Ghosts of the Past ✓ (EDITING)

Chapter One.

"Luke, Idara, Faith, Ubong, Kini, come downstairs for prayers!!"

Dad and Mom. It's time for prayers.

I put off the electric kettle and made my way to the living room with my Bible and devotional. I took my seat next to Mom, while waiting for my siblings. They finally came downstairs. Luke was carrying our five year old sister, Kini, as she was rubbing her eyes while my other siblings were struggling to stay awake and not stumble down the stairs. They were actually funny but I wouldn't dare to laugh at them, not when my Dad was around. You'd be asking for trobule.

After they all managed to sit down, my Dad stood up and said the regular morning greeting to us.

"Ame serie" (Good morning).

"Ame seriendie." (Good morning to you too).

We all greeted back.

After the greetings, we read from the Holy Bible and the devotional and prayers were said, my siblings bounded up the stairs like their life depended on it... surely to go back to sleep.

Mom dragged me with her to the kitchen, so that we would start making breakfast but first, I gave Dad his tea and went back to the kitchen.

I started peeling the plaintains and boiled them in water while Mom handles the stew. I made a beeline for my brother's room.

Luke had been sprawled on his bed, his legs and hands in different places...he always looked funny when asleep. I shoke him enough to get his lazy self off the bed.

He fell with a thud. I laughed at him so bad my ribs started to hurt.

"You find solace in laughing while I wallow in pain, don't you?"

When I was finally able to compose my sentences properly, I answered him, "You know I don't brother, now get up or Mom would have to make you herself."

I left his room and went to Faith's room, hoping to find her asleep but she was awake, drying her hair with a dryer. You see the difference between Faith and I is that while I'm the older sister, she is the younger bubbly one between the two of us who cares about her body than the amount of food she eats in a day.

I was cut off from my line of thoughts when a finger snapped near my ear. Sure enough, it was Faith, ready with her early morning drama.

"And what has got you day-dreaming so early in the morning, my dear sister?"

" I should be asking a question to you Faith, why are you up so early?"

"I wanted to help you do the house chores today, seeing that you'll be going back to school soon."

"Ehn? So it's now that you want to help me, ever since nkor, what happened then and you'll also be going back to school with me, so why are you acting as though you're going to stay behind, you know Daddy will never allow you to."

"Daddy will allow me to stay jhoor."

"Continue dreaming."

"I will."

"Lets go and wake Ubong and Kini first before you continue your dream."

I walked out of her room chuckling, Faith always had the craziest imaginations, you see, my Dad, Barrister Ini Johnson, is a man of his words, once he says something, he sticks to it no matter what, so, my sister is only bluffing besides, she would never want to stay back at home while we are in school, even if she's sick, she prefers the school's clinic; at home, she would still do work even if she was to be sick, Mom would make sure of that.

Waking Ubong and Kini up was always very easy, sometimes we wouldn't have to, we would just carry the bathroom and we would bath them, mostly Kini, we let Luke deal with Ubong, he can be a handful sometimes and he doesn't steady.

We dressed them both and headed downstairs, Luke came out of his room, freshly showered and dressed in a blue flower-print shirt and black jeans...only God knows why he's wearing a flower-print shirt but it's not in my place to ask, I'll let Faith do it.

As if reading my thoughts, she turned to Luke and asked him, "Morning Lulu, what's up with the shirt?"

You see Faith has this habit of giving people nicknames but of course she doesn't try it with our parents, so I stay clear of her, there's this one time she called me 'shorty' in JS3, God knows I ignored her for days and she finally learnt her lesson and stopped giving me ridiculous nicknames.

"I myself do not know why I wore it sis, I guess I just had that vibe this morning." Luke answered as he came to walk beside me.

Oh jeez, I shouldn't have made him fall this morning, he's going to trobule me like forever...

"Id, whats up?", Id is a nickname for me at home, everyone uses it.

"My brother I dey."

"Okay."

We walked into the dining room and took our seats, letting the sweet aroma of the plaintains and stew invade our nostrils while making our mouths water.

Mom approached with the serving spoons and plates while Daddy came with our food. The dining table was already set, as soon as everyone was seated, Mom said a quick prayer and we dug in.

After breakfast, Dad left for work and Mom went to prepare for a conference she had to attend due to office work, while Luke and I made our way to the kitchen to start on with the washing of the plates.

Just looking at the tower of dirty dishes and pots lying around, my vibe died down, I felt like leaving everything for Luke but that won't be fair, as if noticing my discomfort, he said,"I'll do the washing and you could rinse, is that okay?"

"Yes oo, thanks big bro, you know me too well."

After doing the dishes, Luke went out to meet his friends, mostly to plan out the punishments they'll give to innocent junior students when we finally reopen.

I forgot to mention that Luke is also in my school but in SS3, he'll be graduating in a few months and I'll definitely miss him and his friends.

While he went out, I checked on my other siblings, then I put Faith in charge of them and went into my room to have some me time, myself and a good history textbook, I set an alarm on my phone for twelve o'clock in case I fall asleep, so that I could start preparing lunch, because I know for sure that Faith wouldn't do it and that Luke won't be back until food is prepared...

Then I started reading...

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

First Chapter is out.

So what do you think.
Please reading my story means a lot to me, don't forget to vote and comment.

Love you all.
Upcoming author,
Tani Steph.

Later.
Cheers.