A SHY, YOUNG WOMAN BUMPS INTO HER SOULMATE
Short story by Minkie Phiri
Not all days of the week were good and exciting as one would think or perceive. And it really comes to my attention that the phrase ‘days dont really comes the same’ is quite true. Mondays were always never exciting, Tuesdays were sometimes close to being good, Wednesdays got her mood level from zero to thirty, atleast it was something to give her hope about the entire week.
Thursdays were slightly her happy days. Fridays? Those were days she could literally pray to God to put on repeat mode. Why? Because Fridays were about her looking back and reminiscing on how her past days were. Thinking about every person she bumped into while going to school. Those she walked past on her way home from the kiosk, the wise old hands she greeted and interacted with in the evening.
Some Fridays were about her visiting the park all by herself. Visiting her favourite bookstore and falling in love with every book title. This was her favourite activity to do on every Friday.
The bookstore was and will always be a-must-visit place for Theo,she had a chance to live in a totaly different place than the actual one. She met so many people ,both weird and
common,young and old alike.
It was a place she wouldnt mind visiting over and over again even when told she could possibly lose her mind. But still, Theo always had a soft spot for Fridays, particularly the ones she spent at the bookstore.
This Friday was quite different though because she was not going to visit her favourite book
place. It caught her off guard,one would say.
Everyones mood was awkward and everyone held a rather tense face than you would have
anticipated. The jolly and merry children who always walked opposite the bus stop were not even close to being happy. The lunatic man who always greeted her did not even give her a sneer nor a stare glance. Something was just odd.
She decided to adhere to what the Book of law stated that we should always mind our
businesses. She did exactly that. She waited patiently for her bus which always decided to come late. Theo knew it and had signed up for this with no regrets or whatsoever.
Like always, she was waiting patiently to grab her seat of preference.
This was the seat
which determined her entire mood of the journey. It was the passenger seat. Not because it was close to the driver but it made Theo ignore everyone else on the bus rather. With this seat she could have her own attention to just herself.
Theo abhored having conversations with people, particularly strangers. She did not want to join any tiresome lectures from any person, especially the old people. This Friday was just different.
To her surprise, a random guy decided to pick her preffered seat before she could. Far worse, he wanted her to grab the one next to him. So he could talk to her like he desired. Theo’s heart kept insisting something different from what her brain actually did. She decided to sit right next to this stranger. He was okay. Both in looks and character.
He kept on complementing and praising the way she was dressed. She took all he said to
heart and soul because she was rarely told how beautiful she was. She does look herself on a mirror, only on days that she woke up with my head well positioned on the pillow and her body on the right side of the bed.
But today, she did not even bother looking herself in the mirror. But with the stranger saying good things to her face,she thanked herself for not using the mirror that morning.
His compliments hit her heart because she really believed that strangers were the people to face you and tell you the truth. Listening to someone speak well and good of how you tied your hair bun, how white and shiny your teeth are, how amazing you have blended the colour of your jeans and tshirt including your sneakers is quite thrilling. And hearing such from a stranger makes you want to be grateful for the gift of living.
To always know that you atleast brighten up someone elses mood and that there are people who would actually come before you to tell you how much of a beauty you are. Such things makes you want to be looking forward in doing the same to
another stranger you may possibly meet in the future.
But something in her instincts told her that the stranger is the Soul Mate she had been praying for; he came packaged as a stranger. It was for her to reveal it to him, since it was something
that kept reoccuring in her thoughts and mind, the universe knew it as well.
She found her soulmate,at last. In an awkwardly beautiful way.
The End
Africa’s Very Own Magazine (AVO) is a digital magazine with a mission to celebrate African Excellence by conversing with different African leaders in different industries.
