REALITY IS AN ILLUSION

It was a wet gloomy Friday evening in the metropolitan city of Jos. I drove slowly on the wet road and made a detour to avoid the traffic on Vom road. My destination was the Central city estate my place of residence located along Nagaguta avenue. I took a quick glance at the time on my car dashboard. It was some few minutes after 6pm. My favorite rock band group Coldplay was on the car stereo and I was nodding my head to the beat of Viva la vida.

It had been a hectic day at the office. I was dog tired and my fingers were numb from continuous typing on the keyboard of the office Pc. Typing of articles, emails and proposals were a major part of my job description as the content writer and editor of Bruslink media group; the publishers of the popular Drifts magazine. The day had been further complicated by the sms i received from Amina my girlfriend of three months. She had sent a text saying she was breaking up with me. I wasn’t perturbed because I knew our relationship had been heading towards the cliff. We were not compatible.

I turned into Nagaguta avenue and I could see my estate gate from the distance. Home was indeed where the heart was.

I had barely entered my living room when my phone suddenly rang.
I brought it out from my right pocket, a sleek Techno Phantom A+ device.
Nsima was calling.

“Hello Nsima?”
“Hi Jerry”

Nsima was a friend and a business partner. We were collaborating on a book project.

“Jerry I am with the project consultant in Lewis bar along Hulks street. He wants to see you now.
I let out a sigh.
“I’ll be there in 15 minutes”.

The book project was dear to my heart. I had to go.
I was too tired to drive so I opted to use a taxi.
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The meeting with the consultant was detailed and profitable. When I glanced at my watch it was close to 9pm. We had used over two hours & thirty minutes for our discussion. I was totally fagged out. I walked into a nearby supermarket to buy bread, beverage & few items for dinner.

The moment I entered Kelis supermarket I felt a strong sense of uncertainty. The shop was scanty with few customers probably due to the unpleasant weather. There were only three customers inside; myself, a young lady and a middle-aged man.

I walked to the snacks shelf where biscuits, cookies and other snacks were on display. I picked up two packets of my favorite McVitie’s HobNobs and placed them in the shopping cart. I moved on to the next shelf to pick a tin of Peak milk. I had a strange feeling that someone was following or watching me.

When I got to the shelf I looked around and saw the young lady standing close to me. She was checking something on top of the shelf. The lady was very fair in complexion, for a moment I thought she was a Caucasian. She was wearing a flowing white gown. I could see her long black hair tied into a pony tail. She appeared to be in her early twenties.

I pulled the cart and moved on to a glass shelf where perfumes were on display. I stood there for a few minutes and looked around to confirm if she was following me. I saw her standing behind me.


My suspicion was right. She was indeed following me!

I turned round and faced her.

“Jerry Pam?” She said in a soft melodious voice.
How did she know my name?

I looked straight into her eyes. There was something unearthly about her pale blue eyes and red lips.
“How did you know my name?” I asked her.

“Oh I am a regular reader of your stories in Drifts magazine. I am also friend of yours on Facebook” she replied.
“good to know that” I said with a smile. “It is always my pleasure to meet an online friend offline.”
“So what’s your name?” I probed further.

She kept quiet for some seconds and replied.

“I am a Mermaid and I have come to take you away”
I gave a quick chuckle, she was flirting with me.
“Really? So how is your kingdom?” I asked. I had activated my flirting mood.

She didn’t make any response. She was just looking at me.

“Sorry I have to leave now” I said and made a move to leave.
“Jerry wait…..I need your help”
“What do you need my help for?”

“I want you to listen to my story and help me write it in your magazine. The whole world must know the truth!” She declared.

What truth does she want the world to know? I asked myself.

“Jerry like I said earlier, I am a mermaid”. I heard her say clearly in a serious tone.
“Are you serious? where is your proof”. I inquired as I started backing away from her, she could be a nutcase.

We were the only customers in the shop. The two salesmen were at the front counter, the middle aged man had gone out.
“Look at me!” she said.


I had never seen something like that in my life. The lady held her gown by the hips and slowly pulled it up. I saw with my two eyes the lower half of a fish complete with scales! From her hips down was the body of a fish.
"Jesus Christ! I screamed. I pulled the cart and ran to the two salesmen at the counter. She made no effort to stop me.

“Sir what is the problem? We have heard you shouting”. One of them asked me.
“Have you seen the lady in a white gown standing over there? I inquired, pointing my fingers in her direction.
“Yes one lady in a white gown came in 15 minutes ago. She bought hair cream and left here two minutes ago” the salesman informed me.
“She is a mermaid, she is still here!”

They both exchanged quizzical looks and burst into laughter.
“Oga you are seeing things o” That young woman left this shop few minutes ago. Look around you are the only customer here.
I had to leave. I hastily paid for the two items in the cart and took my leave.

Was I seeing things? Could this be an illusion? I wondered as I stood by the pavement waiting to flag down a taxi. As a Christian I believed in the existence of the supernatural world but I never believed that mermaids were real. I only used to watch them in movies and read about them in novels.


I regretted not taking my car with me earlier on. I would have simply zoomed off in the car. The taxis were few and far in between.

“Why did you run?” A feminine voice queried me.
I turned round in fright. The young lady in white was standing behind me.
Goose pimples appeared on my body.

“Wh….what do you want with me?!” I stuttered.


I tried looking into her eyes and I could only see darkness. She was nowhere to be found. I looked right, left & turned around, the lady had disappeared!

I instantly threw away the shopping bag with the items and took to my heels. The streets were deserted as few people were on the road because of the cold weather.

“I cover myself with the blood of Jesus! The lord is my shepherd I shall not want” I began declaring as I ran. My heart was racing.

I ran down five blocks away from the supermarket and got to the intersection of the road. Fortunately a cab drove down from the opposite direction. I hailed the driver and jumped in.

Two passengers were in the taxi, one seated at the front and the other at the back. I was desperate to leave that part of town.

We drove along the busy Tema street and I felt a sense of relief and security when I saw the sizeable crowd of commuters along old airport road.
Was she a ghost? Was this a reality or an illusion? I saw her clearly, she spoke to me, the mermaid was real. I couldn’t doubt what I saw with my eyes.

The two passengers highlighted along the way and I became the sole passenger in the cab. The driver drove on expecting me to drop along the way but when he approached the end of the old airport road he turned round and asked me…

“Oga where you wan drop?”
“Take me to City Central estate by Nagaguta avenue, I’ll pay you for the drop”.

We drove in silence and turned into Apollo crescent express road. Apollo crescent is a lonely & long stretch highway. The road was dark as the street lights were not powered on.

The driver turned back and looked at me. I frowned at him because I wanted privacy but to my surprise, he suddenly smiled. The smiling face was the face of the young lady on a white gown! I sat speechless and watched in horror as the face and body features of the driver transform right before my eyes into that of the mermaid.

I was rooted to the spot, my head swelled up to thrice its size. I made efforts to speak but the words couldn’t come out, my mouth was closed by a power I couldn’t control. I could hear the hysterical and loud ringing laughter of the mermaid as she drove on at fast speed!

Out of nowhere I found strength gradually returning to me.

“The blood of Jesus!!!!“ I screamed and kicked at the car door. “Let me out!!” The door had been fastened.
I kept on hitting the door until a slight opening vent appeared on the side. The door got loosened. I jumped out of the vehicle and landed on the tarmac. The speed at which I landed made me roll on the sloppy road. My body tumbled over and rolled like a ball several times. I stretched out my hands looking for something to hold on to stop my cascading fall.
I finally landed besides a tree and laid there with a peeling skin and blood flowing from my body injuries. I fainted.
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A good Samaritan passing by took me to the Red cross clinic close to my residence.

Its been one month after the incidence. I have read many pages of scientific material and manuscripts on Mermaids. I have still not found any evidence that they exist. My friends are of the opinion that I was hallucinating or was under the influence of a mind altering substance. One of them even brought up the ridiculous suggestion that I should undergo treatment for schizophrenia. I don’t have an idea why a mermaid will decide to contact me in such a dramatic manner. I have been mulling over the matter for the past one month and I think that maybe I should have kept calm and listen to the story of the mermaid.

I have come to the conclusion that my adventure that night was real. The scars on my hand are there to verify my claim. It wasn’t an illusion, it was reality but I have been told that sometimes reality is an illusion.



The end.