Hello everyone

welcome to my blog once more 💚

This post is in response to the best moment of life contest by @bright-obias. Thanks for this honourable platform to share exciting and intriguing moments of our lives. Further more, my sincerest commendations goes to the supporters and curators of this contest, such as @belenguerra, @steemitcurator01, @cryptokannon for being the backbone behind this initiative. Thanks a million.

My article hosts much more than a story, I Incorporated a short poem to the mix for good measure and I hope you enjoy it. Without further hesitation, here's my participation with the entry thus:

BEST MOMENTS OF LIFE

I could tell you a story, a story of the best moments of my life. Of course, no matter how long or short, my lifetime on Earth has been, I have certainly picked up a couple of best moments, better still, fascinating and mind blowing moments at that!. As a matter of fact, there are numerous moments to choose from. I could tell you of the time I successfully passed my WAEC and Jamb exams into the university at my first sitting! or the time I graduated from the University in flying colors. Maybe I could tell you of the jubliant moment when my sister got married and put to bed, safe and sound even while there were slight complications with the pregnancy or the time I toured EKO hotels and suites, Lagos duing a NAPE conference.

Yes! Those are delightful and befitting of the "Best Moments of life" title, well at least, based on your own discretion and perspective! I don't think "Best" defines only the happy, joyous or glee moments, especially when it comes to life. I believe its more transcending than that. It's more encompassing! It accommodates those times when you truly understand the essence of life,when you can finally grasp the simple satisfaction from being alive. The moment when life flashes across your very eyes, moments when you cared less about the baggages or vanities of life, when all that mattered was to make it out of such situations alive!. Moments when family and people you care about made it out of difficult/ life-threatening circumstances.

How about I tell you about the moment I survived a long-term illness as an infant or when I survived a motorcycle accident as a little kid. How about I entertain you with the moment my Dad miraculously survived a stroke attack or when my little brother was saved from amputation after dealing with gangrene. I know,this sounds weird but I cherish these moments,no matter how sad or bitter the might have been, all that mattered was the heartfelt appreciation and undeniable gratitude felt after going through and surviving them.

I remember writing a poem a couple of years ago which I titled "MEMORIES". Coincidentally, I believe it falls in line with my explanation. I have always felt this way and I hope you understand these emotions as I share this poem with you thus:

MEMORIES

Glowing in happiness, my heart more colourful than rainbows. I sail smoothly across joyous memories. Times spent in thrill, in the jovial arms of loved ones. The laughters of excitement still echoed loud,peace,love and harmony resonancing in them. Then life danced delightfully to a cheerful rhythm.

Now, happiness is dead, murdered prematurely
Sadness rules, thriving in these sour times.
The rainbows now shines colourless rays,
for it seems these gloomy memories,
are my penance for my little years of happiness.
Is happiness truly worthy if it comes with a price of unforseen melancholy?

But pleasure looses its dignity and esteem without pain. Love is meaningless unless in the face of hate. And so is happiness not whole without the unforgiving existence of sadness. I love these memories the same, for I cannot truly comprehend one in the absence of the other. Just as day is incomplete without night, so do I find myself lacking without one.

I hope you enjoyed reading!

And at the same time, I hope you get my drift!

In the light of this understanding of mine, I decided to share a story that would display emotions of laughter and tears,my perfect definition of a best moment of life situation.

BEST MOMENT OF LIFE : NEAR-DEATH DOMESTIC ACCIDENT

Childhood! The best moments of my life were experienced during this time. When I was younger, ignorant of the ambiguities of this world. I was the second to the last born, of a family of eight (including my parents). I was eight years old, and just like any kid of my age, I was attracted to the juvenile fun and recklessness. Honestly, my callousness was unlike most of my mates while growing up and this earned me some serious strokes of the cane especially from my dad, although my mom and my older siblings were also culprits.

Saturdays were my special delight, there is no school on Saturdays and my parents usually would be away from home giving me the luxury of exploring the world of my childhood adventures. Sometimes, I had to deal with my older siblings but due to the fact that they wanted to enjoy freedom of theirs, they ended up overlooking some of my witful actions. However,aside from that,as kids too, they sometimes got attracted to the fun of some of the activities and we ended up playing together, as long as, we ,the younger ones, best behaved.

It was another Saturday!

I woke up to the cheerful chirping of the birds signalling the dawn of a new day. I checked my portion of the bed for moistness and I was elated my bedwetting practices did not catch up with me that day. In full awareness of what day it was, I set off on an active imagination of how eventful my day was going to be. I had the most fun and exciting adventures mapped out and I couldn't wait to stop thinking and start playing! My mom usually woke us up for the morning devotion and I knew it was a matter of time before she came calling.

After the morning devotion,I hurriedly carried out my chores for the morning. I just had to wash the dishes and that didn't seem like a task compared to the satisfaction I'd derive from my burning desires. In no time, I was done and i hastily took my shower, outside, in the audience of our prying neighbors. All this was in an attempt to stall the time, for my parents to leave for their respective workplaces. Soon enough, my prayers were answered as my parents left the house after breakfast. Like a long imprisoned captive who recently embraced the outstretched arms of freedom, I quickly ran outside in a bid to start off my day.

Just like myself, I already had a band of outlaws outside, enjoying the luxurious liberty of their childhood. In the interest of conveying my imagination to reality, i swiftly told them of a new idea I had, a fun activity that would leave us exhausted and ridden in amusement. soon enough,we ran a rampage through the entire compound, scavenging for strands of rope. After a tireless effort, we were levitating off the ground in a continuous leap as we happily enjoyed the skipping game.

Just like every other exciting childhood activity, the skipping game garnered a lot of attention from other kids and before long, they were clamouring to be part of the fun. And as the pioneer of the game, I wanted to accommodate more players. The rope was somewhat short to allow a higher number of participants at a time, so I knew I had to set off on a solo attempt to get more strands of rope.

Without stating my intentions, I ran back into the building, looking for any rope in sight. I continued my search as I chaotically ran towards the staircase, hoping to achieve some helpful results upstairs, since my search downstairs had been fruitless. In the same instance, I met my dilemma!. Unknown to me, an older kid was running down the stairs, in a brutal impact, our bodies collided. I felt my tender body hit the concrete floor with a loud thud. However,I felt no pain, just the gentle closure of my eyes,I remembered the last image I saw was of the other victim, crying as she squatted over my nearly unconscious body.

Few hours later,I woke up in the cozy bed of a nearby local hospital, surrounded by my siblings and some of our neighbors. The narrative was that one of our neighbors heard the other kid crying and decided to enquire what the problem was. He came out to meet me unconscious in the pool of my own blood. The collision left my face battered, with my forehead and lips broken from the impact. The other kid was lucky to make it out unscratched, due to the logical fact that she was on the high ground and therefore inflicted most of the damages. I was speedily carried to the hospital where I was resuscitated. Luckily for me, none of the injuries required stitching and the were all already bandaged when I woke up.

I sat up staring back at the pitiful sets of eyes before me in my attempt to recall what happened. One of the neighbors asked how I felt and almost immediately, my brother, accompanied by my sister ran out to fetch the doctor. I was about to answer when suddenly, my sister alone, ran back to the room, announcing the arrival of my parents. As I heard this, I squirmed in my bed as I felt the need to wrapped myself up in the blanket. My parents, especially my Dad had warned me on several occasions about my excessive trifling. I knew I was going to get the punishment I deserved.

As I was still fondling with my thoughts, I heard the door squeak open as my heart skipped a beat.

THE END

Here is a picture of myself,showing a scar and permanent swell on the edges of my forehead, years after the incident.

I hope you enjoyed the story

Feel free to share your candid thoughts with a reply in the comment section!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY
@stephenpaul