As usual, I woke up today not knowing it was a new month until my brother casually said, “Happy New Month!”
I was still rubbing sleep from my eyes and mumbled, “Same to you.”
I’ve been so swamped with work lately, and all my days were routine. Wake up, eat, exercise, work, eat, work, eat, work and sleep.
Repeat
In my head, I said, “Alexa, play Jon Bellion – Human.” Because I’m just so sick of being human, I would like to take a few days day off.
New month huh! I thought. It still hasn’t registered in my head that it was a new month. Where is the year running to? And when was the last time I went out on a date? Was that like two years ago?
Like today is April 1st. That’s ‘April fool’s day!’
One should pay attention to these things, you know. Pranks would be flying in the air waiting to strike unsuspecting folks.
And, I wasn’t prepared. My guard was down to the bottom. Stupid!
I have done some nasty pranks in my days – putting something nasty in people’s foos or a prank call saying that their car was on fire or something. I know, I’m bad. And karma is always sniffing up my ass trying to get some.
******
When my friend, Agei, called me around 7 am-ish, I thought maybe he just rolled out of bed. He sounded terrible, and I could barely even hear him (that one could have been network palava).
Finally I heard him say, “I’ll call you back….brsssssh brsshh…my mom…brsssh brssh brsssh brsssh….okay?
I said okay and the call ended. I summarized it as, he had to pick up a call from his mum.
*******
I was doing crunches, sweat pouring down my back as the muscles in my stomach contracted, and I regretted every decision that led me to eat double portions of every meal. In my defense, I was hungry.
I’m always hungry.
I moved to leg raises, convinced that I would perish on the mat where I lay. As my muscles were about to prove me right, no longer able to withstand the torture, my phone rang. Agie had called back. I crawled over to where my phone was and picked up the call.
“Some of us are trying to stay fit,” I gasped into the phone. I was having a hard time catching my breath and my lungs were working double-time to keep up, I feared they’d explode.
“Did you hear what I said?” Agie asked.
“What did you say?” I rolled my eyes. How did he expect me to hear what he said with the terrible network?
“I told you I’d call you back. I heard that part I thought to myself.
My mum was rushed to the hospital this morning.” His voice was low and as he informed me.
My breath caught. Not again.
Agie’s mum had been in the hospital a few years back. She was sick for a long time.
Because I wasn’t expecting a prank, I believed him.
If I had remembered that it was April fools’ day, I would have been prepared for a prank. Agie is as immature as me when it comes to things like that. I would have stayed ready to
I stopped abusing my body in the name of exercise and focused on comforting my friend.
As it turned out, not remembering that it was April fool’s day saved my friendship. I didn’t say something stupid to Agie like, “You’re lying.” It would have been crazy if he had to spend the next few minutes trying to convince me that his mum was really in the hospital. Agei couldn’t be with her because he had to go to work. It was really messed up.
He needed somebody to talk to, so I sat there covered with sweat and listened to him.
Angie called before the end of the day to tell me that his mum was recovering. I was happy to hear the good news. I hope she makes a full recovery as well.☺️
By the way, I’ve set my calendar for next year’s April fools’ day.
My first entry for April’s writing challenge. As I said, it will be journaling, and I’m excited that I get to embark on this journey.
#Day 1 of My Journal Series.
- What’s The Truth?Our perception of the truth can be distorted…but we’ll still choose to die on that hill.
- Left BehindThe abandoned church stood like a man awaiting trial.
- How To Live Like A HeroAnd the pressure keeps growing and growing and growing until you feel like you are moments away from exploding.
- The Story of How I Met Mo-IsuThe apparition introduced himself as Mo.
- Saturdays Are For WeddingsIt is an unspoken rule that Saturdays are for weddings in Nigeria.
Waking Dreams Unmasked 