Greetings!
Way back when I was still at home in the villa, yet to be admitted to school, I was a very churchy person and sometimes represented our pastor whenever he wasn't around. I really miss those old days, not now that hunting for money has taken over my head. Lol😅
There was a day one of our church members died and they needed to bury her immediately because the family of the deceased woman couldn't afford to take her to the mortuary. Our pastor wasn't around, so I was called along with a very good friend of mine who was a bit higher than me in the spirit to go and bury the person. It was actually going to be my first time partaking in such an assignment at such a close range, but I wasn't scared because my friend was going to do the main thing while I supported him.
Around 6:30 pm, we dressed up with our Bibles and anointing oil in our hands and headed to the place. When we got there, a few people were gathered in the compound, but they weren't crying, which told me that something was up.
Situation of the deceased woman before her death:
She had no children and she was stricken in age before she died, and as such, the family members weren't taking good care of her.
We were shown the grave that was dug and led into the room where the corpse was kept.
She was already smelling. It was obvious they didn't try embalming her locally at all. I'm someone that detests bad smells a lot and I couldn't withstand the heavy odor oozing out of the dead body. I used my handkerchief to cover my nose but no way, it was so heavy that the handkerchief wasn't able to withstand it. I hadn't experienced such a smell before; it was far stinkier than that of a dead animal.
"Bro, I can't withstand this," I tapped my friend who was with me in the room, asking to go out. He tapped me back, signaling me to wait a little longer because he was almost done anointing the body. Funny enough, the family member that escorted us into the room couldn't stay; he left us immediately after getting us inside. Wickedness!
Well, I had no option but to man up and wait while I held the anointing oil for my friend as he kept anointing the body.
Suddenly, I saw my friend drag back out of fear. Out of shock, I ran to the door and saw him behind me.
"What's that?" I asked faintly, with my hand covering my mouth and nose with the handkerchief. He hissed first and said a part of the body he touched allowed his finger to penetrate into the flesh, meaning he touched a decaying part and his fingers went into the decaying flesh.
Jeez! I couldn't allow him to finish before I unhooked the door and we came out. We were so angry at the family members outside, but we didn't vent our anger because we were representing God and our pastor too.
The woman was laid in the coffin, they carried the coffin to the graveside, we prayed a very casual prayer that we were sure didn't reach heaven, laid her to rest, and left the scene with anger and spitting all through.
Thanks for reading.
Okay, the story you read is a life happening with a touch of exaggeration and it's my entry to the Hivenaija prompt for the week