Word length: 200-300

Blackness.

Someone is frantically calling my name.

A tiny light. I walk towards it. It keeps growing. I follow it.

*****

I wake up on the floor. Why am I on the ground by the roadside? And why is there a crowd around me?

I don’t remember lying down here.

I remember waking up this morning – in bed – and wishing that today was Saturday. I remember grudgingly preparing for school. I remember going to school and surviving 4 hours of boring lectures, trying hard not to fall asleep. I remember eating hot rice and ofe akwu in Mama Ejima’s shop amidst usual architecture banter. I remember copying from Ada during that impromptu quiz on Public Health Engineering. I remember leaving the class, glad to be done for the day. I remember planning with Ada to go to the evening market. I remember walking to the bus stand with Ada. I remember boarding a bus and seating in front of Ada. I remember plugging in my headset and setting Little Mix’s “Hair” on repeat.

I remember him boarding the same bus and taking the seat by the window. I remember the odour that hit the bus shortly after he boarded. I remember turning to the other side in search of clean air and finding none. I remember texting Ada: “I’m dead. He stinks.” I remember increasing the volume of the headset in a bid to block out the odour coming from him. I remember praying he drops as soon as possible. I remember him turning to me and opening his mouth to say something. I remember the odour that hit me – stronger than the first.

That is the last thing I remember.

Really.

By Hope Eboh

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