Episode 4: Something Was Growing
402 Words
We walked in silence.
But it wasn’t empty.
It was… full.
Every step beside her felt strange.
New.
Heavy.
Like something important was happening… and I didn’t fully understand it yet.
“So… how long are you staying?” I finally asked.
She looked ahead, her hands gently folded together.
“Just for Christmas,” she replied.
“I’m supposed to be in my mother’s village… Opaha.”
I stopped walking for a second.
Opaha.
The village after mine.
“So why are you here?” I asked.
She smiled slightly.
“I just came to visit.”
I nodded slowly.
But inside me…
Something tightened.
She won’t be here for long.
That thought didn’t sit well with me.
Not at all.
“I school in Makurdi,” I said, trying to keep the conversation going.
“University of Agriculture.”
Her eyes lit up a little.
“Really? That’s nice.”
“I’m in my final year,” I added.
“Mathematics and Statistics.”
She looked at me differently this time.
Not just polite.
Interested.
“That’s impressive,” she said.
I smiled.
But deep down…
I knew the truth.
School was one thing.
Life… was another.
“Do you like it here?” I asked.
She looked around.
The quiet village.
The open land.
The simple life.
“It’s peaceful,” she said.
“But it’s not where I belong.”
Her words hit me harder than I expected.
Not where I belong.
I looked at her.
Really looked this time.
A girl from the city.
From Abuja.
Educated.
Calm.
Different.
And me?
Just a village boy…
With big dreams.
A strange fear crept into my chest.
What if she’s not meant for someone like me?
I quickly pushed the thought away.
“No,” I whispered to myself.
Something brought her here.
Something made me see her.
Something made me feel this way.
This couldn’t just be ordinary.
We stopped walking.
“I should go,” she said softly.
My heart dropped.
“So soon?”
She nodded.
“I’ll see you around.”
She turned…
And started walking away.
I stood there.
Watching her leave.
Step by step…
She disappeared.
And just like that—
The place felt empty again.
I clenched my fist slightly.
“No…”
I wasn’t going to let this end like that.
Not this time.
I was going to see her again.
- Writer
