IN THE SPIRIT OF AUGUST BREAK

                   

                    

I was so sure it didn’t come from the tree I had just passed cos it’s been as dry as harmattan lately. Then the clouds began to hum a familiar tune, that’s when it dawned on me that the droplet on my nose did fall from the sky. Another. And another. And yet another. Then the wind started to smell dusty, so it clicked. Rain. The rains are here again, I couldn’t have seen that coming, I thought it was supposed to be the august break, but the rains are obviously back. I reached for the umbrella pocket of my bag and found just a shower cap, and I was stuck in a no-shade part of the road. Already wet, I might as well just carry on, and then a new thought opened up just as the sweet-smelling, lightly-pouring , virtually-unserious rain continued; because it was august break, I had totally forgotten about the rains.

As I walked on, I wondered how many people we’ve forgotten in the same vein, how many friends we ignore during our shine and spotlight period, how many calls we couldn’t take because we were too busy with life and forgot to place a call in return. Our “August break” is literally our big break, our Shine and Spotlight light moments, that Period when the going is good, when lines seem to have fallen unto us in pleasant places. Ponder on this a bit: in this phase of our life, how often do we remember the people we are important to? How often do we remember that God and family cannot be replaced with the friends from our newly attained class and status? How often do we call up family and friends just to say ‘thank you’ for their support and care? How often do we say ‘thank you’ to God in sincerity and not some routine, religious-birthed rites? Most people get all the money, fortune and fame and still feel poor, some are often so poor that all they gat is money. The love we get from family and friends, therein lies all the wealth we would ever need.

So just as the showers stopped, I quickly brought out my phone and started sending ‘thank you’ messages to everyone that was a part of my life, as I realised that someday, I’ll reach out for family and friends just like I reached out for the Umbrella, and I probably find no one.

                                                                                               JUKPOR IFEOMA