TYWA 2020 Nomination for The Read-Worthy Prize Timileyin

 

16 - ALL THROUGH THE MIRROR

Akinmoyeje Timileyin Precious lives in Ondo State (19 years old). This story was slightly edited for grammatical accuracy and to better serve TGF readers. The originality of the story is 100% intact.

It was just another Monday morning. Well, maybe it wasn't just another; this one felt different from the usual. I could sense something strange about the atmosphere.

It was 5:00 AM. The bells of the cathedral had started tolling as usual. That day, they were passing a different message; a solemn one, a message that only I was yet to decipher.

Even the wind echoed it slowly, delibrately, as though it were reiterating the solemnity of the bell's tolls. I stood at the half broken mirror - a Monday morning ritual - to brush my teeth and make out what the morning was about. 

I drifted into thoughts; memories of recent years slowly became visible on the mirror: my near death experience when the news of my father's death reached me, how I almost failed an examination, how I had to do menial jobs to pay for an admission exam, and how I failed this same examination.

How unbearable it was to watch my mother during my father's burial, the constant mood swings when I try to figure out my purpose. The troubles, distress... 

"Jide, it's time; let's go," Mother's voice cut in. Her voice seemed to have shattered the images projected on the mirror. I quickly rushed through the morning usuals, stepped out into the morning chill and took my usual seat beside my mum at the front seat of her decade-old Golf car.

Since the holiday started, I had had to follow her to her place of work. She owned a laundry business at the outskirts of the town. I particularly never liked the journey, especially because of the condition of the path that led to her laundry house. It usually is a battle of enduring pain while navigating bumps, avoiding collision with incoming vehicles, and hits from vehicles behind.

I had become so familiar with the road; I knew how and where to watch out for bumps and avoid death traps, especially by looking through side mirrors. Looking through the side mirrors again that day, it struck me; the deadly-looking bumps I saw through the windshield were the ones I now saw in the side mirror - behind me.

My troubles, problems — they are now images, memories to be reflected on. I realized, once, that if I do not stop moving, insurmountable circumstances eventually become things of the past, reflections in the side mirror of life.

Review: In a few words, this inspiring piece is what you'll call "food for the mind" -richly told, beautifully written, and as simple as a child's first smile. -TGF team.

Ensure you VOTE below if you want Precious to win the Read-Worthy Prize, TYWA 2020.