Tiola Goes Invincible!

Written By: Nola Metseagharun

It was the end of the school term and Tiola and her brother were on holiday. Tiola’s family liked exploring the world but this time around they decided to go on a weekend trip to a beachside in a nearby village; a village which people had been talking about to be mysterious.

“I wonder what could be so mysterious about Argungun,” muttered Tiola as she munched her pie in the car on their way to the village.

Her brother, Joel looked at her and with a sheepish smile, he chided her, “Maybe, there are masquerades there and they will carry you away.” Tiola flung the book in her hands at him as he crouched in the car, dodging and laughing hilariously.

Tiola’s family arrived at Argungun village, where they rented an apartment by the seashore. The apartment was large and had beautifully crafted old decor. After settling down, Tiola and Joel went to the beach. They saw a strange tree with fruits on it and beside it was a coconut tree. Tiola ate the strange fruit while Joel broke the coconut from the tree and ate.

The next morning, Tiola woke up and felt something different had happened to her. As usual, she went downstairs to greet her dad in the living room but he did not respond. She went to the kitchen where her mum was making breakfast; she greeted her mum but there was no response also. Tiola wondered what could be happening.

Later, her mum started to call Tiola to help her in the kitchen, but Tiola kept shouting,“I am here, mum. I am right beside you.” But her mum did not see nor hear her. After some minutes, her mum went out of the kitchen with Tiola following in her steps. Her mum asked her dad if he had seen Tiola but her dad said he had gone to her bedroom but could not find her there as well. They stood, bewildered, wondering where Tiola was.

Tiola was scared that her parents could not see her. She ran to Joel’s room.

“Hello, Tiola!” said Joel, lying lazily in his bed.

“Can you see me?” she asked in fright. “Mum and dad can’t see me!”

“Of course I can see you!” replied her brother.

Tiola was confused. How come Joel could see her but her parents could not? They thought of what they did before going to bed the previous night.

“You ate coconut from the coconut tree yesterday, Joel!” said Tiola

“And you ate the fruit from the strange tree yesterday, Tiola!” replied Joel. “The strange fruit may be the cause.”

“How come you are the only one that can see me?”

“Maybe, it is the coconut I ate!”

Tiola and Joel then decided to go to the beachside to get the coconut for Tiola, hoping it would make her visible again. Immediately, Tiola ate the coconut, she experienced a tingling feeling within her.

“I think something has changed within me,” said Tiola. “Let us go inside and see if mum and dad can see me.”

And quickly they rushed home. Immediately Tiola and Joel opened the door, Tiola’s parents were excited to see her.

 “Tiola, where have you been all morning?” they chorused.

They had been worried and were glad to see her. Tiola and Joel promised not to tell their parents of their little adventure in the mysterious Argungun village.

Nola Metseagharun is a nine-year-old pupil of Year 5, Corona School Lekki, Lagos. “Tiola Goes Invincible!” is her submission for the Jordan Hill December Writing Challenge for Primary School pupils.