Growing up had to be one of the best days of my life because I was privileged enough to have an actual childhood. Something I am sure a lot of people did not get. During my early days, I did a lot of things, some were silly, some were funny and some were just plain nonsense. But then, when you are a child, things don’t have to make sense before you do them, if not you would find that you won’t have as much fun as you would have loved. Honestly, many of the memories from my childhood are all sketches now, I can’t really recollect them in detail. I do know one or two that have stayed with me to date. And I will be telling you about the one that I feel might be quite interesting. As a child, growing up in one of the deepest parts of Alimosho, one of the things we lived for was electricity. Our house was located a bit far from the major roads, but there were still a lot of people that had set up accommodation there, so having friends to play with was never a problem. Power was quite fair back then, it could be epileptic at times, but it was coming. And going. And of course, when the power comes on, the TV comes on. And for this, my favorite part of our house back then was our living room, and this was because it housed the television. As long as there was power, I could watch TV, and all the cartoons that were aired I would watch them all. And when they were not showing cartoons, I would watch movies as well. As long as I was spending time in front of the TV then it didn’t matter. Unless of course, I was watching the news, then I would get very bored, very quickly. As I said, our power system has always been epileptic, and this time, when I was in primary school (not up to primary 4) I was able to recognize a pattern the power holders were making use of. They would bring the light in the morning, a few minutes past seven while my siblings and I were getting ready to go to school. And then, it would stay on until sometime around three when we would be returning from school, then they would interrupt the light. It was as if they were teasing us, *“see this light, but don’t use it.” And then, back then, when we all left, no one would be at home. My parents would go to work, my elder siblings would either go to work as well or go somewhere of their fancy. Then the rest of us would go to school. So while there was power, there was actually no one in the house to make use of it. Then, I began to imagine. What if I skipped school for one day? What if I didn’t have to go to school and I stayed home instead? I would have not just the TV, but the entire house to myself! I would be free to eat whatever was in the kitchen, play as much as I want, and watch as many cartoons as I wanted. It would be paradise. The thought that I would be home alone with light and TV made me start considering the idea of skipping school. And then, eventually, I decided to do it. And the only way I could think of was to fake sickness. After all, I only had to pretend while they were around. Once they were gone, I would enjoy myself and by the time everyone returned I would tell them I had recovered. Smart move! So, I chose one day to do it. That day was even better because I had an assignment I had failed to do and I knew that my class teacher will flog me if I turned up without it. That fateful morning, I didn’t get up from bed. I was screwing up my face and telling everyone I was having an upset stomach. I would not be able to go to school. When my mom tried to check me out, every touch she did on my stomach and I would hiss as if a sharp pain was pricking me. She believed me. I was a good actor, I would have been nominated for an Oscar even. But then, maybe I had been too good an actor. I had picked the wrong day to feign sickness. It had not crossed my mind at all that my parents would not let me stay home alone. Like, why would they allow a sick child to stay home unattended? Before my plan went off, it had already collapsed on my head. Since I could not go to school, I needed someone to stay with me at home. My elder sister could not because she had a test to write at her own school. My parents could not because they obviously had to go to work. My eldest siblings also had one business or the other to attend to. But not all of them. My elder brother had been planning a hangout with friends, the hangout had been months in the making and it was supposed to happen on that day. And he was the only one that could be free to stay home with me. He didn’t want to, but my parents forced him and he had no choice but to stay home with me. I think it was his rage that caused him to see through my pretense because he told me point-blank that he knew there was nothing wrong with me. I knew at once that my plans had failed, and I tried going to school but it was too late for me to start preparing. I was going to spend the entire day with him, there was no avoiding it. As usual, they restored power that morning. And as I was going to the living room, he called me and there he had a cup of water which he gave to me. He had put salt inside, lots of salt. Apparently, it was good to cure stomach upsets. But he had put a little more than necessary. “Shaebee you don’t want to go to school abi? You will see today!” He had said as he forced me to drink it. I was sick remember? So I had to drink it in my vain attempt to save face. I drank until my eyes watered. When I was done, he sent me straight to my room. he didn’t lock me in, but he dared me to step one foot outside. He told me to sleep so that I will get proper healing. I didn’t even try to go against his wish. And that was how my precious power was just going. The only thing I enjoyed that day was the fan that was blowing me. He, on the other hand, was watching movies and I could hear it from my room. If I tried to join him in the living room, he would chase me out. And in the end, I ended up doing the assignment I was yet to do. And the main reason I had stayed home, I had missed that. As usual, by the time everyone started to return, they took the light. And that was when he allowed me to come out. When my Mom returned and asked me how I was feeling, I didn’t even have the heart to tell her I was fine. My mission had failed woefully. I didn’t try to skip school after that event, as I knew someone would have to stay home with me, it killed the purpose for which I would want to stay home. This is one of my earliest memories, back when I was just a child trying to be smart and cunning, but then forgetting that the grownups were also smart. As I am writing this, I can’t help but notice how time has flown by, how many years have passed, and how far I have come from that boy of yesterday who had to fake sickness so he could stay home from school. Yeah, I have come a long way indeed. The journey is still far, but I am sure that I will get it done as well. In due time. This post is inspired by the third topic for this week which is Your Earliest Memory. Feel free to take part.
Bess Hamiti
Victoria Akvarel
RODNAE Productions
MART Productions
RODNAE Productions
Pixabay
Katerina Holmes
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.
Hahahahahahhahahahhahahaha
See the way I am laughing , and my kids are looking at me like I have lost my mind🤪, mehn, you try drink that kind salt water o.🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hehe... I had no choice. If I didn't drink it he would have known for sure that I was lying.😂
Thank you for reading.
That your brother really mean you. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hehe! I cant Stopping laughing😂. You thought you were smart, I feel your pains, like why should that precious light waste in vain? You were trying to make use of what dad was paying for properly😂😂. You did quit well only that you forgot there is time for everything.
Those smart elder brothers can be so annoying hehe, them too Sabi. Like they sent him from the village 🙆😂. I know after that day it never occurred to you to ever pretend to be sick just to miss school again. I can't imagine how bad you were feeling inside while hearing the sound from your television. It's like beating a person and telling him not to cry🤣.
I really enjoyed reading this, thanks for sharing it with us🥰🥰😅
All that work and planning...🤦♂️
You are right, it never occurred to me again. Until I got older, of course. Then I figured out ways to get what I want.😃
Thank you for reading. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Hehheheh, that is how life is sir..
You are welcome, always boss🥰🥰🤗😍
Whao Whao Whao 😂😂😂😂
I could have done what your brother did also 😂😂.
I think as kids, we really think and believe we are soooo wise... Only for us to gradually see, there's a lot we don't know about 😂.
Your story is interesting to read.
Well done.
Indeed, we think we are wise. Forgetting that the adults around us were also once kids and therefore know all the tricks. Those were the good days.
Thank you for reading.
You didn't think your plans through. Lying on that bed, the day would have moved by very slowly.
kids and feeling smart😂
Very slow indeed... That was probably the longest day ever.
Thank you for reading.
😂😂
Childhood is just the best, see how I am laughing so hard this early morning.
Thanks for sharing.
Childhood is indeed the best.
Thank you for reading.
This is hilarious 😂😂. Those big brothers ehn and even sister, they knew all our tricks back then.
Yeah... Little did we know.
Thank you for reading.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Seriously, I was laughing my ass here when your plan went wrong. Omo! I also faked sickness when I needed to dodge school many times. Your brother was heartless as you couldn´t make use of the light to watch TV. Lol
Such a bad day for you. I believe you never tried such a thing again. Perhaps, your brother could have allowed you if he wasn´t coerced to stay at home with you. He was angry and knew all your plans that day.
I chose a bad day indeed. If not, we would have enjoyed staying home together. I guess that was not my time.
Thank you for reading.
Not your time indeed. Lol
You are welcome.
The story was very nice and I enjoyed reading this story of your life. But it would be more fun if you could stay at home alone that day and accomplish your goal. Indeed we have done many mischiefs in childhood and these are our memories now. Whenever we remember these memories we feel like we are back to our childhood. Anyway your illness drama was very good and everyone believed it.
Remembering these days never fails to put a smile on my face. I am very fond of them.
Thank you for reading.