Time Fixes Most Things

Kush, kush, kush, the creepy sound continued to intensify from my brother's room.

“Shankar, don't let him get to her, noo, I am coming,” My brother shouted and continued making the kush, kush, sound.

I thought finally he was playing with some friends today but when I waited for a while and didn't hear anyone respond to him, it became obvious that he was alone in the room having fun and talking to himself as usual.

Back then, my father was a fan of Indian action movies, he was so in love with Indian movies that almost every week, he either buys or rents a new India cassette for us.

My younger brother, Dan, also fell in love with it. Most times, he and his friends mimic certain scenes from movies they have watched. They even gave themselves names according to their favorite characters from the movies.

Everyone was okay with it because it was normal for children. Sometimes even adults are tempted to do so, if not for maturity we would have been seeing a lot of crazy things everyday.

But gradually, my brother was becoming too obsessed with it. Everything he does is action, he displays funny moves when he is walking, whether alone or with people and the annoying part was he was beginning to talk to himself regularly.

Oftentimes, he isolates himself and spends a long time doing what only he knows. If you get lucky to spot him unawares, you would discover that his lips are moving and he is fighting imaginary entities.

In his room are different weapons made from paw-paw branches, he had guns, swords and so on. Whenever he was on a mission, you would hear him giving orders to himself and responding, “Yes sir,” alone in the room.

It became a thing of concern for me, so I decided to talk to our father about it one morning.

It was during the holidays, we were all home. Our father was relaxing under the mango tree behind our house.

“Good morning Daddy,” I greeted, slightly bending my head.

“Morning Emreal, how are you doing today?”

“I am fine sir. Daddy, there's something I want to discuss with you?”

“Okay, sit,” he adjusted on the bench he was sitting on.

“What is it?” He asked

“Daddy, it's about Dan, when did you last see him alone?” I asked.

“Stop asking questions and hit the nail on the head Emreal, what is it?” He responded.

“Daddy, Dan is becoming as nutty as fruitcake recently. He has been talking to himself and acting weirdly. He talks while walking alone, while eating, and he has been fighting what only he knows almost everywhere he finds an occasion.”

He turned and looked at me for a moment. Then sighed deeply, “So, this thing is serious? Your mother discussed the same thing with me last week, I thought she was only worried that he plays too much.”

“Daddy, it is very serious, oh, hmm” I responded.

Wow, “okay, I'll do something about it,” he replied.

A few days later, our father, mother, me and all my siblings were in the sitting room, watching a movie.

I and Dan sat on the same couch, adjacent to the one our parents sat on which was directly facing the television. My sisters sat on the one directly facing ours.

Some minutes later, Dan's lips began to move without audible words, his face would squeeze and release, he would frown and smile, shake his head and move his hands like he was shooting someone.

When I noticed it, I quietly stood up and went behind the couch where our father was sitting and tapped him, “Daddy, look at your son, Dan.”

He turned and saw him having fun and interacting alone even when everyone was in the room watching the television.

“Dan, what are you doing?” Our father shouted.

He shuddered, looking frightened, “nothing Daddy”

“They have been telling me that you have been talking to yourself and fighting alone. But I didn't believe it, until now. What is the matter?” Our father asked.

“Nothing daddy,” Dan replied and remained calm, his eyes fixed to the floor.

“Janet, paused that movie,” our dad ordered.

Our elder sister walked to the table and picked the remote and paused it.

“Now listen to me, it is not normal to talk and play with yourself often. Only crazy people do that. Dan, I am referring to you, he pointed his finger towards Dan. You have been too playful recently and it is affecting you.

Because of this, you are all banned from watching any action movies. Henceforth, you will only watch children's movies.

And if anyone sees Dan talking or fighting himself again, don't hesitate to report him to me. To your rooms all of you.”

We quietly walked away to all our rooms.

For a few days, Dan reduced the rate at which he does those crazy things but after a while he continued. My Dad did all he could to stop him to no avail, so he just let him be.

But when he got to senior secondary school, he stopped it completely by himself. To date, we are surprised how it happened.

---

N.B: All Images Were Generated By Meta AI

---

Thanks For Reading