Grandmother Willow- The inkwell fiction prompt #167

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Great grandma Willow was the oldest member of kenyatta village. Rumors had it that she has lived for many decades and was there when kenyatta was formed. She was full of wisdom and thus became the village adviser. Children and sometimes adults loved to gather around a campfire in the night and listen to the stories she told, she told such great stories that it was almost impossible to believe that it wasn't real. She crafted, garnished and dished out her words in an enticing and creative manner that captured her audience’s attention.

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On this particular night, she chose to tell a different type of story based on the complaints she got from the elders. She gathered all the children of the village around the campfire and began her story.

…… There was a town in the outskirts of a great country, people lived happily there and formed villages. In one of the villages, there was a big mansion (Johnson's place), built in the middle of the village by an art collector, Mr Johnson. He traveled round the world buying and collecting artifacts and finally had enough to establish his own exhibit inside his mansion. He became popular in the village and outside the village as people often came from town and paid just to see and probably buy his art. He became the richest man in the village at a very young age, sadly he didn't live long to enjoy his fame and wealth, he had no children nor relatives.

After he passed on, people started complaining about the strange noises they heard coming out of the mansion especially in the night. People became afraid to go inside the mansion, different rumors went about the village, some said the ghost of Mr Johnson, the owner of the place was still living in the mansion. Some reports were made about sightings of strange figures lingering around the mansion. The mansion was declared unsafe for the village and a keep out warning sign was mounted round the mansion.

One day, two naughty boys went into the mansion ignoring the bold warning sign pasted in front of it out of curiosity to find out what was inside the mansion and to steal some of the valuables in it amidst all the rumors and stories heard about the mansion. A friend of theirs warned them about it but they didn't, they didn't listen, promising that they wouldn't go deep into the house. As they went in, the boy sat outside waiting for them, he fell asleep after waiting for some time and when he woke up it was already morning but there was no sign of the two boys that went in. He raised the alarm, and some elders and youths gathered at the mansion after listening to the boy. They got weapons and went into the mansion and searched everywhere but couldn't find them. One of the youths found scratch marks on the walls of the mansion, they searched the entire mansion, went round the village and even some neighbouring villages.

One of the children put up his hand to ask a question....

“Yes, my boy do you have a question ?

“ Yes grandmother Willow, what later
happened to the two boys ?, how did they disappear after entering the mansion ?.

“ Listen to till the end of the story and you'll get your answer ”. Grandmother Willow replied.

After searching for some days, they finally gave up and conducted a burial service for the two boys.
After that day, the noises and strange figures disappeared from the mansion and village, but still nobody dared enter inside due to fear of what happened to the two boys.

Few years after the incident, some new developments came to the village and the mansion was demolished by some soldiers after much deliberations and consultations. Till today, nobody knows what happened to those two boys.

The children looked terrified after the end of the story.
Grandma Willow told them about the complaints she got from the elders about some children sneaking into their farms to steal their crops and fruits even after they placed a keep out warning sign in front of it.

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She warned and advised them against it……

“Don’t be naughty like those two boys in the story, naughtiness can get you into big trouble like those two boys ”,.

They listened to her advice and promised to keep out of people's farms.

The end .