Memoir of a Nigerian Student

Lying calmly on my uncomfortable, rickety hostel bed, in a congested room and saturated atmosphere, patiently waiting for sleep to creep through my window and cast its gentle irresistible spell on me. I stared at the shelter continuously, carelessly counting the lines of the zinc. I could barely fathom what the lines were communicating, because I was engrossed in thoughts.

Lots of things crossed my confused and congested mind. Trying so hard to fix up all the activities that happened today. How they happened and why they had chosen to happened like a puzzle of merging cut pieces of a pictures so as to make sense.

Unfortunately, the more I thought about it, the more confused I got, justifying the magician’s famous saying ” the more you look, the less you see” How a noisy, funny and playful little being, one you could easily describe as a banter, just changed overnight. The reason behind the sudden reservation still remains a misery to my perplexed roomies. The bemusing fact is that I’m not sure of the exact reason for the change too. 

Undoubtedly, the rhetorical question dancing around the minds of my roomies are: 

what’s wrong? “did she wake up from the left side of her bed?”, one had asked the other. 

“Probably there’s something eating up her happiness”. 

They had made up to ask me, when another had cut in, saying: ” I think she needs free time, you know sometimes one has to be alone and think, at this time one needs no discussion”.

Little was it known that this new development is actually not new in a sense cos it had always been a norm. if only they would believe that the unperceived annoying, uncomfortable and disheartening life of the school hostel turned me into a banter. I chose to allow it so cos it’s necessary in other to pull my mind and that of others out of what I’ll prefer to call predicament. To lighten up the whole situation and make the best out of it so as to foster free relationship with everyone and everything around. 

But now that it seemed like that has been achieved, I think nature is pulling me back to my normal self, seriously demanding my going back to the beautiful solitude I enjoyed before.  

And here the big question lies: Should I resist nature’s pull and continue cos i feel people around me love the new me? or should I allow myself to be freely drawn by nature back to the old me where I enjoy my sweet solitude??

Oops!! finally the long awaited handsome is now passing by my window waving and smiling. He’s irresistible so I have to listen to his call, nature’s call. 

Gentle had the wind blew through my window. The leaves touching themselves producing such a natural sound, rocking sleep sensation into me

Soon, a mosquito hunting a body to have a super feast on, passed my ear as its irritating jet- like sound pulled my palms together producing a clap, which made my roomies think I was praying. 

It wasn’t so!

The wind blew gently and gently…. Incautiously my eyelids clapped together very mild, my hands lying softly on stomach………… I slept off.

Umeh Prisca 

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