FEAR

Does fear really exist or is it a product of our imagination? How far apart are ‘fear’ and ‘caution’? Is there really any meeting point for both of them? These are the questions that preoccupied my mind this moment.
Let me tell you a short story that readily comes to mind in this matter and thereafter, we can answer the questions. Flashback to over a decade ago, when I went to a camp in Ilorin with a group of other children for a couple of days.  I must have been a pre-teen then, I can’t remember my age precisely now. We went with a female instructor for the program (Aunty Tosin as we called her) and of course, our parents had left all of us in their care. Surprisingly, we were all girls that went and the oldest wouldn’t have been more than 13 years. We were lodged in a room a bit distant from the main auditorium where the program was going on.
On the second night, most of us started feeling sleepy during the program (which was just like halfway through) so nice Aunty Tosin gave us the key to the room so we could sleep with strict instructions to lock the door and not open for anyone except her. Of course, we happily went on our way. We were about 5 or 6. As soon as we got to the room, the oldest of us (let’s call her FUNMI) locked the door and we started preparing to retire for the night. The whole block was silent as many people were at the auditorium. We were happy until one of us decided she needed to do something outside. That was when our “troubles” started. She tried unlocking the door with the key but she couldn’t so she called someone else who tried but no luck. In short, all of us tried one after the other but no one could unlock the door. The door that we locked by ourselves some minutes ago! Then we started panicking. There was nobody around to open the door for us; we were TRAPPED!
I tried calming everyone down in my own little way and it worked for some minutes till FUNMI, the oldest girl said she heard a ‘strange’ sound. She told all of us to listen and of course, all of us eventually heard but we didn’t know the source of the sound. Our fear multiplied! A few minutes, Funmi said the sound is coming from among us and that she is sensing that someone is demon-possessed amidst us so we had to start a prayer session. Hmm! Come and see as we were all serious and formed a circle with our hands joined. Funmi started all those deliverance songs and told all of us to close our eyes lest we become possessed. I don’t think I have ever prayed again like that in my entire life and to make matters worse, the ‘strange’ sound continued. Not long after, Funmi pointed to about 2 people claiming that they were the possessed ones. I was so relieved that I wasn’t picked out. Not that I was possessed or something but at that moment, I was so afraid, I didn’t even know if I was the source of the sound!
We continued the prayers till we heard a knock outside the door. We all froze first before running to hide somewhere. The bravest among us managed to ask who was at the door and we realized it was Aunty Tosin. We told her we were trapped and she asked us to slide the key under the door. She eventually opened the door and we all ran out. She was surprised at our reaction and we told her that there were demons making strange sounds blablabla. She just looked at us, tried not to burst out laughing and reassured us by going into the room first. We followed cautiously behind. Of course, there was no demon or strange sound! Even the ‘demon-possessed girls’ that were ‘manifesting’ earlier received ‘instant deliverance’ and we all slept peacefully!
Every time I remember that incident, I can’t help laughing at how foolish we had been and how far the human mind can go in amplifying certain thoughts. You bet I am much wiser now. There is a very thin line between paranoia and being cautious... Does fear really exist or is it a product of our imagination?
I welcome your answers… and here's a poem from the archives for your pleasure.. .
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