Rainy days

The much hyped el nino rains have started and most people are excited, others like the IDPs are not happy the rains are a disaster their makeshifts shelters of polythene and no proper drainage, I feel for them.


Yesterday it rained, before it become so heavy I thought let me show Chi some real rain not the shower I keep on showing him and my was he not excited. Trying to catch each drop as it comes down. It was cool. But come evening the thunderstorms and lighting started and as it is always common, the lights went off. I have never got used to lighting, thunderstorms and blackouts.

When I was about 9-10 years we had this house boy called Sam. Sam had a habit of telling us scary stories especially when the rains came accompanied by a black out. But there is one story that has never left my memory and every time it rains and blackouts, the memory comes back of ghosts (we called them majini back then) who had a liking for rains and dark nights and would wait on people who are walking outside way lay them and suck on their blood like Dracula and turn them into bats, or they would hide themselves in dark corners in the house and pounce on you. No one dared not go anywhere alone in a dark house, if you had a need to use loo, the whole house took you and chilled for you.

The lights went off while taking a shower and those old memories came back, I froze, thinking of all the majinis lurking in the darkness waiting to pounce if I moved, but the scream from Cas jolted me. muuuuuuum!!!!!!!! God have the majinis got to my baby, Stay still and don’t move from where you are I called back, am coming. Said a quick prayer ‘God this is it’ (if that’s a prayer) navigated my way out of the bathroom, got to the window sill where I keep an emergency candle and matchbox, lit it and made my way to Cas bedroom who met meet halfway and clinched on my towel saying mum am scared- that’s makes two of us. Where is Chi? In the sitting room Cas says. Alone? I ask, so we made our way there and there he was the winner of the night, sitting on the carpet totally oblivious of anything and all he did was give me that toothy smile when he saw me.