When Eno touches the bright yellow petals of the flower, the fluffy feel against her skin soothes her and brings back a flood of memories as she closes her eyes and sees him in her mind eyes.
She remembers tracing the outline of his lips with her fingers and both of them giggling in excitement and anticipation, isolated in a world of their love.
She can recall his lips slowly grazing hers and the feel of his hot breath against her face as they kissed slowly in that divine moment.
“I love you Mark,” She had whispered to him.
“I love you too” He had replied her with that mischievous wink of his that she finds so attractive.
Then she opens her eyes and she is all alone in her room on a cold Wednesday evening, wrapped in a duvet on her bed, listening to the music on her earphones.
“”My mind dey for you
My heart beats for you
Every time when I think of you
I don’t know…
I, I, I feel loved again
I don’t want to wait for days
Lemme have you in my arms again
Please?….”
Forever remix by the Ghanaian singer, Gyakie ft Omah Lay has become her favourite song on her music playlist but she hates the fact that it puts her in a melancholic mood and raises up the wall of loneliness in her heart.
It’s been four months since Mark said goodbye to her and left Uyo with his troops on a mission to the north to fight Boko Haram.
“We have been deployed to the North, the army needs more hands in the front lines and I have to go” He had informed her that sunday evening as they snuggled on the bed.
“What if you don’t come back alive? Mark, I don’t want to lose you, you are all that I have got! Please stay back, tell them you are sick or something! You can’t leave me here.” She had appealed with tears in her eyes.
“No dear, I am a professional, I follow orders because that is the nature of my job and I have a duty to fight for my nation, Nigeria. I assure you that I will be fine and will return to you in few months time”
“I hate the fact that you are a Soldier!” She had sobbed.
They had been in touch in his first month in Maiduguri. Once a day, he would call her on Whatsapp video call and show her around his environment. They would crack jokes and his fellow soldiers at the camp would join in to tease them. She always told him to be careful and return to her in one piece. One day the news broke. Mark’s battalion had been ambushed at the edge of the sambisa forest by the terrorists during a battle and many of his colleagues were killed.
Grief, disbelief and uncertainty took over Eno.
“Mark Asuquo is alright, he is alive but he can’t talk to you again. All phones are banned in camp because of the activities of spies and saboteurs. You will see Mark when he is redeployed to Uyo later this year.” The top army commander had informed Eno in a text message in the cause of her desperate inquiry into her lover’s fate.
Three months without communication with Mark has taken its toll on her. The state of uncertainty over his life has made her confused. She has found herself swinging between hope and despair, days of optimism and days of pessimism. But she has found conviction and inner strength to believe in the possibility of a bright future for her and Mark. The future he always spoke passionately about on the days they go on long walks in the evening and when they go picnicking at the Green Park at Brooks Street.
“We are going to get married and have three wonderful kids and we will be together forever!”
“Yes, and we will live in a nice house with a big garden filled with beautiful flowers with big petals and birds chirping!”
“Wait, where are the birds going to come from?”
“They will be living on the trees in the garden. We will plant Palm trees”
“No! I don’t like palm trees, we will plant eto afim in the garden”.
“Iyooh! Palm trees will be planted!”
Now she opens her eyes and finds herself back to reality in her room. She stares at the door, hoping and waiting for a knock….waiting for the door to swing open and for Mark to step in and exclaim, “Baby! I am back! Will you marry me?”
Then she would scream with joy,
“Hey my darling I dey for you
Pop the question and yes, I do!
My melody should strike a clue
That I want you and only you!”
And she would melt into his arms in a hug that would last forever.
Iniobong Leroi Umoh is a storyteller, a satirist and creative writer. He blurs the line between reality and fiction and seeks to create a connection with the reader through engaging content. His works have been featured across various online and offline platforms. He hopes to one day travel around the world on a luxury yacht, sipping expensive wine and documenting all his experiences in a journal.
You can send him a mail at infoleric@gmail.com.
