Creative Writing: Two days, Two pieces!

---

_{Published on August 25, 2022}

“TWO DAYS, Ukpono. Two days! Who would abduct my son for two days? Who?”

She lamented. Beating her chest as she began to wail again. She was broken into two.

She looked so helpless in the damp clothes that had not left her body ever since she returned home the day before yesterday to see every little possession she had amassed in the three decades of her life intact in her one-room apartment except for the most valuable of them all which had managed to disappear into thin air.

She had searched the compound tirelessly. But still, her 7-year-old son was nowhere to be found. He wasn't playing in the neighbours' tiny rooms. Why will he be there anyway when he had never gone to their homes before? He was not in at the church either which was a stone throw from the face-me-I-slap you compound they lived in.

Devastated she roamed the street with her hands placed on her head wailing in anguish.

Everyone who had heard the story of the missing boy tried their best to console her. The religious ones prayed for God's safety while the superstitious ones began to comment on how gloomy the weather had looked even when it looked like any other day in August.

When every effort to calm her proved abortive, every man and woman returned to their tent to catch some sleep or permit me to say begin a wake keep because her moans and groans filled the stilled night air that even the newborn who was fond of crying at night remained calm for once since her birth.

“What did I do wrong?”

Her sorrowful voice brought me out from my reverie.

“I did everything a single parent would do to protect a child. I brought him back home with my hands. With these two hands." she said patting both arms with the opposite palm.

Then she continued, _“I gave him the remaining rice that was left in the morning. He went ahead to wash his food flask so he will use it again tomorrow.”

She paused and bit her lower lips so hard. Whatever she had to say next must hurt so much.

“His lesson teacher called me today”

As she said so, I felt my heart palpitate. The torture was excruciating. I wished to reach out to her, pat her on the back and whisper soft reassuring words to soothe her even when I was feeling hopeless as well.

Slowly, I rose from my seat and joined her on the floor. My left hand held her shoulders. The palm stroked the smooth skin on her arms. This seemed to calm her because she leaned on my shoulder after a while.

We maintained that position until the cock crowed the next day.

It's the third day and the clock is still ticking.

About Me | 10% payout to @campusconnectng | 🇳🇬