Good day to you all here in the Inkwell community.
On a cloudy day, the weather looked so cool, at the same time it looked like it would rain a lot. We could only predict, no one can say exactly. The weather became a factor for everyone to remain indoors and not even bother preparing for lectures or any sort of outings. What a perfect day I thought.
I was on my bed in my room scrolling through the screen of my device while I glanced through the news update on my browser. After a little while I played some games and thought of dropping my phone for a little sleep while I took that as an opportunity to retain my battery in case of any update from our lectures group chat.
About to end the game. I got a pop notification on my screen and it was just the group chat I thought about. It was about the postponed test that was scheduled for days ago but couldn’t hold because of the heavy downpour that day. I opened the notification to read it in full. And I realized that the test would be held the next day as early as 7 am.
The sleep got off my face, as I got on my feet and started preparing for school. I wandered around for a few minutes looking for what wasn't lost, I got destabilized for some moments thinking about where I had to start. I need to revise all I read and prepared for days ago. If not, failure must be smiling at me. I know the nature of myself when it comes to studying.
It was late noon already, so I thought of sleeping overnight at the school and then using that opportunity to charge my low device while I study. That was my thoughts before I got to the sitting room and told everyone I would be heading over to school because of the impromptu test and I would have to put off my hotspot too.
I don't take my phone to school when I have exams or tests. I have always dropped them at home. But I didn’t know what came to me that very day. I felt I would be able to keep the phone safe during the test period.
I was about to leave the house before someone shouted “Qudus dropped your phone at home, why take it to school for the test?. Let us enjoy your hotspot till you come”. I smiled and moved on.
A few walks from the gate, I thought to myself what if my phone got stolen? Is it not better that I leave it in the care of these guys at home, at least it would be safe with them till I arrive the next day. Another thought came to me: what if the power went off while I am studying, what would I use to finish my reading? So I will have to sleep till the next day.
I was in that same spot for up to 10 minutes thinking of what decision I had to make. Should I drop this phone at home to avoid theft? Or I just take it to school and take the risk. But I got overpowered by that intuition which told me to take it to school. So I headed for the bus stop and took a cab to the school premises.
My friend called me to confirm if I was in the night class before coming because he wished to drop his device at home before coming. But when he called and I told him I was in the lecture room. He knew I took my phone to school. He asked about how I will secure my phone while we are having tests. But assured him my phone would be safe. So he decided to come along with his phone too.
Strange questions and thoughts started rolling down my head. What if they get to steal both of our phones? How am I going to go about it?
I kept my cool and then took my mind off it. I was optimistic that our phones would be safe and not in the hands of thieves.
The next morning we were about to get into the exam hall for the test when my friend asked about how our phones would be safe. I quickly collected it and headed straight to a kiosk owner whom I do patronize well but to my surprise, she wasn’t around as at that time. Probably it was too early. I became frustrated and started thinking of other possible options. That was the only place I can trust the safety of our phones.
I later got to take a regretful decision. I risked keeping it at someone else's store because I saw people keep theirs there. I quickly rushed into the hall for the test, and immediately we were done. I went straight for our phones.
What if we didn’t find our phones again? My friend asked jokingly.
I didn’t answer him but focused on getting my bag. When I got there I couldn’t find my bag where I kept it. I challenged the kiosk owner, but she insisted it was where I dropped it. She later said, one of my friends just came to pick it up.
At that moment I realized our phones were long gone.
HEADER IMAGE: By Pixabay
