I opened the door to my pink room. Pink walls, pink sheets, pink shelves, and pink wardrobes. Pink reading table and chair, in front of the window with the pink curtains. I fell exhausted and confused on my extremely hard bed. Just the way I like it.
It was indeed baffling, mum has never hit me (not that I remember of), but she hit me downstairs. It didn't even make sense that an insect was at my back. Mum is a clean freak, she keeps everywhere so clean that even ants have no place in our house.
Besides, the look in her eyes gave her away. What's going on?
After a long while of looking straight up at the ceiling and thinking of nothing in particular, I opened up my backpack and unpacked it, throwing all my belongings on the bed. Picked up my books, read through, and packed my tomorrow's books.
When I was perfectly sure that my books were packed with my necessities and I was ready for tomorrow, I sat in front of my mirror, divided my afro into different parts, and twisted each of them to prevent the hair from shrinking.
I was now ready to shower.
After the shower, I wore my sleeping shorts and a tiny singlet, and with a moderate speed, I went downstairs.
Mom was in the kitchen as expected, she was preparing to cook dinner because it was now 6:30PM. I walked closer to her.
"Mum, what can I help with?" She turned back and smiled.
"Are you finished with everything that concerns school?"
"Yes, wouldn't even come down if I wasn't done." As I reached beside her, I saw she was washing some corns. "Yay, we're having corn soup!" I love corn soup.
"You know it specializes in clearing one's head, it helps one feel better from a rough day." She said as she continued washing the corns.
She was now done with washing the corns, then she placed it on the fire I lit on the gas cooker. "As I told you before..." Oh no, she's going to recite the poem again.
"Oh mum, please you don't have to say the poem again. I've heard it countless times. I mean, you sing it every time you make corn soup."
She smiled and shook her head. "It's deeper than it appears Lisa, everything is. One should never limit their eyes to only viewing in a shallow manner, for the deep carries more essence." After a considerable amount of time, she began.
"A sip, just a sip, I need.
To clear my mind, to put me to sleep.
To forget the past, to cast aside the worries.
To ban a bad memory, give me a sip.
A sip, just a sip, I need"
When she was done, she turned to me. "You don't have to break your bones trying to understand, the heavens has its way of making smooth a very rough surface at the right time."
Without putting so much attention to her words, I nodded and said "Hmm", entered the parlor and turned on the tv, after which she joined in.
After 1 hour of smelling the delicious aroma of the corn soup and watching a series I didn't pay attention to, mum stood, went to the kitchen and turned off the gas cooker. She dished the corn soup in two different plates and set them on the dining table.
"Lis, dinner is ready!" I stood from the cushion, walked straight to the table, pulled out a seat and sat in it; grabbed my spoon, and shoveled corn soup in my mouth. Urgh, so delicious.
"So Lisa, do you want to talk about what happened today?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What do you mean by 'she's here'? We all know that Chionke is dead!"
Carly glared at the heavily built red-eyed man that screamed from her full length enchanted mirror.
"Mashkia, I swear on goddess Kasiba, that girl could see the painting! She even described what she saw, that girl is Chionke!"
"Latinafï, stop this! I don't want you starting unnecessary rumors and raising our hopes too high." Mashkia shut her up.
Now, with pleading eyes and a soft tone, Carly stretched her elastic neck to the mirror "Mashkia, you know of my deeds too well, would I ever joke with something as serious as the identity of Chionke?"
As if convinced, Mashkia calmed down as his red eyes weren't as grimacing as they once were. "Hmmm," He rubbed his chin.
He started pacing from right to left and vice versa, putting Carly in a daze as he'd be visible then pace out of sight. Suddenly he stopped.
"Okay Latinafï, I believe you, but for the time being, let no ear learn of this matter until we're sure she's the one."
Carly relaxed and her neck returned with her head to its right position from the surface of the mirror.
"But you must swear an oath to keep this between us, never to tell anyone. Not even Ban'siba nor Oni'ran"
Immediately, she raised her left hand and placed it on her chest. "I swear on the goddess Kasiba."
"For now, follow her like the fox, until more evidence is found"
"I will do just that" And with that, Mashkia disappeared.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggggg
"Urghh!" Another day of school. I stretched my hand to the alarm clock on my side table, and stopped the clock from further disturbing.
I struggled as I stood up, as I felt unusually weak. Dragged my feet to the toilet, grabbed my toothbrush, and brushed my teeth. After that, I showered.
Having gotten a percentage of my strength back, I went to my wardrobe and got my body cream.
Creaming my body and wearing my undies, then I sat in front of the mirror, loosened my twisted hair, and styled my afro. Making them drop and bouncy.
As I walked down the stairs all dressed for school, and my bag pack in its correct position, I looked towards the kitchen, expecting to see mum cooking something, but she wasn't. She wasn't even downstairs at all. Weird.
The thought of going to her room to check up on her flashed in my mind, so I brought my left hand to my face and checked my wristwatch, it was already 7:05 am. I was late.
"Muuuuuuuum, I'm off to school!" I screamed as I made my way past the door and to the gate.
I was walking past block after block, mentally counting them as I progressed until I heard...
"Lisaaaa!" By reflex, my neck turned in the direction of the call.
There, a distance away in front of me, stood Carly. She had a very bright smile on and was dressed in her familiar hippy clothes, looking so adorable at the same time.
"Carly!" I screamed back.
She came running towards me.
"We meet again," Carly said as she gasped for air.
"Yeah, I know right.." I replied. "What a coincidence"
"Coincidence?" She asked as her breathing finally reached a normal pace. "I think it's fate, destiny!" She replied as her eyes beamed with excitement.
Seeing how excited she was made me aware of her adorableness and her weird interest in unique beliefs. "Okay, whatever you say, Carly." I smiled as I began to continue my journey to school.
Even with Carly beside me, the journey to school seemed as if I were in my little world as she didn't speak a word. I mentally felt her watch me enjoy breathing in deeply the soothing and healing air; as if each breath exposed my insides to a new type of oxygen, a better type of oxygen. Looking at the greens by the roadside; even touching them at some point, and enjoying the essence of life at my fingertips. Watching the birds fly; as they moved in their familiar and famous triangular order.
After some seconds of enjoying the complexity of nature, I turned to my left as I saw a pair of curious, and at the same time, fascinated eyes staring at me; looked as if they watched my every move and even counted how many greens I touched. I chuckled as I said.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I paused for a second, squinted my eyes, and asked. "Don't tell me you already think I'm a freak?"
Carly burst into laughter. "Freak? Definitely, but didn't expect it to be this intense." This time, we both burst into laughter.
"I see you have peculiar tastes and that's okay. It's honestly one of a kind and that's the more reason why I'm so fascinated."
I nodded as I said "I'm a lover of nature. Like there's this feeling of familiarity... of belonging, understanding. Don't know what exactly it is but it just keeps getting my attention. Everything. Plants, animals, insects, water, sand, air... Like they all speak to me. No, like they all sing to me, never ceasing to take a hold of my mind."
Seconds after I finished talking, realizing there was no response, I looked in the direction of Carly and I saw she was in a daze as if she wasn't even the one I just spoke to.
Having an understanding of how easily people got distracted, I decided to brush off the fact that she was just inattentive, and that she missed essential information about me.
Just as I was about to continue in my previous engrossment in the comfort of nature, I heard as Carly mumbled a word.
"Goddess"
"What? Didn't catch that." I looked at her as I was expecting she repeat herself so I confirm the accuracy of what I just heard.
"Goddess... You sure you aren't one?"
I burst into laughter, but seeing her serious face, I feared she meant what she said. "Don't tell me you mean this also?"
She laughed too, a burst of very contagious laughter. "Is it wrong to be a good person and make my fellow human feel very special? Hearing you talk about how the air and water sing for you, makes me believe I'm also in the movie you believe you're a star in."
I looked at her in disbelief, so surprised that she listened to what I said.
"I just thought to also say something equally absurd" she concluded.
She listened but she didn't understand.
We laughed the conversation off as the structure of our school came to sight.
We were already a little distance away from the school gate, and in no time we reached the gate.
Just like the rest, we entered.
We attended classes, some we had together, and some we didn't, because we picked different electives.
It seemed people stopped giving me the looks they previously gave me. Chase attended the same classes as me but he never acknowledged my presence, I wasn't bothered.
In no time, as it started, school ended.
Just because I enjoyed this morning's walk to school, I decided to wait a while for Carly but she never came no matter how long I waited, I never saw her no matter how far I looked. I naively thought she usually comes out by this time. It seemed like she does, last time she did. But it's out of place to judge a person behaviour by just one experience. More and more students came flooding out of the school, but no sign of Carly.
Remembering I had to reach home early because of mom, I couldn't even see her before I came to school, I decided to stop waiting for Carly. Just as I was about to begin my walk home, a car drove and stopped directly in front of me, and suddenly, the window in the back seat wound down, revealing a familiar face. Chase.
"Let me drop you." Oh, I missed his voice.
Wait, what?
Looking into his beautiful hazel brown eyes I found myself walking around the car to the other side of the back seat, opened the door, and sat in. Not until I sat in, did I become so perplexed as to what exactly just happened. Immediately, his driver started driving.
As his driver drove towards a familiar route to my house, I turned to face Chase. From his eyes, golden tears dropped.
"Chase" I called out softly.
Just then, I began to feel warm droplets on my skin. Looked down on my hand and I saw gold droplets just like that on Chase's face on my hand. But where did they come from?
Immediately, I palmed my face and felt some kind of liquid. I looked in my palm and saw gold tears like on Chase's face.
I looked back at Chase, speechless.
Why are you crying?
Why am I crying?
Why are our tears gold?
What's going on?