𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒐 𝒀𝑯𝑾𝑯

𝑿𝑽𝑰𝑰

To have the lives of many, and an immense amount of hope on you must be such a heavy burden to bear.

And then the thought struck me.

God has the lives of essentially every being in his care, the people cry out agonizingly, praying, shouting their desires, hoping on him without seeing, having Faith. Might that be a heavy burden on God himself? Imagine the pain he feels when his children turn their eyes away from him and blame him for their misfortunes. Doesn't the Lord grieve for us? 

I suddenly felt like a whining baby.

Ikenna left me on a bench outside to go buy snacks for us. I turned my head around when I heard my name being called from afar but didn't find anyone coming towards me until the voice called out to me and this time the face was familiar.

Disregarding the watchful gazes around me I ran to embrace my mother, not caring for the why or how she's here in the first place. In her arms I cried like a baby who was abandoned. She did abandon us, I feared that she was fed up and wouldn't return. She in return guided us to a less occupied area. Her eyes were puffy, letting me know that she had had her own share of shedding tears.

In my head I vowed not to cry about my circumstance again, not to worry and not to blame God—I subconsciously did so. Instead I would try to find a positive thing about each day and not knowing how, find my way back to God again.

“Have you eaten?” She asked. 

“What do you want to eat?” It was then that I noticed the young man standing beside my mother, holding a bag for her. My eyes immediately went back to my mother. 

“Who's this?”

“He's my friend. Now where's Ike? How is your sister? I want to go and speak to the doctor.”

I still had many questions.

My mother let go of me as she and her friend whispered to themselves. Ike returned soon after with a bottle of RC cola and digestive biscuit in hand. He didn't seem too surprised to see Mom, mostly relieved. The three of them spoke, leaving me out of whatever they were planning.

Mom left with her friend to discuss with the doctor about leaving the hospital with Lael today. Their plan was to head to the pharmacy, get the medicines then leave. Ikenna was busy trying to get hold of a number who wasn't answering.

Meanwhile I was wondering why the topic of her attempted suicide didn't come up. Are we going to disregard it? What's so important that we have to leave in a rush? An uneasy feeling came over me when her friend returned with the prescribed medicine.

“Your mom is signing papers. I'm going to bring my car so we leave. Where are you going to drop off your own car?” He asked Ike.

“Ike, what's going on?”

“Wait,” he turned back to the man. “I was thinking I'll drop it off at the entrance then come and meet you guys.”

That uneasy feeling started creeping up my body when I saw Lael being pushed on a wheelchair. My mom thanked the nurse after they had successfully placed her unconscious body in the car.

All was settled except I was still standing, watching, trying to figure out what's right and what's not, for a strange reason.

“Get in Sinobi, we've to be quick to beat traffic.” My mom peered her head out the window. “Hurry.”

“Where are we going?”

“I'll explain on the way. Trust me.”

And I did. 

Even though everything about what we were doing felt wrong.

Even though we kept driving farther and farther away from Idi Ishin and its environs while Ike did a U-turn to a different location, probably to drop the car.

I just worried for my little sister whose head laid a lump on my shoulders.

Something strongly told me that she didn't try to commit suicide. That thing made the wait for her to wake up and explain herself tiring.

Amidst the drive I did my best to ignore the vibration of my phone in my school bag. The clouds have just become dark so surely a few friends of mine were trying to reach out to me, but when the call was insistent I decided to check it out hastily.

“Hello?” Kenneth's voice came through from the other end, causing my heart to skip a beat unconsciously. I wasn't ready to hear from him, especially given the circumstances.

Hence I did what I saw best at the time.

I put my phone on airplane mode before putting it back on do not disturb mode. 

I've far more important things to worry about and things to get back on track. There's no room for a budding crush in my story.

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𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫!

I appreciate everyone who has taken their time to acknowledge my work, for their vote and comments. Not only on this book but my completed work (Walking the Right Path)

Any thoughts on the pace of the story?