Score |
412
Edder
Student @ University of Abuja
Student @ University of Abuja
THE BOY WHO WANTED A SCHOOL BAG
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="background-color: transparent;"><strong>Part Three : The Road He Never Chose</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa stopped asking about school.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Not because he stopped wanting it.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He simply realised that some questions become embarrassing when they are answered with the same no every time.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">So he started going to Uncle Sani's shop.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">At first, it was supposed to be temporary.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">“Just until things get better,” his father had said.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa believed him.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Children are good at believing adults.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He spent his mornings carrying boxes, sweeping the shop and running small errands for customers.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Whenever the school bell rang from the building across the road, he would pause.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Sometimes he could hear the children reciting their lessons.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Sometimes he could hear them laughing during break.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">And sometimes he would see them through the window.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He knew some of them.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">They knew him too.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">But they knew him as the boy who worked at the shop.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">One afternoon, a customer handed Musa some money and asked him to calculate the change.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa stared at the notes.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He could count.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">But he couldn't calculate quickly.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">The customer became impatient.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">“Don't you go to school?”</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa smiled.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">“No.”</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">The man looked at him for a moment before taking his money.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">That evening, Musa returned home later than usual.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He found Zainab sitting at the table with her books.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">She was struggling with a mathematics question.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">“Help me,” she said.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa looked at the question.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He didn't know the answer.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Zainab laughed.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">“You don't know?”</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa smiled too.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">“No.”</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">She returned to her book.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa walked away.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">That night, he brought out the old piece of paper from under his pillow.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">The alphabet was still there.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">The handwriting was beginning to fade.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He traced the letters with his finger.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">A.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">B.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">C.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Then he stopped.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">For a long time, he stared at the paper.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He suddenly understood something he had never been old enough to understand before.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">A dream doesn't always disappear when you abandon it.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Sometimes it stays.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Quietly.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Growing older with you.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">Musa folded the paper again and placed it beneath his pillow.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">The next morning, he went back to the shop.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">But this time, when the school bell rang...</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">he didn't look toward the window.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">He looked down at his hands.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">They had started to look like his father's.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">And somehow, that frightened him.</p><p style="text-align: justify; "><br/></p><p style="text-align: justify; ">To be continued.</p>
|
27
Other insights from Edder
Contributor Points
Points-to-Coupons
Referral Earning
Insights for you.
All that I gave
Oh, hey there!It's me... again...You know, There's so much I want to saySo much I want ...
524 views
89 upvotes
88 comments
The Manipulation.
"Mom started looking at me differently from that day.I remember it like the back of my ...
244 views
73 upvotes
88 comments
The Root of Evil.🌚
I like money.But they said it's the root of evil. 🙂Sorry, get your facts straight.The l...
232 views
73 upvotes
80 comments
The 3AM World.
My favourite time of every day is between 1 a.m. and 4a.m.That's when the world is the ...
218 views
65 upvotes
69 comments
Drowning.
I can't breathe.I tried again.Nothing.My lungs burned.The water surrounded me, cold and...
198 views
60 upvotes
68 comments
Eden.
I came to this house very young, with one other.We were accepted so warmly.Everyone lov...
174 views
53 upvotes
61 comments
