At the beginning of my journey here on Uptrennd, I made a post about the scariest moment of my life. A roommate almost died in my arms in the middle of a deserted street. It wasn't a funny experience, and it sure thought me a lot of things. I'm glad everything worked out for the better in the end. You can read everything by clicking here.
Today, however, I want to share how I nearly lost my life. I was fifteen.
That period in my life, I was living with my parents and one of my sisters. Sometimes after school hours, I would stop at the local market on my way home and buy things we needed for dinner that evening and breakfast the following day. This was one task I usually carried out alone. I always timed myself. 45 mins for both walking to the market (it was very close to my school), buying the necessary stuff and then going home. I disliked spending beyond that time, and to achieve this, I would leave some of the friends I walked home with because they had a way of wasting my time.
On that day, someone tagged along. We weren't friends but we knew each other. In fact, she bullied me mercilessly in our junior class because she was bigger. Did I mention that I was so tiny when I was younger that some people still don't believe I managed to grow this tall. Hehe. I digress. But we made good and got along quite well.
When I was done buying the things I needed, it was finally time to go home. The road that connected the school to the market was a very sharp one. It wasn't what you would call a high way but it was always busy. The left part of the road meant for pedestrians was larger that the right part. People made use of that part the most.
Coming out of the market, I had to cross to the other larger side. I told you the road was sharp, did I tell you it also wasn't straight? Seeing a vehicle coming from the other side was almost impossible. I was convinced that the road was clear. I mean, this was one road I had been walking all my life. What could possibly be wrong?
Halfway through crossing, I saw it. A romchi bus. People in the Eastern part of Nigeria would be familiar with this one. It moves with a very high speed. It was white. My brain registered danger but my legs froze. I stood in the middle of the road staring at it. I couldn't move. People were screaming. I could clearly see the driver struggling with the breaks but my legs refused to work. Just when I thought it was going to be over, I ran over to the other side. It was like something pushed me over. I was shaking.
I still don't understand what happened that day or how it happened. But it was a bad day for all of us. My cousin died on that day. Like me, he was trying to cross to the other side of the road and was hit by a car. He died on the spot. He was younger than me. That same night, my dad almost ran someone over on his way back.
I kept my story to myself and mourned my cousin. I also refused to be superstitious about it. This is actually the first time I'm publicly sharing it.
How's your day going?