The warning
665 Words
Warning
Amara didn’t sleep.
The whisper from 4:17 a.m. kept replaying in her head like a broken recording.
“Tomorrow, someone close to you will betray you.”
The words sat heavily in her chest.
Betray her?
But who?
Her mind quickly ran through the small circle of people in her life.
Her mother.
Her best friend Zina.
Her classmate Daniel.
Those were the only people she truly trusted.
She sat up in bed and checked the time again.
4:23 a.m.
The voice had already spoken. It never said anything more after the warning.
Just one message.
One future.
Then silence.
Amara pulled her blanket around herself and stared at the wall. Outside, the early morning wind brushed against the windows.
“Someone close to you…”
Her stomach twisted.
She hated the feeling of waiting for something bad to happen.
By morning, Lagos had returned to its usual noise.
Car horns.
People shouting.
Motorcycles racing through traffic.
But Amara walked through it all like someone carrying a secret weight.
At school, everything seemed normal.
Too normal.
Zina rushed toward her as soon as she arrived.
“You’re famous now!” Zina said excitedly.
“What?”
“The boy you saved yesterday! People were talking about it. My cousin even posted about it online!”
Amara forced a smile.
“That’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?” Zina laughed. “You literally jumped in front of a truck!”
Amara stayed quiet.
She couldn’t tell Zina the truth.
If she told anyone about the voice, they would think she was crazy.
Or worse.
During lunch break, Amara sat under the mango tree behind the school building.
It was the only quiet place.
She watched students laughing, talking, sharing food.
Everything looked peaceful.
But inside her mind, the whisper kept repeating.
Someone close to you will betray you.
Her eyes slowly moved across the yard.
Who?
Was it someone she trusted?
Someone she loved?
Someone she never suspected?
Suddenly, she noticed something strange.
Zina was standing near the school gate.
Talking to someone.
A man.
Amara frowned.
The man looked older — maybe in his thirties. He wore dark glasses and a black shirt.
They were speaking quietly.
Zina kept looking around nervously.
Amara’s heart began to beat faster.
Why would Zina be talking to a strange man outside school?
Before she could move closer, the man handed Zina a small envelope.
Then he walked away quickly.
Zina turned and walked back toward the school building.
Her face looked serious.
Very serious.
Amara quickly looked down at her book so Zina wouldn’t notice she had been watching.
“Hey,” Zina said when she arrived.
Amara looked up.
“You disappeared,” Amara said carefully.
“Oh, I just went to get something,” Zina replied.
Her voice sounded normal.
Too normal.
Amara felt a cold chill run down her spine.
Someone close to you will betray you.
Was the voice talking about Zina?
No.
It couldn’t be.
Zina had been her best friend since they were little.
They shared everything betray her.
Right?
That evening, Amara walked home slowly.
The sun was setting, painting.
Secrets.
Dreams.
Fears.
Zina would never the sky orange and red.
Her thoughts were tangled.
Maybe the voice was wrong.
Maybe she misunderstood it.
Maybe nothing bad would happen.
She tried to convince herself.
But deep down, she felt something else.
A feeling that tomorrow was getting darker.
When she reached home, her mother was cooking in the kitchen.
“Amara,” her mother called. “Come help me.”
Amara walked inside.
The smell of rice and stew filled the air.
For a up.moment, everything felt normal again.
Safe.
But then she noticed something on the table.
An envelope.exact same type of envelope the man had given Zina earlier.
Her heart stopped.
“Where did that come from?” Amara asked slowly.
Her mother
The looked
“A man dropped it off this afternoon
- Writer
