Titleless 1

Ani

Whoever gave this name to her, she loved it. Otherwise, she was in serious doubts about her life. She did not have anything to worry about. Living in the Banana Island she did not have any of those 'typical Nigerian' problems: she did not suffer the lack of water or electricity at home and she was safe all the time in the Island. Having lived all her 24 years in Banana Island, as the adopted daughter of Ekene and Ife, a billionaire couple, was not stressing at all. She also had two pretty close friends: Amana and Dan. Still, something was missing.

She wanted to see the World. She was able to count the times when she left the island on one hand. Once, as a gift for her 18th birthday they flew away to Ibiza for one week. She could still remember the taste of that weird red alcoholic drink served with fresh fruits their parents made her try. She could still recall its name: Sangría.She also visited The USA once thanks to a partnership between her school and its twin in Washington DC. Everything she saw there was fancy and normal. Just like in the Banana island.

She had a nice relationship with her parents. She could not say it was very close but they did not have any confrontation either. The parents kept looking for her all the time. Not a single step on her life was taken alone. It was when Amana came back from her internship in Brazil that she felt something different. Something that she had never felt before. She felt emptiness. Amana, who was only 17, told her so many exciting things that she experienced. Amana told her all her stories about her boat trip on the Amazonas, her night in the Rio beach and her 2 weeks long trip to Chile. Ani was shocked to listen to her stories about those so called favellas. She never ever met poverty. She knew that Lagos, his hometown also has problems coming from poverty but she never saw the actual situation for herself. Hearing the excitement in Amana's voice made her buzzing to leave. To see the World. To get out from the island. Suddenly she felt those little trips to Ibiza and Washington meaningless; she wanted to see the real face of the World, not only the 5 star Hotel she stayed at with her parents and the private school that gave her everything for her 4 days spent in the States.

By now, this feeling hit her almost half a year ago and it has never left her imagination. She was dreaming of all the things Amana gushed her about. At this point she was a girl with a dream who had no idea what to do. Tell her parents? No, they were never going to allow her to leave. Escape? How? She was not a rebel, she did not know how she could do something like that.

She never would have believed if someone told her that her great opportunity is waiting right around the corner.