Awake at a Different time

“Interesting”

Chapter Four

“I’m done with my food” I say grumpily, dropping the stainless steel spoon into the equally steel plate rather too loudly, and instantly regretting it since the loud clutter of the utensils manage to send shock waves through out my body.

You would think that after being asleep for an entire year, I would be well rested and cheery, well I was wrong, definitely not me. I’m as cranky as one can ever imagine, yet you have to give me a break, looking at the circumstances, I believe I’m doing pretty good.

It’s not every day you wake up from a quick nap, to find out you have been gone for a year,and your mum is suddenly nature’s very own ambassador. Well yea I think I’m handling this pretty great or maybe just fine.

“So what’s the deal with this whole “green county” thing” I ask, making air quotes with my index and middle finger for emphasis.

“I’m digging the whole oneness with nature theme going on here, but come on Mum, what’s the deal? I need to sleep well and this wooden cot isn’t just cutting it for me” this time my arms were gesturing towards the beds. I can’t see my facial expression, but I’m definitely sure they are scrunched up enough to show my distaste.

Mum gives me a tired look, picks up my plate and walks away, “Honey, we are not going home anytime soon, so I suggest you get used to all you are seeing right now”

Okayyyyy?

That wasn’t exactly what I thought her response would be, so I’m a bit stumped for words. On the other hand, mum didn’t seemed speechless like I was, so she continues.

“The world isn’t as you remember it anymore, at least most of it isn’t , and that’s the greater part of the most. This time we really messed up and no one has the slightest clue on how to fix it.” She was sitting next to me again, and this time I could see all the stress and burden she was carrying through her familiar beautiful hazel eyes.

I had the same eyes, but mine didn’t yet have the beautiful twist and hue that came with wisdom and age. Mine were just plain and inexperienced, but none the less, beautiful in their own way or so I was told.

What does she mean that the world wasn’t what I remember. Of course it wouldn’t be, I was MIA for a good year, of course that would be expected . And what is this talk about us messing up big time, isn’t that what humans are good at: messing things up.

“you are making no sense, I have so many questions right now, like a lot. You have no idea how empty my head is and it physically hurts to think. I imagine waking up in my room would get me a bit confused, but that confusion is multiplied now by a thousand folds after I woke up in the middle of the forest living on a tree. So Mum!!, if you want to tell me something, please I beg you, you have to be a bit more expressive, I’m so close to losing my mind, and I only just got it back”.

By the time I finish this rant, I’m out of breathe, shaky and on the verge of tears. Scratch what I said earlier about handling this well, NEWS FLASH!, I am not. I can’t do this, who was I kidding, I’m a mess and I’m I surprised, Nah I am not. I was a bit surprised that I was taking it pretty well earlier.

“Oh honey” Mum coos while pulling me to her chest. Soothing no doubt, but It was all I needed to break down completely. I know she thought that was supposed to make me feel better, probably help calm me down, but the comfort it offered only made me feel like it’s okay to cry and now I feel like crap. I haven’t even been awake for more than an hour, and the universe is already roughing me up real good.

What punishment was all this for anyway?

“ I know it’s going to take some getting used to, but I’m sure you can handle it” she says while running her finger through the spaces between my cornrows like always.

Pretty ambitious of you to think I can handle this Mum. Very ambitious.

“ If there was a way I can make it all go away, I would but I can’t. It’s nothing all our money can fix, and it hurts me to think you have to go through this. I prayed everyday for God to bring you back to me, but now that I have you back, seeing you like this, I’m honestly wondering if I indeed made the right decision. I can’t help but think I was a bit selfish in my prayers. No mother would want to bring their child into this sham”. She was breathing hard now, and possibly on the verge of tears too.

Okay this is just went from zero to one hundred real fast, now my mum is wishing I stayed dead, what in the world is going on? Are you sure I’m in the right place. I have seen movies about an alternate universe, maybe this was some sort of universe swap? It sounds crazy to me even as I think it now, but anything will make sense to me right now. This can’t be my life, even in a long shot, it just can’t .

About ten minutes later, still wrapped safely in mum’s arms, I slowly calm down from my unexpected meltdown. My blood pressure is almost back to normal, my breathing was stabilizing gradually, and so was my heart beat. For a moment there, I thought it was going to rip through my rib cages due to hyperventilation but I guess not. I also though my head was going to explode and spew my brain on the wooden floor, but it turns out that was also a false alarm.

“So again Mum, what is going on ? And this time, try not to be all philosophical with you answers” I say this while looking straight into her eyes, with steady hands, and an equally steady heartbeat.

It was like beneath the tough bravado I was pulling, deep down I was trying to telepathically tell her something completely different. Something along the line of “ hey ma, I’m really fragile right now, so please do not tell me anything I can’t handle” and my mum on the other hand is giving me a look that says “ Brace up honey, it’s about to get rough”

Wooo hoo, I guess the big guy really never had plans for me to stay past a day now, did he? Note my lack of surprise and my abundance of sarcasm.

Hearing mum let out a deep exhausted breath, I turn my focus back to her and ooh she looked tired.

“ you really need to get some rest Mum, the dark circles around your eyes are almost the size of a saucer”

“I will be a lot better now that you are awake. Give me some time”

“ Now to the story of how we got here, it’s really crazy, like something out of a movie. You won’t believe how much we have lost in just a year”

Wait why does this give me a sense of deja vu, like I have heard it all before or more like felt what I feel now before. I didn’t want to risk interrupting Mum, so I just let her continue.

“It all started when the government decided to create a nuclear weapon. They argued with the African Union that it was high time an African country produced something worthy to boast of. Apparently we thought that being the giant of Africa made it okay for us to be the chosen ones to create something that dangerous. At first, no one took them seriously, we all just thought it was an avenue for our politicians to launder money like always. We laughed and made jokes about it but what we didn’t know was that by the time they had told us about their plan to build Africa’s very first nuclear bomb, they where already half way into the project. They were probably planning to show it off as a surprise to every one or something, no one knows really. They only told us about it because it was becoming too obvious for them to continue to cover it up. I had a theory though, I think the only reason they finally opened up about it was because it was becoming too much of a white elephant project for them. They needed to have the proof showing when it mattered that they really did do something, and it wasn’t all just a ploy to squander the nation’s money.”

All through the time mom told her story, all I could do was listen with rapt attention with the word “interesting” recurring in my head every time a sentence sank in.

This was really like scenes off a movie, and I think I might be starring in it.