COMING HOME

Chapter 27

~~Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me.
                           John 14:1(NKJV)~~

She moved as fast as her legs could carry her. Everything that had just happened was still like an illusion to her. Pa Solomon could help her, he always had an answer to everything especially as he had been the instigator, feeding her with the thoughts that Akin can be raised back to life and now he was alive, she got scared and bolted instead of joining in the celebration. Thank God she brought the idea of praying for Akin else, she would have been called a witch.

She climbed the steps three at a time hoping to shorten the minutes. She took her last step expecting to see her old companion but Pa Solomon was nowhere in sight. He was here on days she didn't want to see him but today that she needed him to be around and answer her questions, he was not here.

She walked to their usual sitting spot to wait for him when she noticed the piece of paper stuck under a rock.

"You see my dear, it doesn't take God a second to do what He wants to do and many times, the receiver is not always ready but He does it anyway. I have waited for this day to come. The day the word of God would start to make a lot of sense to you. Now that you have seen the power of God, I don't need to preach to you about how mighty He is. God wants to take you higher and I pray that you humble yourself to let him. I never doubted His ability to raise Akin, He just wanted a vessel. Grumpy, you're a frequent visitor of these hills but I know you've never really taken out time to see the hills. You were always so caught up in your anger that the hills just looked like rocks to you. I want you to really see them, see how beautiful God made them. As you ponder on these things, remember that God doesn't love you because you loved Him, He loved you first even before you loved Him. That's the reason we serve and love Him. He isn't bound by your love, you are bound by His love."

She read through the tears in her eyes. "My work here is done, I'm relocating to another village." There was a caricature image of what should have been a smiley with a broken tooth at the bottom of the page. Tobi folded the letter putting it in the pocket of her jacket. Pa Solomon wouldn't be coming anymore.

She stood straight to finally see the rocks. She shivered looking at the rocks. A tear slipped from her eye seeing the beautiful horizon. Why hadn't she ever noticed these things? Her throat tightened and their beauty was quickly overshadowed with darkening clouds.

The wind intensified as the clouds got thicker. Tobi knew she should go back but she didn't instead, she continued to watch the sky. The clouds released vapour that poured violently on the earth. She imagined how Mrs Ade used to angrily scrub her children's clothes. The rain hit her hard running down her body. She crossed her hands over her chest hoping to lessen its impact so she didn't notice when it subsided falling on her and increased around her.

By the time she realized, her clothes were dried up. She touched her dry clothes, her medulla releasing adrenaline into her blood stream. She faced the direction of the stairs ready to run but she froze blinking severally each time hoping that what she saw would change.

Darkness surrounded the pathway down the hills, she strained her enlarged eye pupils but the thickness blocked every view. Tobi lifted her hands to her mouth gasping. What was happening to her? Why were strange things happening to her today?

The sinner's prayer!

Shivers ran down her spine when she heard the thundering sound. Her brain itched to know it if it could get her out of there. What was the sinner's prayer? Why would that frightening voice ask that? Did she even hear correctly? As far as she knew, she could be dead and facing judgement.

The sinner's prayer!

This time, she ducked her head ready for what could happen next. The only sensible explanation was that the rain was playing pranks on her and a lightening was ready to strike her.

"I'm here now where I'm sure you've always wanted me to be. Show me, tell me what a sinner's prayer is. I'm lonely and I'm scared !" She thought loudly her voice could almost be heard.

"Father, I come to you today, forgive me for I have sinned and I admit I need you in every possible way. I believe in your Son Jesus, I believe He died for me and set me free. Help me not to fall back to sin. Thank you Lord for saving me."

The words rang in her ears and she recalled hearing Christopher lead the people he prayed for to say those words.

Closing her eyes, she repeated the words verbatim. 'Forgive me Lord and help me find my way back home.' Her usually high shoulders slumped and her past year flashed before her eyes. 'Help me find a way out of this mess, Caleb is still a big part of my life. Everytime I'm walking I see him and I relive the pain. I'm tired, I'm exhausted and I need a big break from him forever. He left me!' She screamed but the rain absorbed every word she said. 'He didn't hesitate to betray me especially when he knew I loved him. He has moved on from me, I'm tired of holding on, I'm tired of dreaming about him and I'm tired of being in fear about my family. I don't know if they'd forgive me. Show me a way. Please, please, please God, I don't doubt you anymore so help me.'

When she opened her eyes, the sky was as clear as daylight and the sun was shining directly into her eyes as if penetrating her. She placed her hand on her chest feeling her heartbeat. Only God knows if she was still alive.

Her heart wasn't beating speedily again. Something unexplainable changed within her. She thought of Caleb and she didn't feel vengeful, her recent thoughts of killing him left her. This time, her brain recognized his name as a usual person. Her parents came to her mind, she didn't try to think of something else, she saw herself returning home.

Was this what it was like? Was this what Pa Solomon tried to tell her? Mrs Ade must have felt this same kind of peace when Akin died. Tobi's problems hadn't gone, she wasn't home, Caleb wasn't calling her to tell her she was dreaming it all as she had wished and she wasn't in Law School where she should be but she didn't hate life as much as she did.

Her mood changed making her laugh out. She pulled her legs from her slippers and dug them into the small pile of sand laughing. When last did she laugh? When last did she feel hopeful? She realized that things will never be the same again and instead of denying it, she accepted it.

She got up and dusted herself knowing Mrs Ade would be worried at her long disappearance. She faced the stairs, happy she could see the a pathway again, she hopped there singing wrong lyrics to Old Rugged Cross.

This time, she didn't hurry home, she took her time walking down the stairs and to Mrs Ade's house. She couldn't wait to tell Mrs Ade what had happened.

Believing wasn't so hard after all.

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Hello guys, a big heart 💖💖 to you all for joining me in this amazing journey so far.

Thanks thanks, please ignore my typos. I hope to return and correct them later.

God bless y'all.

A little sneak peek into the future, someone is going to have a baby 🤱 soon and I'm super excited.