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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>
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