A STRIDE OF HOPE

Tomorrow is definitely never promised,in a snap of a finger everything may change with no form of warning,no preparation or a slight idea on how to move ahead .All eyes on me as I was the firstborn, the whole responsibility of being the only hope for my family was solely on my shoulders,for a better or rather brighter future for the now semi nuclear family. With the desire of bringing back Saul,but at the same time no hope of his returning as he had embarked on a journey to his creator, leaving us with no option but to just accept the bitter truth of his death . In a prospect of a series of episodes and scenes my family undergoes,we ultimately seem to have survived .1st September 1996,in high school , an innocent boy I was if I may say,as I was not involved in any romantic situations whatsoever which I blame my shy nature . Schools are re opening,and as usual I was partly sad as I wasn't one who was excited by school,which was by the way a boarding school As tradition had it in our family ,we were ushered into a heavy and quite tasty breakfast before we could embark for school . The previous night (before the opening day) Saul calls through Jenifer ,my mums phone to talk to us before we go to school the following day as a way of motivation and basically as his act of love and care as a father . After a brief talk with Jenifer,Saul asks to talk to us before we retire to bed.This particular day he seems generally happy which was not his usual nature.Let me take you briefly to two weeks before the current day. It's during the school breaks so we are at home (at Jenifer's) Saul asks Jenifer if we can stay at his place for the two weeks holiday.Jenifer at first releases the young ones who then go to Saul's place for two weeks.I am then released three days later to join them . The three of us that is myself and my siblings kind of seem to adapt quite well .At long last ,the two weeks holiday comes to an end thus we return to Jenifer's for the preparation of going back to school . Little did we know that those would be las days we would see Saul. As we are taking our breakfast,Jenifer receives a phone call from Saul's phone .When she picks it she is surprised as the voice she comes across on the call is not Saul's.This comes as a shock to us as Saul was not one to just give someone his phone . The strangers voice asks her who she is,which kind of annoys Jenifer as she was sure Saul had saved her as 'wifey' not knowing that he had recently changed it. As the conversation continues , Jenifer is informed that Saul is I'll and that he can't speak at the moment.This somehow tends to raise tension and suspicion in all of us ,as I was born this was the first time I heard Saul was I'll to a point of not being able to talk . We are asked to avail ourselves to the police station.As we are approaching the reception of the police station,we are welcomed by a couple of sad faces ,mostly of police officers who were Saul's colleagues. Was it what we were thinking...?Had he been shot during a police-thug encounter...?Was he just injured...?Was he sick as we were informed from the phone call...?Was he even alive at all...?These questions aligned themselves in my head.