It's ten days to my birthday. Every normal child would be extremely excited about their birthdays. They'd get to meet cousins they haven't seen in years, invite friends over and play party games. But I wasn't looking forward to my 20th birthday, because it would be more of a funeral than an actual birthday party.
You see, I wasn't like other kids. I was special (or so they say). My life was bigger than what everyone else saw. My parents had told me when I was younger that I was born to save others; I was born to die. Just imagine being told that you would die.
You might be thinking, "how does my death save the world?". Well, everything is in a balanced state. That's why there's good and bad, rich and poor, beautiful and ugly. A slight increase or decrease in any of these things could cause absolute chaos. But every 10 years, an extra child is born, a child who shouldn't exist and the birth of this child disturbs the world's balance causing all sorts of hazards. This balance will only be disturbed when the child is transitioning into adulthood (in this case, when the child turn 20). Unfortunately, I am that extra child. And to maintain the balance, I had to be eliminated. It's sad but I had learnt to live with it.
Back to what I was saying. As the days drew closer, I started feeling something I had never felt before, FEAR. And as I felt fear kicking in, I also realized that I had never felt a man's touch. I know this might sound weird to you, but for a 19 year old I was pretty fulfilled. I am a well known writer and one of the youngest successful writers in my country. I volunteer in orphanage homes and I had decided to donate my wealth to charity. I had wealth and fame, what more could a person ask for?. I had all this but I didn't want them. I just wanted to feel LOVE. So with this realization, I decided that I would meet a man and fall in love in the next 9 days.
DAY 9
I woke up the next morning with so much determination. I picked up my phone and called my best friend, Dan. Dan is a boy (yes, a boy) but he just gets me. He's the only one who knows me for me and not my fame. He was also the only one, apart from my family, aware of my "situation". He came over and I told him my plan. He looked at me perplexed and said "why do you think you need love now?". That question threw me off balance. I thought about this for a second, "why do I really need the love I'm looking for?". I just waved it off. My plan was to get him to hook me up on blind dates as from the next day. He wasn't happy about it, but it was his best friend's last dying wish, he had no choice but to say yes. We agreed to start as from tomorrow and he left with an expression I had never seen on his face before. It was so strange, I didn't even know what to make of it. Weird!
DAY 8
My first blind date is today. I'm so excited and also nervous. I've been on a lot of adventures but I've never been on a quest to find love. Dan came to pick me up and took me to my favourite restaurant. There I met the most handsome guy I've ever set eyes on sitting at my table fiddling with his menu. At this point, I could feel butterflies in my belly. I sat down and we started talking.The more we talked, the more I realized that he wasn't the one I was looking for. I couldn't feel anything. He was very nice and friendly but he loved my achievements and not me. I came out of the restaurant disappointed, but there was still a drop of hope left.
DAY 7
I was in front of my bedroom mirror staring at my reflection and noticed a figure entering my room. It was my mum. She came to me, held my shoulders and said "you have become a very beautiful young lady". I smiled at her comment and kissed her on the cheek as I left her in my room. I can't believe I have to leave my mother all alone. I hope she'll stay strong for me.
I made my way to the Cafe where I was to meet my second date. We met outside and walked into the Cafe together. This particular date wasn't bad (it wasn't good either). He was very nice but only to me. The way he scolded the waitress one time startled me. Was this the kind of person I wanted to be with? No, of course not. I wanted someone who was kind to everyone and not just to me. He was a bully. I guess this is going to be harder than I thought.
DAY 6
Here I was, standing under the stars with blind date number 3. It was beautiful and this guy had brought me here to prove that we were meant for each other. He placed my hands on his shoulder and his hands made their way around my waist. As he pulled me closer, I felt oddly comfortable. I felt safe in his arms. The chemistry between us was undeniable. We had only met each other a few hours, but it felt like I had known him for years. It seems my quest has finally come to an end. I raised my head from his chest and as I drew closer to kiss him, I heard my dad screaming "get up, it's 7pm already". It was all a dream and I had missed my 3rd date. Urghhhh!
DAY 5
So the past dates were disasters. It made me wonder if life was really all about the fame and wealth. People only want to be with you if there are benefits. And if they don't get what they want, they dump you, abandon you and leave you broken. No wonder people have trust issues. Are there really good people in the world anymore? There must be someone different. I am not giving up on love yet.
DAY 4
After the dream I had last night, I felt oddly enthusiastic. I mean, if it could happen in a dream there's a chance it would happen in real life. I still felt there was still hope. Dan decided to walk me to the place I and my date were supposed to meet. Sometimes I just wish guys would be more like Dan. He was so supportive and he really showed how much he cared about me. Too bad I can't date my best friend. We parted ways and I made my way to my seat. My date wasn't there. I waited for 4 hours but he didn't show. He stood me up. I didn't really feel disappointed because I stood up my date yesterday too, so I guess it's karma. There's always tomorrow. Right?
DAY 3
I couldn't believe my eyes. My date was flirting with the waitress right in front of me. I had already been fed up of all the sexist comments he had been making, but this was the height of it. How dare he? He was literally hitting on another lady in front of me. He didn't even care whether I was in front of him. I stood up and left. People really are mean. They just want to hurt, manipulate and dump you. So why do we even bother when we know it always ends the same way? Maybe because people are already used to this cycle. I will never understand humans.
DAY 2
I give up!
I give up on humans.
They aren't worth the pain.
And I am going to die without feeling the one thing I longed for. Was it too much to ask for? As I lay on my bed and sobbed, I heard my door open. It was Dan. He and my family are the only ones who refuse to give up on me. He walked to my bed, raised me off the bed gently and did something unexpected. He hugged me and let out the words "it's going to be okay, we're here for you all the way". Those were the most comforting words I've heard. I felt warmth in my heart for the first time in forever and I liked it. All the fear suddenly vanished and I felt something new in my heart, I felt love. I realized that the love I so longed for wasn't the one I would get from any male. It was the one displayed all this time by my best friend and parents. These people never gave up on me. They showed me TRUE LOVE. Maybe not all people are the same. Maybe people keep going back because they believe that there are people who love them and they want to find those people. Maybe humans aren't as bad as I thought. As long as I have these three who have showed me great love, I believe that there are still good out there.
LAST DAY
I spent the entire day (yesterday) enjoying the love I got from my parents and my best friend. I loved feeling loved and now I feel truly fulfilled. And now is time to do the right thing. It was going to be a quick painless death. I was just going to be injected with a drug and I would drift slowly to the land of the unknown. Dan and my parents stood with tears in their eyes as they watched me on the bed. As I laid, I started thinking about how naive I was 10days ago. Father looked into my eyes I could see the sadness and pain he was holding back aw he took out the injection and inserted the needle into the vain on my right arm, I could feel the liquid flowing into my body, slowly I began to feel sleepy, I raised my eyes and looked at my family.. Tears rolled down my cheeks, I smiled .. My eyes closes gently and I let out my last words ...... 'thank you'
THE END!
TEN DAYS TO LOVE is a short fictional story written by one of my students Okweri-Eric Odomero Golden. In other to boost their writing prior to their upcoming certificate examination, I told the SSS3 class I will be giving them weekly writing prompt to help them boost their writing skills. The writing prompt for last week was, "Write a story that takes place across ten days", and in other to encourage them more, I decided I will share the best three stories written by them here on my blog, and they agreed. I must say, those that submitted tried, but this particular story by Odomero, got to me, I love how she carefully came up with her story and made it look so real and beautiful. My goal now, apart from them doing well in English Language in their WAEC examination, I think I will be giving Odomero more writing prompts, I have seen a different side of this young lady, and I hope to help her get more from her writing. Y'all gat to admit, this is one beautiful writing, yes, she still have a lot to do to get better, but I think this is a good start.
Also, I'd love to use this medium to say thank to an amazing lady in my life, Onyinye Joy Ifeoma Onwuegbuzia, who always take her time to edit my write up before sharing with y'all, but I really want to thank her for finding time to give the final editing to this amazing story by my student. It's obvious she don't edit my posts only because she like me, but because she want to see me grow, right now, I can't love her less, because she want to see others grow too, and in this case, my student.
Please y'all encourage my little girl, because I would want to encourage her to write more, I look forward to sharing more of her work and send her earnings to her, yes, I ain't taking her rewards, I just want the world to see the amazing writer that she's about to become. Please support the post by re-blogging and leave your honest review about her work in the comment section, I will definitely read them to her. Thanks for visiting my blog.
