CAP 1: THE SUNCITY OF ABUJA
Episode 1
I want to tell you a secret. Something yet unknown to man. Like how the spiders
survive in palaces and how the worms find its way to the princess’ belly. Secrets
of men who sought the unknown; who journeyed to find their dreams; sailed
the seas with no compass; and crossed the deserts with no guide. Men who
expected nothing from life, who knew that one’s success or failure in life’s
journey was the decision of the gods.
Some believed that seekers would find. A fallacy; a theory, yet unproven.
The only fact is that every accomplishment shows how lucky a person can be. Purely
a decision of the gods. For he that is favored by the gods amasses wealth and
him, whom the gods do not cherish would stand and stare. But nothing is as
pathetic as the man who his personal god – Chi – accepts his beggarly status. If
such a man fights against all odds and climbs out of abject poverty, he would
not last. His tale would not end well and, because he finds it difficult to
appreciate that ‘all who seek must not find’, the wrath of the gods would
consume him. But no one knows his destiny, be it fortune or love, till he seeks.
Take Flora for example. Cities like Abuja were not for good girls like her. But
she cast her fears to the winds, paid over the odds and fought for her little
dreams. She knew the terrain would be rough, but she did not appreciate how
rough things could be. Without relenting, she gave her best. She never backed
down even when the dice was loaded against her.
There were secrets she did not know. To her, Abuja was like the toss of a coin
Head: she would find her dream and live happily.
Tail: she would not find her dream and would return to where they came from.
She never considered the possibility of the coin landing on its edge. A sign that
they would neither find happiness nor find their way out of the town and it
happened to Flora. When her destiny’s coin was tossed, it neither showed the
head nor the tail.
Abuja doesn’t spare. How else could I have traded on its secret? Abuja was a
city where ladies hardly sustained that which they held in high esteem. Flighty
and swift. A wrong choice for guiltless souls. Abuja was that blacksmith’s
furnace which would test morals; that fire which would prove how fine steels
were. It was an anvil upon which Flora’s personality would be struck.
“Flora, this town is very strange,” I subtly warned her. But she never
understood.
A job was all she needed, she had said. Believing that once she found a good
job, she would be fine.
But good jobs, most times, came with a price tag which could either be a
signature on a letter or possibly, a body on a platter. Flora put in her best,
moved from place to place and hunted for an imaginary job. Good soul; but
being an eager beaver did not guarantee her quail and manna. There were dues
to be paid; Sacrifices to be offered. But Flora believed in her own strength.
Her heart, possibly, was made of diamonds. Unknown to her, not all diamonds
last forever. When Flora’s diamond was tested, it cracked.
.....To Be Contd.
........Story By: Ozii Anieto
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