Eid fLicK

This Sallah celebration was unlike any other i could ever remember;it was slow,dull,sunny and bleak to say the least.I couldnt sleep after the morning prayers and i had no appetite for the first time.I barely had visitors as everyone i called was out there somewhere sharing a similar story.I guess growing up has something to do with this.The ironic thing was that i had my pockets full but nowhere to go and spend the money.I stayed indoors all through with my denims and a tee shirt which i only changed whenever it was time to say my prayers at the mosque.
One thing i actually liked this Sallah was that for the first time in my life i slaughtered a ram all by myself.Atleast the experience is noteworthy and something i surely will never forget.Even the meat didnt taste the usual delicious way it always had.Before i knew it,the long day was spent under a mango tree gisting with the family while watching the butchers do their thing.I left the place at a few minutes to six,performed my ablution and went to the mosque.Next,i went into the house to see mum,have dinner and say goodnight.I was exhausted from doing nothing but sitting and talking.I went off to bed early,had a short chat session and dozed off as soon as my head hit the pillow.Some Sallah i had this November.

THe feveR tHaT maKes meN sHiveR

Marriage is one thing i know that means much more than just mere words.We tend to speak about it every now and then but it still appears blurry and obscure.Not until we fully commit ourselves by paying the dues and building a solid foundation.Now that's when the real thing begins.The thought of choosing that special someone to be your partner for the rest of your life despite the difficulties,trying times,sticking through thick and thin and the traditional "till death do us apart".
Since my brother proposed to his fiance a few months ago,he's really had a firm hold of himself.He's been preoccupied and much more serious.He's been looking at life in a different light.Its like he's a stranger i've never met.He thinks differently and when it comes to spending he's thrifty.He's been busier than a bee and has been living inside a clock lately.He barely has time for us when he's in town for the weekend.All these are a result of the first word i mentioned up there.He has now found the word "responsibility" in his dictionary and is willing to apply it full-time.I am so proud of him,its not easy but he still strived to do it.His proposed wedding date is new year's day 2011.We all highly look forward to that day with bated breath.Everyone's counting down the days as they go by.We've got so much faith in him and believe he was born to win.We all pray that with Allah's guidance and blessings he will find bliss on that special day.We are putting in our very best to make sure things go like clockwork:all hands on deck!

DeaTh aT a fuNeRaL

At Zarah's third day condolence,we were all gathered at the venue after dropping my little brother at extension classes in school.When we arrived at her house,everything seemed normal.The atmosphere was quiet as expected but its surprising what death has become;no face was actually looking like it was going through a painful moment.Even her parents were lively and full of energy.The house seemed as if it was having an occasion and invited relatives plus friends over.My cousin who lived next door met my sister and passed on some sad news that another cousin of ours who was schooling in Adamawa had had a fatal car crash that morning and died instantly.It was like a sharp razor blade was tearing my flesh from inside.This was a kid i hadnt seen in quite a long time.I put my head down and for a moment everything paused without a sound.I shook my head and sat down outside on a mat and kept recalling his face and the last time i saw him.i couldnt,it was too hard.Death has become a stranger that knocks on random doors everyday.Someday its going to be our turn to give up the ghost.This is one thing we cant avoid either way.

GiviNg uP tHe gHosT

At some minutes after seven in the morning i was about heading out of the house to the office when my brother stopped me and said that he'd just received a text message telling him the girl he had an accident with some days back had passed away.The previous day,it'd been reported that she'd been losing a lot of blood and needed to be hospitalized at that instant.We all thought that by morning she'd be okay until this shocking news changed everything.An early wake up call and a total "shocker".I felt it deep within myself and paused for a second before i asked him to inform mum who was busy in the kitchen.
At work,i was feeling so cold and down.Everybody couldnt help but notice my unusual mood.I took permission from my boss and closed early enough to go and condole the late girl's family.Its so sad the way we feel for people we never even got to know before they left us. R.I.P ZaRaH,i never knew you,but may your soul rest in peace.amin

SoLdieR oF misFoRTuNe (two reaSoNs he cRies)

My friend Yusuf is a soldier and i dont mean this metaphorically.He was actually a soldier who passed out from the Nigerian Defence Academy successfully.He is now a naval officer somewhere out there in water world.In March this year,his mother passed away.It destroyed him so badly that he hadnt been himself for as long as i could remember.He could barely speak to me over the phone even though we were BFF's.He loved her so much and apparently he was her favorite son.
Eight months had passed since his mum died and he was finally recovering from the horrible ordeal.One night in November,i received a call from a friend at Dubai who told me that Yusuf's dad had passed away a week before.I was shocked,i didnt hear about this sad news until a week after.I just pictured how devastated he'd be then;i mean another shock right through his veins.I could only imagine the pain he was going through.This was just like opening a healing wound again.
I called Yusuf but he wouldnt pick up the phone.I sent him an sms but there was still no response.I wondered why,considering we were very close friends yet he still didnt feel like talking to me.Today.this guy is an orphan,but in my eyes he's a brave soldier who lost both parents within a span of nine months.The gestation period of a human baby inside its mother's belly.If he was married as at the time his mum had died he'd have had a child the same month his father passed away.It isnt any wonder he joined the academy.Now he's alone in this life fighting to struggle and hustle for a living,and his theme shines brightly in the sky "Every man for himself"

THe foRecasT was a caR cRasH (BoNNie aNd CLYDe aNd tHe aFTeRmaTh)

It was past 4pm and i was catching forty winks in my room after a hectic day at work.My younger brother had made initial plans with my sister to borrow her car by 5pm,which i was unaware of.By 5pm,i was fast asleep and my brother had spruced up,grabbed the keys and driven off.
I woke up at almost 7pm and was sitting in the living room tweeting on the sofa.Suddenly a friend of mine walked in and dropped the bombshell;my brother had called in a few minutes earlier,freaking out over the phone that he'd had a terrible accident.I dropped the phone and rushed to mum's room.They'd already heard the news and were terrified.Mum had called the driver and reported the emergency.The minute he arrived we hurried to the scene.
The car was there,a pristine Honda civic turned into a total wreck.I didnt recognize it the first time;it looked like a vehicle from the junkyard.The airbags had popped out,glasses were broken to shards and the entire body was dented.I almost thought i was watching a Transformers movie again.Then i snapped back to reality,the police were everywhere.Tauts all around the atmosphere.We dropped and approached the scene.There was no barricade,but we were stopped from coming any closer.My brother was not there,that's the first thing i noticed.I gave him a call and asked him where he was,that's when he mentioned a "she" involved in the accident."her leg's broken or something like that" he said in a shaky voice."she's been complaining about her leg" he added.I asked him to quit panicking and show up immediately.We waited and faced some interrogation before he made it to the accident scene.He was totally not himself,he was a tad delirious and so nervous.I asked him to relax at the roadside while we handled the case.
In the end,we managed to get a few things out of the damaged car and put them in the trunk of our car.However i couldnt find my sister's bunch of keys which she claims to have left on the dashboard.They somehow disappeared when the car crashed.Instead,i found a squished tray of chocolate fudge underneath the driver's seat;a sign of a romantic tryst.A few minutes later,we were done with packing and the session was over.The rest of the case was left to the police.Next we went straight to the hospital to bandage my brother's bleeding and scan his body for any internal injuries.Shortly after that,we were at home.The patient had some food and swallowed his painkillers after which we all called it a night.

THe daY oF a tHousaNd scaRes (PaRT 2)

As if the mystery wasnt bad enough,i showed up to prepare the haunted house the next morning as the package had arrived late the previous day and the entire dummies delivered were skeletons except the horrid green goblin sculpture.The scene was just set for the grim reaper's appearance but he never showed up cos i never found the mask.As a last resort,my friend Victor offered me a scary werewolf mask which had been lying around in his room.We zoomed to his place,grabbed the mask and got back just in time to begin the act.The mask matched my outfit,i even covered half of my face with the hood to create a disguise.It wasnt what i initially planned for but it turned out fine.The kids were scared to death,and we earned a lot for the fund raiser.Objective achieved,mission accomplished.

Me,mYseLF aNd tHe mYsTeRious Mr masK (PaRT 1)

Last four halloweens,i was at the haunted house in a certain school to give kids the biggest scare of their lives.I wore a green vampire mask with long jetblack hair.It was awfully scary,cos even i was freaked out when i first set my peepers on it.But on that day,there was another mask,a skeletal glow-in-the-dark hooded mask which was akin to the grim reaper.But i couldnt play two people at the same time so i picked dracula for the night and decided to save the other mask until next halloween.
Today,three halloweens have passed and i havent been volunteering to participate in any scary occasion or costume party so the mask was just as good as any other old shirt which had been hanging in my closet for years.I only know its there cos i come across it when am cleaning out or looking for something in the closet.So when KAD Academy mentioned the day of a thousand scares coming up and asked for volunteers,i didnt hesitate to lend a helping hand.I just thought my time to play grim reaper had arrived.I was so sure that the mask was in my closet and didnt bother looking for it until a night to the occasion.I even purchased a black cowl,gloves and socks to go with the mask.Then later i'd only have to find a scythe.But to my greatest astonishment,i turned the room upside down looking even in the most awkward places but couldnt find the mask.I asked everyone who knew about it but nobody had seen it.I checked the other side of the house where my old stuff was but there was no sign of the mask in the cartons and bags.Finally i gave up cos it was no use.I'd already opened my big mouth and told everyone that i'd be coming as the grim reaper and they thought it was a cool concept.Now i was clueless and didnt know what to do.So much for all the scary stuff i'd planned on doing.
I pondered over the situation but couldnt figure out how a mask would disappear just before its day of awakening.I thought of the craziest ideas like the grim reaper coming for his head but it still didnt make any sense.Then again i remember it didnt actually belong to me.Somebody exchanged it with my mask some time ago and since then i've always known there was something creepy about that mask.