A hero is someone who fights for a cause, a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. A hero isn’t just Spiderman, Robin Hood, or Captain America; a man who saves a drowning child is a hero, a kid who smiles at a depressed fellow and stops them from committing suicide is a hero, and even a dog who attacks a criminal and prevents an old woman from being robbed can be termed a hero. So, it’s safe to say that being a hero can mean different things to different people.
Today, I’ll tell you a story of a hero I know. This story has a religious and tertiary institution background so, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for this ride.
There’s a girl who was once elected as part of the excos of her religious group. She didn’t particularly know how to handle the responsibility she was handed but trusted that she’ll have guidance from her superiors. She sought to please everyone and make them happy. I do not have permission to use her real name so, let’s call her Ariana. Ariana was a typical example of someone who’s trusting, too trusting if you ask me. She didn’t believe the people she treated right and tried very hard to understand would ever treat her badly or misunderstand her at least not without asking her first. She broke the first rule every human should keep in mind, “don’t expect anything from anyone.”
Ariana had a male friend with whom she was very close. This guy always came through for her. He was always one call away and was willing to go miles for her. Ariana returned the energy and soon they were inseparable but that was that about it. Theirs was not a romantic relationship. They both lived off-campus and their lodges were close-by, so they did things together. During the day, they studied together, attended church together, and on weekends, they went sporting together. Let’s call the guy Alexis. Alexis was the closest thing Ariana had to a true friend and she was not about to let go. During her examination period, she and one of her coursemates who happened to be her friend would go over to Alexis’s apartment to study. Alexis also usually had a few of his friends around too. The reason for this was that Alexis' apartment was quite large. Larger than the average student apartment. Plus, Alexis had a generator. The students usually had light issues and light is very essential during examination periods for effective studying. So, Alexis always made his generator available for his friends to come around and study with him. It turned into some massive group study where the sole purpose was to cheer each other up and study as much as possible. A good result was the goal, after all.
Unfortunately for Ariana and typical of the people in her part of the world, her relationship with Alexis was misunderstood. To everyone, she was just shameless. Rumors were flying all around her. She heard a lot of mean and condescending things about herself. Some said she was cohabiting, some said she was sleeping around and her position in her fellowship made things worse. “How can we have someone of such questionable character at the hem of our affairs?” some asked. Ariana didn’t know what to do because she was not guilty as charged so, there was no bad behaviour to amend. She felt bad because she was innocent, and no one cared. At some point, some fellowship members went around questioning her roommates about where she sleeps. Ariana was distraught and had the strong urge to give up her position but what broke her completely, leaving her completely numb was when she found out that someone for whom she had complete trust was helping to propagate the rumor. He was an older friend whom she always confided in. He was that kind of friend you hold in very high esteem and believe can never do wrong. Ariana knew it was the end for her. She could take a lot of things but not this level of betrayal. If she hadn’t figured it herself, she would have called anyone who dared accuse him of such act. That was how much trust she and a lot more people had for him because he had won people’s trust and had remained in good standing. The happenings around her left her in a deep, dark pit and she had no idea if she’d ever come out of it.
Ariana was getting ready to send in her resignation letter when a certain guy from the same fellowship came up to her. Let’s call him Blake. He was also an exco, but they weren’t particularly friends and that was why Ariana was a little confused as to what the conversation would be about. Blake began to quote certain parts of the scripture for her, and she immediately figured out what it was about, her relationship with Alexis. She agreed with herself to let him come all out then, she would give it to him hot but something he did left her speechless. He wasn’t judging her; he wasn’t there to condemn her rather he wanted to hear her part of the story. No one ever asked her part of the story and she immediately had tears in her eyes. He wanted to know why she was always seen with Alexis, he wanted to know if what people said about her belongings being littered all over Alexis' room was true, and he wanted to know her side of the story. Slowly, she told him all there was to tell. Blake couldn’t believe how twisted this story had become. Ariana told him her resignation plans but Blake wouldn’t have it. He literally begged her not to give up her position and for what? People who weren’t worth it? It wasn’t worth it to Blake. He asked Ariana not to give up but instead show the world how resilient she could be. When she mentioned her older friend who had broken her trust, even Blake didn’t believe what she said about him.
Blake did what I call taking charge of Ariana’s life. He always called her and paid her visits. Blake would come over to her place every day they were supposed to attend church fellowship and bring her along. Blake shared her responsibilities and gave her ideas when she ran short of them. He believed in her and in her abilities and if anyone had even one wrong thing to say about her, that person would have him to contend with. Blake worked tirelessly to bring sunshine back into Ariana’s life. As for Alexis, the situation got to him so bad that he pulled away. It happened that his reputation mattered more to him. All Ariana had now was Blake and he didn’t care what anyone had to say. Some persons simply said she had him roped in like she always does but Blake couldn’t care less. He became Ariana’s anchor and best friend. To Ariana, he was her knight-in-shining-armor which was why her world crumbled when she lost Blake to the cold hands of death. She felt life had dealt her its biggest blow and she would never recover from it.
This is a true-life story of how Blake was a true hero to Ariana and even if he has left her in this cold, dark world, he had left footprints in her heart that will never be erased and will forever be her HERO. I know all these because Ariana was my best friend and one-time roommate, and she wasn’t the only one Blake brought sunshine to. He did that to everyone he came across. He was truly an angel and heaven took him back too soon.
