Non-appetit
Happy Tuesday! This is another day. For the past few days, I've been struggling to keep up with not just writing but also reading and commenting on articles. I have a habit of reading and commenting all the articles I get notifications for and it takes me hours to finish. Since Sunday, I've had to reply late and I notice a lot of people don't read my articles until I reply theirs and I'm thinking of adopting that method too, I think it will save me some time, what do you think?
Today, as with most days, I don't know what to write. I've been staring at my screen but nothing seems to come up. I wouldn't mind having some prompts to follow once in a while. I thinks I should try to use the random word generator.
The random word generator is really cool. I won't use the generated words but when I saw the word "unappetising", it reminded me of a meal I had.
In school, I had this friend who never cooked anything. She always bought fast food or ate whenever I or our other friend cooked. For the sake of this story let's call friend A Anna and friend B Vera. So Anna never cooked and when we asked her why, she said she didn't feel like it. Note that each student are to either cook their own meals or buy from canteens at elevated prices.
She depended on Vera and I a lot for food but it wasn't really fair to us as we spent our money to cook and she never contributed either financially or physically. She was also a heavy eater and could finish a whole pot by herself. So, whenever we cooked something that should last till the next day or more (to save us cost), she'll finish it in one afternoon. Also, when she bought food or anything from the stores and canteens, she always hoarded them and never shared with anyone. Eventually, we told her that she had to contribute to the meals if she was still interested in eating with us. At first she agreed but she too uptight with money. She'd make us split the change to the last cent. It was so embarrassing that Vera and I sometimes left the little change for her. We can't ask the market woman to split something so small and no one wants to owe someone else such ridiculous amount.
After some weeks, Vera and I started running out of money, so we had to spend as little as possible and that included cooking meals that we don't finish at once. So, we ended our collaboration with Anna. I took whatever foodstuff I had and Vera brought hers, together we made plans for our meals. At ghat time, I spent a lot of time at Vera's room because it was closer to my department, so we sometimes cooked there.
One day, after Anna had spent all her money, she invited us over to her room and told us she was going to cook. We were shocked to find out she had some foodstuff all the while but was hoarding it. We accepted her invitation and told her since she had never cooked for us, she'll do it and we won't help. We laughed about it and she started cooking. After what seemed like only 15mins, she said she was done. I was surprised because the food was supposed to take longer than that. When I looked at the floor, I realised some of the ingredients were still there and she hadn't added them. Vera called her attention to it and she laughed and poured everything into the pot after the food was ready! The stock cubes, crayfish, stock fish, etc were so raw. The food didn't look good and we would have helped if she had said she didn't know what to do. Because we were so hungry, Vera and I ate the food and of course, we had stomach upset later.
Till this day, she can't cook anything but says she will marry a rich man who will take care of that. It's OK to not know how to cook, I guess but don't depend on someone else to take care of your basic needs because you don't know what the future holds. I told her to try to make her own money.
If you don't know what to do, ask questions and someone will help. You may feel embarrassed for a while but after that you'll be good at it and forget the embarrassment. What's worse is that my friends and I all had things we couldn't do before university and we usually watched and assisted the person who could do it till we learnt it. Anna usually ignored us when we were trying to learn to prepare a local meal from someone; she would tell us she knew how to cook every meal even the ones that were not local to her hometown. There is no harm in asking for help and also, don't allow hunger to make you eat bad food lol.
Thanks for reading! Thank you @Rezanur for renewing your sponsorship, I'm so grateful
Wrong Suitcase 2
Good day beautiful people! How is it going? For me, I don't know yet. I miss my brother but I know he's fine. I'm trying to adjust doing my dad's bidding and working. My dad does not really understand the concept of working from home, he believes since I'm home, I should have time to run to the stores, cook 2 hour meals, and other things. He just got a new phone and he keeps calling me to help set up something on the pbone. I told him I could do everything he wants in the evening because I have a lot of work to get to but he says it's something simple and fast. When I start doing it, he brings up something else and before you know it, he almost has me spending all my time on his phone and neglecting my work lol. I just have to be adamant. I did the major things for him and after work ill finish the rest.
So today, based on request, I'll be continuing my story from yesterday. If you haven't read it yet, check it out here:
Wrong Suitcase https://read.cash/@Daria/wrong-suitcase-6ad52685
____________________________
Those were my clothes!
He didn't notice at first. He looked straight towards the elevator door and avoided making contact with me; I think he was embarrassed because of what he was wearing. I didn't know how to call his attention to it. How do I explain it, I had never been in a situation where I had to wear a stranger's cloth and then run into them again. Do I say "Hi, you're wearing my clothes, can I have them back?". How does one go about this? I was panicking again. The elevator ride was to the last floor, I didn't know how long it was supposed to last but I needed to do something quick so without giving it too much thoughts, I tapped the man on his shoulder and I said quickly
"you're wearing my clothes, you must have taken my bag from the airport!"
I spoke so fast that he couldn't catch what I said so he said "huh?"
I repeated what I had said earlier slowly this time and it was while I was talking that he finally looked towards where I was standing. It felt like things were in slow motion when he looked at me, his eyes widened, his mouth opened, his finger pointed at me and he yelled "You!"
"What? What's did I do?" I asked thinking the man in my red blouse was as crazy as he looked.
"You!" he continued, still pointing his finger at me "You stole my bag, you thief!" he yelled
"I didn't steal your bag, you're the one who took mine!"
"If you didn't steal my bag, why are you wearing my clothes?"
I was so caught up with the fact that he was wearing my clothes and with how ridiculous they looked on him that I forgot what I was wearing for a moment.
"Uh, n—no, that's not what happened. I'm not a thief, maybe you're the thief. How can you justify wearing a woman's blouse, Mr crop top?"
"You take that back, mini woman!" he yelled as he proceeded to cover his uncovered stomach area.
"I'll have you know I'm tall enough to smack up your cheeks," I retorted but as I saw how tall he was, I said in a low tone "I could punch your stomach at least."
"Hihi," he chuckled "We should stop fighting, how about we quickly exchange want we can," he suggested.
"That's good, but you have to turn around." he turned immediately facing the one side and taking off my blouse. It was hard to come off and his muscles flexed as he tried to carefully remove the cloth without ripping it.
I remembered that I had to take mine off too and I quickly did that. He passed my blouse to me and I gave him his shirt and suit. As we went to take off the trousers, the elevator door opened.
That's all folks! Hehe why do I like ending my stories like this? I guess I'm a sucker for cliffhangers.
Thank you so much for reading, have a wonderful week ahead!
Wrong Suitcase
Hello wonderful people. I started my day with mixed feelings. My little brother is travelling today and I feel a bit down. I really don't want him to go, I'll miss him so much. We stayed up till midnight last night talking. He was mainly asking me about things and general and what I will get for him when he gets back. I promised to get him things I know I can afford and he was happy. He's my partner in crime at home. Even when we have disagreements, they never last. Whenever I tell him not to disturb me, he should "I'll disturb you!" and it'll make me laugh. He's really nice, hardworking and very generous. Whatever he has, even if I bought it for him, he'll always try to share it with me. I'll miss his behaviours both good and bad, his kindness and his personality. He is the kind of person who keeps a home lively. I'm looking forward to when he'll be back to disturb me again.
Well, enough about my brother. I noticed I usually try to write stories on Saturdays. I don't know when I formed that pattern lol. I didn't write one yesterday so I decided to do it today. I looked for prompts online and I settled for this one "***it all happened when I accidentally picked the wrong suitcase at the airport***"
________**____________________**
It was the day I had waited for, I was going to start a new life. I got the job offer 7 weeks after I had applied. We went through a rigorous series of interviews, tests and other forms of verification. I didn't think I was going to get it. So much time had passed and I was losing hope. Besides, it was a big job. The pay was good too. So good that I was willing to move across the state for the job.
I remember I was in shock when I got the call that I had passed the interviews. I checked my mail and saw the new message in my inbox congratulating me with my offer letter attached. I stared at the message for a while and I read it again and again just to be sure that my eyes we're seeing what they were looking at. I was so excited, I couldn't even eat I called my friends to inform them and they were happy for me.
Before traveling, I made preparations for things I would need. My mum prayed for me and wished me success in my journey. Together, we went to the market to get things I will travel with. I got some essentials like clothes and some rare food stuff which may not be available in the state I was moving to. I carefully packed my necessary documents, means of identification, clothes, shoes, and cash. The company had offered me a place to stay. I never planned to stay there forever, maybe till I save enough and am able to get myself another place.
My mum insisted I got to the airport 2 hours earlier. It was a cold morning but I went there and waited till it was time to board the plane. The flight only lasted an hour while normally, it would have cost me eight hours if I had taken a bus, good thing the company decided to sponsor the trip. I got to baggage claim and was excited when I saw my bag immediately. I grabbed it and headed out. A taxi was waiting for me and I was taken to the company's lodge. It was a cozy space. Although, it was small and only had necessary furniture like a table, few chairs, mattress etc, I still liked it.
I had to report to the office in the next hour which was in the next building. I was to be shown around and granted the necessary emoloyee access against the next day; my official start of work. I needed to take my bath and change my clothes so I opened my suitcase and what stared at me was male boxers, hair clipper and some other masculine clothes. It was obviously the wrong bag. My palm became sweaty and I started freaking out. How do I explain that I had no clothes. I was wearing a pink spongebob hoodie and shorts.
Ding! My phone went off, my 30mins reminder. I had spent so much time freaking out that I didn't have enough time to get ready. I searched for a body soap in the bag and surprisingly, there was a good one there and I took a quick bath with it. I wore one of the oversized shirts, tucked it in an equally oversized pants. I had folded each legs of the pants and ironed it hoping it would stay still. It ended up looking like a malformed palazzo pant. I picked up the big suit which went down to my knee when I wore it. I decided to hold it in my hands only to put it on if they insist. I topped my bad dressing up with the sneakers I travelled with and ran to the office.
In the elevator, someone rushed in before the door closed. He was wearing a red feminine blouse which could pass for a crop top and a tight pant. He looked even worse than me! I was so happy that I wasn't alone until I realised those were my clothes!
I think I'll end it here. Remember, this is fiction.
Blue Saturday
Good day everyone, how is the day going so far? I don't think mine is going really well. I had plans for the day but nothing is going accordingly.
My dad returned from his travel last night. My dad is the kind of person who has endless needs so whenever he's around, there's never a shortage of errands to run and I'm the only one available to do them. I had to skip doing a part of work my boss asked me to do so that I could run errands. What my boss asked for wasn't much though, I just had to look at some documents so I put it off for today.
After all the errands, I was too tired at night and that's probably why I was having nightmares. It was the type of nightmares that you struggle to wake up from and even when you do, when you go back to sleep, the nightmare just continues. I guess I was too tired and never fully awake. A call later woke me up and I was thankful for that. I didn't stay awake for long as I started drifting off to sleep again. I had actually slept late, sometime past midnight. My major joy at the time was watching the rise in BCH. There was a heavy dip about two days ago and at night, it started coming up. BCH rose up to 313 dollars per BCH.
I went back sleep and after a while, there was wind strong enough to force open my window. I closed it and quietly moved around to check for intruders. My younger brother who was also awoken by the sound said it was a ghost and I assured him that it wasn't because I didn't want him to get scared. Not long after, it started to rain and I urged him to go back to sleep which he did. Rain in February was kind of odd though (I think), but the weather has been changing a lot in the past few years so I am not surprised.
I also went back to sleep. It wasn't long until I heard my dad's loud voice from his room. It turns out he has lost his cousin. I felt so bad because it wasn't expected. He was only sick yesterday and he just died like that. I remember visiting his house a lot as kids and playing around with his children. They had lost their mum to cancer so my mum tried to be there for them. The oldest child is only a few years younger than me. I was and I am still worried about how they will cope with this saddening situation. I know the family has their bad, always have, but it can't be compared to having their father there for them. My heart is heavy but I know theirs will be heavier. I pray for them the strength and fortitude to beat this loss.
With all this going on, the whole house is thrown in gloom and my dad, with his super powers always finds new activities for me to do lol. I had to even take a break to do some exercise as my back was hurting so much. The annoying part cane when after doing all I've been asked to do, I was very hungry and my dad suggested we have moi-moi from breakfast. This meal takes 30 mins to 1 hour of prep and one hour of cooking. It was already 11 o'clock and I was so hungry, I thought I would collapse or something.
I didn't have any choice but to go to the kitchen to start cooking. I had to multitask because my brother who was supposed to do the dishes hadn't done it and he was slow and doesn't always do it well so I had to do it myself. It took a lot of blending, mixing, washing but after 1 hour and 30 minutes, I was finally done. Now, I feel too weak to eat because unlike the rest, I wasn't lying down waiting for the food to be ready. I'm exhausted and I feel like sleeping but I still have to go to the market and cook when I return. Wish me the best.
Thank you so much @Talecharm for renewing your sponsorship. You're awesome, and I appreciate you!
Thank you so much for your sponsorship @francis105d1 I'm very grateful!! 🙏
Good Followers
TGI Friday everyone! I love Fridays because I can afford to sleep late at night since I don't have to wake up early on Saturday. My mum also come back home earlier on Saturdays and it's been fun having her around.
I and my colleague were discussing different leadership styles yesterday, what we expect from our leaders and how they carry out their duties. While thinking of it earlier today, I realise there's a lot of talk about what a good leader should be like but little about how one can be a good follower.
Everyone is a follower in one way or the other. We may be followers under our president, lecturers, bosses, parents, older siblings etc. As a follower, you will tend to expect a lot from the leaders. You will want them to do things for you and satisfy everyone but some people make their jobs difficult to carry out because they are not holding things up on their end. It's easy to demand for things and want it to happen and on time but even followers have a role to play. So today we'll be talking about the characteristics of a good Follower.
**COMPETENCE**
A good Follower is one who will follow the directions of a leader and do a good job. A leader is usually put to blame when a job is not well done and for this reason, a lot of followers do not feel like it is their responsibility to carry their duties out effectively since the blame will not be on them; they believe they are "helping" the leader with whatever they do. So, a good follower should not have that mindset. A job belongs to the whole team and everyone should play their part. A good follower should do what they can do best, they should not go after other things they are not good at just because it looks good.
**LEARN**
We are in a constant state of learning and we should be able to embrace the opportunity to learn something new. A good follower should be willing to listen and learn from their leader and even their fellow followers. They should also try to gain skills that will help the team in other to boost their progress. This will make you a good follower and in turn, a good leader.
**SUPPORTIVE**
A good follower should be ready to support the leader in their endeavours as their win is a win for the team. They should show up for the leader when necessary to ensure the progress and development of the team.
**RESPECTFUL**
A good follower has to respect their leader. Respect for constituted authority is a value everyone should have as this ensures that things are going smoothly and the team will be able to achieve their goals timely and efficiently.
**COURAGEOUS**
A good follow however respectful should still be able to have the courage to call a leader out on their excesses. The leader might not make the best decisions sometimes or might even go rouge. A good follower must therefore be able to raise any concerns they have both about the leader or the work or other followers.
**TAKE INITIATIVE**
A good follower doesn't always have to wait till they are told what to do. They are able to try to figure things out and work with little to no supervision. When they see something that needs to be done, they do it without waiting for instructions. They are helpful and always do all that is expected of them. A good follower therefore takes the initiative to keep things moving and make things work.
**PARTICIPATE**
A good follow must participate on the activities of the team. You can not be a good follower in you a only there as a figure head. You have to do what you are expected to do in order for the team to achieve their goals. A good follower can participate by joining in voting in good and competent leaders, by doing the work assigned to them by the leaders, by helping out other followers who need it and by making suggestions where necessary rather than sitting back and watching things go bad.
I hope these points are useful. Have a wonderful day!
Bus Ride
Hey everyone, how is February going so far? I hope it's going well and we're trying to make the best out of it.
Have anyone else noticed the crazy fluctuations in BCH. I have even way less than I did yesterday because of the dip.
Anyway, I've been struggling with unsteady power supply for a while and it has been affecting a bunch of things but I still try to find a way out. Today, I have some stuff to do and a deadline to meet but after a while if doing them, I realised I was getting exhausted so I took a break to write. I may not be able to reply comments or leave comments myself until later but I'll try my best.
As a continuation to yesterday's article. Remember I mentioned that wasn't the only crazy thing to happen during that journey.
If you haven't read yesterday's article, you can read it here:
**Bus Rush** https://read.cash/@Daria/bus-rush-617ac241
After we got in the bus, we paid the person collecting the money. They sat us 5 in a row instead of three; the bus was so congested that we could barely move our feet. We were sweating a lot and I could feel my nausea coming. Since there was no air conditioning, we had to open the windows wide for breeze to come in. With all these discomfort, we were charged extra for our fare. Passengers spent a lot of time arguing with the person in charge for a while which delayed us. I couldn't talk much because I wasn't feeling so good. The people in charge didn't budge and we had to pay the extra fee. They did it that way because they knew there was no other bus and we would almost do anything to leave with this bus especially after the whole struggle to get in.
After a while, we were on the move. I had a brief conversation with the girl I knew in the bus and then I put my head on my lap. I didn't stay long in that position because the bus started rocking dangerously. I sat up and looked around to see that we were on a very bad road. I had made that trip a few times but never encountered such bad road. People started telling at the driver, asking him why he took that route and he said he was told that there was traffic on the normal route. The other passengers kept shouting and I found out we were on the road used by heavy vehiclesike trailers, big water trucks etc. They take that route to avoid being on the busy roads with other smaller and fast-moving vehicles, and their constant use of that route somehow dameged the roads.
The minibus was not equipped in any way to be on that road. With each movement, the bus would dangerously bend to the side. The driver had to move so slowly in order not to topple the bus over. This went on until the bus suddenly stopped in the middle of the bad road. At this point I wasn't having it because those heavy trucks could easily crush us. I called out to the driver for an explanation, and he smiled and send he had ran out of petrol. Apparently, he didn't fill up the bus before picking up passengers.
Everyone was furious. The first thing we did was to carefully open the door of the bus which was in a weird position and was bent like it was going to fall. We all got out quickly because a trailer was approaching. The floor was muddy and filled with an extreme amount of potholes. The driver took a small plastic keg to get fuel. There was no filling station in sight so we didn't know where he was going to. My friend and I, together with most of the passengers started following him. The road was deserted except for the big vehicles that drove scarily down the bad road. After a long walk, we found a route that led to a village. It was there that we found a native whom we enquired from about a petrol station. He directly the driver somewhere and got a commercial bike to take him. It was over an hour before the driver and bike man returned. After fueling the bus, we continued our journey.
I got home at night that day. A journey that was supposed to last for three hours at most lasted for seven.
Thank you so much!! @Kiingsley for your sponsorship, I'm so grateful! I wish you so much more BCH in your wallet!
@FashTioluwa thank you for renewing your sponsorship, I wish you success in your exams!
Bus Rush
Good day beautiful people, it's a sunny day here and I am not overwhelmed with work today. I'm going to try to rest. I know that after the call, comes the storm, so I might be very busy with work from tomorrow.
As usual, I don't know what to write lol but I'll start. This time last year, I had just moved to a new state and trying to get some basic necessities at the market. I didn't have anything apart from my clothes so I had laid my blanket on the floor the previous night and slept on it. I met some wonderful people, made new friends and grew a lot. I remember one of the journeys I had during that time. I decided to travel home and spend the weekend with my family.
When I got to the park, there were no buses which was very unusual. It turns out that some people had even been waiting for three hours for a bus to arrive. I found a shade and stood underneath it to shield myself from the sun. As there were no chairs, I had to stand and wait for the bus. I held my bag and phone tightly because of thieves or pickpockets. I later texted my dad to inform him of the delay. After a while, I started feeling hungry but I usually don't eat while travelling because I get nauseous more easily and more likely to throw up if I eat. After waiting for a while, I gave up and got myself a cold milk drink.
My legs started to hurt and I took turns resting my weight in each leg and soon after, a bus arrived into the park. I didn't know the exact destination the bus would be going to but I knew it was heading to my state of residence. As the bus approached, people began to put on their game face and got ready for war. Yes, war because it was just one minibus and about 30 prospective passengers. There was no way the bus would fit everyone so we had to prepare to fight for a seat. If you couldn't get a seat you would have to go back home after waiting for 2-5 hours. I put my phone in my bag and zipped it up, I tied my hair into a bin and I made sure my sandal was properly strapped. I looked at the faces of everyone knowing not all of us would survive this battle. I properly scoped the competition, their luggage, size, children, look of determination etc and I knew I had a fighting chance.
After taking way too long to park in the right spot, the driver got down from the bus. The rest of us stood by the door, waiting for it to be opened. As the driver opened the door, I could have sworn I developed wings and flew over everyone haha. I actually took advantage of the fact that I only carried a small bag and I was smaller in size compared to the other passengers. I pushed and shoved my way through the raging crowd like a rat in a maze and I got in the bus and secured myself a good seat. The lady who came in almost the same time I did was also aiming for my seat but she ended up sitting on my laps because I sat down first. She didn't have time to argue because the bus was getting full, so she quickly moved to the next available seat. I later found it that I actually knew her but I never looked at her face during the struggle haha, we later laughed about it.
What surprised me most was that while I was trying to get in the bus through the door, some people had jumped in through the windows! I was surprised to find more people in the bus because I thought I was one of the first few people to get in only to later realise that some people had come in through the window and someone came in through the boot.
It was a wild experience and I wish I could say that that was the craziest thing to happen during that journey but it wasn't even close. It was still a memorable event anyway.
Thanks for reading, happy new month!
Thank you so much @Kushyzee for giving me a new month present of your sponsorship!! Thank you so much, I truly appreciate it!
Hello February
Happy New Month! I want to use this opportunity to welcome everyone reading this to the month of love. Valentines is in about two weeks, do you have plans? Let me know in the comments.
Today, I'll just do a recap of how the previous month was for me.
**WEEK 1**
This week was awesome, I was alone with my younger brother and partner in crime. We did whatever we wanted, cooked unconventional meals, watched movies and fooled around. Sadly, work started on the 3rd which was supposed to be a national public holiday. So, while others were resting, I was working. My brother didn't like it much because it meant u didn't have enough time for him. He later called my mum, asking her to come back from her travel lol. The best part of this week was when I took my brother out to celebrate the New Year's. We decided to go to the mall since it was closer to us and they had a lot of things he liked there. On our way in, we noticed we were being followed by a man. He later approached us and started asking me to give him my number. I didn't feel comfortable and he was much older than me so I respectfully declined. I guess he took my niceness to mean he could keep trying (I kinda understand why some girls are rude to guys sometimes). He followed us around and I walked straight to where the securities were so that he wouldn't do anything funny. One woman later saw the exchange and walked towards us and told me to give him my number, she was so loud that a small number of people gathered. My heart was beating fast and I just wanted to cry. I ended up rudely telling him off and I dragged my brother and ran away. I later had a talk with my brother about what he witnessed because he was scared too.
In the mall, I made it up to him by getting him a lot of stuff. He loves Christmas even more than me so I took him round and we looked at every Christmas decor that was put up. We got food, foodstuffs, and some junk. The place was crowded though and my brother didn't want to play games so after some hours, we went home. He was so excited when we took out all that we got. My account balance wasn't as excited lol.
**WEEK 2**
I don't remember much of what happened here but I remember having a long disagreement with someone I care about. I hated the feeling, I hated that we couldn't come to an agreement. I'm just glad we're passed that now and we're fine again.
**Week 3**
This was when I reached one month of posting here. I opened the account about a week or two earlier but I didn't start posting immediately; I looked around read articles, rules etc and eventually I started commenting and finally I made my first post a day or two before Christmas. Here, I was getting really overwhelmed with work and not having enough rest but I'm learning to balance it all, take breaks and sleep well.
**Week 4**
During this week, I felt like January just refused to end. January was a long "year". I remember thinking "next monday is still January!" lol. I think the long length of January is compensated for with the short length of February. Towards the end of this week, I started feeling a little off. I've been taking less interest in things I liked, even the aspects of work that comes easy to me seems like such a chore. I'm still delivering good work but it's now taking me a longer time with a lack of concentration. I guess the stress from the previous week might have gotten to me. Apart from that, I did have a back and forth with my boss that gave me and my colleague the payment we deserved. I also spoke at length to a friend and that was satisfying, I did receive an annoying news from someone earlier, but I'm trying not to dwell on it.
**February**: I don't know what this month holds but I'm optimistic. I feel like I might experience some change either from things that randomly happens or something I make happen. I believe it's going to be a good month and I'm open to accept all the goodness of February.
How was the 'Year' of January for you?
Also, did anyone else have trouble opening the app for some minutes a few hours ago?
The kind devil himself sponsored me! Thank you so much @Lucifer01 I'm really grateful for this. May your BCH wallet never go dry!
Characteristics of Friends
We all have friends or acquaintances whom we meet over the course of our lifetime. Sometimes we get to choose them as our friends, other times, we have to be around and coexist with them because of the situation in which we find ourselves such as coworkers, hostel mates, bus seat partners etc. Meeting people is part of our lives as long as we're in a public space or even online.
Today I'll be sharing different personalities of people/friends I've met. Let me know which one you fall under or the ones you've met
**THE TALKATIVES**
These ones will talk your ears off. They always have something to say, a story to tell or a new gist to talk about. They have lots of news about the world or their immediate environment whether the information is true or not. The talkatives are not always necessarily gossips, sometimes they are just good narrators who knows how to bring a story to life. They can be fun to have around because when they share their experiences, you'll feel like you were there with them and there's hardly a dull moment with them. The downside is that you may not be willing to have a conversation but the talkatives will keep going on and on.
**THE GREETERS**
The greeters are the worst people you want to walk with when you're in a hurry. They stop to greet just about any remotely familiar face they come acro6on the way. The greetings are not limited to ashort casual greeting like hey, what's up, hello; they are usually elaborate. There could be hugs involved, check up on the other person’s distant family and friend of friends. A friend of mine was a greeter and it was awkward to just stand there while she rambles on. It could happen up to 5 times or more while going from one short location to the other. I later started walking away slowly after I've greeted the other person so that she would get the message and hurry up.
**THE QIUET ONES**
These ones are observers. It's not like they don't have what to say or know what to say, they don't just feel it's necessary to say it. Some quiet ones are also shy or socially awkward. These ones digest every information and may share a laugh or two while chipping in once in a while. If you're bored while with a quiet one, you might get even more bored. It's not always the case though, some of them still know how to keep things going. The quiet ones work well with the talkatives, they compliment each other.
**THE KNOW-IT-ALL**
Ever had that friend who seems to know everything? The know it all comes in two types. There is the type who claims to know everything and will argue to no end without making proper research. Sometimes, they may be right but a lot of times, they are also wrong. The other type are those who do not necessarily brag about their knowledge but have gained a reputation for knowing a lot of things. People go to this person for information and they trust whatever they have to say
**THE SPIRITUAL**
I once had a roommate who was extremely religious. A girl who was sweeping her room came into ours with her broom to relay a message and my roommate said with conviction that she was a witch. There are different levels to spirituality, some people let you know where they stand and what they stand for without being discriminatory while others try to impose their spirituality on the people around them.
**THE HARDWORKER**
There is that friend who always seems to get everything done and on time. No matter the obstacle, they will find a means to make sure they do what they have to do. If there is a two weeks deadline, they would probably finish up one week ahead. They unintentionally make others look lazy and they also push others to work harder. These people are usually greatly admired or disliked.
**THE DISORGANISED**
We all have/are that one friend that is never ready for anything, never have any information, never knows where anything is and is always confused. This person could ask the simplest questions and still be very confused about what to do. They sometimes find out about a project or assignment only when it's due. They never have updated information.
Let me know others I didn't mention and which of these you can relate to
Sources of Inspiration
Happy Sunday! As usual, today I'm cooking the traditional 'Sunday rice'. I mentioned last week that most families prepare rice for lunch on Sunday. I'm a bit excited today because I get to cook with beef. My parents don't eat red meat because of they're age so we hardly get to eat beef. I don't think I have actually had any beef since November apart from the one time I ate beef 'suya'.
Today, I'll like to talk about a problem I've sometimes had and that is the lack of inspiration. There are times when I want to work or write and I can't come up with a good idea. In those times, I feel so uninspired to do anything creative. For this reason, I have decided to do some research and put together ways we can get inspiration.
**NATURE**
This is my go-to. Nature inspires me a lot. The colours of trees, flowers, the movement of the wind, the flow of the sea, the cold of harmattan, the torrents of rain, the strength of grass etc. Thinking about nature can bring forth memories you've had in different circumstances. You may remember what happened a certain day it was raining or while you walked under the scotching sun. You can use it in your descriptions, talk about how one's eyes is as blue as the sea or how someone's skin shines as bright as the sun.
**FAMILY**
Family ties and experiences are always an inspiration in every aspect. Observing members of your family (blood related or not), seeing their struggles, their wins, how they are able to lift themselves up when they're down or how they make mistakes, we can learn a lot from them. Someone's journey can inspire us on what to do just as someone's failures can serve as a lesson to us
**SUNRISE**
Not just the sunrise, any aspect of the heavenly bodies can be a source of inspiration. Mere looking up at the moon or sun can give you ideas to talk about like how hot or cold it feels or your skin, the colour of the sunrise or sunset, the direction of its rays, how it tends to hide beneath the clouds, how beautiful the stars twinkle etc. Staring at them can prompt ideas for you to write about.
**MUSIC**
Ever listened to music that seems to resonate with how you feel? With lyrics that takes the words right out of your mouth? Melodies that gives you shivers and goosebumps. Those songs could temporarily take you away from reality and help you relive a memory or even create a new world. This creative channel can open your mind to new ideas or remind you if something you want to share
**ACHIEVEMENTS**
Whether past or present achievements, they are a source of inspiration. With every achievement, there are lessons learns along the way while attaining them. You can use the opportunity to let others know how you underwent your journey, how you overcame your obstacles, mistakes you made, your message of hope and lessons to be learnt. It's also easier to draw inspiration from one's personal experiences whether good or bad.
**SPIRITUALITY**
A lot of people find inspiration in spirituality. Do you take time to pray, worship, meditate, do yoga, have some quiet time, help the needy. Whatever form your spirituality takes, when you delve into it deeply, you'll feel like you're exploring a different part more innate part of yourself and your beliefs. This chanel offers itself as a source of inspiration.
**QUOTES**
A lot of writers can draw inspiration from a simple quote. This is because, quotes usually have deep meanings and reflecting on the meaning of a quote can lead to an educative experience where the more we think about it, the more we understand it and are able to apply it into our lives. If you're stuck on something to write, pick up a quote and explain what it means to you.
I hope these helps. I usually draw my inspiration from nature and my surroundings. Either from events I experienced, memories and other people's experiences. Sometimes, I don't even remember them till any of the listed above triggers that memory.
What are your source of inspiration for anything?
The Wedding Banquet
Yay, it's Saturday. The only day I get to sleep in, but my body wakes me up earlier out of habit haha. I woke up neither tired nor stressed, breezed through the things I had to do and now I'm resting on my bed. Sadly, our power has been out for a little over 24 hours now. No one is sure of the reason why. We've been dependent on generators and petrol is expensive. We only use the generator when it's really necessary, but I have neighbours who turn it on all day and night; they only turn it off to top up the tank with petrol.
For now, I'm taking a bottle of Coca-Cola, laying low an hoping for electricity soon. I used to think I was the biggest Coca-Cola fan until I read @Lucifan articles. They are hilariously sarcastic. He once said Coke cures diabetes and prescribed 5 bottles a day haha. Anyway, let me tell y'all a short story.
Once upon a time, in a distance land, there lived a princess in a castle who was set to marry a Prince. This princess had been prepared all her life for this day. Her mother taught her all she knew but her father was always away fighting wars. As a little child, she was thought how to walk straight and sit upright, she learnt to eat and drink properly, she learnt how to lift her dresses, smile charmingly and to wave. As she got older, she learnt horse riding in the royal stables, she learnt how to speak with the authority of royalty, how to knit and weave a basket, how to dance and also how to take care of her little ones. Overtime, she knew how to run the castle and put things in order.
After the lifelong training and preparation, the time had finally come for her to marry a Prince and run her own castle. The D-day came, the whole kingdom was decorated. Ribbons and flower garlands adorned the castle, the streets were busy with people walking about hurriedly doing one thing or the other in preparation for the ceremony. Woods and Water were fetched, the finest crops were harvested, the kingdom gates were widely open to receive visitors, petals of pretty flowers were strewn across the streets making it look beautiful, sweet-smelling and festive. Inside the castle, all the servants were working hard to make sure that it was a wonderful ceremony. Food was cooked in large quantities, the best of wines were brought out, the fattest animals were hunted and prepared. Every part of the castle was thoroughly cleaned that one could see their reflections on each surface. It was going to be a big ceremony.
The Queen mother looked at her beautiful daughter who sat in front of her vanity mirror and admired the woman she had grown to be. She was proud of her and how much she had learned in all the years and she felt a little sad to let her go but she knew the time to let go would eventually come. She hugged her daughter with a smile and teary eyes and her daughter hugged her back.
"Mum," the princess said, "what am I to expect today?"
"As you know my daughter, all the eligible prices from across the kingdoms will be here to seek your hand in marriage. You will dance and have a brief discussion with them before making your choice," the Queen explained
"But how do I know I'm making the right choice?"
"Everyone has something they seek in a partner and when you find it, you'll know. I can't tell you what to seek for because we may not want the same thing but ultimately, try to look for a man who is not only good to you but to the people around him."
The princess thanked her mum and finished dressing up. When she went out for the ceremony, the hall was filled up, she danced with so many princes and had many interesting conversations. She had a good time but she was disappointed because she didn't find what she was looking for. When the time came for her to make her choice, everyone waited anxiously for who she would choose. She stood up from her chair faced the princes and said,
"I'm sorry, I cannot marry any of you. "
This led to a collective gasp in the banquet hall. The king was shocked and the Queen did not know what to make of the situation but the Princess continued.
"There are many handsome men here today who are strong enough to win wars, smart enough to lead a country and smooth enough to court a princess. I can tell that you've spent your whole life devoted to the service of your kingdom but while you were doing that, you never really learnt how to be a husband or a father. I don't want a husband who would only see me as a duty than a partner and for this reason, I will not be getting married today ."
A lot of princes walked away in annoyance but one stayed back and said
"my princess, you are right but no one is perfect. If you give me the chance I will learn to be devoted. We don't have to get married right away but together we can grow."
So, she and the prince taught each other all they knew. A year after the got married and became the most powerful rulers in all the kingdoms.
I didn't know how this story would end when I started writing lol.
Fear of Confrontation
This morning I woke up to an annoying credit alert. Hear me out first. Your may be wondering why receiving a credit bank alert will annoy me. Remember my post a few days ago where I mentioned a salary reduction despite a change of title (sorta promotion)? Well, I got paid today and the reduction was almost half of the previous agreement. I was pissed at the fact that someone thought it would be okay to make me do so much work while not willing to pay. I hated the fact that I would have to go all the way to fight for what's mine. I hated that I even had to explain why I deserved to be paid more.
I managed to calm myself down so as not to do anything rash and I drafted a letter politely but firmly stating my opinions. There was a back and forth messaging before we arrived at a reasonable conclusion. The exchange made me so proud of myself because I get anxious whenever I have to confront someone. My heart starts beating face, I become restless and sometimes, I feel my body shaking. Despite all that I decided not to let my calm personality be taken advantage of. I stood up for myself and got results and for that I'm proud of me. I also have my guardian angel in my corner who always supports me and pushes me to do what's right and to that angel, I am grateful. I am expecting a second credit alert to correct the first and I hope I'll be able to sort my bills and debts with it while depending on read.cash for other necessities.
This experience is therefore the driving force for my topic of today, fear of confrontation. This is something a lot of people face; some, more than others. It is the anxiety that comes when you realise you have to talk to someone about something especially a superior, someone who you think may act rashly, someone you have any level of reservations about, someone you may have wronged etc. Talking to someone, on paper, it is as simple as opening your mouth to speak but someone who have some level of fear attached to this act may be worried about the reaction that comes during or after speaking etc.
If you have any level of social anxiety, you may be able to relate to this phenomenon. It is for this reason you may find someone pacing up and down in front of an office before entering. As I say this I remember how I would go to my supervisors office one hour earlier than I was expected to be there and I would spend that time pacing, rehearsing my speech, trying to knock and failing, creating different scenarios in my head and preparing for the outcome. It is only until I finally get myself into the office and see how well I'm received before I calm down.
Now, that I think of it, I know I won't do this again if I'm in a similar situation because I've been working on myself. I've learnt that facing your fears help. When facing your fears, you're not supposed to jump right into it, if you do so, you may crash. There are certain steps that should be followed. The first is to recognise the reason for your fear. Take some time to understand why you feel that way. Is it about the other person? The issue to be discussed? An event you witnessed or heard about?. Figure out the source of your discomfort and acknowledge it. This will help you understand the situation and know how better to navigate it.
After that, the next thing to do is to be prepared. Any form of preparation that works for you should be done. For me, I'll suggest breathing exercises. Inhaling for 5 seconds and exhaling for 5 seconds will help keep you calm. You can increase or decrease the timing as is appropriate for you. Another thing to prepare you is preparing what you have to say. When overwhelmed by anxiety, you might struggle to get your words out right. You might even forget major points you wanted to make. So prepare your speech and possible outcomes. Once you're prepared, you'll feel more confident and you'll be able to deal with their reactions properly.
So remember, in your bid to face your fears, don't just jump right into it, prepare yourself and make that call, knock on those doors, send that message, meet that person.
Have a nice day and a wonderful weekend ahead!
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Intro, Extro, Ambi, Omni VERT
Hey amazing people! How is your day going? I hope it is going well. I'm glad it's Thursday and the week is coming to an end.
Today, I feel a little bit overwhelmed with work. I've been having meetings back to back and I still have some work ahead of me to complete. I can't wait for the day to be over because I need to rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day I can forsee myself having a lot to do, so I need to be physically and mentally prepared for tomorrow. I was so occupied that I could barely make out time to even write, but I knew that I must write no matter what it took. There might be a time in the future when I will be unable to write and I will like that time not to come anytime soon. Anyway, today I'll like to discuss some personality types. I'm not talking about the temperaments but the social personality traits.
Sometimes, I pride myself as an introvert but other times I intend to prove myself wrong. There are times when I love my own company and just want to be alone. Best times I trying to connect with my friends and family you online but sometimes even that becomes so much and I just go silent. Enjoy being with myself observing my surroundings and understanding how they affect me and the people around me but they are sometimes when I crave the outside. Those times I want to be amongst friends sharing experiences opinions and laughing out loud remembering memories and just being friendly. So when people meet me and different situations they are saying that I am one way or another. I know people who will tell you that I am outgoing outspoken and able to stand up and speak in a crowd while there are others will tell you that I like to hide in the background and I am always quiet and by myself. Both people are not wrong but I believe one is more correct than the other.
Whenever I go out, I cannot deny the fact that I may have had fun, enjoyed some moments and some experiences I may have had or observed. Sometimes, I even wished that the day would not come to an end and what I was experiencing would last for a longer time. In times when I felt that way, I usually tend to be more sociable friendly outspoken and I might even be tagged "the crazy friend". I might make friends and have fun moments and interesting conversations with them, and while all that is good, there is usually a problem. If you call me up the next day I will definitely be a different person.
I think of myself as someone who has an extrovert battery that's when it's full, I can exhaust it by taking myself out of my comfort zone once in awhile but when that is done, I will need to go back and recharge. I do not know how long will charging will take me, but I know that after having a very social day, I usually feel the need to just stay in for a long time and it's only after I've stayed in till my heart's content that's I feel the need to go out again.
There are other times when the extrovert energy in me lasts longer than usual. This happens when in the midst of people in comfortable around like close friends and my siblings. During these times, I may be able to go out for fun back to back for a few days. It's easier because there's no pressure, especially to meet new people.
This now makes me wonder if I'm an introvert who takes a more personal and inward approach to life, an extrovert whose personality focuses on the outward and social aspects of life, an ambivert who balances being both an extrovert and introvert or an omnivert who is either an extrovert or an introvert based on the situation they find themselves?
I'm not yet sure what the answer is but I'll like to hear your thoughts on what your personality is. Are you an introvert, extrovert, ambivert or omnivert? Let me know in the comments
Thank you for reading, you are awesome!
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Power Rangers Absurdities
Good day wonderful people. How is your day going so far? Mine is going well. I have a lot of work to do but I'm not worried, it's something I can finish once I concentrate, which I'll be doing now. For some reasons, I woke up feeling sleepy and I think it's because I spent a lot of time working yesterday on several things that I didn't feel rested, so today I'll make sure to rest. Also yesterday, I got 500 views. It may not be a lot to most people but it's a mile stone for me and I want to thank everyone here who has made that possible. I love you guys!
My little brother has a habit of watching power rangers. He has so many different power rangers series from power rangers mighty morphine, power rangers samurai and power rangers mega force with the OG theme song (Go go power rangers!), power rangers space patrol Delta (SPD), power rangers Dino thunder (I can't remember) etc.
Power rangers is a show I enjoyed watching as a child. I loved how the teenagers had a device that changed their normal clothes to their rangers costume after they yell some chants and do some moves. They even have vehicles that when put together, can form a giant robot like The Transformers. The giant robots is usually used to fight biggerband stronger monsters and the rangers always had a master to guide them on their quests. One unique thing about the power rangers is the colours. Each ranger is identified by a colour and that colour will also be the colour of their rangers gear, vehicles etc.
As a child, we had different rangers we wanted to be like. My close friend wanted the pink ranger and I wanted the red or black ranger. The red ranger was always the leader of the group and the black ranger, though very rare, was considerably the strongest power ranger of the series we was watching at the time. My younger brother wanted to be blue and he would wear his blue shirt and trouser to that effect.
Now, watching the different power rangers franchise as an adult, I'm realising just how ridiculous so many things are and I wonder how I didn't notice them as a child. I figured the things I consider ridiculous now were probably the things that appealed to me as a child and to other children currently. The ridiculous things include:
**MORPH TIME:** Changing into their robot-like costume is usually called morphing. They yell some things like "Red ranger activate..." or so, I don't remember. The transformation process usually takes a little while. They make some exaggerated moves with their hands and legs, bright light engulfs them and they show the change into their fighting suit. This is shown for all the rangers and while this is happening, the monsters they are fighting would stand patiently, waiting for them to transform one by one before attacking. What's worse is when the transformation happens in the middle of a battle, the monsters who were trained by good parents do the polite thing and let them finish their Morph sequence. I assume the monsters are usually like "oh, you want to change and also get your weapon? Oh, that's alright. Even if our main goal is to kill you, we'll be kind enough to wait for you to get your weapons in order to make our jobs harder." Who wouldn't love that lol. It's just ridiculous to watch the actively fighting monsters take a step back, yelling and staggering for several minutes till, waiting for the rangers to finish dressing up and looking pretty for the gram.
**SHOTS:**
If you've watched power rangers, you'll notice how no one ever really dies during a battle, they don't even get slightly injured. This is because both the power rangers and the monsters never make an accurate shot. No matter how close the target is, they will still shoot just in front of or before the target, making the target fly or fall forward, sometimes in slow motion. We're led to believe the power rangers spend their whole lives preparing to defend their planet, yet they didn't learn the basics of shooting or throwing weapons? They just go out there wasting time, energy and weapons. They eventually do get rid of the monsters but that's after they've used up what I assume will be more than half of their ammunition. I believe this is done not to showcase a large extent of violence to kids who are watching. No matter how ridiculous it may seem, I believe it works.
That's all folks! Thank you so much for reading!
(lead image from unsplash.com)
The Robbery
It's a beautiful Tuesday morning. The weather is lovely and I'm still excited from celebrating my younger brother's birthday with him yesterday.
This morning, I remembered an encounter I once had with armed robbers at school. I had never been robbed before and I must confess a little part of me was excited, not necessarily in a good way but I could feel my heart beating really fast, and I couldn't stop telling myself "it's happening it's finally happening". It was the week after school exams, lots of students had gone home for the short holiday. I didn't go home it yet because I still had a few things to do in school. I had a roommate and she had gone to visit a family friend that day; she was to return the next day. Being alone gave me the opportunity to clean up the room as well as I wanted to as I could clean all parts of the room including where she kept her things. I also cleaned the outer part of our room, cleared out anything that didn't need to be there and I locked up the things we wouldn't use till we travelled. The way the rooms were set were like motels. There was a long corridor with doors to different rooms. These rooms were all occupied by students. My room was on the ground floor and there were other rooms on the first floor.
The building was not fenced and strangers could easily walk in. There was a small gate we locked at night but a determined toddler could possibly get past it.
At the night of the robbery, I was bored since my roommate was not around so I went upstairs to hang out with my lodge mates. We all stayed in a room and those who had stayed in the lodge (the building) for longer told us tales about the different students who had stayed there and their personalities. They also told us about the events that had been held in the lodge like the end of session celebrations etc. It was fun to listen to the stories. The major narrators exaggerated each events in ways that made us laugh. We kept asking questions and getting hilarious replies. The night was going well. The session was over and no one had lectures to attend, so we stayed up till a little past midnight.
I later went down to my room. Downstairs, the other students hadn't travelled for the holiday yet, we were all still around. I went to my room, admired how clean it was then I got ready to sleep. I locked my door and after some contemplations about whether to keep my light off or on, I turned it off.
At about 2 or 3 am, I heard footsteps and whispering. I might have ignored it or not even heard it considering that I was tired and only went to sleep a few hours earlier. I should have been deep in sleep but the nature of the sounds woke me up somehow. I still marvel at the fact that I was woken up by whispers. When I heard it, something felt off. I couldn't make out what they said and then I heard their footsteps, they were just outside, not far from my room. I grabbed my phone close to me but my phone had fallen in water earlier and was damaged, the screen was blank and unreadable, I could only take calls. I managed to reduce the volume to the minimum but I couldn't call anybody.
I crawled out of my bed and got in more appropriate clothes. I hid anything of value including mine and my roommates. I removed my charger which was showing a blue light, I brought out my old spoilt laptop so that if they came in, they would have something to take and hopefully leave me alone. I then took off the covers from my mattress and I stood in the small space between the window and door. It was the only blind spot if they looked through my window.
There was became louder and I could tell when they jumped through the small gate. I was worried as I thought I was the only girl around and I was alone. I later found out another girl came visiting in another room but she was with her boyfriend. The doors of each room was wooden and they started with breaking the first one. I don't know how they did it but I heard the bang on the door.
They went room by room till they got to mine, the second to last room. They had a very bright torchlight and with it one of them flashed into my room through the window and the torchlight illuminated the whole room. I was standing still beside the window, holding my breath and willing my heart to stop beating so heavily. I could smell the sweat from the theif who was just a feet away from me, although, outside. Another one tugged at my door and banged on it hard shouting "open the door". I didn't know if I should stay or blow my cover by opening the door. The one with the torch then moved away and said "I don't think anyone is here". Because I had cleaned up earlier, the front of my room looked vacant, like I had packed up and travelled. While they still pushed the door, they noticed my next-door neighbour peeping from his window and they went to that room. I heard he was hit with the but of a gun for peeping.
I got away from being robbed but I felt bad for my neighbours. I called my roommate to inform her the next morning and she said she would have yelled, cried and opened the door haha. The next day, we demanded for better protection of the building and in two days, construction work began.
Thanks for reading. Have you ever experienced any form of robbery?
Gratitude
Good day beautiful people. Today had been weird; I got a big compliment from my boss and a title change. You'd think this will come with some salary increase right? But it came with a decrease. Apparently, the company has to make financial cuts and evaluate everyone's salaries for a reduction.
While all this is going on, I'm trying to take it in stride and do my best. I'm doing really well despite not being certified in this field so I need the work experience to continue in this line. Eventually, my actual certification may be needed in this field but that's still a future plan the company has.
I'm still happy though because it's my little brother's birthday. He's the one I'm closest to even though he gives me trouble haha, I enjoy his trouble. I sang him a birthday song and cooked his favourite meal. I'm going to make sure he's happy all day, and in the evening, I'll take him out. He deserves the best really.
On to today's topic, I want to talk about gratitude. Sometimes, it's easy to want something and have them happen to us than to show gratitude especially for the little things. I know someone who never said thank you when someone did something for him he considered small; he felt entitled or like it was unnecessary since it didn't cause the person a a lot of trouble to get it done. For that reason, people stopped helping him with anything and he called them bad names. When someone helps you with something, you have no idea what it may cost that person and even if you do, you have to show gratitude because they could have said no but they still chose to help.
When someone helps you, don't try to quantify the level of help they have rendered before being grateful, resist from having high expectations of things people should do for you and don't complain when they can't do as much because even the little they do might be costing them a lot.
For one to be able to show gratitude, one has to remove any and every sense of entitlement one may have because when you feel like someone is supposed to do something for you, you believe it is your right and their responsibility and therefore you will be lacking in gratitude. One also has to reduce one's expectations. Take what you're given because that may be all they can afford and show gratitude. Don't complain that someone is rich but is not helping, they may be going through some financial difficulties you don't know about.
Also, as a giver, give when you can, it is nice to always pay kindness forward and that kindness will also return to you in a bigger way. I once gave out the little money I have and because of the decisions I made while I didn't have any more money, I gained even more. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to make the extra money if I hadn't given out in the first place. I believe we may have experienced this kind of situation before, it just goes to prove that givers never lack. So, when you can, try to give but when you can't afford it, don't try to give in order to show off. As much as the saying 'givers never lack' goes, it does not mean you should give what you don't have or to receive accolades. Don't be the kind of person that wants to put on a show so that people can call you big names and rain praises on you; give from your heart and give what you can.
While we're at it. I want to give special thanks to my little brother, he is one person that has always had my back no matter the situation. He teaches me to let myself be happy and he brings our the child in me. Because of him, I'm also able to laugh and be myself. He's one of the two people who make me feel this way and as he celebrates his birthday today, I wish him triple fold of all the joy he brings me and I wish him long life and prosperity.
Thank you very much for reading, remember to show gratitude and have a lovely week ahead!
Self-care Sunday
Happy Sunday everyone. How is it going? Over here, most people are Christians so you'll a lot of people dressed in beautiful clothes and heading to or returning from church. My family had returned from church and I'm cooking rice with stew which is a staple meal for Sundays in most homes around here.
Apart from church and cooking of rice, one other thing people do in Sunday is Self-care Sunday. Sadly, not a lot of people engage in this because a lot of people do not see or understand the benefits of self care. Although, that is not the case for everyone, some people long for self care but are weighed down by other responsibilities and can hardly find the time to practice self care.
Before I continue, let me explain what self care is all about. Self-care is being able to promote mental and physical health and also to be able to prevent things that may be detrimental to one's health. They involve series of activities that help you stay active and free from stress. Stress is a major cause for a lot of physical and mental health problems, so self care Sunday involves carrying out activities that keeps one relaxed and eliminates stress.
**Wake Up Earlier**
Waking up before an alarm is an expected time makes you wake up on your terms. You'll feel less stressed than when you had to stand up because the alarm went off and you feel like yor don't have a choice. It also gives you enough time to start your day doing things you're supposed to do and finishing earlier. You can also choose to meditate, exercise, watch the sunrise or whatever calms you in that moment.
**Do Some Clean-up**
Cleaning up your space can leave a very satisfactory feeling. It could be your wardrobe, kitchen, anywhere. Take things out, dust them, do away with things you don't need anymore, rearrange things. I like to change arrangements once in a while. I makes the change obvious and feels like a new experience for me.
**Create A Me-Time**
A lot of people especially women/mums struggle to find a time just for themselves. Some go from work to the kitchen and then taking care of the needs of every other person in the house except theirs. It's easy to not notice how much work they put in because you're used to them doing it or you believe it is their job but it can be stressful. So, if you're someone who does not take a me-time, you can start now. Set out a time to do something you enjoy, something that brings you piece and relaxes you, something that is not work or a chore. Do this often and you'll start feeling less stressed.
**Take A Stroll**
The power of taking a stroll cannot be underestimated. It is a form of exercise that is good for your heart and body in general. It gives you the opportunity to clear your head and put your thoughts together. Also, taking a stroll means you have no destination you're necessarily trying to reach so you'll be able to take time to observe your surroundings, see little things you may not have noticed and create new experiences for yourself.
**Have A Nice Bath**
Have a good soak not only keeps you clean but it leaves you feeling refreshed and more comfortable in your skin. After a long day, take the time to have a long bath/shower. In the morning, you may be trying to beat the time so you can get to work or carry on with your day but at night, you can actually relax. Feel free to light your scented candles, make use of bath bombs, or do anything that makes you feel special in that moment. You'll be surprised at how relaxed you'll be all night and even the next morning.
**Look Good mani/pedi**
Take out time to take extra care of yourself. Do whatever makes you look good/feel good. Throughout the week, you might be overcome with your daily responsibilities that you may not have the time to look especially good. So, go get a haircut, manicure, pedicure, wear beautiful clothes, just do whatever you want that makes you feel good. You don't even have to do this alone, you can call up some friends and have some bonding moments with them.
Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you'll try to take better care of yourself and give yourself a break
Special thanks to @Lhes for renewing and increasing your sponsorship. I'm so grateful to you!!
The Boat Cruise
Dera tried on the new shorts she had bought, they fit snuggly on her body like it was made just for her. She crossed her legs and struck a posein front of the mirror, admiring her outfit (or lack of it)
"Ada, we're going to have so much fun on this cruise," she said to me as I laid down on the bed still clutching my bathrobe.
Two days ago, Dera excitedly ran into our shared room jumping around and filled with smiles as she yelled continuously,
"We got in! We got in!"
Knowing Dera, she only got excited when there was a party or an event. When she even got her first B in her result, she didn't show much emotions especially for someone whose highest score was usually a C.
After what seemed like hours of jumping, she finally told me about the exclusive boat cruise organised by one of the rich students for his birthday. She managed to convince him somehow to grant her two passes. While she told me this story, I felt it was odd. Despite being roommates, Dera and I were like two opposites. We're able to coexist by not interfering in the other's personal or social life. So, it was odd that she would try that hard to get a a ticket for the birthday.
"You got me a pass, why? What's the catch?" I asked with raised eyebrows
"I remember you saying you had never been on a boat and since this is our last year, I thought it would be nice for us to do something together."
I instantly felt bad for being rude to her when she was only trying to be nice. Despite our different lifestyles, Dera wasn't a horrible person. Even though people said she was, I never really saw her do anything terrible to anyone. I know she started the rumour about Clara but it wasn't her intention for it to travel that far.
Dera went all out with her preparations buying new outfits for the cruise and paying a makeup artist to do her makeup. I took my bath and laid on the bed, chatting with my friends about my expectations for the birthday event.
"Ada, get dressed so we won't be too late,"
"Aren't we already late though?" I asked
"Yes, we're just the right amount of late for it to be fashionable."
I smiled. Dera always had weird rules she lived by and I always found them funny and sometimes, ridiculous.
At the boat cruise, I felt a little out of place. There was an abundance of drinks and about the same amount of drunk people. I couldn't find Dera so I took myself to the deck to watch the ocean. It was deserted as It was getting late and most people had gone inside. The ocean was getting more agitated but not enough to cause any damage. I observed how the water seemed unending and wondered how the it wend and what laid beyond the horizon.
I was still lost in my thoughts when I saw Dera stumbling towards me. She had obviously had enough to drink so I walked towards her and together, we observed the ocean.
"You're right where I want you, you know?" Dera said with a giggle. She had the tendency to say wierd things when she had had too much to drink.
"Yeah, you invited me, remember?" I asked, smiling back at her.
"I know, just like you invited Tobi to library at night with you haha. I wonder if it was just to study."
"Err, I'm confused. Is that a problem?" I asked with a waning smile
"Yeah, you see, I kinda like him and now he likes you. Fun fact, do you know that if someone who can't swim mistakenly falls off this boat, they'll probably not make it? Haha, can you swim Ada?"
She said those words so calmly that it sent chills to my bones. I began to retreat, putting each step behind the other. She followed me in the same manner with a creepy smile on her face.
"I'm physically stronger than you, all it'll take will be one push. No one will ever notice you're missing. At least, not till Monday. I'll probably be the one to make the report, I'll lead a search team and I'll write a beautiful eulogy for your funeral."
As she spoke, her frown slowly changed into a frown and her voice showed so much hate and determination. I had no other choice but to run while yelling for help.
She ran after me and pushed me down to the edge, I cried even louder for help as I struggled with her. Her grip was so strong, she held my neck making me struggle to breath. I could feel myself losing my strength and I begged God to spare my life. I kicked, pushed, thrashed but I was fighting a losing battle. It wasn't long until I felt my leg slip making me fall over. I braced myself for impact. As I awaited the contact with the cold water, I felt a strong thug. Someone caught me.
The birthday boy whose name I still didn't know had heard my screams as he was strolling on the deck. He ran towards the noise and was there just in time to save me. With some struggle, he pulled me up while Dera sat on the floor sobbing.
The overnight celebration was cut short and we were back on the shore in no time where the police took Dera away.
Talk To Them
Today, I had no idea about what to write. I thought and thought about it but nothing came to mind. After an hour I was thinking about a conversation I had with my friends when I was in my first year of University. They were talking about the different life advices their parents gave them before they resumed. Some of them described an emotional, tear-filled moment while others talked about how dramatic their parents were. I was so glad that I was never in their shoes; I didn't have to sit through any dramatic or emotional discussion with my parents which would have been very uncomfortable for me.
It was interesting to listen to them until I realised I had nothing to contribute. I thought hard and hard but I couldn't remember my parents sitting me down to give me any advice; the most I got was a text from my dad the day I travelled which didn't say much. It was weird that he waited for me to leave the house and then texted rather than talking to me, and even in the text, he didn't say anything serious. Eventually, I started to envy my friends who shared these connections with their parents. I could tell that even if they made fun of the exchange with their parents, they still respected their opinions and felt guilty if they did something remotely contrary to what their parents advised.
My parents are good in their own way but when it came to building a bond and asking the big questions, sometimes I wished they would do more. As a teenager, I was surrounded by people who seemed to have things figured out because they had parents or guardians always guiding them on what to do. For me, I was confused a lot. Nothing prepared me for how much I'd have to be responsible for myself, how I'd have to relate with older adults like they were my mates, how I'd have to go to a professors office like an adult and state my case, register for the hospital and pay my bills, plan my time for classes and activities, go to the market for food stuff, buy utensils and cook or even how much boys were going to ask to date me. I was ignorant and naive and I looked the part. I was very small in size and most of my friends at the time were also older than me.
In my first year, I felt like a mess and that was were I started my habit of panicking whenever I got overwhelmed. It was funny how my friends didn't seem to see me that way, they assumed I did or didn't do things because that was the decision I made; they didn't realise that I didn't know where, when, or how to pull myself together and do these things. I didn't know how to share my struggles either because I had no experience doing that. It was then that I felt I needed a rule book to navigate life, I wished my parents had talked to me or even asked how I was coping. I then clinged to my friends for knowledge; when someone talked about what their parents had told them, I took it in and followed the advice too because I believed their parents must give good them advice to ensure that they will succeed. When I saw them doing some things, I did same too. Not all results were positive but I was learning and I'm glad I didn't make terrible mistakes in my learning process.
One of the problems I faced was how to handle finances. My parents sent me pocket money which I also used to pay dues and sort bills. I didn't know how much to expect or how often to expect it as we never discussed anything. After buying books, paying lots of dues and transporting myself to different places, I started running out of money. So, I had to eat as little as possible and eventually I became sick and from there had my first battle with ulcer. I remember how fast my heart was beating when I realised I had to call home for money. I practiced my speech several times and then wrote down the breakdown of how my money was spent. When I called, my mum sent me the money and it made me wonder what I was so scared about.
Another thing was boys. I never wanted to have this talk with my parents, still don't but when I was in my first year, I realised my parents never mentioned their stand on our relationships with the opposite gender. I was confused a lot about what was right or not because what I had learnt in church was different from what everyone else was doing in school. Luckily, I had an older friend who made a comment about boys and I just took it and lived by it till I found what worked for me. Looking back at that time, I was very vulnerable to vices but I'm glad I figured things out for myself.
NB: It is very important to talk to your kids before sending them out in the world. Don't assume they know it all because they don't. And when they make mistakes, be there to show them the right way.
My SlumBook
Good day from a tired and sleep deprived person. One thing I'm sure I need now is cuddles and sleep. I'm going to work really hard this morning so I can finish earlier and get some rest. I doubt I'll be able to sleep but I'll lay down till my next meeting with my colleagues in the evening. I hope everyone's day is going well, if not, how can I help?
I remember in secondary school, we filled slum books giving informations about ourselves with slangs and quotes we thought were cool at the time. We even went further to design the books and people who filled each pages also gave the pages their own unique designs. I didn't keep a slum book but I enjoyed reading from the ones I filled (if the owners were fine with it). Sometimes, a slum book was usually the easiest way to know about your crush (wink) and "I read a slum book you filled" was usually a a surprisingly good conversation starter then. While I didn't have one myself, during our last days, I made a sign out book (or something) instead. People designed their nicknames and the pages, some added a few quotes; it was like graffiti in a book and it was beautiful.
I was proud of myself for coming up with it because people who didn't feel comfortable sharing about themselves really liked the option of just signing their names and being as creative with their page as they wanted without restrictions. Those who weren't artistic also wanted to give it a go and try. There were even people who practiced their designs on a sheet of paper before transferring to the book and others who returned to touch up their pages with new designs or shadings. It was really fun.
So today, I have decided to write my own slum book and talk about myself just a little bit. Here goes:
**Name**: Daria. It's meaning in translation varies but are similar such as royal or kingly wealth, owner of goodness, prosperous, maintainer of riches or possessions, God's gift. It is the female version of the name Darius. This is the name given to me at baptism after Saint Daria whose feast is celebrated two days before my birthday. I like that it is a rare name. In my country, I've never met my namesake. Fun fact: St Daria, before she was martyred, was once protected by a lioness from being forced to live as a prostitute.
**Country**: As I've mentioned before, I'm from Nigeria. I belong to one of the popular tribes (Igbo). The Igbo people are known to be business savvy, industrious and well spread out. Igbo people travel a lot and will work anywhere as long as it's going to better them or their families. Most Igbo people have been/lived in other states and province apart from the East where we're from. We have a lot of festivals and foods and we have really strong cultural practices. Fun fact: The name "Igbo" is sometimes corrupted by some people as Ibo which has no meaning and is a word that doesn't exist in our language.
**Last movie I saw**: I watch more series than movies. The last series I watched was "How I Met Your Father". I watched how I met your mother a long time ago and I was surprised to see this. Out of curiosity, I watched the first episode just some hours ago. It makes use of the same the song as the older series and the house where the previous characters lived is also used in this series. I can't judge how good it'll be yet, but I'm hopeful. I'll watch more episodes to find out. Fun fact: Other series I recently watched are Euphoria, Bob Hearts Abishola, Black-ish, Young Sheldon and The Neighborhood.
**Favourite Colour**: I have five favourite colours and they are Black, black, black, purple and red. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier but I love black haha. "Black is such a happy colour". Black just gives you the opportunity to be creative with other colours, be adventurous and daring. It also gives you the chance to hide in the background when you don't want to be out there. Of course, my phone is in dark mode and so is my read.cash. As if my body agrees with me, I have astigmatism that hurts my eyes when I'm exposed to light that is too bright, so my glasses are tinted. I emplore you Al to join me and embrace the dark side muhahaha!
That is all for today. Please share about yourself too, I'll to read and get to know you all.
@Belozoriana In so grateful to you for your sponsorship! I love reading your articles and learning about food and culture. Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much for sponsoring me @Mazekin I'm so grateful! I wish you all the best things in life and may your BCH always experience increase!
Holly-Nolly Wood
Hey guys, good day! I hope your day is going well? haha. Yesterday was quite a day, if you read my post you'll remember when I talked about my charger that stopped working. To crown it all there was a blackout till about 8 p.m. I had to put together my work for a presentation for this morning, and I was not able to do it during the day so I stayed up all night working till 4 a.m. I had about 3 hours of sleep and woke up just in time for my presentation. It was a close call, you could probably tell from my voice that I was extremely exhausted, but I'm glad I was able to pull it off.
My documents were well prepared for the presentation, but my boss didn't go through it all. I was actually supposed to send the presentation to his email yesterday, but since I wasn't able to do it on time I didn't send it and by the time I was done, I felt it was an odd time to be sending an email. It benefited me though because since my boss didn't go through it all himself, he didn't realise that I had done some other things so today he asked me to go do them. I know I could have said that I had already done them but I already had enough work on my hands, I didn't want to add more. So hopefully, I will be done earlier today and have enough time to rest. I'm actually grateful to myself for completing my work yesterday and having the initiative to do the other part of the work which he has asked me to do today. Of course, there's still some things I have to do apart from the one I had already done, but I'm glad I don't have that extra work.
Anyway, I remembered I got nominated to do the gallery raid by black doll. Well, I raided my gallery and I realised just how little pictures I take. I barely had anything to upload, so I will sadly be skipping the challenge, but here is a picture of a meal I will like to have again. It's not much but it was an after work lunch with my colleagues, and I really enjoyed it.
Now let's talk about this series I love called Bob hearts Abishola. This series is a comedy about a Nigerian woman who is working as a nurse in the United States. She is separated from her husband who has gone on to marry another wife and she lives with her nosy aunt and uncle while she strictly raises her son, Dele.
I've watched a lot of movies with African characters or rather depicting African characters and one thing that is always notable is the fake Nigerian accents. It's quite appalling that for a country with lots of Nigerian immigrants, they can't find one authentic Nigerian actor to play the role and even if they want to use an American actor, they don't do their research. Not only is the exaggerated Nigerian accent always over the top and fake, their facts about the country too is usually inaccurate or also exaggerated.
Nigeria is one of the countries where people live their lives fully both online and offline. In every site online, and every country in the world, you are sure to find a Nigerian. We are very industrious people and always looking for ways to better ourselves and our families so, we are usually willing to go the extra mile to make that happen. With the way we are and live our lives it is not hard to find information about the happenings in Nigeria. All one really need to do is a simple Google Search and you will find a lot of details about different topics and situations.
Why I'm talking about Bob hearts abishola is because this is one of the movies or series that actually has the main actor speaking with the authentic Nigerian accent. She does a wonderful job at not masking the Nigerian accent the picked up as a child despite the fact that she speaks differently or a little bit differently in real life. She still knows how it sounds and is able to deliver it authentically in the movie. The only other person with an authentic Nigerian accent in the series is her former husband, Tayo. The rest of the characters carry on with the trend of speaking with their mouth more open and their words heavily enunciated. While that is characteristic of a Nigerian accent, it is not all that it is. Although there are some little things that are exaggerated in the series it is still one of the the movies that shows more accurate aspects of what being a Nigerian is and I will definitely recommend anyone to watch it. It is a comedy so you're going to be sure to laugh your heart out.
So, if you have seen the show please let me know in the comments and tell me what you think about it.
Thank you so much for reading you guys are the best!
Disappointments and Danger
This morning was going OK until I got disappointed by my own phone. Work wasn't going to be stressful and I was even a bit excited about it till I tried to charge my phone. I plugged it in the extension box but it wasn't charging, instead it kept saying 'USB disconnected' or something like that. I battled with this for an hour while my battery was running down. I'm very dependent on my phone for work and personal stuff so, not having it is going to be a big issue. I can't get a new charger at the moment and no matter what I try, my current charger just won't work. There are few times where it starts charging for a second before it stops and those moments give me hope that it will still work but it just doesn't. At this rate, I might offline for most of the day and unable to interact on read.cash.
Anyway, enough about my disappointing charger. Happy Tuesday! How is your day going? For me, I just had noodles for breakfast because it's easy and fast to prepare. After that, I decided to write before my phone goes off. The good thing about today's work is that for the first time, I won't have to give feedback till tomorrow. Since I'm working from home, it means I can take my time to do the work. Now while this is interesting, I like the idea of working without the constant check in but I'm worried about the fact that it could be a prank or test to see if we're working. What if my boss calls in a few and asks us to give him updates or share what we've done so far. Apart from that, I also want to finish the work on time so I can do whatever I want for the rest of the day rather than working till the official end time. That was my plan but as my phone is going to go off soon, it'll hinder me from working. You may be wondering what I'll need my phone for when there's a laptop, it's actually a long story I don't want to get into lol.
So, now I'm killing time playing jigsaw puzzles and praying for a miracle. I will have to find a way to get my work done after which I may decide to do some laundry, eat and just take whatever the day has to offer.
For now, let me tell about boarding school hacks. Remember when I talked about using electric irons for various things in school, I'll explain the ones I remember.
(warning ⚠ Don't try this anywhere!)
**Bread Toaster**
We did this by cutting the small laof in two and buttering inside it. Then we proceed to rub a generous amount of butter on the body of the bread. After that, the bread is wrapped in a paper (just enough paper to cover it once) and then is placed on a technical drawing board which we usually used FOR technical drawing or fine art classes. Then, we heat up the iron and press it onto the bread. We the turn the bread over and press the iron on the other side. We did that till the bread was flat, brown and crispy. The butter covering the bread enables paper to come off easily.
Sometimes, when we were provided with boiled eggs, we made a chunky mash of the egg and spread it in the center of the bread. Other times, we poured some powdered chocolate (mostly Milo) into the bread and after it had been toasted, the chocolate would have melted into a thick spread.
**Cloth Dryer**
This is also another bad hack. When our clothes were wet, we sometimes used a hot iron to dry the clothes. Weirdly, I liked the sshhh sound that comes from hot iron coming in contact with a wet cloth which is usually followed by the smell of burning paper. This is however dangerous as it can easily burn the clothes, spoil the iron and make it more prone to burning other clothes, also, water and electricity shouldn't be playing together.
**Cooker**
This should be the most dangerous of all. We sometimes used a hot iron as a stove to prepare contraband meals, mostly noodles. We were not allowed to cook as food was provided by the school but some students smuggle noodles into the hostel to cook. How it's mostly done is that you take an empty, clean milk or chocolate tin (aluminium, I think), pour water in it and place it on an upturned hot iron. When the water gets hot add spices and then noodles. I never did this though because it was too dangerous but I ate noodles from those who did hahaha and I didn't like how it tasted. It felt like the spices were still raw.
And that's all folks!
Thank you so much for reading!
A Bad Case of the Mondays
Hello Monday, I'm sorry I do not like your presence; it's really not your fault. It's just a drastic change from the freedom and relaxation of the weekends to the hustle and bustle of a new week. I wish we do meet under different circumstances where we are slowly eased from our break to our work life and we don't have to dive right into carrying out whatever endless expectations the week has for us, but as that is not the case, I can only say I'm sorry I do not like your presence. I always long for the end of the day and let out a long sigh when I can finally lay on my bed knowing that the days work is over.
Can you relate to this? This is how I feel most Mondays and I don't like feeling that way so I tried to do some research and also think of the times when I didn't hate Mondays and why. With that, I've been able to put together a list of ways to deal with Monday blues.
**Plan Ahead For Monday**
For me, during the weekend, I do not want to think of or even be reminded of work and sometimes that means that from the moment I get off work on Friday till Monday, I may not make preparatory plans for the new week. Doing that makes me feel stressed when I realise I have a lot to do so what I do now is from Friday, I prepare every work related thing ready for Monday. I sometimes even draft mails I may send and knowing that I had already done that let's me have a relaxing weekend and makes me grateful on Monday as it reduces my workload. Planning what to wear, packing up your bags on Friday also helps as you won't be stuck thinking about it on Sunday night or Monday morning and packing your bag on Friday helps you not to forget, over the weekend, the necessary things you need for Monday.
**Synchronise Your Sleep Schedule**
Who doesn't look forward to sleeping in on the weekends. That glorious feeling knowing that you don't have to wake up to an alarm, start getting dressed and heading out for school or work. We probably long for it all through the week and happily embrace the moment when weekend comes. I do this too but studies have shown that waking up at the same times everyday, both on weekends and weekdays helps us not feel so stressed on Mondays. If you've spent all weekend staying up very late and equally waking up late, by Monday we'll feel like we're working too hard to wake up. But, if we wake up at the same time everyday, waking up on Monday morning won't feel so dreadful.
**Weekday Fun**
Why have fun only on weekends when you can have it everyday. By giving yourself simple moments of fun during the weekdays, you won't suffer from the stress that comes with the sharp contrast between a fun-filled weekend and a work-filled weekday. So, find ways to have some fun during the week. Hang out with friends after work, enjoy a movie in the cinema, catch up on the latest gists and news. Just do whatever you may derive fun from.
**Take Small Breaks**
It is essential to take little breaks so as not to overwhelm yourself. Sometimes, work gets carried over into the new week from the previous week and by Monday, you may have a backlog of work to attend. It may seem like you have too much to do with too little time but you'll be more productive if you don't let the work overwhelm you. You can stand up from your chair, walk around and observe your surroundings, talk to a colleague, listen to music or even take a quick nap. This will help keep you fresh each time you resume your work, as long as you don't get distracted.
**Reward Yourself**
For every tedious task, giving yourself a reward or anticipating one works as an incentive that'll make you actually look forward to finishing it. Your weekday fun activities could also work as your reward. After a hard day's work or lecture, you can decide to treat yourself to a meal, see a movie, visit friends etc. It's like a pat in the back that will help you see your day in a better light.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope this helps you get over the Monday blues.
Alarming (a short story)
The curtains flowed softly as the breeze of the early morning made its way into the room. As the alarm started to ring, Mary smacked the clock to snooze the alarm for 15 minutes and pulled the cover over her body. She hadn't had a good sleep in a long time and she knew she needed it. After what felt like a few seconds, the alarm rang again and this time she didn't turn it off. She turned facing the ceiling with closed eyes, listening to the continuous ringing and willing herself to stand up from the bed and begin her day. Slowly, she opened her eyes, adjusting to the darkness and the little stream of sunlight that managed to pass through the curtains.
She stood up and went to the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror and washed her face. As she was cleaning her face, she saw on the mirror what looked like a person staring at her and she screamed and turned around only to see that she was alone. She remembered how stressed she had been lately and worried if she was having stress-induced hallucinations or just paranoia.
Mary went to the kitchen to make herself a quick breakfast as she was too tired to prepare an elaborate meal. She poured some cereal into a bowl and grabbed the milk. As she started to our the milk, it seemed to be blood red instead of white but in a split second, it became white again and everything was normal. She started cussing herself for watching a horror movie before going to sleep as it was affecting her imaginations. Just as she was about to take a spoonful of the cereal, she noticed she was holding a knife rather than a spoon and was pointing it into her mouth. She quickly dropped the utensil, confused as to how it happened because she was almost sure she had picked up a spoon and not a knife.
Mary was exhausted and she felt even more fatigued with each second that passed by. She made a mental note to visit the hospital on her way to work. She went to the bathroom for a shower but she kept having the sense that there was another presence in the house. She noticed her shower curtain was open while bathing but she remembered closing it. She didn't know what was going on or if she was merely going crazy. She didn't believe in any form of metaphysics. She felt her life was an irony as she was named Mary after a Bible character. She knew there heard to be a logical explanation for what was going on and she hoped to find out at the hospital.
Before heading to the hospital, Mary decided to do some research of her own. She turned on her laptop and started searching for the relationship between stress and hallucinations. After 5 mins into the search, her screen glitched, turned black and through the reflection on the monitor, she saw someone behind her. This time, she didn't scream, instead she looked closer at the reflection. The figure behind her was covered in blood and she could hear the sound as each drop of blood fell on the floor. She could also hear how fast and heavily she was breathing. She clenched her fist and tried not to move. Through the reflection, the man's face wasn't clear but she noticed what seemed like a tattoo of a local doll made of straws on his left arm.
Mary swallowed hard and told herself that it wasn't real but the man moved closer. She whimpered as tears ran down her eyes. She shook her head at the man through his reflection on her screen as if to plead with him but he only drew closer and closer till all she could hear was a loud ringing.
Mary was on her bed, beside her was her alarm and the clock read 5:15. Beads of sweat rolled down her neck as she looked around trying to take note of her surroundings. It was only a dream. She hated having nightmares but she was glad that non of it was real.
On her way to work, she decided to stop at the doctors office for some medical advice. She had been stressed lately and wasn't getting enough sleep. On getting there, she was greeted by a charming doctor with a nice smile and a tattoo of a straw doll on his left arm.
The End.
Thanks for reading!
@Daria