I woke up and could not remember what had happened..

            

Assalamualaikum . :)

Thanks for the visit . Here . I'd like to share with you my short story . And surely , it is not a true story . hoho . Well I just hope that this short simple story would make you smile a bit and put aside your problems for a while . Enjoy ! :)

               I woke up and could not remember what had happened - or better to admit that I tried to forget it. I could feel the pain in my neck that stretched right to my ear paying the debt that I did not lying well that night. I tried to straighten my neck but the pain made it impossible. The mirror reflected the view of my swollen eye describing that I cried myself to sleep. I closed my eyes and could smell the disinfectant smell of awkwardness. I looked around the room – scrutinizing every inch of it as I realized that I was going to leave it soon. It would be my last day here. My gaze dropped on the well-packed stuff, at an isolated corner of the room far from the door –imploring  me not to take them out . I groaned .

               “Belle, get up and let us have some breakfast, or we will be late !” Mama was shouting outside. My last breakfast in Congo, I thought. Oh ! I just wished that time would cooperate with me to stop for a while. I fetched the clock on the wall and took out its batteries. Childish, I admitted, but I hated to see the clock ticking. It was killing me!

                I hated to realized that the day to move had come. I hated to accept the fact that Papa was the reason why we had to move. I hated to think that how Papa had betrayed Mama for other bad woman. The most painful was I hated the feeling when I hate my beloved Papa. The warm pure tears of an innocent girl touched my cheek. I was Belle-No-Tear and disgusted of so much crying, but the pain rendered me to betray my own principle.

                The sun had given the sky a string of yellow gold necklace. The hotness of the dry air demonstrated me the concept of light in Physics with the appearance of mirage. It was totally a tiring journey. It should only have taken a day but the go-slow was endless and the car tires struck down on the road as they too did not want to leave.

              An overturned lorry blocked the road and we sat for hours waiting for the go-slow to lessen. Some men had left their cars on the road and walked away which added to the wait. Everyone was shouting. Fists were being thumped onto car bonnets. Horns blasted. People were tired of waiting but not us. It was silent in our car as no one dared to cough even the air was concentrated dry .We waited and waited without even noticing how awful the waiting was . And here were we , Naira , Lagos – the place where Mama was raised up .

              Grandma and Granda were waiting for us right in front of their small house – or better to be called as  a hut. I had never been here before and it was totally different from my sumptuousness of air conditioned-room. Unacceptable fact was I had to share ‘my room’ with Mama and my brother. Wasn’t this country supports privacy? For my shock, there was no electricity here which mean no fan during this heating temperature day, no refrigerator  with attempting cold drink, no lamp for midnight study and no life! I gasped for air as if the oxygen suddenly absorbed by the Earth .

             Suddenly out from nowhere a thin shabby boy in front of me – smiling broadly –welcoming us. Ignorantly I turned my head and stomped forward – pretended to be arrogant and rude. ‘No Belle, do not trust people easily. You do not need any friend.All you need is to be alone. Plus, he is smudgy village boy. He is just not your standard to be friend with ,’ the voice from my mind reminded. As I was going to pass him, he held my tiny wrist softly and whispered, “ Hey, a smile may change someone’s world, you know! ”He blinked his eye then released my hand and walked away . Who was that inexplicable boy ?

           That night I crooked alone in room. I abhorred to be outside. It felt like the first day of school where even you wanted to be invisible, everyone could see that you were new and out of place, and different. It was dark but the sky was lit up by the brightest star I had ever seen. The stars were so bright that when I closed my eyes they were remained there behind my eyelids until suddenly, “Booo!!” I was thrown backward. It was that smeared boy again, playing stupid trick on me .

           “Hey , I am Emanuel. It is my pleasure if you call me Em. Only special person can call me that, you know.” He grinned, showing his white teeth .I frowned as I did not feel like I wanted to talk to him. “ So, you do not like talking,eh? That’s good! You can listen to me silently.It is not easy to find silent girl here. Anyway, can I call you Miss Snob?” Em cackled.

           Weirdo! He talked non-stop and sometimes laughed alone by his own jokes. And me – I was still at my position and gave no responds – trying not to betray the voice in my mind. “I think I have to go now.” said Em. Finally! My heart cheered.  “Do not worry , we will meet again tomorrow.” Huh? Like I care. “And I hope you will bring your smile along.”  Em walked away , leaving me stunned by his words. He was so mysterious, I thought . And quite funny, and amusing, and nice.

         The next day was another hot day. The sun shone mercilessly. The beads of sweat gathered on my forehead. “Good morning Miss Snob!”. As usually he would never forgot his sweet smirk. “Today, I’m going to make you smile.” “Huh? That easy?” I answered , breaking the rules that I would not talk to him . Em smiled meaningfully . “Good sign! I thought it take a longer time to hear to your voice.” He laughed. “Now close your eyes. I have something to show you.” He held my wrist gently and lead my step . “Anyway Em, my name is Belina. You can call me Belle and only special person can call me that.” Even I could not see him I could feel that he was smiling. “Hi Belina. Nice to meet you.”

              Suddenly we stopped and Em told me to open my eyes. For my surprise , there was a big black bull in front of me. I shrieked in fear as I saw its sharp white horns. I ran backward without realizing that I was actually hugging Em’s shoulder imploring him to protect me. Em burst his laugh out loud. I had never seen any bull as gigantic as this one before. “This is my pet, Blacky. Don not be afraid , he is just nice. Come.” Em pulled me forward rendering me to be closer to his not-so-called-pet. He held my little hand and put it on Blacky’s body. We stroked his tough black body gently and it was so fun! “Do you want to ride it?” Without even had chance to answer Em lifted me upward and put me on that gigantic creature. The feeling was mixed – fear and happy ! It was my first time feeling so happy after Papa had left us. Em positioned himself behind me. Silent. It was an awkward feeling but then both of us laughed out loud.

                       “Belle, do you trust in angel?”he asked. “No,I’m not.Why?” “Well,I believed it because I am an angel.” Soundless. “I am your angel .” Em whispered . I smiled . “Hi Angel Em. I am Belle. I am snobbish. Today was a fairytale because I had super angel by my side.” I giggled. Then my new life begin.

Thank you for reading mine . As I told you it is just simple and maybe I've done some mistakes . NORMAL for a student right ? Have you got any lesson from it ? If you got some then do share with me , okay . For me , what I wanted to highlight the most is :

 LIFE IS COLOURFUL . 

life is how you look at it . :)

oh. and also , any ideas and correction are most welcome . assalamualaikum .