Storyteller - It's Not Fair

[4min Read]

Her name was Rose Aliko. She was a multimillionaire. Her peers and staff described her as the most joyous person they'd ever met. Always kind and helpful, sacrificing whatever she could for those who needed it, and always reaching for new heights.

Today, she was going to visit him. It was a tradition. She wouldn't miss it for the world. When she got there, she laid the flowers down, as she smiled and told him "Happy Birthday". She did this every year. Wore a nice dress. Sprayed perfume. Wore pretty makeup and drove by herself to meet him.

"Happy birthday", she would tell him. There was no reply as always. But it was okay. She was used to it. She didn't expect much anyways - because as always, she was only here to give and give and give. She saw nothing wrong with it. She was happy this way.

She recalled the first time they met. Ten years ago, on a bridge in the city. It was not a romantic meeting. You see, she had been trying to kill herself.


He had parked his car on the other side of the road and walked towards her.

"Hey...", he had started out.
"Look, I don't know what you're going through right now. But I promise, this is not any kind of answer to your problems."

He had a rich bass baritone that flowed like fluid promises. As if you couldn't ever break it, if you tried. It was dressed with an educated accent. The kind that said, 'respect me' in subtle, serious tones.

"Listen. Come down for a minute. Let's talk. That's all. You can do it. You won't lose anything by talking. Life has hit you really damn hard, I can understand that. But you need to smile it away no matter what. You've got to give yourself new cards when life gives you bad ones. You've got to fight win, even when it seems like you were only ever born to lose. Just listen to me". He approached her slowly with every sentence, step by gentle step.

"Sometimes life will douse you with gasoline, when you're lighting a candle to show others the way. Smile anyway. Because in the face of the darkness, the only way to win is to become the light."

He was almost right behind her.
"Live. It's not fair, I know, but live anyway"

She continued to listen to him. She didn't even know why.

"I can't promise I have all the answers, but I can promise I can make a difference if you let me. Right now, you have a choice. It's not an easy one, but it makes all the difference. Make this your moment. Nobody else, nothing else matters. Just you. Please. Choose you. Choose this moment."

She didn't know why, but she decided she would make a different kind of jump this night. Away this time, from the devil and the deep blue sea. For the first time in 3 years, things looked promising. Then suddenly, a strong wind blew, and she found herself falling forward.

At this moment, for her, all of time stood still.

Her life didn't flash before her eyes. Terror, did. Pure, unbridled, unparalleled, unrestricted, undignified, greedy and reckless fear. It stole her heart away, and put a water balloon in its' place - useless and unmoving. This couldn't be happening. She wanted to live!! Nothing mattered anymore. Not the pain. Not the pregnancy. Not the abandonment. Not the theft. Not the insults. Not the disease. Not the beatings. Not the expulsion. What about all the inspirational words this man had just told her? She realized, now, she wanted... to live. She wanted to live!  SHE WANTED TO LIVE!!

As she lost hope, seeing her feet fall off the railing - suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back, and down onto the bridgeway. She struggled to regain her footing and held fast to the railing for support as her knees began to buckle under her weight, she gasped for air as her heart struggled to stop running a race it wasn't designed for.

She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard screeching tires behind her, and some kind of loud thud. But she could barely concentrate. Then it hit her. She was alive. SHE WAS ALIVE!!

Tears of joy and relief ran down her face as she turned around to thank her benefactor for saving her life. She owed him everything for stopping her. He was God sent. She had to thank him. She turned around excitedly - and as soon as she did, she froze. This was not the scene she was expecting.

There was her benefactor. Lying on the floor. His head split open. He had been hit by a car as he was stumbling back after rescuing her.

Everything went blank after that. She was told later that she was screaming for hours, until her throat gave out and she fainted. But she had no memory of that. It was like there was a corruption in her memory, as she tried to recall it, all she got were chills across her body and a sick nauseous feeling. She also later found out, that his name was Dr. Murphy Ememe. It had been his birthday that day. His co-workers, wife and friends had been planning a surprise party for him, as he had been just recently promoted to the head position in the new hospital he had been helping to build. They didn't forgive her. It was unfair, they said. She agreed with them. She too, did not forgive herself.

Today. She sat down on the grass. Looking at the gravestone. Determined to show him, that he was right, as she did every year, and so she started to tell him about her year. She sat still as she narrated it. Smiling, her eyes turning red, and tears flowing down like spring water after a far too generous rain. Her face hot like a furnace stone. Her hands clammy, like they were gripped by the sea. Her heart beating, like a badly made drum that did not recognize the beats of any kind of music. All her heart did, was beat the same line in morse code. Over and over. Screaming it out.

"It's not fair... It's not fair"

She was almost sure a stethoscope could confirm this. Her cheeks hurting, from the straining of muscles against the nature of her state of mind. But she continued to smile anyway.

She had promised him she would always smile, you see. No matter how very unfair, that this cruel life, was still being.



Written By Jamike Ekennia-Ebeh

-----------------------------------------------
Did you like this story? You can check out others like;
1. Oh! Dear Pain.
2. Defeated Not
3. The Case