ENCOUNTER PART 2

I woke the next morning to the sun shining through my window, as the curtains were open. I rolled over onto my other side burying my head under my pillow, not willing to get up. I’m not a morning person. As I chanced a peek out from under the pillow, I noticed my door was agape. Puzzled over why I had left both my curtains undrawn and my door slightly open, I suddenly remembered the events of the previous night. Getting up immediately, I stole out of my room and crossed the passage to the opposite room. Peeping in, I saw she lay quite still on her back, very much asleep, her right arm placed gingerly on her injured side.

I thought it had all been a dream, but her being there was proof of quite the opposite. Wondering what to do next, she rolled over and faced the door. I was struck once again by her beauty and noticed she wore no makeup. She had an oval face with well-defined cheekbones, a shapely nose, full lips and a delicate chin. Her eyes were spaced evenly apart with long eyelashes topped by thick dark eyebrows. I hadn’t had the chance to determine the color of her eyes but I believed they were brown. Her hair was raven-black and framed her face nicely, though it was rough and looked unkempt. Her complexion was warm like chocolate and contrasted the cool dark of her lips. I could not place her age but she looked to be quite young, probably late teens to early twenties.

Her clothes consisted of a simple floral print t-shirt which I had sadly torn to get to her wound and an A-line denim skirt. Apart from the disheveled and wet state of her clothes, I could not guess what class or background she could be from. I still had a lot of questions that needed answers, but they would have to wait. I left the doorway and moved to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for us both. Opening my fridge, I found it was as any bachelor’s; practically empty. Luckily, I found some eggs and slices of bread. I fried the eggs, buttered the bread slices and made two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Placing the eggs and buttered slices on two dishes, I placed them on a tray with the mugs and proceeded to the room. Entering the room, I found her still sleeping soundly. Placing the tray on the study table, I turned to the bedside to study her again. I didn’t have the heart to wake her, so I let her sleep, wondering what ordeals she may have gone through before I found her.

Bending down to inspect the bandage, I saw a small movement from the corner of my eyes. Looking up, I saw myself staring into the brownest eyes I had ever seen; they were almost black. She gazed at me somewhat vacantly, as though she was looking right through me. I stood up straight and waving my hands in front of her, she blinked and started. Sitting bolt upright in bed, she winced in pain and fell back against the pillow. “Hey, take it easy”, I said. She shifted from me in fear and I moved back to further assure and calm her. “I mean you no harm”.

When she seemed to relax, I gestured towards the table where I had placed the tray of food and said, “You must be hungry. I made some breakfast. Would you like to eat?” She shook her head at first but then nodded somewhat shyly, all the while not making eye contact. As I moved to get the tray, I studied her out of the corner of my eye. She had managed to sit up in bed by herself and was bent over, her head down with her hair spilling over her face like a canopy. Placing the tray across her lap, I stepped back as she mumbled something I didn’t hear.

“Did you say something,” I asked, pulling a chair and sitting down facing her. She turned to me pulling her hair back from her face. “Thank you…but you didn’t have to do all this,” she said gesturing to the tray of food and the bandage on her side. I was a bit confused at her statement as she hadn’t struck me as reserved during our encounter previously. But I figured anyone would have been on the alert if they had been hurt the way she had been. I studied her some more as she slowly ate.

“Of course I had to.” She paused, the mug at her lips and raised her head slightly in surprise at my answer. “It’s what anyone would have done.”

She lowered the mug slowly, considering what I had said. “Of course,” she repeated quietly. “It’s what anyone would have…” she ended brokenly dropping the mug.

I shifted forward slightly. “Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No it’s fine,” she said shaking her head. “I was thinking how I’d forgotten that there is kindness in this world. And…,” she turned to me. “You are kind.” She smiled sadly. Turning away again, she stopped smiling and said, “Though this world will take that same kindness and ride over you, seeing it as nothing but weakness.”

“But you won’t do that,” I added quietly.

She looked at me then and we both stared into each other’s eyes for I don’t know how long. Coming to my senses, I tried changing the subject by asking her how the food was. She smiled at me which I took to mean the food was alright, though I don’t pride myself on my cooking. When she was done, I took up the tray and made to leave the room, making a mental note that I would have to go shopping as I had little to no food in the house.

As I reached the doorway, she called out to me, “Thank you…um…?” Turning to her I smiled and said, “Richard. It’s Richard.”

“Ok. Thank you Richard. For everything.”

She smiled again that sad smile of hers.

“It’s nothing. Really.”

I had the mind to ask her there and then all the questions bothering me, but shook myself mentally as this would not be a good time to do just that. So I settled for asking her the simplest question.

“And you are?”

She smiled.

“Bolu.”

“Bolu?”

“Yes.”

“Ok. Bolu,” I said rolling the name on my tongue. “It’s nice to meet you, Bolu.”

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ENCOUNTER PART 1

I shall never forget that night. It was raining heavily outside and the lights were off in my bedroom. I stood at my window through which a streetlight cast a gentle glow. My bedside digital clock read 11:30. On a normal night, I would already be asleep by this time. On this night however, for some reason, I was too wakeful to sleep. Perhaps it was because of how the wind beat so relentlessly at my window; I shall never know. But looking back, I’m glad I was unable to sleep. If it had not been so, I never would have met her.

I don’t recall how long I stood there before I heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen. I listened intently and heard what sounded like someone banging on the backdoor. I felt a wave of panic and the first thought that came to my mind was, burglars! But on second thought, I decided it might be someone needing shelter from the storm. Arming myself with a flashlight, I proceeded to the kitchen to investigate. As I opened the kitchen door, I was greeted by a strong wind blowing and rain pouring in through the wide open backdoor. I immediately ran and closed it, making a mental note to always check that it was locked in future. Nevertheless, there were already large pools of water on the kitchen floor; and drops of something dark too. Shining my flashlight on it, I recoiled at the sight of what it was. Blood! These drops formed a path from the backdoor to the kitchen tabletop. Following this with my flashlight, the beam of light fell on what looked like legs. I moved my flashlight sideways until the light shone on the face of a woman. I almost dropped the flashlight out of shock. Holding the flashlight with a firmer hand, I once more flashed the light on the face of the figure that lay propped up against the tabletop.

It was the most beautiful face I had ever seen; I could not help staring in wonder at it. Her eyes were shut and she was so still that I thought she might be dead. But then I noticed the slight rise and fall of her chest. I breathed a sigh of relief; it would have been sad to see such a striking face go to the grave. The glare of the flashlight must have disturbed her, for she screwed up her eyes. I promptly put off the flashlight and felt the wall for the light switch. Turning it on, I moved towards her and bent down to touch her. The next thing I knew, I felt a very strong grip on my left hand. I stared in surprise at the thin hand that held mine so tightly. My eyes moved from the hand to her face and I shifted back a little in shock. Her eyes were open and she looked at me as if she were a caged animal waiting to strike. I dared not move; if she was as strong as this in her present state, who knew what she could do to me. However, this act seemed too much for her, as she grimaced and her grip slackened. Looking closely at her now, I saw that her lips were very pale and I remembered with a snap all the drops of blood on the floor. I searched her body for the wound and noticed her left hand covered with blood held her left side. The wound must be there, I thought, and she must have lost a lot of blood.

I wasted no time and pulled her up to her feet. Placing her right hand over my shoulder, I half-supported, half-dragged her to the spare bedroom and laid her on the bed. I gingerly removed her left hand from her side and tore the cloth to get a better look at the wound. It was a large diagonal gash from which welled dark red blood. What could have made such a laceration, I could not comprehend. Suddenly she gave a groan. Immediately, I ran to my room and frantically searched for my first aid kit, all the while thanking God that I had for once listened to my mum and kept one in the house. I found it at the back of my wardrobe where it had gradually been covered with cobwebs and ran back to the room. Setting it down on the table by the bed, I began to treat the wound, using my little knowledge of first aid (courtesy of my mum). I collected an old clean shirt from the wardrobe and tore two long strips from it. Tying one above the wound, the flow of blood reduced and I used the remaining cloth to clean up the blood around it. Using cotton swabs and antiseptic spirit, I cleaned the wound. All the while, she made not a sound nor moved. Placing the other strip on the cut, I applied pressure over it and wound bandages round her waist to hold it in place and untied the strip above it.

Satisfied with my work, I peered at her and was surprised to find her asleep, breathing smoothly. I was about touching her again when I recalled what had happened previously in the kitchen. Not wanting to repeat the episode and disturb her sleep, I went to my room leaving both bedroom doors ajar. Climbing into bed, I tried to go to sleep, but it eluded me. Thoughts were running through my mind; who was she? Where was she from? What had she been doing outside on a night like this? Did she have a home? Was she a missing person? How had she gotten that injury? Was someone after her? Was she in any danger? Some many questions and only one person held all the answers: her.

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SOMETHING BIGGER THAN LOVE

Penny was swept from her thirteenth through her fifteenth years as if she were a tumbleweed blown across the desert, coming to rest briefly here and there in becalmed moments, torn loose and sent rolling again as the wind gusted.

Her parents moved a lot and it made Penny a little bit distant from friends. She only spent at most two sessions in a school. Penny understood and bore no grudge against them as she accepted her fate, though she moved from school to school she never got used to the idea. It was always frightening for her and this time she chose not to make new friends.

In their new home Penny got to know their neighbor Mrs. Williams was her mom’s best friend in secondary school and her son Jeremy went to the same school with Penny.

Jeremy was fascinated with the galaxy and soon he and Penny became such good friends. They walked to and back from school together every single day, he kept her safe and held her back from getting hurt.

One evening, her father broke the news that they would be there until her graduation . Penny was thrilled, she really would live a normal life once again and with Jeremy by her side, she thought.

During their short holiday, Mrs Williams told Penny’s family Jeremy was sick and needed a heart transplant. Penny was deeply saddened by the news. “How can Jeremy be sick? It just can’t be possible.” She said to herself.

Penny visited Jeremy when she had the chance, she would often take chocolate-covered peanuts his favorite to him and it made him happy. Whenever Jeremy sensed her anxious or saw tears in her eyes, he would tell her to look at the sky.
“Let the stars at night tell you I’m always here” he would say softly. He always found a way to make her smile.

After a month and a half in the hospital, Jeremy returned home. Penny went upstairs to his room, it was the first time she visited his room and it was unexpectedly neat. She told him a lot of things that took place in his absence and everyone who disturbed her, Jeremy told her he missed everyone and she said “I miss you more.”

Penny thought things might not be the same between her and Jeremy, but in a couple of weeks he was up and about. Before they knew it he was back to school been his normal self. School and girls kept him occupied, but he was always there for Penny. And then he got sick again.

During the first term of their senior year, Jeremy was taken to the hospital for the second time. At first Penny thought it was a false alarm, but it later got worse than she could imagine.

All she could do was pray and hoped that he got better. The walk home became strange and the familiar path became unfriendly. She visited him in the hospital as often as she could, even though she never knew what to say; to tell him everything was going to be alright was a fallacy, yet it comforted them both.

Christmas was spent in the hospital. She would narrate his favorite TV series Merlinand they would talk for hours. The doctors said it was good for him, so he wouldn’t think of the pain he was going through.

Jeremy was determined that they would go to graduation as a couple and Penny assured him they would. She held his hands and looked into his eyes until they stopped looking into hers. He looked peaceful when he said his last goodbye.

Penny locked his face at that moment in her thoughts, but it wounded her soul. He went away even when she tried her best to keep him from slipping. “How can a friend, someone who was with her and kept her happy, be the one person who left her now, forever?” She thought. There was no one to console her.

Now, every evening she would look up in the sky and stare at the stars and she knew he would always be there, in her heart and in her memories. At times, she often wondered why she could not say “I love you” to Jeremy, even at the last second. Maybe it was because she knew he felt the same way.

Penny finished high school and got admitted into the higher institution, she felt sad because Jeremy won’t be there with her to protect her like he always did, but now she knows that friendship goes beyond time and the light of his love told her he’s always there.

THE END

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