₦airaland Forum

germaphobe:
. LUCIFERS KEY or something close to that, i remember that kinda hd imaginations i had each time a read a chapter . omo this nigga just de waste talent for here.

Cylovee:
one of the coolest, crazy and nice writer on the block.

LarrySun:
THE JOURNEY TO A THOUSAND FLASH

For you, Amazon

Flash 33: Bleeding Heart

Bayo had been in love with Nneka since he and his mother moved into the neighbourhood seven years ago. At that time, he was only thirteen years old, and Nneka was ten. He had kept this feeling bottled up within him all these years.

Due to his condition, Bayo hardly left the house; so he had no friends. His mother was his only friend. Most times, he would only watch Nneka from the window of his room as she sold newspapers to passersby across the street. Nneka's father was a vendor but she often helped him to sell the papers while he ran other errands.

Then just before his twentieth birthday, Bayo's mother encouraged him to go talk to Nneka.

“If you love someone, tell the person. Falling in love is not a crime,” she would encourage him.

“I don't know if she would love me back, mama.” His voice was always soft. His mother always called him her angel from above.

“You cannot know until you find out,” she responded, “She's not going to walk in here and tell you she loves you. I don't even think she knows you exist.”

“It's not safe out there. The doctor said I shouldn't trek any long distance, and that I have to always stay indoors.”

“It's just across the street, my angel. Just walk up to her and introduce yourself. You should start by becoming her friend.”

“Are you sure it's safe, mother?”

His mother hesitated. She thought deeply about the question before answering. Finally, she decided that her son's happiness was more important than anything else.

“It's perfectly safe.”

Bayo smiled and said, “Okay, mother. I will visit her tomorrow.”

His heart was beating fast from the prospect of talking to Nneka for the first time in ten years. He looked through the window and saw her selling papers across the street as usual. His smile broadened.

Bayo spent most of his days sitting by his window and watching people walk up and down the street. He knew everyone who lived in the neighbourhood but none of them knew him. Although he had seen many young girls who lived in the street, none of them was as pretty as Nneka. She was not only pretty, she was also hardworking and decent. Bayo knew that Nneka was the perfect girl for him.

The following afternoon, Bayo dressed up, took some money and stepped out of the house. This was the first time he would leave the house since he had been diagnosed. As he climbed down the steps of the front door, his mother watched him from the window. It felt weird to Bayo that he just decided to speak to Nneka now after seven years.
He carefully looked both sides of the road before crossing it. Sometimes the traffic could be quite busy. Many people had been hit by speeding cars. Bayo had witnessed many casualties from his window.

For the past twenty-four hours, Bayo had been rehearsing what he was going to tell Nneka. His mother had told him to take things slowly by first establishing friendship with her, and that was exactly what he planned to do. But he found himself tongue-tied when she stood before him.

“How may I help you?” she asked pleasantly, giving him a smile that warmed him to the depth of his stomach.

“I-I-I-” he stuttered helplessly.

“Would you like to buy a paper?” she asked, still smiling.

Bayo nodded vigorously. He dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out a currency note. He handed it to her. The girl collected the money, spread it out on her palm, folded it and kept it in her pouch. She did everything meticulously as Bayo watched, still tongue-tied. She picked a paper from the stand.

“I’ll go and wrap it for you,” she said and disappeared into the shop before Bayo would say anything, not like he could say anything anyway.

She returned a few minutes later with the newspaper safely wrapped in nylon. She handed it to him. “Here you are,” she said, her bright eyes complimenting her smile. “Thanks for your patronage.”

Bayo accepted the paper, stayed for a few seconds. He wanted to say something to her but his tongue would not allow him any speech. Disappointed in himself, he turned around and walked away.

"Did you tell her?" his mother asked excitedly as he stepped into the house, but the expression on his face answered her question.

"I can't do it. I don't have the courage."

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Do not beat yourself up. You can always try again another time. Eventually you'll be able to speak to her."

But Bayo could not. He kept going there to buy a newspaper he was never going to read, and Nneka always wrapped the paper in nylon before handing it to him.

"Have a great day," she would say brightly. "I hope to see you again. Thanks for your patronage."

After about a week, Bayo discovered that Nneka had a boyfriend. His name was Moses. Clearly, Moses was not as tongue-tied as Bayo. He had walked up to her and told her he liked her, and both Moses and Nneka had started a relationship.

Bayo's heart always ached whenever he sat by the window and watched Moses and Nneka become romantic in her father's newspaper shop. To Bayo, Nneka was happier with Moses, for she always laughed at anything her boyfriend said. She looked genuinely happy and she glowed brighter. It was clear to Bayo that while he was madly in love with Nneka, they were not meant to be together. She had found the love of her life; Moses made her happy and it seemed like she loved him deeply. Besides, there was no future between him and Nneka, Bayo thought. He had a terminal illness and would be dying soon. He only wished his death would not be in vain. If only he could just have a moment of Nneka's love, no matter how brief, then he would die contented. The only person who ever loved him was his mother. The fact that he was dying didn't mean he should not deserve romantic love. Every human being should fall in love; everyone deserved to feel the sweetness of love, for he had read somewhere that nothing compared to loving someone and being equally loved in return. Unfortunately, in his own case, the girl he loved was in love with someone else. His diseased heart bled. Each day he watched Nneka and Moses from the window of his house, tears would roll down his cheeks; the kind of life he wanted for himself and Nneka was what Moses was enjoying. But in the end, when he left the window in the evening to go and sleep, Bayo always found comfort in the fact that Nneka was happy. Even though he was not responsible for them, Bayo always wanted to see the smile and laughter on Nneka's face.

"Why do you keep hurting yourself this way?" Bayo's mother had asked. "You should go and talk to her."

Bayo shook his head. "I can't anymore even if I want to. She already has a boyfriend. She seems really happy."

"You don't know that."

"Actually, I do. She's in love and she's happy. I watch them every day. My heart breaks whenever I do, but I'm glad that she's happy."

His mother sighed and said, "Love does not work that way."

Bayo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You really love this girl. It will be wrong of you to not tell her, even if she's in love with someone else. You have to let her know how you feel about her regardless. You should give her the freedom to decide who she's really in love with. You may be surprised what her decision would be."

Bayo thought very deeply about this. He wondered if what his mother had just told him was true or she was only giving him hopes.

"Go there tomorrow and tell her how you feel about her."

"I can't. You know I won't be able to say it."

His mother stared at him and shook her head. "You still have a lot to learn, but for now, you can simply improvise."

"Improvise?"

"I noticed that she always goes into the shop to wrap your newspaper in nylon before giving it to you. I wonder why she always does that, but it's an opportunity for you.

" All you need to do is go there with a pen and a small piece of paper. When she leaves you to go and wrap your paper, quickly write what you feel on the paper and slip it among the newspapers on the stand. Make sure you hide it somewhere she won't see it until you have left. Then you can come back to this window and watch her reaction when she discovers the paper. Without talking to her, you will get to know how she feels about you. She might even respond to your note."

Bayo thought that was a brilliant suggestion. He decided to write his thoughts on paper immediately. He would drop it off the next day, just as his mother had suggested.

He got a pen and a piece of paper. On the paper, he wrote the words:

You are always in my heart.
Love,
Bayo.

He read it over again and decided that it was perfect enough. Short words that summed up how he felt about her. He had read somewhere that the shorter the love letter the better. Then as he was about to fold the paper, he added a last detail.

Please call me.

Then he put his phone number under the note.

The following day, he stepped out of the house again and crossed the busy street.

"Hello you," she greeted him warmly. "How are you doing today?"

Bayo tried to smile but he was too nervous. "I'm fine," he replied. "Can I get today's paper, please?"

"Sure, of course."

She picked one of the newspapers on the stand. "Allow me to go and wrap it for you."

"Okay."

She smiled at him and went into the shop. As she disappeared into the shop, Bayo quickly brought out the note from his pocket and hid it between two newspapers.

Then as he waited for the girl to return with the paper, Bayo looked down the road and saw Moses coming towards the shop. Bayo's heart sank on spotting him. This was the only person who always made Nneka happy. Bayo could tell that Moses really loved Nneka. Indeed, the girl deserved someone like Moses, not a dying partner.

He was about to walk away without collecting his paper when he noticed something odd. There was a speeding truck coming behind Moses. Everyone was running away from its path because its brakes had clearly malfunctioned. But Moses was oblivious of this because he had earphones covering his ears, and he was gyrating to whatever music was playing in his head.

Bayo made a split-second decision. Moses would be killed if he was not saved, and his death would devastate Nneka. If Moses died, he might never see the smile and laughter on Nneka's face again. The only way to ensure that Nneka would continue being happy was if Moses was saved, even if that would continue breaking his own heart - but Nneka's happiness was enough for him.

And so Bayo made the decision to rescue Moses. He ran as fast as he could. That was the moment Nneka came out of the shop; she was holding his wrapped newspaper in her hand.

He must reach Moses and push him off the path of the oncoming truck. As he ran, Bayo felt his weak heart get weaker. He was not supposed to run that distance - hell, he was not supposed to run at all. With great effort, he got to Moses at the very last second of impact. He pushed Moses out of the way, but Bayo was too weak to save himself. The truck knocked him down and climbed over him.

His death was instant.

Bayo's mother wailed for days. He was her only son and she had lost him. Everyone who witnessed the tragedy had told her that her son was a hero, an angel. He had died while saving someone else.

She was cleaning the house about a month later when she came across all the newspapers her son had bought. She decided that she'd burn them. They were useless. Bayo did not read them. They were exactly how he he bought them.

She unwrapped one of the newspapers and a small note fell to the floor. She picked it up and read its content.

Why don't you want to talk to me?

She frowned. She didn't understand what she had just read. She picked another paper and unwrapped it too. There was another note in it.

Here's my number again. Please call me.

This was when she understood. Nneka had liked Bayo just as he liked her. But neither of them knew if their feelings were mutual. Bayo's mother unwrapped all the newspapers and saw Nneka's notes to her son. She had been writing to him and hiding it in the newspapers right from the first purchase, but no one knew about it.

The last note almost shattered her.

I don't think I can bear this anymore.

Bayo's mother quickly ran out of the house and crossed the road to the other side of the street. She got to the newspaper shop but only found Nneka's father.

"Good afternoon," she greeted quickly, "Please where is your daughter? I need to speak to her urgently."

"You are the mother of that brave young man who sacrificed his life to save someone else, aren't you?"

"His name is Bayo."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

"I want to speak with your daughter. It's very urgent."

"Does it have anything to do with the note?"

"You know about the notes?"

He went into the shop and returned with the note Bayo had written to Nneka a month ago.

"I saw this in one of the old newspapers in the store yesterday. I bet your son wrote it."

She nodded impatiently. "Yes, he did. Now call me your daughter."

"You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"My daughter disappeared the day your son died. She has not been seen ever since."

The two single parents comforted each other for their losses. While Bayo died and Nneka was never found, their parents never gave up on life.

They started all over and had a pair of healthy twins - a boy and a girl.

© Larry Sun (LSD)
October 2021