It's another 5 minutes freewrite: "THE TREE"

It's another freewrite session, a 5 minute freewrite challenge, and everyone is invited to join the fun. Yes you heard me right, you, you and you, everybody is invited to join the party, to join the challenge, here is the link to today's prompt dropped by @mariannewest, and below is my entry.

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Somewhere in the Umuakoli village in the eastern part of Nigeria, it was a full moon and the frail looking old man called Odogwu sat under the Orji tree while the children gathered around him listening to his stories, ancient stories which he had heard from his own fathers, the African folklore, handed down from generation to generation.

The stories continued till late in the night before the children retired to their various homes for the night, but Odogwu remained under the tree. He looked up into the tree branches lost in thought, knowing fully well that his ancestors were sitting comfortably in the branches looking down at him even as he told their stories to the children.

Odogwu was deep in thought wondering, how many more days he had to live before he joined his ancestors on top of the Orji tree, and who is going to take over the mantle from him. All the young men are busy chasing money, their wives are also involved in the mad chase, and the children are all been sent to the white man's land to learn his culture.

How much more time before the ancient Orji tree, and the village square on which it stands be run over by crazy civilization, and his ancestors would be rendered homeless. The African Folklore, is a tradition that has been handed down from one generation to the next, but then who shall tell our stories when the folklore is finally extinct.

Odogwu sighed, the white man came and we learnt their culture, embraced it with both hands, and even practiced their culture more than they do. The west came in and one after the other, they cut down our cultures and traditions as if they were cutting down trees, soon folklore would also be cut down, and no one would tell our unborn children our stories.

Odogwu sighed once more as he got up to retire for the night, knowing fully well that the Orji tree would soon be cut down.

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My time is up, until we meet again for another 5minutes freewrite challenge, thanks for visiting my blog.

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