Living in the village was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. At twelve years old, I already felt trapped — trapped in a place so deep in the forest that it didn't even exist on the nation's map. Surrounded by endless bushes and strange animals, the village was quiet… too quiet. People called it peaceful. They didn't know what it felt like to be stuck here.
My name is Femi Adeniyan, but everyone calls me Femos — except my parents.
Even though there was a school, it was on holiday, and this one was long — over a month. That meant every child was available to help adults with errands, farm work, or chores. But for now, the village was silent.
Two days after school closed, my friends, my cousin, my brother, and I gathered in our sitting room, wondering what to do.
Victor, one of my neighbors, spoke first.
"What do you think we can do, Femos?"
"I don't know," I replied.
"Should we play tennis?" my cousin Joseph suggested.
"Not in the mood," we all said.
"Want to play football?" my brother Tunde asked.
"We'll do that in the evening," I said.
Victor's eyes lit up.
"What about this?"
"What?" I asked.
"Let's build a hut."
"A hut?" Joseph repeated.
"Do you even know how to build one?" Tunde asked.
"Yes, I do," Victor said confidently. "But it won't be like the huts built by experts. Still, it will look and feel real."
"Okay," I said. "What do we need?"
"Wood, sticks, logs, branches, and leaves," Victor answered.
"Look around, guys," Joseph said. "We're surrounded by all that."
We rushed to grab our cutlasses and headed into the bush behind my house. We cut small trees, gathered branches, and stacked logs carefully.
Suddenly, a loud scream pierced the air.
"What is it?" I asked, my heart jumping.
"Joseph almost chopped my leg off!" Tunde shouted.
"What?!" Victor exclaimed.
"I didn't know your leg was there!" Joseph defended himself.
"At least he didn't chop it off," I said, relieved.
"Everyone be careful," Victor warned. "No need to chop any legs off. We're almost done."
After an hour, we had everything we needed. Victor explained the plan, and we built the hut in my backyard. Logs, sticks, and branches came together slowly, and three hours later, it stood before us: big, strong, and beautiful.
We laid a mat inside and decorated the surroundings with leaves and small flowers. It was our secret clubhouse.
When our parents returned, they were impressed and praised us. Other children came to play, and everyone was happy.
But the next day… it collapsed.
We rebuilt it, and this time, it held until the rainy season. Afterward, we built another hut — bigger than before.
The next day, it collapsed again. Nobody wanted to rebuild it.
"I'm not doing it again," Victor said angrily.
"I'm tired," Joseph added.
"Let's just forget it," Tunde suggested.
I looked at them and smiled.
"Come on, guys. Look how happy our parents were. Look how we made the younger kids smile. Even we were proud. Let's not give up."
"Okay," Victor said.
"Fine," Tunde agreed.
"I'm in," Joseph added.
We built it again. Two weeks later, it collapsed. Even I wasn't convinced to rebuild it this time. We let it go.
At least… we had fun.
But as we walked away from the backyard, I thought I saw a shadow move between the trees. At first, I thought it was one of my friends playing a trick, but when I blinked, it was gone. I shrugged it off — after all, who would believe a shadow in our quiet village?
Little did we know, the forest was already watching us.