The Sparks Within

The Match Making

"Love must be as much a light, as it is a Flame"

Zulai

It is a wonderful evening, the wind is blowing softly and the birds are singing in the sky as I was laying peacefully in the backyard staring at the sky and admiring how beautiful the clouds are. It's quite a wonderful view. Zulai my mother called, you should start getting ready, our guests will soon arrive. I quickly got up and went straight to where my mother was, She handed me a new set of clothes, a matching veil with a new pair of shoes. she asked me to wear them so that I would look good for our guests.

Today is the big day i thought, the day we've all been waiting for. I was so happy and excited but I didn't let it show. everyone in the house was so excited too, they were so busy preparing for our big guests.

My mom was seated in her sitting room after making sure that the house was impeccable, she made sure the house maids have done an incredible job. She had also instructed the maid to prepare some exotic dishes for our guests and she did. The food was prepared by Talatu our chief cook. She's super good in the kitchen, I have to confess that she did a wonderful job. Talatu has been working for us for over ten years now, she's very good at what she does.

I was silently sitting in my room buried in my thoughts when I suddenly looked up at the clock, it was already 4pm which means our guests will soon arrived. I can't believe I lost track of time. I quickly got up and changed my clothes, I wore the ones my mother gave me earlier and they looked perfectly good on me. I tied my head tie and then loosened my hair so it rested nicely on my shoulders and down my back. I couldn't stop admiring myself, the clothes helped a little bit even though I'm a very good looking lady.

Today is the day I'm finally going to meet Alhaji Tanko, my future husband, the man I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. I'm going to meet my Prince Charming, my knight in shinning armor, my mr right. Today is going to be the first time we see each other. If everything goes as planned, the next time we see each other is going to be at our matrimonial home as a happily married couple, it's tradition. I just hope that everything goes well.

My Mother opened the door to my room and said, Zulai Your suitor is here, you should go meet him. They've already had their meal and they're just waiting for you to come. They are in the sitting room, with that she closed the door to my room and left. I quickly finished up and made my way to the sitting room to meet the man of my dreams for the first time.

My heart started beating faster as I walked down the corridor, I got a little nervous. I don't want anything to ruin the moment, I just hope and pray that everything goes well.

I entered the sitting room with a dazzling smile on my face, I greeted My guests without even looking at their faces and took my seat on the opposite side of the room so that I can have a good look at my future husband to whom I am going to be engaged to very soon while he's not looking. I don't want him to catch me staring at him because I don't think it's cool. I can feel his eyes on me, admiring my beauty while we sat in silence, he was bedazzled by my beauty, It took him a few minutes to recover, and then he spoke. He said "Zulai my love, my dream wife, my charming angel, the most beautiful creature on earth, how are you doing this evening" with his deep, strong, masculine voice with velvet edges. His voice was like a melody to my ears, he's such a gentle man I thought. On hearing this, my heart melted and I was swept off my feet. I knew right there and then that he was the one for me.

I happily looked up at Alhaji Tanko who was staring right back at me, but what I saw was not what I expected. I was so disappointed, I felt my heart crashing inside my chest. My throat instantly went dry and I was short of breath, I suddenly felt like I was suffocating. It's like my world was turning up side down. I felt dizzy and my head started spinning around. I froze, my mind stopped working and my body turned numb. I Tried to stand up and run out of the sitting room but my legs betrayed me, they were weak and it felt like they can no longer carry me.

Alhaji Tanko was still staring at me with his blood shot eyes and a wide smile plastered on his face which exposed his kolanut stained teeth. His teeth were orange due to excessive kolanut consumption and they looked exactly like that of a crocodile, they were so sharp and pointed. his lips are thick and spear shaped, and his nose is so wide and flat that it covered most of his face. He is dark in complexion, so dark that even the back of the pot we use in the kitchen is fairer than him. His legs were dangling down the chair he was seating in because he was too short. He's got a protruding stomach that looked exactly like one of our pregnant cow's stomach that gave births to twins last week. He was struggling to adjust his seating position but it was so difficult for him because he was fat and heavy, he kept moving his extra large wide feet while he talked, I don't know why.

He kept talking and waving his extremely short limbs and wide palms but I didn't hear a word he had said, All I could see was his long pointy lizard like tongue coming in and out of his mouth while he talked. After a few minutes his smile dropped and worry took over his wide flat face, that was when I realized my blous was soaked in tears. tears kept running down my cheeks like water. I buried my face in my palms and I kept weeping like a maniac. After a while I felt a hand lifting up My face, it was Talatu our house maid/chief cook, I'm glad shes here to rescue me from this torture.

The last thing I heard was Alhaji Tanko telling his friend that accompanied him that I was a very shy person that's why I couldn't handle the situation as He shook his pentagon shaped head and his shiny cone shaped forehead disappointedly.

Talatu took me to my room where I quietly lay in my bed and relaxed, then I fell asleep.

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Alhaji Tanko

Judging by the look of things, Zulai doesn't love me but my heart does not understand. Today was a disaster, I felt humiliated but I acted like it wasn't a big deal, when really it was breaking my heart. I have hoped and prayed for a positive result, may god see me through.