Dear Diary – March 2010

Sunday

I woke up with so much anticipation, so I quickly took my bath and breakfast was ready before I finished preparing. Suddenly the room became dark and I looked through the window to confirm it was going to rain. In less than a few minutes, it started raining cat and dog. I decided to stay home to see some movies because I couldn’t see my friends as planned. Late in the afternoon, my uncle and his wife visited my parents and we had fun talking about the newly wedded family. Also, I took some time to prepare my uniform and books for school resumption tomorrow.

Monday

I got my sleepy head out of bed with so much joy, because school was resuming today. I just couldn’t wait to see my friends, especially my best friend Temmy Alandu. I have missed her so much. We didn’t see during the short Christmas holiday because she traveled to Calabar for the annual carnival. I couldn’t communicate with her because she lost her mobile phone while in school and her parents refused to replace her lost phone. I did my house chores and prepared for school and my mother ensured that I took my breakfast before leaving for school. When I got to school, the number of students I saw was not more than a quarter of the school’s student population. More painful was that I couldn’t spot Temmy she wasn’t in school and her absence subtracted from my fun. After weeding some grasses and cleaning the school surrounding as the custom of every first day of resumption, I was sweating profusely like “salah ram”. By the time I got home, I was exhausted and so I slept like I had been drugged!

Tuesday

I woke up unhappy about yesterday, but I later got over it. Not quite long, the PHCN restored power supply and I switched on the television to see my favorite cartoon on the TV. Before I knew what was going, on the time was already 7:00 a.m. quickly, I stood up from the couch and ran into the bathroom. I couldn’t wait for breakfast because I was running late. On getting to the bus stop, I met a long queue and I couldn’t join the line so I decided to board a private jet (a.k.a okada) in order to meet the assembly. The student attendance was better than that of yesterday and I was happy because I could easily figure out Temmy in the middle of the file students in my class. When we got to the class, Temmy began to recount her holiday experience, especially the Calabar carnival and how much fun she had. We could not finish the details of the carnival because our class teacher came in and, to our greatest surprise, there was a warm-up test! Though I wasn’t prepared for the test, I tried my best and enjoyed the rest of the day.

Wednesday

I was happy when I heard the class captain announced that a debate competition was coming up on Friday at the national stadium in Surulere. I was very excited because I was among the three speakers selected to represent the school in the competition and we’ll be speaking in support of the motion: “SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS SHOPULD USE MOBILE PHONES”. We were so happy because there wasn’t going to be any co-curricular activities after school hours. There would be enough time to prepare for the debate competition. Tammy and I went home together and later searched the internet for more information about then debate topic. We spent a lot of time and money at the cyber café before finally heading home. Wondering why the police haven’t made a law to abolish cyber crime. The café had lots of yahoo boys who were busy duping other people’s hard earned money online.

Thursday  

We started practicing for the debate competition and I was the chief speaker of the group. This means I have a lot more responsibilities on my shoulders. Knowing well that I have short comings and that much is expected of me, I started working towards improving my vocabulary, use of the English language, and gesticulation. I didn’t waste any time in school after closing hours because I had to run a few errands for my mother. After doing all my chores, I started practicing in front of my mum’s dressing mirror. Dinner was ready later in the evening and I didn’t stay up late because I have to wake up early tomorrow.

Friday

I woke up around 4:00am and I couldn’t wait for the day to break. I quickly took my bath, got dressed and had breakfast, but it was liken time went by pretty slower than ever this morning. I had to in the couch with my eyes fixed to the wall clock, watching as it ticked. Finally I heard the cock crow and I left for school without wasting any time. After the morning assembly, we went to Surulere for the debate competition. but the competition started a little bit late because some of the schools arrived late. We passed the first and second stage of the competition, but came second in the third and final stage because we lacked time management. I was frustrated because I was expecting to come first, but my teachers said we were fantastic and those words cheered me up. We won a laptop computer for our school and each of us went home with a mobile phone. There was mouth watering refreshment for everybody. I never realized how much these meant until we got back to school. There was jubilation in the school and the principal called for a brief assembly and congratulated us publicly. The principal said she was very proud of us and I was very proud of myself.

Saturday   

Waking up with a smile on my face and remembering what happened to me yesterday, I thanked God for everything even if we didn’t come first. I went to my parents’ to see if they were still asleep, but on getting there, I didn’t find anyone in the room. I was so surprise because it was still early and I thought I was the first person to get out of bed today. I started calling out for my mum, but nobody responded. I checked the toilets and other part of the house but couldn’t find anyone. I called her phone line and my dad’s, but none of my calls went through. I was beginning to get worried when suddenly, I heard a sound come from the basement. I quickly went to check what it was. When I got to the entrance of the basement, I saw blood drips on the floor. I opened the door, I saw my mum lying on the floor bleeding and tears dripped down my eyes in panic. HELP!!! I shouted. (Find out more in the next edition).