What if one trip is all you need to fully understand life?
Eyo Jedidiah Precious@preciouseyo450605
15 days ago
That morning, you planned to get to the park by 7 a.m. and leave home by 6:30 a.m. You needed to be in Abuja from Kaduna by 11 a.m. for a contract later in the afternoon.
"This trip has to go through,"
you whispered to yourself.
But then traffic became a Jezebel; the 20-minute trip to the park suddenly became a one-hour crawl.
"Gosh,"
you screamed, angry that you might not meet up with your appointment by 2 p.m.
You got to the park, settled into your seat in the Sienna, and an hour later, the vehicle broke down on the outskirts of a town that barely had network.
"Oh my God!
What is this, for Christ’s sake?"
you cried, on the verge of tears.
45 minutes later, the vehicle was fixed. Everyone climbed in with complaints hanging on their tongues. You glanced at your wristwatch — 10:15 a.m.
Your prayers kick-started at a speed of 200 km/hr, promising God that if He let you arrive on time, you’d dedicate your entire salary for the month to Him. And right there, the vehicle broke down again.
It felt like your prayer fueled the breakdown… or maybe your village people were on duty.
Thankfully, this time it broke down in a bubbling town. A mechanic was called. One hour later, you were still stuck in the same spot. You checked your wristwatch — 11:30 a.m.
You should have been in Abuja by now, yet you hadn’t even left Kaduna State.
Your phone kept ringing — it was your boss, wanting to know if you were already at the venue. But you were too weak to tell him:
"Sir, it looks like we won’t get this contract.
My village people are definitely after my lîfe."
You could already imagine his outburst… and maybe a query letter waiting on your desk. So you reached for your phone’s power button and switched it off. The vehicle couldn’t make your heart skip beats while your phone gave you a heart attack. No. Not today.
"What am I gonna do now?"
you asked yourself.
But then your stomach burst into a joyful chorus.
"Mai bread!" you screamed.
Uncorking your Pepsi and feasting on the bread, you unconsciously screamed in your head,
"I cannot come and go and kîll myself."
1 hour 30 minutes later, precisely 1 p.m., you arrived in Abuja. You were scared you had missed the contract, but nothing was as scary as switching on your phone.
You got to the appointment venue. The receptionist looked at you and said the contract had been given to another company because you arrived late.
Surprisingly, no tears dropped from your lens.
"Why not make the most of your day here in Abuja?" you said.
Back in your hotel room, you finally switched on your phone. Amid the turbulent text messages and voicemails, you ran to your comfort zone — Phoenix Browser — and there it was, the first four lines of the news:
"At about 11:30 a.m., some passengers traveling to Abuja were kîdnapped at Jere. Two vehicles were stopped, 13 passengers kidnapped, and 4 shót deàd."
Then it dawned on you:
The second breakdown happened just before Jere.
Meaning that if the Sienna hadn’t developed a fault at that exact moment… you would have been in the bush, surrounded by strange armed men.
Calling your boss to report yourself, the next thing you heard shocked you:
"How are you?
Are you safe?
Were you kîdnapped?
Where are you?
How did you escape?"
With tears rolling down your lens, you knew that although you missed the contract… thankfully, it wasn’t your life.
If complaint was a person, it would probably be me. I could sit down for minutes, complaining to God about how things didn’t go in my direction and how my plans didn’t give me the results I desired.
Many times, I would sit and blame myself because I didn’t get access to my wants. Most of those times, it was always a tug of war — anger boiling, because it felt like everything had gone wrong.
But according to Annie Gottlier:
"When some things go wrong, take a moment to be thankful for the many things that are going right."
And also for the moments you’re alive to witness —
because the same bathroom where you bathed ended someone.
The water you drank choked lîfe out of another.
The road you walked through tripped someone into their end.
Even if you’re not grateful for anything, how about this beautiful month of December… a month that didn’t meet you in the bush with bandits or roaming homeless?
So I ask you today:
What are you thankful for? 🌻💞
............................................................
Happy New Month.
Welcome to the month of Christmas rice, chin-chin, and chicken.
And the last month in the year ☺️
©️ Eyo Precious Jedidiah
#dpoeticstoryteller
#NircleStories
