African Tales by Fumilayo

My African queen Darasimi was the prettiest girl in CMS grammar school. Although, she was very beautiful, she never used it to her advantage. Darasimi studied harder than everyone in her class and was given an award of excellence at the end of the session. In JSS3, she wasn’t able to be the best and was beaten by a girl named Oluwakiki. She was second, she had never been second in her life. Slowly, Darasimi started to hate Oluwakiki. Intrusive thoughts crept into her mind and she had to find a way to become number one again. She knew she was the prettiest girl in her class and she decided to use it to her advantage. One Monday morning, she wore a slightly revealing V-neck to class and she wore her hair in a cute ponytail. That day they had a very important math exam, the exam was tricky and even Kiki struggled. Dara did what she knew and submitted. She purposely dropped her pen and bent down in front of him and picked it up. Mr. Michael the math teacher couldn’t help looking at her. While, the teacher was marking the exams, he called Darasimi to his desk and told her she got full marks. Mr. Michael whispered “Dara you and I know you didn’t get full marks but I decided to help you a little bit”. “Thank you sir” replied Dara. Ultimately, Dara stopped reading altogether and used that trick on other teachers. Although, her English teacher was a man he didn’t fall for her tricks. During the exam, she barely wrote anything and submitted quickly. Mr. Royce the English teacher called her to the front of the class and embarrassed her in front of forty students. “ I know what you have been doing to the other teachers, now get out of my class” said Mr. Royce. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she ran out. Later, Mr. Royce reported her to Mrs. Semilore the principal. Darasimi was called into the office and was asked her side of the story. She denied everything but Mrs. Semilore didn’t believe her. Beforehand, Mr. Ikechuku the vice principal had installed cameras in every classroom for safety purposes. Mrs. Semilore reviewed the footage and saw exactly what Dara did. Dara was suspended for three weeks and was severely punished by her parents. Turns out, Kiki told Mr. Royce exactly what had happened which made him to embarrass and report her. Dara found out when her best friend Bolanle told her. Once she found out, her hatred for Oluwakiki multiplied. When she came back to school after the suspension, Dara and her best friend decided a plan to murder Kiki but changed their minds later. After a while, Darasimi learned her lesson and began to study once more. She started reading for two hours each day. Eventually, she became first in class. Her hatred and jealousy for Kiki disappeared, Dara and Kiki became good friends in the future. Darasimi stopped being best friends with Bolanle because she was never a good influence. On graduation day, Dara gave a speech on hardworking and resilience. Dara was awarded a full scholarship to Harvard University in USA along with a sum of 40 million Naira for allowance and transportation. Darasimi became a successful doctor and encouraged her colleagues to be hardworking. LESSONS LEARNED • HARDWORK & RESILIENCE • FOCUS • CONTENTMENT