13/03/2023
AN ORIGINAL STORY
BY JAYDEN M. OKONTA (JSS2)
TITLE: DRY MY TEARS
It was a hot afternoon, when the car drove to the shop and a well-dressed middle-aged woman stepped out from the car and walked to the shop that was locked with an obituary poster on the door. She looked at the poster in disbelieve for a minute before she started crying. People gathered and tried to console her.
After a while, we see the same woman in a different building, a residential area with the two obituary posters posted on the compound gate. She was sitting on a plastic chair inside the compound with neighbours around her. Mama Joy took it upon herself to tell her what had happened. "I remember you, Madam Cynthia, you used to come and visit them before.", she said. “My dear sister", continued Mama Joy, "That’s how we saw it, your friend's husband, Mr. Eguaba was very sick and died in March and was buried in May. Two months later, his wife, Mrs. Eguaba also died. We had rumors that they both died of the dreaded Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) diseases. Like you know, the husband was from the middle belt, Kogi State to be precise while his wife was from Delta State. The husband was buried in his hometown by his people but they refused to bury the woman in Kogi state.
"So where was she buried?", asked Madam Cynthia. She was buried here in the local cemetery. "A day after her burial", continued another woman, a big lorry came with the late husband's, younger brother and packed everything in their apartment. We also heared that as soon as the wife’s family got to hear of this, they also went to Mrs. Eguaba's shop and packed everything away too. The three little children, David (aged 9), Mary (aged 11) and Deborah (aged 13), were left stranded. We took it upon ourselves to take care of them until Mrs. Eguaba's relatives came and took the kids away. After a while we heard that they gave the boy David out as a mechanic apprentice and the girls out as a house help and a maid, respectively. Madam Cynthia asked, "Their father was a top civil servant and their mother was a very successful business woman. I know that they had cars and landed properties. What happened to those?" "Ahh!!" shouted the crowd around her. The family members grabbed whatever they could. A man said he saw Mary hawking pure water on the street. Mary that wanted to be a lawyer, David a pilot and Deborah a doctor. Madam Cynthia was shocked and angry, she asked how she could locate the children and left.
Six months later, in a very beautiful and serene apartment, we see the three happy, well-dressed children with Madam Cynthia, having fun. Deborah the oldest was thanking Madam Cynthia for bringing her and her siblings together again and bringing them to live with her under the same roof as a family again. David turned to her and asked, "Aunty Cynthia, why are you so good and kind to us, even your children love us so much?" Madam Cynthia looked at him and smiled. She then remembered how she met Mrs. Eguaba when she came from Abuja as a lawyer for a case. She couldn’t get a flight so she came by road because she had a case at the High Court, the following day. She arrived late and unfortunately had her purse and phone stolen and was stranded. She also recalled how she stumbled into Mrs. Eguaba's shop and after explaining her problem to their mom, how Mrs. Eguaba sympathized with her, harbored her for two days and even helped her with some money. How they became good friends from then onwards.
Madam Cynthia explained to them that she travelled for a while outside the country to visit her children who lived abroad. That was why she didn’t know what happened till much later. "I never thought that life would ever turn sour for us." , said Deborah. We always had everything that we wanted; love, security, good food, clothes, toys and we attended the best schools. But suddenly everything disappeared. From having maids, we became the servants; from eating anything we wanted, whenever we wanted, to eating whatever was given to us; sometimes, we got to eat only once a day, rotten or left over food. "I was constantly hungry.", chirped in David. "I missed my sisters so much. Not being able to see them, touch them, hold them, not knowing if they were alive or if I would ever see them again was my biggest worry.", said Mary. "I kept praying to God for a miracle, for God to wipe my tears away and restore my family once again. Return my mummy or daddy. And God did, but in a different way.", she added.
Madam Cynthia with tears in her eyes, explained to them that she was able to get their father's gratuity and other properties back for them through her capacity as a lawyer and that everything would be kept and invested for them. Little Mary went to her and hugged her and asked, "Please, may I call you mommy?" David and Deborah also echoed the same question. With tears in her eyes, Madam Cynthia opened her arms to them and hugged them tight while saying, “Yes I will be honoured to have you call me “mommy”."
THE END
MORAL OF THE STORY
1. Keep doing good, you never know when and how you will reap your reward.
2. Never give up hope.
MAJOR THEMES: Greed, Gratitude
MINOR THEMES: Hope, Steadfastness.
