My mind has always been a battle field with good and evil warring against each other. However, my mind has also housed so many of my triumphs and dreams born from mere imagination.
Since I got to the age to fully appreciate music, I never listened to a beautiful melody without imprinting images with my life on them. I seem to always float away from reality and get so in my head that it feels like I am actually living that life.
One of my most recent, most vivid image in the nation of my mind happened earlier this year during one of my work trips. We were heading to Abuja to serve about seven hundred guests and I love road trips. This is when I am able to enjoy scenery while getting lost in the arms of cloudy passion without worrying about cost.
We were four (five if you count the driver) and for the first time, we enjoyed a comfortable ride. We didn’t have to squeeze ourselves. The others were already waiting at the venue so, I had all the space needed to really relax and forget about the world around me.
I set my playlist on shuffle, while my eyes watched the trees and the road just go by; I felt invincible. We came across a small village that seemed to be built on rocks and it looked so rural I found myself thinking what it’d be like if I actually lived there.
Would I be inspired to write a book?
And that was when the song hit my ears. I tuned out every other thought and a flurry of images took hold of my imagination. I watched like in a film as my life evolved and a lot of my dreams took form and shape, morphing into something so real, it felt like 3D. Then, like it had just been slotted, a picture appeared from the back of my mind...
I love to dance even though I can’t. Most of my imaginations has me on the dancefloor almost 90% of the time. This time is no different. Only that I am not alone. The song is upbeat and I am sharing it with six pairs of bright eyes.
They were all wearing a customized white shirt on top of jeans and so was I. We got into the Bridge Park and they let loose, their excitement was so obvious when we entered the arena. There were other people around but it was just these little ones I saw. From playing virtual games, to riding bumper cars, eating Snickers and going into the haunted house.
Then we danced and took pictures and laughed as the dog put on a show trying to get a piece of pie. In my mind, I nurtured and helped them, gave them the boost they needed to actually become more. Teaching them from the knowledge I consumed daily. They grew into teens and the whole game changed.
It was a lot of work. I had to research and read books on how to really relate them. I also learned from my experiences with them. With time, I began to get the hang of it. I was done with school, starting on my career with curious little children (growing into teens) thrown into the mix.
I then suggested to create a community and they welcomed the idea. We made a time table and picked days in the week and assigned to those days what we'd be doing. We would do home works together and I somehow had the means to treat them to ice-cream every weekend after lecturing them during the week.
With some divine intervention, we managed to get our girl, Nat and Big Boy Ralph, enrolled in a craft class for aspiring fashion designers. They were topping it, bringing on the A-game. They'd come to me with their tales of wins and losses and I'd encourage them, reminding them they were Excellent Kids.
Sean became better at using his legs and was scouted by agents who came looking for young talents. He began to travel a lot, winning cups and medals for his state, then his country and eventually headed to the olympics.
GW got those initials after he rose to fame as an artist. Expressing himself through his drawings and art. Moses made unconventional changes in the world as an Electrical Engineer and for some reason, Oche became a Web Developer in my mind. He was really good though. Gerald was tough but he directed a lot of energy into writing fiction and became a published author.
The Excellent Kids Network became more than just a dream. These kids that didn't have much suddenly began to do more than expected. They began to give back and there was always a reunion no matter how far away our jobs took us.
Waking up from that fantasy was the hardest because I was literally living one of my biggest dreams even if it wasn’t real. I was present through their ups and downs and through monumental stages in their lives. I was touching little lives.
I don’t hold back when I dream these things because somehow, the solutions and pathways make themselves known the more I ponder on these non-realities. The map just seems to become clearer. Then I act on it.
It almost always works. It did when I decided to lose weight. It did when I got my very first smart phone. My mind always seems to bring my dreams to life. This only happens when I dare to dream. And dream I will!
My response to The InkWell Creative Nonfiction Prompt #21.
