The death of a friend.

Death comes in the most unexpected of circumstances, leaving us with grief we've never felt before, the grief gets worse if this unwelcomed but inevitable visitor comes to those who we feel we can't live without, people like our parents, siblings, close friends and other loved ones with whom we've maintained close relationships.

As young people growing up, we know they death knows no age and isn't restricted to elderly people only and yet for some reason, we feel that we won't die yet since we're still very much young. The death of a friend, although painful brought me back to the shocking reality that death doesn't care about your age. You might just be reading this article and fall down dead.

There's this friend of mine who, during the last university strike, was always talkative in the class group because of how boring like has become without school at that time. He engaged alot in playful banters with other talkative members of the class in they group. I was also a very active member in the whatsapp group so we'd spend hours chatting online either on the group or outside the group. He was particularly fond of sending numerous data consuming stickers in an attempt to innocently provoke others, a very friendly and funny guy with unmatched interpersonal skills. One day, while the strike was still ongoing, I woke up to a voice note from his mom which had been forwarded to the class group. I then saw a picture of him smiling with a matriculation gown on him, a picture we took a year ago when we were matriculating. I didn't believe it at first as I thought it was some kind of joke although I know he wouldn't go as far as faking his own death, I still wanted to believe that his playful nature had led him to do that.

The notes was then followed by a message from the class rep who officially announced his death to the class members in the class group. All these while my hand was trembling and my phone was shaking seriously in my hands. I dropped the phone to let the news sink in and after slightly recovering, I proceeded to the bathroom to wash my face. On visiting my phone again, the whatsapp group was flooded with condolence messages, I couldn't say or type anything as my mind went totally blank. I chatted my class rep privately to request for the deceased mom's phone number to call her, I gave my condolences and to my surprise, her tone was a bit playful but still one could feel the pain deep down, God! What a strong woman. I cried and prayed a secret prayer for him and asked God to grant his parents the fortitude to bear the loss. He was such a promising young man. He suffered from malaria and typhoid which led to his demise. Prior to his death, his engagements online dropped significantly and since he was my favourite chat buddy, I called to inquire if everything was okay and he informed me about his illness, I never knew it'd become serious since his tone was playful as usual so I thought it was just normal malaria he would recover from in no time. A report after his death said it escalated and led to multiple organ failure leading to sepsis then death.

After the whole thing, I took some time to reflect upon myself. I and the guy were around the same age, I might even be a bit older than him. I was humbled beyond measures. It made me realise the brevity of this life again and again. It is just like the blink of an eye. Death can catch up with anyone at anytime so let's live a life and love without boundaries, live in the moment and forget about the past or future for none of it is guaranteed. It instilled a level of faith in me I still hold firmly.

My dear friend never lived to realise his dreams, but I know he's in a better place now, a place that's above all dreams.

Rest on Mujahid.

May the souls of all our departed loved ones rest in perfect peace. Amen.

Thanks for reading.

Yours Layly,

💖💖💖