Tade's Mysterious Art

Some things exist beyond the ordinary and the heart of men cannot explain it no matter how it is perceived.

Many years ago, when I was just in elementary school, my intimate friend had a thing for drawing. Not just drawing anything but what captivates the heart .

He usually gets inspired to draw through his instinct such that he carries his pencil and drawing sheets wherever he goes.

His parents were in full support because they loved every piece he had drawn in the past.

One evening, while he had done his assignment, he suddenly got inspired to draw something. When he started, he seldom knew what to draw. It was his first drawing for the month. Hence, he just played it away. At the end of the sketching, the image appeared and made complete sense. It was the site of a plane crash.

The sketch was beautiful. It had a thick flame in the white cloud.

Few days later, there was breaking news that a passenger plane had crashed and all those on board the aircraft including the crew member could not be rescued.

Since no one knew my friend, it was difficult to align his drawing to the current plane crash disaster. I did feel a connection between his drawing and the crash though but cannot place it.

My friend did not stop being an artist.

We entered college but in different departments. It was like a dream came through for us.

One Tuesday evening in August. When the clouds were calm and the atmosphere cool, I was on the school lawn waiting for my friend who was in his laboratory attending his practical lessons.

After about an hour or more, he came out holding another sketch in his right hand. I was glad to see it.

When I had viewed it, the sketch was a perfect reflection of the popular beggar at the college gate. He has been there for as long as the college was established begging alms. Bulus, as he is fondly called, receives alms from the public because he was lame.

But in my friend's sketch, Bulus was standing on his two legs. I saw it as a funny sketch and jokingly said to my friend:

you seem to be a prophet with your art.

We laughed over it and walked to the bus stop to pick a cab home.

The next morning when we arrived at the school gate, we met a mammoth crowd gathered at the gate. With anxiety, we asked what had happened.

Just there, we saw Bulus standing on his two legs. Is that a miracle or something? I couldn't just place it until Ade, a classmate, told me that Bulus had been pretending to be lame all the while. Once again, my friend's mysterious art has shown how much one has to wonder.

When the news broke out that Bulus had been caught for pretending to be lame to beg for alms and my friend still had his last sketched art in his bag, I ran quickly to him and asked that he explains why his drawing gives usually coincides with similar occurrences, he had nothing to explain in return but I was curious. 

So it does not appear like I was pestering him, I continued with other stuff while we waited for the next lecturer to mount the podium. 

At that instance, I brought out my jotter so I could write out some points from the next lecture. 

Tade started sketching something on my jotter again. I was shocked and angry at the same time but could not stop him. 

The sketching didn't take much time. When Tade completed the sketch, he had drawn the podium of our present lecture hall. The roof fell on the pulpit. In the sketch, someone was standing by the pulpit when the roof fell. 

Immediately, I deduced that something was going to happen here again. Quickly, I ran to the front and announced that everyone should leave the hall. It was quite a show. 

The rumbling to leave made a jam at the entry and exit points of the hall.  I am happy I was able to interpret the art and save the day. Never again would I joke with Tade's mysterious art.

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