And so, on and on ,like the osscilation of a pendulum, the disheartening piece of my bio churned while the sands of time dripped slowly and slowly as it watched my narration irks the soul of the spectators. That I thought, but it appeared to be nothing but a blunt lie. It was a revolving piece of gags and laughs. A piece of funny cake, a chunk of interesting cheese, a loaf of an adventurous bread and a real ginger to the spirits of the audience. They applauded.
I took a decision to brighten up and go kind of complicated. I hallucinated via traveling through the roads of time to a world of hope. The hope I couldn't give probably my careful friends, you know them. I mean the ones who never fell into the snare of clowny unfortunate mishaps SANDRA, SOLOMON and IK (my fi
Yeeeeee!!!” IK’s voice rang out.And then it began!“IK?” Florence jumped out of her sitting position in a flash, rushing to her first son. Chike was right at her heels, reaching IK in a flash. IK held his chest as pain engulfed his face.
One hour after closing , IK wasn’t back yet. Florence was beside herself with worry. She couldn’t keep herself calm as she paced the small confines of her roadside shop. Florence rubbed one sweaty palm nervously against the other as her eyes remained glued to the road, scanning every commercial bus that rolled by for her son. He should be back by now!Florence came out of her shop, avoiding the small puddle of water on the floor – an aftermath of the downpour of rain barely an hour ago - and walked a few steps to the shop directly beside hers to check the time for pr
Florence wiped the tears that rolled down her cheek with her left hand as she bit hard on her shaking lips, almost drawing blood. She was on pins and needles, there at the waiting room of a family friend's hospital, waiting for word on her son's state. Florence wiped at her cheeks again as she stood up from the stiff hospital bench for the umpteenth time, feeling restless. She could hear the wild beating of her heart, she could see nothing but the tears that clouded her eyes; but when her gaze became clearer, all she could see was the image of her son lying painfully lifeless in her arms.
Florence stood at the door of the hospital ward as tears streamed down her face. Her lips shook wildly and she made no effort to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. She walked slowly into the room, staring at the hospital bed, just a few steps away. Her bloodshot eyes were blind to the two other occupants of the room, as she walked like a zombie towards the bed that held her interest. She got to the bed and stared through streaming eyes at the frail form of her son lying on the bed, unconscious. She ran her eyes over his pale innocent face as tears made a fast trek down her hot cheeks. No! She couldn’t accept this. Never in her wildest dreams and nightmares did she even imagine that her son would be a candidate of an hospital ward, looking like a complete shadow of himself. Leukemia… Cancer of the blood… The doctor’s words echoed in her ears, causing her chest to squeeze
Tomorrow, IK returns to the hospital! The children had no idea. Since the previous day, with Sandra’s cooking, they played so much, even Sandra seemed to loosen up a bit. It was just like old times in a way, but then, it wasn’t. IK’s strength was very low, he couldn’t keep up with his siblings, and no matter how much he tried to hide his weaknesses from his parents and siblings, pain always finds a way of making itself known. IK had no idea what was wrong with him, Florence doubted he would even know the extent of his illness if she told him he had cancer. Despite his high maturity, he was still a little boy.
“C’mon, give mummy a smile” Florence muttered with a weak smile on her face. We’ll be back very soon, I promise” Florence murmured as she crouched before her kids. Pastor Peter and his wife stood behind the children. Their small travelling bags and school bags had been carried inside but still, the children were not smiling. Solomon looked on the verge of tears. Barely two years old, Solomon was too small to be left alone. Visha stared mutely at the ground, while Sandra had a deceptive calm look on her face. Her pride wouldn’t allow her show just how much this was affecting her; somehow, that was more heartbreaking than even Solomon’s tears.
Sandra pulled the shirt of Solomon’s uniform above his head and frowned as her stomach grumbled. She was terribly hungry turned to Visha, seeing her struggle with the button of her skirt. She popped the bottom and Visha pushed down her skirt. “Lovey, I’m hungry”“Me too” Solomon seconded.
The days slowly rolled by. There were long days, longer nights. Less smiles, more tears. Less calm, more turmoil… Florence was always on the run, moving from one ward to another, not resting until IK was attended to. She shunned that screaming voice in her head; the one that repeated consistently that IK wasn’t going to make it. Together, they built their faith. Chike’s faith was high, Florence’s faith was higher. The struggles helped to reinforce her faith; ‘God couldn’t watch them go through this immense struggle and still allow IK to die’. She told herself repeatedly.Florence told herself this as she watched one pack of blood go empty, only to be replaced with another. Florence told herself this when IK had the hair on head shaved completely. Florence told herself this when IK’s weakne