24/02/2026
TITLE: THE WRONG TRIP
EPISODE: 1
"...Amaka, keep running, don't look back. I'm right behind you," Uchenna shouted, his voice persuasive and shaking; he kept his eyes fixed on his daughter, whose legs were shaking because of the many hours they had been running.
"Daddy, I'm tired; I can't run anymore," Amaka said and collapsed on the rough ground in the forest close to a big fallen tree, unable to move again.
"Water."
She said her voice only but a whisper.
"I need water, Daddy; I'm so thirsty," she tried to speak out loud, but she couldn't, and her voice sounded cracked as she tried.
Her father ran towards her and fell on the ground as he tried to reach her; he grunted in pain as he was pierced by a sharp stick on his thighs, which bled but a little.
"Amaka, please get up. Let's look for a safe place to hide; I promise I'll find a way to get you some water to drink, please," her father said as he crawled to where his daughter was, lying helplessly on the ground with dried leaves and small grasses everywhere.
She shook her head in disagreement and remained still, "I can't move my legs anymore, please Daddy, leave me here and save yourself. Don't let me be the reason you lose your life."
"I can never leave you alone, Amaka; I've lost your mother and your brother; I can't lose you too; you're the only one I have left in this world," Uchenna said firmly to his daughter, whose eyes had been shot out of tiredness.
He looked around and saw that there was a fallen tree close by and thought of an idea.
He stood up swiftly and walked to the tree, he looked at the extreme and saw that there was a space where he and his daughter could fit in and immediately ran to check it out.
"This will do for now," he said and used his hands to remove the dried leaves and grasses that were already growing.
He ran back to his daughter and carried her from the ground.
"Daddy, I thought you'd gone; what are you still doing here? Please go, Daddy, leave me here, don't let them catch up with you," Amaka said as her father carried her in his arms.
Uchenna didn't say anything because he knew that he would never abandon his daughter.
"We will stay here for the night. Hopefully, you will get better before tomorrow, and we will continue our journey out of here," he said after placing Amaka in the space.
He looked around, hoping to see any tree with fruits in the forest because he knew that aside from being thirsty, his daughter was also very hungry.
"Amaka, Amaka, fruit, there's fruit over there," he announced excitedly and smiling as he stood up, pointing in the direction of a guava tree.
Amaka's stomach made a loud noise at the mention of fruit, and she immediately rubbed her stomach as she watched her father limp toward the tree.
Uchenna plugged as much fruit as he could and ran back to his daughter who was already licking and chewing her mouth at the sight of the guava fruit in her father's hands.
"Here, take it and eat," Uchenna said, but before he could finish talking Amaka had already started eating.
She ate so fast and greedily like one whose life depended on the fruit. Her father watched as she ate without stopping, he felt pity and pained seeing his daughter that way.
He took a bite of the one he was holding and raised his head to look at the sky, but all he could see were tall trees and their big branches. He could barely see the sky because it was already getting dark.
"Daddy."
He heard his daughter call out and he turned to look at her,
"I'm filled, thanks for the fruit," she said and flashed him a smile.
Uchenna smiled back at his daughter and made her rest her body on his stretched thighs as she drifted into a tired sleep.
Uchenna stretched his hands, gathered the remaining fruit scattered around, and paused as the thoughts of his wife and son crossed his mind.
A week ago, he persuaded his wife to take him to her father's village because he wanted to know her father, but his wife refused profusely saying he should forget about meeting or knowing her father.
"Ada, I understand your parents are not together, but that doesn't mean I can't see him; at least let me know who my father-in-law is and also give my children the opportunity to meet their maternal grandfather," Uchenna argued with his wife.
"Uche, please, let's not do this again. I've told you severally that my father's village is a no-go area for us; they are so backward and still practice a very diabolic tradition. I wouldn't want my kids to go there," Ada, uchenna's wife said angrily.
Uchenna got angry and stood up from the bed where he lay with his wife, "Listen here Ada, I don't care whatever tradition they practice there, all I know is that I can't pay your bride price to your mother when your father is still alive, no, I can't, I'm an Igbo man and I know what's right to do. We've been having this argument for years after our court wedding, and this is the same reason we've not done our white wedding, let me do the right thing now that God has blessed us with two beautiful kids," he said and walked into the restroom.
Ada lay on the bed thinking of what Uchenna said and finally agreed to take him to see her father in the village.
A few minutes later, Uchenna came out of the restroom still frowning and murmuring under his breath as he adjusted the duvet on the bed so he could sleep, but his wife drew closer to him and wrapped her hands around him from behind because she noticed how angry and serious he was about going to see her father.
"It's ok honey; when do you want us to travel to see my father," she asked, smiling.
Uchenna turned immediately to look at his wife with a mixed expression on his face.
"Are you serious, or do you just want to get me more angry?" He asks.
"No dear, I'm serious. When do you want us to travel to see my father so that we will get over this argument once and for all," his wife said convincingly.
"This weekend, we will travel this weekend with the kids since they're on holiday," Uchenna replied happily and hugged his wife as he planted kisses on all parts of her face while she giggled.
Soon, it was the weekend; Uchenna had packed two boxes containing everything they would need for their trip and even bought something for his father-in-law. His wife was already in the car with Obinna, their son, who was three years old, while his daughter Amaka assisted him in loading the booth with their boxes and other stuff they bought for the trip.
"I can't wait to get to the village, I heard it's always fun being in the village," Amaka said to her father as she dropped a pack of bottled water in the booth.
"Let's hope so, we will spend just a few days there and come back home," Uchenna said and closed the booth.
"Get in the car, let's go," he said and winked at his daughter, who was full of excitement and couldn't wait to see her maternal grandfather.
She got into the back seat of the car and hugged her mom from behind. "I can't wait to see your father." She whispered and sat down as her father got in.
Soon they were on their way to Odom village unaware of the trials that awaited them
TO BE CONTINUED...
゚viralシfypシ゚ ゚viralシ
