October 1st – Short story



 I was lost in the gaze. The view before me, even though not far from my nose, appeared a mile away.

It was one of those days; my mind was restless and in an attempt to free it, I left the house foraging for an inner peace.

The beach is one of my favourite places to visit whenever I needed some time alone. I enjoy the tranquillity and calmness coupled with the cool breeze that greeted me at my favourite spot.
The wave would roll with speed and crash at the feet of people playing at the shore before drawing its hand back into its body; an event that continues till the end of time-  after all, it does all the time I spent out there.

As I sat away from the water body owing to my irrational phobia, I observed the splendorous blue colour above the magnificent sea which gives the impression of a meeting point of the sky and the beach. I appreciated the scenery been fed to my eyes and wish I could be courageous enough to sail down there someday in my life time or perhaps in another life.

In between my view and my comfort was a wilderness of worrisome thought; one which I was led into after a moment. It seemed torturing as I felt a migraine immediately I landed therein with prayers to overcome the temptation or frustration that may follow.

“Do you care for a sandwich?” the lady who dressed in a swimming outfit with a pronounced figure-eight and sitting a few meters beside me asked generously. She had come with her boyfriend for a picnic. I watched the unbuttoned shirt of her boyfriend been waved by the breeze as he comes towards us with a cooler probably containing drinks to compliment their fun for the day.

“No thanks a lot.” I responded with a smile and I quickly get my eyes of their location. “Sandwich is not my worry” I added, but this time, under my breathe.

As I journeyed back into my thoughtful itinerary, I casted my mind back to a day like this last year and the year before up till the moment of my childhood when I was able to differentiate my left from right. There has always been one problem or the other rocking the Nation.

From the era of the military to this period of ‘true’ democracy, one obnoxious news or the other has always surfaced. My worry ranges from religion, corruption, terrorism up to the politics of the day in Nigeria.

I thought that “If at 55 years, the country is still battling with the same issues as of the past; I wonder what news would be trending next year and the monster that may likely surface in years to come.”

After a thorough brain mêlée, I stood, dusted my trousers. I brushed the flower ornaments on the dry land as I made my way back to my car promising myself not to only leave a good country behind for my children, but also to leave good children behind.

_END_

© Akinsehinwa Damilola, oct 1,2015.

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