On the Road to Ogbomosho and Oyo

This story appears in our print issue, ‘100 Years of Ladi Kwali: Stories from Another Nigeria’. Buy here.

Oftentimes, sand devils broke through the forest and whisked up gales of dust in the square; they kicked dust into the earth’s eyes, and it blinked to get rid of the dirt. Aiyedogbon gathered its children into its bosom, into the shadows in their houses, away from the Ebora that pushed their contorted bodies out of the earth’s watery eyes. These beings gathered at the square and danced to the beat of drums made from femurs. Wrapped in skirts made of raffia palm leaves, they hooted and squealed. Only the elders saw the Ebora break through the water and forest boundaries of Aiyedogbon, under the cover of swirling dust devils, and they warned their people to shelter indoors from the sandstorm. The Ebora skipped around the square, their feet kicked up mirages, and they floated on the back of the burnished earth. Their faces, reflected on these floating pools, showed that they laughed with glee as they caused mischief and misfortune. And these invisible beings only returned into the earth after pools of blood formed, where they drank and washed their dusty feet. Then, they rested under the cotton silk tree, the skirts of leaves draped around their bodies, covered with dried blood.