Lame Night

by Tijjani Grema Mustapha
(Nigeria)

Eyes open widely, but it seems they are useless. It's dark like a realm of darkness and blank like nothing. The birds are dead or so I think, because the sky is silent like a grave. The streets are hungry, with nothing to feed them. Humans and the rest of the beings hide under roofs until this time has passed. I was the only one awake. I jogged, strolled and ran through many places in search of a being to make the night taste good, but I was not lucky to find one. So I turned myself around and headed back to where I started. I came to my room and stood still at the door, sweeping the room with my living eyes, but nothing looked inviting. I drove myself to my bed, and sat on it. I picked up a pillow from the bed, and hugged it like a baby, cradling it to make him to sleep. I paused in that posture for a long time, I can't remember how long, and I began to think. I lost myself in my thoughts, busy creating a lavish life that I wished would come to fruition. And before I knew, my eyes grew heavy and were buried under my lids, and I was half dead for a while till the morning birds sang a song that soothes the ears of a new day.