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Sorry it took so long guys. I'm posting the third part now.

Sorry for taking so long guys. I'm posting the third part now.

Click https://www.nairaland.com/4148474/how-began-speak-isabella-day to read part 1.

***

"You're dead? What are you...." I began

"Just go!" she screamed, her voice bursting out in a frightening shriek.

At once I knew it. I had to run away from this woman. I had no business with her anyway; didn't she say she was dead? A dead woman! Was she a ghost? I've heard of how ghosts roam about town to trap unsuspecting people into a corner and then kill them. For a moment I felt genuine fear wade over me. Was this woman a ghost who had successfully lured me into the bush to kill me? Oh no!

I took two steps backwards in fright but at that moment something happened which left me quite confused about what to think of her. Right there, I watched as her reddened eyes gathered moist and allowed a tear roll down her left cheek. She was crying and her face drawn into several wrinkles.

She turned and walked away from where I stood watching and in spite of myself, I couldn't help but admire the way her perfectly rounded behind bounced lusciously as if struggling for breathing space in her tight jeans. She kept walking away until she disappeared behind a thicket.

My heart continued beating at three times its normal rhythm. I didn't know what to make of the entire scenario. One minute she had looked like a complete weirdo who just emerged from a tomb to haunt my soul forever and the next minute, she appeared to be a helpless young woman in urgent need of redeeming. I didn’t understand that!

What if she needed some help and urgently too? What if she was trapped and needed saving? But what if she was a demon who had been sent to kill me?

I didn’t have the answers but with each passing thought, I desired to find out what was really going on.

The air was charged with the scorching heat from the sun and I was sweating profusely under my shirt. No one was in sight and there were no sounds except for the chirping of birds in the trees. I wondered how I managed to follow the girl this far into the bush. What was I thinking? Was I under a spell?

I knew Joseph would laugh at me if he ever got to find out what I had done. How could I follow a girl I didn’t even know into the middle of nowhere? It was unbelievable. But then wasn’t it worth it? At least I understood the hard way that not all that glitters is gold after all. I felt disappointed at the girl.

But where was she going to? What was she going to do? And why would she tell me she was dead? Was it a ploy to frighten me away from her? But that would be foolish. All she needed to do was tell me she was not interested and I would turn back. Why say she was dead?

And what if...what if...what if she was going to the bush to romp with her boyfriend? What if that man I saw with a suit the other day at McDons Restaurant was waiting for her in the bush preparing for them where they would meet and have sex? Was that rope she was holding supposed to be used for building a booth for them? No, no way! A girl like that would not go into the bush to romp. It was not possible. She would be in her house or in her boyfriend’s house to do that. What then was she up to? And that rope she was carrying...

I didn’t know what to think.

I turned to where Isabella had walked to. There was no movement there at all. No sign of her.

Suddenly I had this overwhelming urge to go after her and see for myself what she was up to. I may even be able to talk her out of her pomposity and woo her over. Man, if I succeeded in wooing her, I would take up an enviable place in record books for my persistence and unrelenting spirit.

I don’t know how to explain the urge I felt to go and look for her. All I know is that I found myself going towards the thicket she had disappeared into. Maybe it was because of a deep-seated feeling I had that she needed help or maybe it was because my heart was beating so bad that it shot my feet forward with every pounding or maybe it was even God who pushed me to go forward. I don't know, but I every step I took saw me moving with steady steps towards the thicket.

"Hey!" I called out and scanned the area carefully when I got to the thicket. In front of me was a wide expanse of woodland; a vast stretch of thick green and brown bushes and tall trees.

There was no sign of the girl anywhere. I wasn't expecting to see her anyway. I knew she must have walked far into the bush by now. I moved further inside. My heart beat rose with each step. I wondered if I was doing the right thing or just being the proverbial monkey that got a bullet in his brain because of his curiosity.

I kept moving deeper in. I was now surrounded by tall trees and grabby thickets which made my movement quite hard as my pair of trousers was made of 100% wool. Every now and then I had to stop to pull my trousers from the grip of the thorny weed.

“Hello” I called out again. My heart was pounding less furiously now. All I was wondering was where she could be and what she could be doing. I wondered if I was intruding on her privacy. What if she was having a private, passionate moment with another man? No, that couldn’t possibly be. But was going through her mind at the moment?

“Hey!” I called out again “Are you okay? Do you need...?”

I was rudely cut short because a sudden cry rang out through the bush. It was the bitter moaning of a frustrated woman. At once, I knew it. That was her voice and she was obviously in danger. She needed help.

Without thinking twice, I raced towards the sound, scanning the area. I didn’t know where she was and she was nowhere in sight but I knew she was close by.

The sound of her voice was not far away. I only had to search some more and I would see her. I listened carefully but no sound emerged again.

“Hello” I called out and listened. There was no sound. “Can you hear me?”

I stopped running and started peering into the bushes and up the trees. I was frantic. I could feel it deep down that she was in dire need of help.

Moments later her cry echoed through the bush again. This time, I heard it not far away from my right. I turned towards the direction and raced there.

I had barely run for a full minute when the most bizarre sight I had ever beheld stared back at me. For a moment I couldn't believe what I had just seen. I rubbed my hands across my face to make sure then I looked again.

I saw the girl standing there on a rock in front of me with her rope tied to a tree. The free end of the rope was made into a noose which was hanging right in front of her head. She was crying bitterly with suppressed sobs.

She had not seen me yet but she was holding on to the rope as her shoulders shook with her tears.

At that moment, everything came to me in a flash; this young woman with a beauty so charming it could bring any man to a standstill, was actually about to kill herself by hanging and I was there to watch.

I ran towards her.

"Please!" I screamed at her "Please don't do it!"

She seemed startled and shocked when she raised her head at me. Her face was drawn into a grimace as her tears flowed down her cheeks forming several watery lines.

"Go away from me" she said. Her voice, filled with her tears, spoke volumes about some deep wound in her soul. I wondered what must have hurt her so bad to make want to kill herself.

She slipped her head into the noose.

"No! Please, come on..." I was speaking hysterically now "Think about what you're doing. Please”

She didn’t say anything. She just kept weeping, touching the rope around her neck as if trying to get one last feel of her neck.

“Come on” I cried out trying not to go too close to her. That may prompt her to jump off the rock and hang by the neck. “You're young and beautiful, there's so much to live for"

She looked at me again, her head still in the noose. Her body vibrated with a new round of sobbing as her tears streamed from her eyes.

"Leave me alone" she screamed at me, tightening the noose around her neck but in her eyes I could see desperation. I knew she wanted to jump off and die and yet she wanted be saved. She was standing on a thin line between life and death and only she could decide her fate now.

I could sense hesitation in her eyes and in her hands.

I pressed again.

"Listen to me", I began slowly, careful not to make her jump from the stone she was standing on. "I know I don't understand what you feel right now, I can't feel the boiling waters gushing through your heart neither do I know about the apparent and deep-seated pain in your soul right now but there's one thing I know; taking one’s life has never been the best option out of a traumatic situation. It in fact makes matters even worse. Think about your family, your friends, your life. Think about the things you could have achieved in five, six years from now. You’re destined to do great things. You can never tell... "

My speech was cut short again because Isabella whom I thought was listening to me, suddenly jumped from the stone and in one shocking moment, was hanging from the rope by her neck right before my eyes.

***
To be continued

Written by Samuel Daniel, Editor and Content Writer at TORI.NG
Email: danielsamuel366@gmail.com
Twitter: @iamsamdan

cc lalasticlala, seun

Isabella is a perfect woman. I know it, and even though you may not agree with me, - because your ‘oh there’s no perfect person’ conviction will not allow you - I still insist.

Isabella is perfect woman; her pointed nose like a Fulani girl’s, which delicately graces that hollow point above her slightly pouted lips, can bear me witness. Also bearing me witness are the sinuous twists on her waist which tease my eyes whenever she moves her hips, making the huge mounds of flesh pushing out behind her, above her legs, bounce like sea waves on high tide. Isabella is awesome!

Isabella is a wonderful character; a mixture of slight melancholy and heavy sanguine. The young woman has an extremely beautiful face that is the colour of fresh egg yolk. Her deep dimples make me wish she keeps smiling at me all the time because when Isabella smiles, her cheeks always take on the form of an apple after the first bite, sending in me an airy ecstasy that gives me the feeling of flying. Isabella has a narrow face with eyes that corner towards each other under arc-shaped eyelashes that always look as if she has just run dark pencils on them.

Isabella’s hair fascinates me more than any other thing; it has a shiny gloss to it that appears to make it glisten each time she stands under a gleaming electric bulb. Her hair is filled with a spongy softness, - I know because I have felt it a few precious times - and flows over her shoulders in wavy rows.
Isabella – she is tall and sure; a perfect woman.

Many times a man has to work really hard to get things done, to prove his virility, his masculine prowess and unmatched machismo, but sometimes a man does not need to work so hard, he can just get lucky, like I got with Isabella. There is no other way to put it, but only God could have sent her my way.


I first saw Isabella on a breezy evening at the McDons restaurant in Oturkpo where Joseph my best friend and I had gone to get some food. I remember clearly what time of day it was; it's hard not to remember any encounter with someone like Isabella. We had just walked into the restaurant and I was about to sit at a table covered with an overflowing, sparkling white cloth, when I saw her. It was 5:33pm. I know because I had just looked up from my watch when my eyes caught hers and my heart momentarily stopped its pumping. Even though I was about to sit down, the sight of Isabella ensured my buttocks remained suspended in the air for some seconds till the queer look on Joseph's face brought them down on the seat which was a wooden structure overlaid with a spongy sofa.

“Are you okay?” Joseph asked me, but I didn’t answer him. How could I answer him? There was something majestic I was trying to see.

Isabella sat by my right with a group of three girls who were obviously her friends. They were sitting round a table five yards away from me and Joseph. The girls were all light skinned but Isabella was so different from them all, so prepossessing, so charming. The gleam from the florescent lamp hanging from the ceiling above them, gave her hair the appearance of a glistening pool reacting to the stare of a bright sun.

I couldn’t hear what the girls were saying as they chatted away, but she kept smiling and chuckling, making the dimples dig deeper into her cheeks.

"Yeah, I know.” Joseph said, winking at me “She's really cute, man"

I looked at him, flashing him a dire look that made him flinch. How could he demean the girl by merely using the word ‘cute’?

"Are you kidding? Man, she's gorgeous!” I told him, turning to look at the girl again. “She's a goddess, bro. Look at her”

Joseph laughed. “You go fear na. Yeah, the girl fine sha. No be lie”

Isabella and her friends kept laughing and gesticulating as they ate from their plates.

"Dude, how can one human being be so beautiful?" I said. I was staring at her now, not caring if anyone noticed it.

“Is that a statement or a question?” Joseph replied me, laughing again. "Guy, go order your food and eat make we waka from here jor"

I ignored Joseph. He obviously didn't understand what I felt. Isabella was everything that filled my subconscious. What food was he talking about?

“I wan go follow the girl talk” I said. “This girl no fit just pass like this na”

“Oya na” Joseph said with a note of impatience strung to his voice “make your move na. Abi you wan spend the whole evening for here?”

Joseph was right. I decided to walk up to the girl. I had to at least get her number and hear her speak to me. Maybe even make her call my name. That would be magical.

“Give me a moment” I told Joseph and stood up. However at that same moment, something happened that crushed my spirit completely. A man smartly clad in a black suit walked in to where the girls were seated and planted a kiss on Isabella’s cheek. She smiled warmly at him as he spoke with the other girls.

My heart sank and I sat down again. Joseph began to laugh out, almost hysterically. He was mocking me and that really annoyed me but I didn’t tell him to stop. I was just wondering how lucky that man must be feeling that he had an angel all to himself.
Moments later, the man left the restaurant carrying all the girls with him.


It was three days later, after I had tried in vain to get Isabella off my mind and after Joseph had mocked me innumerable times for always talking about the girl, that I saw her again on my way to the bank.

The sun had just announced noontide with its fierce and defiantly scorching stare from the sky when I saw Isabella. It was the first day of June in the busy city of Oturkpo and everyone was walking fast on the street. However, even though a wide tarred road separated us and even though she was standing in the midst of a thick mass of fast moving people on a pavement opposite me, I didn’t waste time noticing her.

She was facing me, looking distressed and really worn out as if she had just been hit with terrible news of an impending doom. She was wearing a tight pair of black jeans which hugged her skin the way a tortoise’s shell clings to its body. She was wearing a little white shirt and had a shiny veil wrapped around her neck. On her left hand was hanging a rope which she clung to as if she was scared of losing it. A rope! I wondered what she wanted to do with it. She was looking around her as if she was frantically searching for someone. Suddenly she began walking away to her right, still on the pavement as she mingled with the crowd.

Now, I had never before this time, approached any girl on the street and had always scolded Joseph who often did and still does it. I had always felt it was improper to do just size up a girl on the road and begin stalking her. That could be classified as harassment. However, this sunny day was no day for abiding by my own standards. Even laws are broken, aren’t they? I crossed the road and made straight for Isabella.

When I reached the pavement, she was far gone ahead of me. There were so many people walking at the same time but that didn’t stop Isabella from walking so fast through them. I wondered how she could walk so briskly through a crowd so thick. I trudged behind. Some men were walking in front of me, blocking my view and they looked really huge. I knew they could easily break my bones if a fight started but I didn’t mind, I brushed them aside as I struggled to reach the girl. She was still far away and was not slowing down. I wondered where she was going. Why was she walking so fast?

I can’t remember just how long I kept walking but I was finally beside Isabella. She didn’t seem to notice at all that I was staring right into her face. She just kept walking while I tried to keep up with her pace.

“Hey” I ventured, my heart beating a little faster than normal. I couldn’t believe I was right there beside the woman I had been dreaming about for three nights.

Isabella did not answer me. She didn’t even look at me. At first I felt indignant, but then I remembered the cliché that all beautiful girls are pompous and felt it may be true after all.

“Hi, uhmmm...pretty lady...” I began again but a brisk movement of her hands cut me off. She was obviously not interested in what I was trying to do.
I decided to try again.

“Wow, you really look like a lot of trouble. I might need to go gym up before coming to talk to you again” I said and laughed a throaty laugh meant to capture her attention but she just kept on walking.

Isabella had the haughty gait of an Amazon and yet kept walking with the depressed shoulders of a wounded soul. I watched as she moved with her head raised high, and had the feeling that she was caught in between shades of gallantry and faint-heartedness. She was a mystery and I walked beside her like a man in need of salvation.

"Hello, milady" I said to you her, determined to go on with the wooing even if she was not listening "I was walking right there on that pavement actually going for an urgent assignment when I caught sight of you and I couldn't help but follow suit."

I saw what appeared to be a smile come upon her lips and I pinched myself. What kind of line was I using? How could I use that line on her? I saw you and decided to follow suit. Damn. She would think I'm not a serious person.

I decided to try again

"See, usually I don't do this, you know, follow ladies on the street. I... I... actually I haven't done it before but it was simply impossible not to follow you."

I pinched myself again. Oh no. Have I lost all touch with how to woo a woman? What was I saying? I looked at Isabella and it seemed she was not even hearing the sound of my voice. Her head was raised as high as ever and she was still walking fast.

At this point I decided, I had to get her. I must go back home with this prize. Nothing could make me feel better. I had to at least get her number. I thought of what next to say, feeling a little puerile.

"Seriously, I have never been this charmed by anyone before" I said and I meant every word. "Please make my fantasy a reality and stop for a minute”

Suddenly Isabella turned from the pavement and darted into a turning by her right which led to a narrow path overrun by thick brown grasses. She just kept on walking and didn't look back

I watched her move away and felt a rush of irritation wade over me. How could she ignore me so? What was she thinking?

As she walked away, I watched as her perfectly rounded behind bounced voluptuously like two hot balloons grazing each other.

I hesitated at first, then I decided to follow her. She was still walking fast.

"Hello" I called out, wondering what kind of woman she was. Her pompous act was already getting to me. How could anyone ignore another person for this long and not feel anything? It was unlike anything I had ever known. So, she was beautiful but so what? Was that why she should be this filled with pride? Why would she not even stop and acknowledge my presence?

I stopped following her and made up my mind to go back. Who did she think she was anyway? She could go ahead and eat her beauty for all I cared.

I turned around and began walking back. I would not tell Joseph about this girl and how she ignored me. He would mock me even more if I did. I would keep everything to myself and maybe try learning some new skills in the art of wooing a woman. That I would do. This girl had humiliated me. She had just kept on walking as if I was a mere piece of wood trudging beside her. She must think she was the Queen of England to ignore me so.

Chai.

I stopped and turned around to look at her disappearing figure. She was headed straight for the woods in the distance with her rope held firm in her hand. I wondered what she was up to and where she was really going. Why would a girl like her head straight to the bush in the middle of a sunny afternoon with a rope in her hand? I decided to find out.

I ran up to her.

"You're still not talking to me?" I said, panting from the effort to catch up with her. She didn't reply "Your silence is killing me, girl. Can I just know your name?"

Suddenly she stopped, turned around and faced me. My heart doubled its beat to three times its usual rhythm.

I've been told before that a man's heart beats faster than usual only when he is scared of something, especially of the unknown. But my heart was beating faster not because I was afraid but because in front of me stood the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I couldn't come to terms with it.

Isabella’s velvety smooth and neat skin dragged my lips apart in reverent awe at her majesty. Being so close to her now, I saw that she had slightly green eyes and wondered how a black lady could possess that. She stood tall with strands of her hair sprawling across her forehead which was adorned with a perfect hairline.

My eyes parted wide as I silently paid obeisance to the charm she commanded with her beauteousness.

Suddenly her voice brought me back from the reverie I was lost in.

"Don't waste your time, Mr." her voiced sailed to my ears and clung to it like ants would cling to a ball of sugar.

"Come on..." I began, quite unsure if what to say next

"Don't waste your time", she said again "I am a dead woman. I died yesterday".

At first I thought I didn't hear her correctly but when I saw the glimmering glitter in her eyes take on the pale color of blood, I knew there was something amiss, something I have to run away from.

I looked around me. There was nothing and noone to be seen. I was alone with this weird woman in the middle of the bush.


To be continued on Thursday

****

Written by Samuel Daniel, an Editor and Content Writer at TORI.NG
Email: danielsamuel366@gmail.com
Twitter: @iamsamdan

Source: TORI.NG http://www.tori.ng/news/78550/toridiaries-how-i-began-to-speak-with-isabella-the.html