I Met a Friend

by Tijjani Grema Mustapha
(Nigeria)

I prayed for the day when a special being would appear. And today the prayers were answered. I met a girl I called a very good friend, but I was uncomfortable the moment I set gaze on her cute face. I froze like a statue unable to reply to a word she said. "Hey" she announced, but I was lost in thoughts that weren't mine. I answered the moment I composed myself, but my voice was cracked like I was being chased by a deadly creature. I tuned my living eyes to hers, and examined the beauty that was hers. She started the conversation while I stood still watching her teeth marching according to the order of army, all in white uniform. She continued and made the conversation episodic, and all I could say was nothing. I prayed until my dying days for some rescue, but no being appeared until I started suffocating from the scent of the perfume that she wore. A friend emerged to to save this confused child. "Whew" I said in my mind, and began to relax because I knew I was about to leave and head toward a different world, and that's what happened. I left the field of her peripheral and departed to a comfortable world.