The Masquerade Parade

Hello everyone, happy new week!!! I want to share with you what happened in Osun State, my small hometown one hot Saturday when boredom got the best of me and my friends. That day my parents both went for a wedding in another village and the house was unusually quiet. Normally, I would have busied myself with novels or football, but the electricity was out as usual and my phone battery was dead, the compound looked too silent and boredom began to itch in my bones. I walked out to the street and found two of my closest friends named Kola and Tola, they were leaning against a tree looking as miserable as I was. “Nothing dey happen” Kola said kicking a stone on the ground, “this boredom fit kill person” Tola added with a sigh, we just stood there looking at the sky, then suddenly a strange idea came to my mind. “Let’s do something different" I said with my eyes bright with mischief, “what if we organize a masquerade parade, just small one for the street at least people go laugh, and we too go enjoy”. Tola looked shocked and she said “Masquerade ke? you sabi say elders no go like that?”, but Kola face lit up immediately and he said happily “yes now! we fit use old clothes, paint face and beat drum e go sweet"  Within minutes boredom pushed us into action, we ran into our houses to look for costumes. Kola found his elder brother’s torn agbada, Tola brought out palm fronds from her backyard and I carried my mother’s old wrapper. We tied everything together and soon Kola was our “masquerade”, we covered him with rags and palm fronds. Tola got an empty paint bucket to serve as a drum while I grabbed two sticks to act as drumsticks. We began our parade from the beginning of the street. Kola danced wildly shouting “Ewoo! ewoo!” like a real masquerade while Tola beat the bucket with all her strength. I was the hype man who was clapping, singing and calling the neighbors to come out. At first only children rushed out laughing and following us, then some adults peeped through their windows. Before long, the whole street was alive with women clapping and little children screaming with excitement even some of the boys brought out whistles to join and the boredom that once hung over the street disappeared like smoke but as you know when excitement grows too big, trouble is not far behind. As Kola was dancing, he decided to pass through the front of Mallam Musa compound, this was the only Hausa man we had around then. The problem however is that a small cow was tied near the gate, that cow which we nicknamed Soldier hates strangers. The moment it saw Kola in his masquerade costume it charged forward with full speed. “Kola run o” I shouted but Kola was too busy waving his stick like a real masquerade before he could react, the cow rammed into him knocking him flat on the ground. Children ran to safety and women laughed uncontrollably but Tola dropped the bucket in shock.  When Kola was able to manage to get on his feet again, he ran like his life depended on it but the cow chased him down the street while the entire crowd burst into laughter. I was laughing so hard that tears rolled down my face but at the same time I was afraid because Kola’s elder brother was watching from afar. When Kola was finally able to escape the goat and return back to us, his agbada was torn beyond repair and his knees were dusty but instead of pitying him everybody clapped and cheered. Someone shouted “Masquerade don lose to cow” and everyone burst out laughing. By evening, the story had spread across the town, people laughed about the “masquerade chased by a cow” in shops, at the football field and even in the church the next day but our parents didn’t find it funny. Kola's elder brother beat him for spoiling his agbada, Tola's mother scolded her for playing with palm fronds meant for firewood and my father gave me a serious warning never to use boredom as an excuse for mischief again. Whenever I remember that day, I cannot deny that the parade was the most fun it still makes me laugh but when I also remember the beating I got that day, I also can tell that boredom is dangerous when you don't handle it well. Now whenever boredom comes, I try to channel it into something more useful like reading, writing or even helping my mother with chores. Thank you so much for staying this far, hope you had a good read with me, see you again next time 🤗 Note: All pictures are generated on Meta AI