Monday 11 August 2008

sumfin sumfin

It was the summer of 19??, I can not remember the exact year or the years that followed, however I remember everything that went on because they were the components of the foundation on which I stand.

It was my early teens during that vague time, just graduated from the educational system of the junior secondary school, and chosen to study sciences at the senior secondary school; I was going to follow the steps of the elders of my family and train to be a medical doctor. I remember being filled with pride every time I imagined the prefixed title “Dr” before my name, I had promised myself to continue the trend of hard work academically that got me a place at the faculty of science at the senior secondary school.
Like my peers, I enrolled for after school tuition programme to fine tune everything I had learnt at the senior secondary school. Little did I know that I was about to venture into the school of life and all that came with it.

I knew about girls before my junior secondary school graduation and all they came with, I understood their need for attention, the constant change of their physical appearance and the beauty they possessed. Beauty drew me to Rita, she was like a toy I had to have, like an itch that needed scratch, however I was too shy to express to Rita how I thought about her, nobody had instructed me about girls, but there are certain things one pick during growth and not letting Rita know the truth about the reason I was always around her was one of those things. In other words, she was my first crush but I never told her.

Rita was nothing compared to the girl I encountered at the after school tuition programme. The circumstances were like quick sand, it unhurriedly but progressively consumed me. It was most certainly unexpected nonetheless it was the beginning of my foundation involving the opposite sex.

During one of the lectures, she walked through the door like an angel without wings, the lecturer took a moment to adjust and compose his questions about the reason she had being late to the lecture. Her voice was so pleasing, though her excuse was nonsense; she was allowed to proceed into the class. I remember thinking her voice was as calm as warm breeze, I became aware of her instantaneously, although I had harboured no intentions.

As days and weeks went by, we became what one might call “classmates”. This meant that all our interactions stated and ended in class. One sunny afternoon, during a literature lecture, (one of my not so important classes), we had being instructed by the lecturer to write a short story about anything that stuck in our minds, he added that he would pick someone at random to stand before the class and read out what has being written by that person. I quickly wrote about the upcoming basketball game, I emphasized the training I had initiated through my writing, I wrote with pride, I wrote with honour, I was hoping that my name be called, thinking about it now, I was trying to show off.
She stood in front of the class, with her note book rested on her opened palms, she read out the story of her imagination, she read out what was stuck in her mind, she read out what she wrote with her own pen on her own paper. She used real names, real locations, but imaginary scenarios, her story was beautiful especially the part when she got the boy she had always wanted, it was more beautiful when that boy’s name was revealed; it was surreal when she uttered my name.

After that incident, she acted usual towards me, I overheard her telling her friends that it was just a made up story, it didn’t mean anything. I acted up too, if it didn’t mean a thing to her, it meant less to me. We carried on our class mate interactions during that term. After some time, she left for a boarding school, initially I was unaware she had gone, when I heard, I acted nonchalant although I missed seeing her around.
I decided to write her a letter after a while, my heart palpitated increasingly as I wrote each word. I wrote the letter as friendly as I could but I secretly wished she read between the lines and became aware of my unexplained feelings. It was funny because I had no postal address for her to mail the letter so I kept it in one of my shoe boxes and hoped my twin sister would not find it and make a mockery of me.

At the after school tuition programme, I was handed an enveloped note by one of the lecturers. I didn’t have any idea where the enveloped note came from and was scared that I had done something wrong at the after school tuition programme and the proprietor had written me a warning. I hurriedly pushed the note into my back pack as I didn’t want any of the other students seeing me with the note. I rushed home after lecturers, ate dinner and told my parents I needed to do some homework before I went to bed.
I secretly removed the note from my bag when I was alone with my homework; I had made up my mind to rip it if it was a warning. My heart leaped into my mouth after I read the contents of the letter. It was NIFEMI, she wrote she would be coming back soon, and she could not wait to see me again. Those simple well written words meant so much to me, I was unable to concentrate on my homework, and it became impossible to remove her image from my imagination. I folded the note, carefully placed it in my shoe box and decided to sleep for the night. I could not sleep and I could not stop thinking about her.

She came back and I experienced the most wonderful innocent attraction ever. We never kissed or even held hands but her presence was worth more than a million kisses. The moments I shared with her were priceless. I remember going to bed early so I can wake up early to see her, it was unbelievable, even these words I write are unable to do justice to half of how I felt at that time, she was everything to me; she was more than everything to me. We used to write each other every time even though we saw each other every time, however we expressed more on paper than we ever spoke. We would hide the letters in books and borrowed it to each other. It was amazing, she is my 1st love. She made me feel things then I didn’t understand; she gave me the opportunity to have intimate moments with the opposite sex without any suggestions of sex; she laid the foundation for my true love. She gave me the tools to discover me, now I must explore me.

I write this to celebrate her and our moments, my 1st love, the last time I spoke to her, she is already married and I wish her all the best in the world. It is true what they say, your 1st love either makes you or breaks you. She has made me whole enough for my true love.

a lil sumfin sumfin from me eniola alakija to make u believe in love

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

huh-uh uncle Eni!!! me likey v.much.. hmmmm one has to be inspired after all you are my Soulstar ;) x

Anonymous said...

this is really beautiful...

Anonymous said...

Awww young love is so beautiful and innocent; the way God intends for it to be. What a heart-warming piece.

Anonymous said...

i waited for a post from you for some time now......this is the best i have read anywhere in a while, it made me cry. I think Chimamanda should watch out. Thanks eniola, you are indeed a superstar

Anonymous said...

i dont know you but i like the way you write, very good and well written story. thanks for sharing your experience.

Anonymous said...

this story is so cool...

Anonymous said...

i cant stop reading....its very cute

Anonymous said...

i likes it very muchssss

Anonymous said...

another masterpiece...

Anonymous said...

nice one

Debo Wale said...

all these anon! ok i must say i was anon 1 only cos i couldnt be bothered to sign in! ;) x

Anonymous said...

Awwww, I loved this! Nicely written &
so sweet!

Minky

Anonymous said...

Very inspiring...especially for the cynics in us...aww! You're a writer!

soulstar said...

thanks....
im just a lil person trying to write