Waking my pen from it’s slumber To wet the pages for Omolade! Though I have never talked to her, But her beauty speaks volumes. Designed by The Master Artist, I never expected less.
My child is my crown “She’s worth more than any jewel” The one who know her said. “I can’t exchange her for anything” “she’s the world best sister” She affirms.
When my retina glanced her picture It reported to my brain “I’m looking at a supermodel” it said From head to toe, she’s perfection And I just starred at the picture for two seconds. Now I keep coming back for more!
0500hr: The alarm blared from the mobile phone I dropped sometimes during the night. “it’s five o’clock in the morning, when conversation got boring…….”. I found the snooze button and lazily pressed it. “I can’t come and kill myself, I will still beat traffic if I am smart about it” the thought surfaced as I plunged back into the crevice of sleep.
0510hr: “it’s five o’clock in the morning, when conversation got boring…….” Snooze button? Found. Pressed.
0520hr: “it’s five o’clock in the morning, when conversation got boring…….” The alarm blared again. I stood up after another three minutes of rolling around. My knee found the bedside stool and I groaned. “Alhamdulilah al-ladi…..” I continued on my way to the bathroom. I brought out the buckets in the bathroom and went outside to fetch water.
0545hr: Fully dressed and heading to the nearest mosque to pray fajr (pre-dawn prayer) before heading out. The town was already waking up by the time I left my apartment. “Yi pada, ijoba orun ku de de (repent now, tomorrow may be too late” An evangelist announced. The announcement colliding with several adhan (call to prayer) from mosques around.
0610hr: I left the mosque and I hailed the first motorcycle rider I saw. “where to?” he asked. “Na park I de go” I answered. “Na two hundred naira o” he replied. “ha ha! Na one and fifty naira I go pay” I exclaimed. “na because na early morning o, make we de go” he finished.
0625hr: I dropped from the motorcycle. Paid the man and entered the park. Immediately I stepped into the park, I was harassed from left and right. “guy! Where you de go? Na Benin? Warri? Ughelli? Asaba” came from various angles. “I’m going to Benin” I replied. “Ha na now one Benin bus comot, but nor worry, this park de quick full” another man admonished me. “I shouldn’t have pressed the snooze button twice” I thought.
0700hr: I was still the only passenger in the car. The driver came around to meet me and told me not to worry. “na only just six passengers remain” he advised. “But this is Monday sir, I need to be in Benin before 2pm” I told him. He laughed and said “don’t worry, I’m called a pilot around here because my car is an aeroplane”.
0730hr: A couple walked down to the park and were directed to the Benin axis. A smiled blossomed on my face. “four passengers to go” I thought.
0900hr: I was frustrated and angry at this point but a part of me was happy the car is finally filled up. I resolved never to oversleep again (I have always made this resolution). The conductors collected the transport fare from the passengers. And after the usual shenanigans, the car eased out of the park.
0910hr: “Let us close our eyes and pray to the Lord” a passenger announced. “In the mighty name…..” the prayer started and continued for a while.
0930hr: “In the name of the Lord I pray!” and thus the prayer ended. Almost immediately another passenger started “Good morning my fellow commuters. I am an herbal doctor with proven success in diseases such as gonorrhea, malaria, thyphoid, headache, influenza…..” . The herbal doctor continued for a while. “Any disease at all, this herbal ointment will cure it. And it is just two hundred naira for a bottle” He concluded. After the man finished, the driver turned on the music and sped on. “kaiparimarichupakpo….” issued from the speakers.
1030hr: We left Oyo State behind and entered Osun State. The water from Asejire Dam looked as beautiful as ever. “Driver abeg I wan make call” a woman announced. Without taking his eyes off the road, the driver reduced the volume of the music. “Hello” the woman said into her phone. “E Kaaro (good morning) .. a ku ti xenophobia yii o, Olorun a ko way o (greetings for the ongoing xenophobia, the lord will save us”. The shocked expression on the faces of the other passengers resulted in a cacophony of laughter in the car. “My people and greetings” I thought.
1111hr: True to his words, the driver was indeed a “pilot”. He sped on with little or no regards for potholes and speed bumps which were ever present on Nigerian roads. Even though I knew I should caution him by virtue of sitting at the front with him, I spurred him on. Mt appointment in Benin was the only thing on my mind. “is a pilot there” I exclaimed. “You sure say you nor go audition for Fast and Furious movie?” I joked. “see this guy, na because I too good na why dem nor pick me” he replied. And at that point, we made the mistakes of our lives. The “high-fived .
8888hr: It happened so fast. One moment my hand connected with the drivers hand and the next, my skull connected with the dashboard with the force of Ronaldo”s drilled shot. The world changed suddenly. I heard screams from everywhere. My brained screamed. My mouth wailed. “Subhannallah” came from somewhere. “blood of Jesus” reverberated from another. Like a toy car launched angrily, the car rolled on the road continuously before colliding with a solid mass. Tree? Another car? A house? My eyes couldn’t make it out.
Time is only functional when you are safe, sound and sane. Time makes sense when blood is flowing in your brain and around your body not outside. The accident could have lasted for a few seconds or hours, but we had no way to tell. We were not humans at that point, but animals hoping to survive, fighting for oxygen. Gasping for one more breadth. Appointments, dates, profit and all other worldly benefits are just on the peripheral. Life matters. But what do we do when time has ran out.
Like rag dolls in a playhouse. The passengers were mangled together. I had no way of knowing if the next person is alive. Survival was the only prayer. The last thing I remembered was the feeling of being dragged, and the sound of a metal drill being operated. The world went dark.
Found this picture online and decided to write something about it. Image credit not mine.
“Together forever” was what you promised. “And I’ll always be there for you” was my reply Although you broke your promise, I plan to uphold my promise, Or die trying
I had a dream, Not the Martin Luther King version But it is a dream nonetheless, I rode the waves And conquered the land, I became an emperor The prince from Nigeria Representing his motherland.
I had a dream, That I was wealthy, Not the Aliko Dangote kind of wealth I dreamt I was in money The kind of money that halts racism! The amount of money I had Would have made General Sanni Abacha blush.
I had a dream, Then I woke up Strived to soar high into the sky But Corona came and clipped my wings. Luckily, I have spare wings. And soar high I will!
All stories have a beginning, but this one starts from the end. He was found dead in his room, with a note close to him which simply states ” She killed me, not with a weapon nor poison but for her cold heart.”
He was the only son of his parents and never want for anything in his life. money comes easy and he was well loved by his family. No one could deny him of anything he wants because of his lovely smile and outgoing character.
He got all he wanted until he met her, the lady who would be the love of his life and catalyst for his demise. Love invigorates as well as poisons. It brings about life but cause the death of countless others. It was an unrequitted love, one doomed to fail from the beginning. Not because he was not rich enough, in fact he controlled thousands of currencies, but because not all ladies could tolerate an intellectually retarded man not to talk of falling in love with one. In a gathering of a hundred ladies, she was easily the most beautiful. Ebony beauty with amazing eyes like orbs of destiny. You could see in future in her eyes if you gaze long enough.
From the very first day he saw her, he was smitten and it was the perfect example of love at first sight. Her smile turned his knees into jelly even though the smile was not directed at him. Her face glowed radiant in the morning sun, and with the backdrop of the campus old buildings and modern upgrade. It was like a scene out of an heavily budgeted hollywood movie. With the grace of a panther and the lovely movement of a dancer, she swayed with the wind. Our hero walked close to her and the scent of jasmine and strawberry hit him. That was when he realized that she was pretty and rich. And at that moment, he decided he wants to be friends with her.
Moving with conviction and purpose, like he had never done before in his life, he walked towards her. ‘‘Her.. He.. He’ll… Hello’’ He stuttered. Without a care in the world, she continued talking on her phone which she had brought as he was going over to her.
Not to be dettered after having gone that far. Like a lamb learning how to walk, he waited patiently while swaying from left to right. ‘‘Take care and have a nice day’’ she said to the phone. Turning her attention to him and throwing him the dazzling smile that’s her trademark. ‘‘how may I help you? ’’ she asked sweetly.
And at that moment, the blood in his body obeyed the law of gravity and rushed from his brain and gushed to another organ. He forgot how to talk. ‘‘you know what? I will see you later, I have a class now! ’’ she said. And like the gazelle that she is, she trotted away gracefully.
But on seeing her walk away, the blood returned to the usual position in the brain and think he could. ‘‘I don’t want to be friends with her, I want her to be mine’’ he thought. And with renewed determination and inexplicable vigour, he followed her to her class. The lady had no idea he was following her. Rushing towards her class, she couldn’t wait to gist her friends.
‘‘hello girls’’ she beamed at her friends with her captivating smile and they responded with the same enthusiasm. ‘‘I’ve got a nice juicy gist for you’’ she started without beating around the bush. ‘‘can you guess who approached me today? ’’ she asked to which they replied ‘‘no’’
“you know that saliva dripping and ugly boy that always move around like a faulty generator dancing on a spot? ” she asked. ‘‘that’s like 50 percent of the boys in this college’’ one of her friends retorted. ‘‘I’m talking of the one that his face looks like a gorilla had sex with a polar bear’’ she replied ‘‘Well, that narrows it down a bit’’ another one said. ‘‘it’s that mentally retarded son of the rich chimpanzee ’’ she concluded.
A ripple of emotions showed on the faces of her friends. From disbelief to surprise, to anger and finally they all burst out laughing. But just as it started, the laughter stopped. They realised that he had been standing behind them all along. He heard every single word they said.
And like a cemetery on a cold night, there was deafening silence. Emotions he had never felt before passed through his consciousness. Annoyance and hatred of himself and his condition. And without further thoughts about it, he went straight to his room and took out the last batch of razor he bought and slit his wrists. But not before he wrote the note.
‘‘no one will hurt me ever again, no one will call me mentally retarded when I’m no longer around. No one will make fun of my condition ever again. I am going to soar above them all.’’ He thought as his blood soaked the oriental rug that was given to him as a gift the previous Christmas by his parents.
And thus, we come to the end of the story, or rather the beginning of his end.
Thank you for taking the time to read this story. Please do like and drop a comment. I’d be glad if you can also share the story among friends.
10 year old Belle had a little brother. They did everything together. They played together, ate together, shared memories, oh how she loved her brother so; During the summer, her 9year old cousin came to spend the summer holiday over at Belle’s place but she never did get along with Belle as she found her extremely weird and unfriendly; Belle woke up one morning, covered in blood, crying to her parents “Mama, Papa, he killed her, he killed her!” She screamed. In confusion and fear, they rushed up to her room and found her cousin in a pool of her own blood with all her fingers cut off. “What happened here?!” Said mama, “My brother killed her” replied Belle, “But your brother died six years ago!!” Mama replied. The End.
Sophocles Writes 