The old woman looked serious. “It is dangerous. Wild animals are everywhere. I don’t think you know the distance we walked to reach this place. If you decide to walk back alone, it is too risky.”
Joy’s heart jumped. “So what do I do, Mama?” she asked, trying not to sound scared.
The old woman stood up slowly, came close to her, and spoke in a calm voice, as if she were giving a simple instruction.
“Close your eyes.”
Joy hesitated. Her mind was confused. Everything about that morning had already gone beyond normal. But she obeyed. She held the white pot tightly to her chest and closed her eyes.
The next thing she felt was a soft breeze passing over her face, as if the air had shifted. Her stomach turned slightly, like when someone stands up too fast. It lasted only a moment.
Then the old woman’s voice came again, gentle and clear.
“Open your eyes.”
Joy opened her eyes—and her whole body froze.
She was no longer in the old woman’s compound.
She was standing inside her own small room, the same room in her aunt’s house.
Joy’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She looked down at her hands. The white native pot was still there.
Her knees grew weak. She sat down slowly on the mattress as if her legs could no longer carry her.
Her heart was beating like a drum. Her eyes moved around the room again and again, as if she expected the walls to change.
“No… no… how?” she whispered.
She rushed to the window and looked outside. She could see the village road. She could hear people’s voices. She could hear ordinary life. It was as if that strange place had never existed.
Joy held the pot tighter. Her breath shook.
Then she whispered again, this time with fear and shock together, “What just happened to me?”
Minutes later, Joy was still standing in the middle of her room. Her mind kept replaying everything like a film—the old woman’s weak voice, the heavy firewood, the dirty compound, the sweeping, the cooking, the white pot, and the strange moment she opened her eyes and found herself back in her room.
Suddenly, the door slammed open.
Her aunt rushed in angrily. She did not even greet her.
“Joy!” she shouted. “So you did not go to school.”
Joy blinked as if coming back to life. “Auntie—”
But the woman did not let her speak.
“What are you doing in this house this morning? Are you now seeing men?” She looked Joy up and down with disgust. “Is that why you’re standing here like this, looking confused, like someone who just came from somewhere?”
Joy’s mouth opened again. “No, Auntie, I—”
But her aunt cut her off with a loud hiss. “Shut up! Don’t you ever open your mouth to lie to me. You’re in uniform and you’re still at home. So what is it? You think you are grown now? You want to start sleeping around?”
Joy’s eyes widened in shock. “Auntie, I didn’t do anything like that.”
Her aunt laughed bitterly. “An old woman story, abi? Every day you have a story. Tomorrow it will be, ‘I helped a young man.’ Next tomorrow it will be, ‘I fell into somebody’s bed.’ Listen to me, Joy. If you like, continue. If you like, spoil your life. But don’t bring shame to my house.”
Joy’s throat tightened. “Auntie, please—”
“Please what?” her aunt barked. “If you talk too much, I will stop you from going to school completely, because I have not even paid your fees. In fact, I’m happy I didn’t. Useless girl.”
Joy stood there holding her tears while her aunt kept pouring insults on her like hot water. Inside Joy’s chest, fear and anger mixed painfully.
The next morning, Joy and Tracy were on the road to school again, but the air between them was different. Tracy walked fast and angry, her face tight. Joy followed quietly, her mind still full of everything that had happened.
Tracy did not even greet properly. She started talking immediately.
“So, you left me yesterday and followed that witch old woman. Joy,
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