Chapter 2 The dream

It was dark. Very dark and unusually silent, the kind of silence that follows a bomb blast. Anne stood in the open, bewildered at the sight before her.

Just a few metres away, buildings were up in flames, lightening the dark environment and at the same time, polluting the atmosphere as thick, black smoke rose in the air. The fire as though magical kept spreading to other buildings. The sound of running feet from behind her propped her to turn backwards, to a more terrifying sight as giant-like men hotly pursued others, towards her direction. She tried to escape before they could get close but she couldn't as she realized she was stuck, as if rooted to the ground. She was on the verge of tears when she heard her name.

That voice!

It was unmistakenly her dad's. But... how come he is...here?

* * * * *

Slowly, she regained consciousness and realized it was all a dream. Her eyes darted to the dim-lit room she shared with her immediate elder sister, who is currently studying at a nursing school. Her first object of interest was the small-sized clock, on the wall opposite her bed as it disrupted the stillness of the day with the tick-tock sound it made as the seconds passed by. She eyed the book on the top of the shelf as her eyes moved to the left side of the room. Although she could not make out the title, she was certain it was one of JK Rowling's Harry Potter book series. She still finds the books fascinating even though she has read them countless times, little wonder it was placed on the top of the shelf.

It was currently 04:15 am, and having no desire to sleep, she let her mind roam about other things before settling for the dream she had last night.

Although she didn't see him in the dream, she was certain it was her dad who had called her name. She recalled the dream again focusing more on the voice that had called her and blaming her luck for waking up way too early. She felt looked after and for a split second, she was grateful.

* * * * *

It was mid-day, and Anne and her friends, together with the students from her department were gathered in a two hundred and fifty capacity lecture theatre, waiting for their fourth and final class for the day. They had had three classes before now and hoped that the fourth one would not be as stressful as the others had been. Moments later, the class rep announced the cancellation of the class. It was indeed a relief to the students and in no time the students made their way out of the hall, leaving only a handful of students who were either too tired or having too much fun at the moment. Anne and her friends of course remained with the few others, calling each other names.

"Josephine, you shouldn't be clavering with us when your notebook is as empty as it is right now". Anne called out with false concern, and Naomi jeered playfully at Josephine.

"I perceive conspiracy". Josephine added feigning sadness.

"Truth is bitter". Naomi added.

"Shut up, you know I have been sick that..."

"You are always sick". Naomi cut in.

They headed home a few minutes later with Naomi and Josephine playfully glaring at each other. Sometimes, it is difficult to believe that their nagging is nothing but fun, but having stayed with them for long hours and being worse than they are to some extent, Anne perfectly understands them. They came to a T-intersection and another argument ensued among them over which route to take.

Getting home right on time to prepare dinner and finish her chores, Anne held a little conversation with Collins who at first sounded angry.

"Did I do wrong by insisting you study for your exams?" He asked.

"No, who said you did?"

"Then how come you boycotted me for days right after that conversation??"

" Well I was doing as told, studying for my exams. The conversation wasn't about studying anymore if I remember correctly ".

" Seriously how long will you continue to avoid giving me a response??"

It's been four days since the last time they communicated, She had refused to take his calls not because she was angry but because she lacked the words to say to him. She had missed him and couldn't convince herself otherwise. Not sure if missing him counted for anything, she dismissed the thought and bid him good night.

Just as she was about to sleep, her phone beeped indicating a new message. It was from her best friend, Farida.

"Hey little one, any news yet??"

With eyes heavy with sleep, she pleaded to have the conversation at a more convenient time and fell asleep almost immediately.

Farida is a childhood friend of Anne. They have been friends since their nursery school days. They were in separate classes all through their primary school which interrupted their friendship. Fate brought them back together as they were admitted into the same secondary school and into the same class and their friendship which had lost ground was revived. Farida is a devout Muslim, though not the conservative one that is common among the Hausa-Fulani tribe. She is a Yoruba girl and as it is common among Muslims from the western part of Nigeria, it is open to change. Their religious diversity did not pose a threat to their friendship as they both tolerated each other's differences and avoided every argument that was based on religion.

One time during their senior secondary school days, Anne was advised by one of her fellow parishioners to put an end to the friendship between herself and Farida as the latter was not a good influence on her spiritual growth. Of course, Anne would do no such thing! She only tried without success to hide it from Farida who was present when the woman had proposed a meeting with Anne. The whole thing caught Anne by surprise but Farida upon hearing it said she had expected it and that had only managed to push their friendship forward.