The morning was not different from every other morning Gbenro was familiar with. The bed was also not in any way different – a very hard bed, too small in size for his age, and with nothing to rest his head on. He was used to waking up by 4am as anything later than that could result into a big problem. To an extent, he has become immune to mosquitoes, or they have simply taken him as a relative that they simply spare him. As he got up from where he slept, he looked to his right to be sure if his wheelbarrow was still there. "that is my only possession on earth" He said to himself. Gbenro was a truck pusher, and his wheelbarrow was his only source of livelihood. As he got up from the table in the market where he slept, his mind went back to what happened about 9 years ago. The fire incidence that killed his entire family and consumed all what they had as possessions, including the little savings they had. The pictures of that night were still fresh in his head, and sometimes, he wondered if he would forgive himself for the death of his entire family. On his way to the toilet that night, he locked the door from outside to avoid reptiles and mosquitoes from getting inside. The door did not give him many options except to lock the door or to leave it ajar, and the latter was not wise enough. So he locked the door. When a lady screamed about the fire incidence, he hurriedly got up to see where was on fire, and to his amazement, their one room apartment was where the fire started from. Except for the lady who shouted about the fire incidence, it took time before others came to their rescue. He searched his pocket for the keys to the room. He was certain he kept the keys in his pocket, and was surprised when he couldn't find it. All the while, his parents and his siblings were already calling for help, and there was no other way out of their windowless-apartment. He rushed back to the toilet, and there he found the key on the floor somewhere close to the door. It was after the whole incidence he understood that the key must have fallen from his pocket when he was rushing out of the toilet. The key fell close to three times while trying to open the door, and before he could open the door, each of his family members was already consumed by fire. As the door was opened, they ran out with fire on their body, screaming for help. Everybody around tried to get water to pour on them. They eventually got water, and was later rushed to the hospital. It was at the hospital each of them embraced death, leaving Gbenro, a 10 year old boy alone with nothing.
As it was the usual practice, Ireti was rushed to the hospital during one of their lectures in school when she suddenly screamed, and fainted. This was her usual practice for as long as she could remember. She would just scream like someone who has seen a ghost, and faint immediately. She first started it at the age of 5, when all of a sudden, she screamed from her sleep, and fainted. By the time her parents got to her room, she was gone. They shouted and called her name countless times. They were on their way to the hospital when she woke up. "What happened?" Mr. Henry asked. "I saw something." She replied. "What did you see?" Her mum asked almost immediately. "I saw em-em-em-em" She tried to explain but could not. Ever since then, Ireti would always scream and faint atleast once in two weeks and would not be able to explain what she saw, even after it all. The screams come in different forms, but they all made her faint, and after some minutes, she would wake up as if nothing ever happened. Ireti was a very beautiful and brilliant girl - the type of girl that every parent would love to have. She bagged many awards in her secondary school from JSS 1 to SS 3, and even in her primary school. When she was in SS 2, she bagged the Best Student Award. It was a very competitive one, none of the student in SS 2 knew who would bag the award. The key contenders for the award were Akin, James, and Ireti herself. When her name was eventually announced as the Best Student for her class during the End of the Year ceremony, she let out a very loud scream, and fainted. All the parents around were terrified and scared, but the students and teachers of the school were used to her act. She was carried to the school clinic, while her mum went up stage to get the award for her. With her 20th birthday months away, her parents were worried so much about her They were not sure if she would eventually die at age 20, as the age looked perfect enough for death.
© 2016. Austus Ofmat Nwanne
What would be the way out of Ireti's predicament? Come to think of it, what was the cause of the predicament? What would be the fate of Gbenro in his homeless and hopeless situation? Hmmmmm…..So much is happening already, and guess what? So much will still happen in this story. So, fasten your belt because the story is just starting. Join me again next week Monday as we continue the story. Don't forget, if you have a friend that has not been reading this story, kindly let them know they are missing BIG TIME.
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ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND !!!
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AUSTUS OFMAT NWANNE (Mr. Tackle)
Inspirational Speaker/Media Consultant,
Swift24 Multimedia Services.
+2348072970850
Mrtackle2009@gmail.com
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