show you I am serious.”
Then, as if nothing happened, she said, “Go and bring drinking water. I’ve told you many times before you sit to eat, prepare both washing and drinking water. Don’t go and disgrace me in your husband’s house.”
I smiled..
“I brought the food, you came with just washing hand water and forgot to bring drinking water, what if someone chokes?”
Nobody will choke Mama, let me go and get it.
I fetched water from our drinking pot and when I turned to leave I saw….The shadow from the forbidden well beside the big tree in my village’s market square… followed me home. It moved silently, almost like it was watching me.
Then, as if nothing happened, she said, “Go and bring drinking water. I’ve told you many times before you sit to eat, prepare both washing and drinking water. Don’t go and disgrace me in your husband’s house.”
I smiled..
“I brought the food, you came with just washing hand water and forgot to bring drinking water, what if someone chokes?”
Nobody will choke Mama, let me go and get it.
I fetched water from our pot, and as I turned to leave, I saw it, a shadow-like shape moving quickly across the room. At first, I felt a presence, but nobody was there.
As I passed the entrance, the shadow moved again, closer this time. My body wanted to follow, as I was drawn to it, but my mother’s voice pulled me back.
“Did you go to Iyiocha to fetch the water? What’s keeping you, Stella? I’ll start eating without you!” she yelled from outside.
“I’m on my way, Mama,” I called back, though my mind was far from the meal. Whose shadow could it be, and why was it following me?
Again, my mother’s voice snapped me back.
“Stella! What’s wrong with you? Why are you so distracted?”
“Nothing, Mama. I just remembered Ugonma and I planned to go to the evening market. She wants to sell her mother’s kernels, and I promised to help.”
“Is that so? Just be careful and stay out of trouble,” she warned.
We ate quietly, I didn’t enjoy the meal because my mind was miles away.
That evening, I went to Ugonma. I wanted her to follow me.
“Where are we going?” she asked suspiciously.
“You’ll know when we get there.”
“Ha! Stella, tell me! People sèll people these days; I need to know if you’re sélling me off!” she joked.
“Sell you off? Nothing like that. Just trust me,” I said.
I knew that if I told her I was heading to the well, she wouldn’t follow me. Her father is one of the lawmakers and very loyal to the king. He had warned her strictly never to go near the well or even pass around it.”
“Stella, where are we going? This path leads to the market square… and the forbidden well!” she exclaimed.
“Exactly,” I said. “Earlier today, I saw the cover of the well shift, and I heard a sound like someone humming inside the well.”
“St…Ella! Please ooo! My hands and legs will not follow you there. Don’t you know the king’s guards monitor that place 24/7?”
“So?” I asked.
“So? Stella, the King won’t be kind to you, and your mother won’t be left out!” she said, panicking.
“Is it that serious?”
“Very serious! Anyone caught will face severe consequences,” she whispered.
“Hmmm… but why did the king place such a strict order on an ordinary well?”
“Ordinary? If it’s ordinary, why are you asking so many questions about it? Maybe they caged unwanted spirits there. The king is protecting us,” she replied sharply.
“But people used to fetch water from it before,” I argued.
“That’s tales by moonlight. Now the king said no one should go there. We must obey,” she said.
“Hmmm, so now you’re a good citizen of the community?” I teased.
“Before? Am I not? If I weren’t, why would I risk following you into dånger without knowing? If not, that you mentioned it, maybe two of us would be breathing heavily inside the king’s prisøn,” she said sarcastically, smiling.
Her humor made me laugh. She’s more than a friend, more like a sister from another mother. Others cóndemn me, but she always has my back..
“But seriously,” she said, lowering her voice. Something must have happened that made the elders place such a striçt wärning about the well?”
“You are right Ugo and that’s the more reason we should dig into it.”
“We? Who are the we? Stella you are on your own, I will not follow you to dig into anything.” she laughed nervously.
“Why? You can ask your father.”
“Eh! Don’t dare say ‘we’ in my house. Your teeth would be dancing on the floor before you even finish pronouncing it!” she said, laughing loudly.
Her laughter made me burst out laughing too. One thing I love about Ugonma is her humor. Even when things are tough, she laughs through it.
“The day my brother tried to ask about it, my father almost broke his leg if not for my mother. Since then, nobody dares to ask,” she said.
“That’s serious. Even today, my mother knelt, begging me not to speak about the well,” I added.
“And you still want to talk about it, Stella?!”
“ Yes na. Abeg let’s go home it’s getting late before my mother will start getting worried, I told her you want to go and sell your mother’s kernal.
“Which kernal? Linus.. you lied to her with my name?” she teased.
We laughed as we headed home, though my mind was still spinning. Why the strict warning? Why were the elders so secretive?
Just as we passed the big tree near the market square, we heard a noise and immediately rushed there and were shocked to see..…