Chapter 8 MEMORY LAND III

Mr. and Mrs. Martin went to check on their children in the hospital before heading to the shaman's home. They told the doctor they will be gone for a while so he should take care of their children.

Upon getting to the shaman's home, Mr. and Mrs. Martin met uncle James in the shaman's office but not the shaman then uncle James took Mr. and Mrs. Martin to a scared room where the shaman was. Upon getting to the sacred room, it was dark and full of candlelight that surround two big tables covered with red clothing.

The shaman said to Mr. and Mrs. Martin upon seeing them ''welcome Mr. and Mrs. Martin, I have made every preparation down before your arrival''.

''Thank you. Can we now get to it'' said Mrs. Martin to the shaman.

''Okay, but before that I need to you highlight on some warnings. First, the memory land is full of millions of doors and your real daughter and son will only be in one of those doors. Each door you enter you must not stay too long in there if they are not in there or else you will be locked in there and you will die here in the real world since your spirit is what will be going to the memory land. They will be many Leos and Deos so don't trust anyone you see with their face unless you confirm it is your children and you have only got seven days. If you don't return after seven days, you will die here in the real world and you will be erased from existence'' said the shaman to Mr. and Mrs. Martin.

Mr and Mrs Marin were shocked to heard that then Mr. Martin asked the shaman ''this is going to be hard. How do we find them in just seven days with a million doors to check? And how do we even recognize our real daughter and son, if they are many of them?'.

''Am sorry I don't know. All I know is one door will have a sign that is different from the other doors, and that door will be the right door'' said the shaman to Mr. and Mrs. Martin.

The shaman brought out two pieces of white cloth and tied them on Mr. and Mrs. Martin's wrists. Mrs. Martin asked the shaman about the piece of clothing ''what's this for?'' .

''There is no night and day in the memory land so once this piece of clothing change color it means It's another day, always check it. Once it changes color seven-time it means you have used seven days, and one more thing, the exit will always be near'' said the shaman to Mr. and Mrs. Martin.

''Okay'' said Mr. and Mrs. Martin.

The shaman instructed Mr. and Mrs. Martin to sleep on the table and closed their eyes, they did and the shaman began to cast a spell.

SOME MINUTES LATER

Mrs. Martin asked Mr. Martin ''Are we there yet?'', as their eyes were still closed.

''I don't think so. It has only been some minutes, I guess'' said Mr. Martin to Mrs. Martin.

''But the shaman is no longer talking'' said Mrs. Martin.

''Maybe he is doing something else'' said Mr. Martin.

'' It's too silent let's open our eyes'' said Mrs. Martin.

''No, don't. The shaman made it clear to close them till he is done'' said Mr. Martin.

''How do we know if he is done or not if we don't open our eyes? I will open mine if you don't want to open yours'' said Mrs. Martin.

''Don't, don't you dare'' said Mr. Martin, but Mrs. Martin opened her eyes and became shocked by what she saw.

Mrs. Martin said to Mr. Martin ''darling, I think you should open your eyes right now'', scared as she stood up.

''I thought I told you not to open your eyes'' said Mr . Martin annoyed.

''Come on you need to see this'' said Mrs. Martin.

''What is .....'' said Mr. Martin as he open his eyes.

Mr. Martin was cut short of words as he opened his eyes and saw where they were. Mr. Martin said ''holy sweet Jesus. We are in space'', as he stood up .

''I told you we are no longer in the shaman's place'' said Mrs. Martin.

''Hope this is not the memory land?'' asked Mr. Martin, then suddenly Mr. and Mrs. Martin felt they were being pulled down slowly.

"What's happening?'' Mrs. Martin asked Mr. Martin as she tried to pull herself back up.

''How am I supposed to know that'' screamed Mr. Martin in fear as the pulling become very fast.

Mr. and Mrs. Martin both closed their eyes and started screaming in fear as they were being pulled down very fast, then a portal opened beneath them and they went into it unknowingly.

Mr. and Mrs. Martin both continued screaming thinking they were still falling. As they continued screaming Mr. Martin decided to open his eyes and saw where they were then he stopped screaming. Mr. Martin said to Mrs. Martin ''honey, you need to stop screaming and open your eyes''.

''I don't think I can, it seems we are going to die'' said Mrs. Martin (still screaming in fear).

''We are not going to die and we are not falling anymore. You need to open your eyes'' said Mr. Martin to Mrs. Martin, as he stood up.

''Are you sure?'' asked Mrs. Martin as she stopped screaming.

''Yes, just open them'' said Mr. Martin.

Mrs. Martin opened one of her eyes slowly and saw they were no longer in space then she opened her eyes completely and saw nothing but white. Mrs. Martin (scared) asked Mr Martin ''where are we again?'' .

''Would you stop asking me that question. How do I know where we are'' said Mr. Martin.

Mrs. Martin noticed the piece of clothing in her hand has changed color then Mrs. Martin said to her husband ''Darling, you need to check the clothe on your wrist'' .

''What is it about the.....'' said Mr. Martin, as he checked the clothe tied on his wrist.

Mr. Martin was cut short of words and surprised upon seeing the color of the piece of clothing has changed color. Mr. Martin said ''no, this is impossible. We have only been here for some minute or an hour''.

''I pray we don't die here if minutes is a day in this place'' said Mrs. Martin scared.

''Then we better start moving'' said Mr. Martin.

''Moving? We don't know where we are'' said Mrs. Martin.

''Then would you rather stay here till the clothing change color again? l think we are in the memory land'' said Mr. Martin.

''Okay but where do we start?'' asked Mrs. Martin.

''How about you just follow me and stop asking questions'' said Mr. Martin, and began to walk leaving Mrs. Martin.

''Wait darling'' said Mrs Martin, as she ran after her husband.

After walking for a long time, Mr. and Mrs. Martin saw a red door and walked toward it. Upon getting to the front of the door they saw words engraved on top of the door but couldn't read them because they didn't understand the language. Mr. Martin said to his wife ''I told you we are in the memory land''.

Mrs. Martin wanted to open the door but Mr. Martin stopped her and said to her ''I don't think this is the right door''.

''How do you know it is not the right door it has words engrave on it'' said Mrs. Martin.

''Who cares about words engrave on it besides we can't even read the words. My instinct is telling me it's not the right door'' said Mr. Martin.

''The shaman didn't say anything about trusting our instinct. What if your instinct is wrong? Come on darling, this is the first door we have come across after a long walk we should check it out'' said Mrs. Martin.

''I don't think it's the right one. Honey, we do watch adventure movies and the first thing they always come across is always evil or dangerous so is this door'' said Mr. Martin.

''The shaman also said we can enter every door but we shouldn't stay too long in there, at least let's check it out'' said Mrs. Martin.

''No we are not entering this door, I have a bad feeling about it. Let's keep going'' said Mr. Martin, and began to walk away. Mrs. Martin didn't follow Mr. Martin and felt like going into the door but Mr. Martin went back to her and dragged her along with him.

Mr. and Mrs. Martin spent days going through different doors but still haven't found their children and every door they entered had a scary memory about Adetutu and Adewale.

On the fifth day, Mr. and Mrs. Martin were walking looking for another door to go into when they heard someone call ''mum, dad'' from behind. Mr. and Mrs. Martin looked back to see Adewale and Adetutu then Mr. and Mrs. Martin ran to hug their children immediately without even thinking. Mr. Martin hugged Adewale while Mrs. Martin hugged Adetutu.

They all separated smiling. Mrs. Martin said to Adewale and Adetutu ''We have been looking everywhere for you guys'', happily.

''It's okay mum, let's get out of here first. Follow us'' said Adetutu to their parents.

''Okay'' said Mrs . Martin, and they followed them while Adewale and Adetutu lead the way.

As they were going, Mr. Martin and Mrs. Martin walked behind their children to have a silent conversation as requested by Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin said to Mrs. Martin silently ''something seems off, dear''.

''What is it again? Don't tell me they are not our children'' said Mrs. Martin annoyingly to her husband.

''That was what I was going to say'' said Mr. Martin.

''Not again. How do you know they are not? Don't you see how happy they are to see us'' said Mrs. Martin.

''I can see that but the shaman said not to trust anyone with their face, isn't that right? Let me ask you a question? If our daughter just went out for some minutes what will she do if she comes back?'' asked Mr. Martin.

''She will make sure to tell us everything that happens doing her outing even the one that doesn't matter'' said Mrs. Martin.

''Yeah, and this Adetutu said nothing more than to follow them. Even this Adewale was just smiling. We all know Adewale always use situations to crack jokes. So if it was our daughter and son that saw us minutes ago what will they do?'' asked Mr. Martin.

Mrs Martin reasoned what her husband said and then said to her husband ''Adetutu will surely ask questions or tell us about this place and our son we crack a joke''.

Adewale and Adetutu (smiling) looked back at Mr. and Mrs. Martin as Mr. Martin was about to talk to Mrs. Martin. Mr. Martin stopped upon seeing them then he and Mrs. Martin smile back at Adewale and Adetutu. Adewale and Adetutu faced their front back.

Immediately after Adewale and Adetutu look front back, Mr. Martin said to Mrs. Martin ''Which means, they are not our children''.

Mrs. Martin realized the Adewale and Adetutu they saw are not their children then she said to her husband ''I think you are right. If it was them they won't be leading while we follow behind but instead, they will hold hands with us and walk by our side''.

''Now you get it'' said Mr. Martin.

''What do we do now?'' asked Mrs. Martin sacred.

''Just do what I do, on the count of three'' said Mr. Martin.

Mr. Martin counted three then picked race followed by Mrs Martin.