I woke up after series of nightmares, cold
sweat ran through my skin, I thought it was the
usual insomnia I have been battling with for
weeks now but… , but this was quite different.
Your face kept re-occurring in every nightmare
like cancer it kept spreading, I dare not close
my eyes for a minute, so I sat back to think.
You would ask yourself what could be going
through a 16 year old boy’s mind.
“Oh! I’m INSANE!!” or “Am I still stuck in my
nightmares?”
4:16 a.m as I kept tabs on time, I prepared to
have my bath and leave for class, the Hyde-
Johnson dormitory was still filled with boys
sleeping, I let out a heavy sigh wishing I was in
their place.
Now 7:20 a.m, I left the dormitory en route
for the dining hall, something caught my eyes,
a dead bird, the first thing I saw while coming
out of my hostel and it was right in front of me,
my heart jolted and my brain went back
remembering those nightmares. I tried to keep
calm saying..
“it’s just poultry it’s going to DIE anyway”….
During classes, I had these unnerving feelings, I
was extremely quiet; well yes I was quiet and I
kept to myself most times on a normal day. I
was even named the weird guy by friends and
got a lot of questions like…
“Why are you so strange?”
But I waved them off with a smile.
Today was different, I felt I was weird, I know I
was more strange today than normal days as it
was clearly written all over my face, I had a
short inner battle with my spirit, telling myself,
“this is not me. What is happening to me?”.
I left the question hanging as the bell rang
and I dashed out to the call center to talk to
my dad, yesterday was father’s day and we
spoke for hours, the usual fatherly advice and
so on.
You see my mum has been with my dad in
India who went for his regular medical check-
up. Well 4 years ago, my dad was diagnosed
with a kidney problem and he immediately
went for a kidney transplant which was
successful. I couldn’t be more happy for my
hero.
As the phone got through, I didn’t even let
her say “Hi.” I started narrating how my day
went but I paused in the middle trying to figure
out if my mum had been sobbing, because, this
didn’t sound like her cheerful voice.
Then the question came out….
“Is daddy okay?”
But the reply I got was… was, not a reply but
my mum sobbing her heart out.
As I shouted, creating a scene which I wasn’t
aware of.
“LET ME SPEAK TO DADDY!!”, “I WANT TO
SPEAK TO DADDY!!!”
All eyes were on me, I was in shock as my
flashbacks started running, like I was in the
front row of a cinema watching a movie
starring only me, titled “MY DAY”
Monday, 18. 06. 2012; 3:26 a.m , the
nightmare… , the bird… all made sense now,
gasping for air I felt feeble and finally passed
out…
Now i’m speaking to the remains of my hero,
”you were everything to me.” Everything you
taught me I tried to make it perfect and build
on them and I’m not little no more, if only you
could see.
Sitting by your grave, no one else but you and
me.
And I want to ask you one question and
maybe the
DADDY ARE YOU PROUD OF ME?
BY KUNBI DIA