Now if you grew up on disney and other cartoons/children shows, then you’re used to what we know as mermaids.You know, the beautiful half fish half humans who do nothing but sing and have fun in amazing underwater kingdoms. Children's shows have done a great job of making these creatures something that children want to either be or meet. Well i’m sorry but this story is nothing like that, in fact by the end of this story, you would want to keep your kids far away from any water creatures.

Growing up in Nigeria, we had a very different idea of mermaids, in fact they weren’t even called mermaids. We knew them as Mami Wata. Now is there any difference? You might be wondering. The short answer is yes, we were terrified of Mami Wata! Now Mami Wata is a half fish half female water spirit, and is actually worshipped by some people as she is believed to be extremely powerful. She is said to be able to take on any form she wishes and most of the time she appears as a very beautiful woman. This is where the similarities end. Mami water takes this form in order to seduce men, usually sailors, take them into the water, and kill them. In reality, she is a very scary looking creature with sharp teeth, mangled hair, and very long nails. And her favourite meal? Children. Did I mention we were terrified of her? Now you know why. The mere mention of her name was enough to give nightmares.

Anyways let’s get into the story. This story took place many years ago and to be honest, I still don’t know how I am alive right now to tell this story. I was 6 years old and we had just taken our annual trip to the village to visit my grandma. As usual we got the warning not to leave the house without supervision (and not just because of mami wata, there were many other things to be scared of), and most importantly not to go near the water. I had no plans of going anywhere close to that water, I had heard too many stories of mami wata encounters at that very river. I should mention that this was in December so it was the festive period. The next day, my aunt took me out to go see the masquerades and this was where everything started. For those of you who are not familiar with the masquerades, in many Nigerian cultures (as well as cultures outside Nigeria) masquerades are the embodiment of the spirits. They are masked dancers and can vary in size up to 15 feet. They are highly revered and cannot just be performed by any random person. Some of these masquerades are extremely scary and sometimes even carry whips which they use to scare and even hit people who got too close. They would even sometimes chase you and this was what happened on this fateful day. Everything was going fine until we saw a group of people start to run. It didn't take long for us to see what was chasing them. It was the scariest of all the masquerades and it was closing in quick. Without hesitation I turned around to run and saw that my aunty had already run off. I had no idea where I was or where to go so I just ran in the general direction of everyone else that was running. I ended up in a house closeby where a few people had congregated to watch the masquerades from the roof. Towards the evening, everyone started leaving and one of the men there asked me who I was with. I said my aunt had run off and I had no idea where she was or how to get home, but that she was probably looking for me. He asked me for my family’s name and when I told him he said he knew where we stayed and he would drop me off. He told me that his name was Tony and that he had to pick up something from a friend who lived next to the water on the way. I wasn’t too worried at this time because I was with an adult. Now this part I remember clear as day, we had just turned a corner when we both heard someone singing. It was easily the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard and he clearly thought that too. We both looked up to see where the song was coming from and leaning on a building not far from us was a very pretty young lady. Now maybe it’s because I was a kid but my reaction was very different to Tony’s. He told me to wait where I was, that he’d be back. He immediately ran after this lady and I watched him start talking to her. Not long had passed when I saw him walking with her towards the water’s edge. I paid close attention because I didn’t want to be left alone, but there wasn't really anywhere else for them to go except the water so I relaxed a little. Ity was at this exact moment that I witnessed the most traumatising scene of my life. What was previously a gorgeous woman had transformed into an ugy scaly monster, grabbed Tony by the neck and I could see blood dripping from where her long nails had pierced his skin. She was already dragging him into the water when I screamed. Immediately she paused, turned around to stare at me and the fear I felt in that moment is not something I would wish on my worst enemy. I couldn't even run because my legs were not cooperating. I was frozen to the spot and I felt cold all over. And then just like that it was over. She was gone, nowhere to be seen. I don't even remember how I made it home that day, but I have not returned to the village since that day.