“I can see everything turning around. I can see everything turning around!” Like a chorus in a song meant to be repeated, Sam excitedly repeated his statements as Rhoda watched in amazement. She is yet to understand her brother’s excitement.
She knew he had been daydreaming about a lot of things, as he had shared several of his fantasies with her, but his lively mood seemed beyond imagination. “I think he had finally nailed it,” Rhoda said to herself.
Sam and Rhoda attend the same university. As siblings, there’s hardly a day they won’t be seen together. Like unbreakable cords, their bond is so strong. “What is with the two, gumming bodies every time?” Several of their friends are envious of them. Apart from being a year ahead at the university, Rhoda was a few years older than Sam, and as expected, she was his school mother.
“Every single day, I see the girl of my dreams in my dreams, and I don’t know how to talk to her. Any advice?” Sam brought up one of his funny daydreams, like an elderly sibling teasing their younger one, “So you love her in real life or just in your dreams?” As Rhoda asked, Sam got the sarcasm. “I love her both ways, he replied.”
Like a true sister looking out for her brother, Rhoda had always wanted the best for Sam. “I can’t count the number of things you’ve daydreamed about. You having the best grades, you having a job before you graduate—now it’s a lady you keep ranting about. Can you just take a pill labeled chill?”
Like a frustrated fellow, Rhoda couldn’t hide her feelings, but as always, she tries to go soft on her brother. “In all you said, I think what I am interested in is knowing where I can get the pill.” Sam replied, smiling.
Sam believed he had gotten all the advice he needed from his sister right from his first year. “Don’t focus on girls; focus on your studies. Ladies will follow you, and you’ll pick your choice after you have made it in life. Trust me!”
Like a recorded clip played in Sam’s memory, Rhoda’s words replayed in Sam’s head with vivid images of her gesticulation. What made the moment so real and scary every time Sam remembered was her concluding words, “If you chase women and leave your studies in school, women will chase you away as you’ll be poor after school.”
Sam had seen several poor kids in school, and he had helped them on several occasions. He saw the kind of life they lived, and he never wanted to be like any of them. “I am lucky to have rich parents, and I will never lose that luck,” he had always said to himself.
He had consciously avoided all the ladies in his department, all in the name of ‘avoiding poverty.’ But as much as he tried, like a magnet attracting an iron, there was this lady, he had always been attracted to. He fell in love with her the first day he set his eyes on her, and to complicate matters, he always saw her in his dreams.
After singing the turn-around song, Rhoda had to sit her brother down, as she was interested in whatever made him sing such a song of victory.
She knew he had been daydreaming about a lot lately. “Why are you all over the place, you just won a lottery?” Sam looked at his sister and shook his head as he cleared his throat to reply.
The only interpretation his sister could get from his reaction was, “Thank God I didn’t follow your advice.” Like someone waking from a strange dream to sudden reality, Rhoda couldn’t believe her brother’s countenance could be that disapproving; she felt awkward for the first time ever.
“Thank God I didn’t follow your advice.” Sam’s statement already confirmed Rhoda’s fears. “Okay, what happened?” Rhoda replied.
Sam narrated how he fought the fear of becoming poor and went against his sister’s advice to go for the girl of his dreams, Mary. “Mary was too beautiful for me to let go; despite the fact that I fantasize about spending my life with her, I keep seeing her in my dreams.”
Rhoda couldn’t believe her ears; she almost landed Sam a dirty slap for the first time ever. Like an angry mother getting infuriated with her son’s disobedience, she wanted to instill some discipline. “After all, I’m her school mother,” she said to herself. But Sam quickly stepped away to avoid any friction.
Sam approached Mary behind his sister’s back, and surprisingly, Mary was the daughter of one of the commissioners. She landed Sam a job he wouldn’t have ever dreamed of getting, even after becoming a graduate.
Like a sudden relief from an excruciating pain, Rhoda was so relieved and even had to tell Sam to repeat his story so she could confirm she heard him well.
“Dreams do come true, I guess, and I can't always be right, you know,” Rhoda said. Sam was glad he followed his heart; he knew his love journey with Mary was just the beginning of exciting adventures. His phone rang, and as he picked it up, it was Mary on the line.
“My King, where are you? Daddy said he wants to see us; we may be relocating soon after our graduation,” Mary said. Sam couldn’t contain his excitement. “This is a confirmation of my positive thoughts,” he said to himself.