My gaze was fixed on that horn speaker, as if to say I listened with my eyes and not my ears. For quite some minutes now, I've been hearing my name called.
The door continued to open and shut, but the truth is, no one was there!
This illusion will not kill me, I bet I'll see the last of this.
"Done and co" had a very big premises. It was a big office, better put, a hall, and it had just one door. They are a company specialized in turning dreams into reality, all anyone needed to do was just get themselves in there and their stories changed from thence.
....It hasn't been a smooth walk down here, many parked their luxury cars way down the lane, the roads leading here, aren't motorable at all, and the terrain/topography of the land is so horrible and exhausting to say the least.
It was difficult, almost near impossible to get here as well dressed as you left your home, if the thorns and bushes hadn't torn your clothes, the characteristic muddy sidewalks would have checkered you plain materials with unequally coloured stains.
Its been a long and adventurous journey down here, the only things you get to see are rocky mountains, hills, thick trees, animals and footprints of people who have walked the road earlier.
Confusing prints they were, I toed one in particular, headed down focused on where it was leading me. Raising my head some minutes after I found to my greatest surprise, I was heading back to where I was coming from.
There it is, rule no 1; "FOLLOW NOT CARELESSLY ANYONE's TRACK, ELSE YOU END IT UP EXACTLY HOW AND WHERE THEY DID, good or bad, but most times bad."
I gathered back my retiring self; obviously this guy had turned back and didn't get there. "Done n co" was so fulfilling a place, I hadn't being there, just sharing what I heard and learnt of it.
Now back heading in the right direction, I doubled up on my pace, seeing I had lost precious minutes trying to be someone else. "Why is this road littered with so much distraction, and with little or no motivation?" I spoke to myself.
Left and right, front and back, every where I turned I saw someone turning back, another sitting on the floor in frustration, a notable few seeking direction, ofcourse there were no billboards or signposts indicating how close or far we were from "Done".
At best, what we saw at intervals were small side-markers with descriptive arrow heads describing to us which way we had to turn.
Unlike the regular busy streets of lagos that I was used to, this place was a distinct exception, there were no hawkers nor road side food vendors. If I may lend you some advice, when/where to get prepared for this trip is before you dare start it.
Walking in to the gates of "Done Avenue" hung the biggest signboard I have ever seen. Big as it was, it read only a few words; "Getting Done Is Serious Business"
Upon this line I pondered in meditation, thinking within me if it was to mean that more hardship lied ahead.
As a regular lagos boy, the thought of getting a motorbike excited me from within, I didn't know when I lost hold of myself and cackled in excitement (Alas I had figured out how to get myself there in no time!). Still basking in the euphoria of finding a brilliant idea, I began to unroll my trousers in preparedness to put on my shoes (yeah, all the while I had them in my hands, remember I described to you how exactly the road down here was).
Excuse me sir, (I beckoned on one of the gate keepers) How much will get me down to "Done and co" if I were to fly a bike? (I asked). But he wouldn't even talk back to me, as all he did was point towards a particular direction, helping me to notice the smallest signpost i have ever seen in my whole life. Small as it was, it read this much; "Vehicular movements are prohibited here, shortcuts will lead you nowhere".
Oh my God!!! Do you guys expect me to walk all the way down there on foot??? (I yelled and asked, in obvious exasperation.)
Well, I told that to the birds, as the gate keeper was long gone attending to other entrants.
"Turn back!, Turn back!!, this is ridiculous!!!" Was all I heard from deep inside of me, there was nothing sweeter and more soothing than the idea of turning back, walking all the way on foot was the last thing I was ever going to do.
It was a 360-degree turn, I bet it rhymed with something in the army. "Its all over, here is where I call end" (I told myself), am going back to whence I came, I'm definitely not going to make it down to "Done" on foot.
I had barely taken 6-steps before I lifted my eyes to see how high a hill I had scaled behind and was now set to approach again.
...There it is, rule no 2; "GOING BACK IS EVEN TOUGHER, YOU'LL SUFFER THE DOUBLE, AND STILL END WHERE YOU STARTED OUT."
No, no, no, no, no!, I busted into tears "I'm not going to face this again, oh this is killing me!" (I cried).
Another 360-degree I turned, this time so slow and shabbily, I'll get kicked out if I ever did that in the army. I headed on, facing the green shrubs and trees aesthetically arranged along "Done Avenue"
...There it is, rule no 3; "THERE COULD BE NO ONE TO ENCOURAGE YOU, ALL YOU'VE GOT IS YOU AND YOU ALONE TO DRIVE YOURSELF FROM WITHIN."
About 200 meters into my walk, I sighted a golden gate just beyond the bend, it was just across the road, like 20-foot walks from were I was standing. My smiles came back, every lamentation and songs of sorrow disappeared, without missing a thing, I could bet my last strength on this, "Done and co" was what was right before me.
About 10- foot walks closer, I discovered a bamboo bridge I would have to cross to get to the other side. It was a narrow bridge, hanging about 30-meters above a flowing river. Hahahahahaannnnnhahhahahannnnn, with both my hands now placed on my head, I cried! It was my second round of tears, as this youngman(me) has got a devastating combination of both Aquaphobia and Altophobia.
"Done and co" now in sight, put more clearly, fulfillment was staring at me in the eyes, but there was just one thing I needed to overcome; my fears.
...There it is, rule no 4; "YOU JUST HAVE TO OVERCOME YOUR DOUBTS AND FEARS IF YOU MUST GET THERE."
This was one sure thing I knew I wasn't going to overcome, no not me, not the same dude that wouldn't even bath in a bathtub, nor look down from the balcony. No, its over, obviously it is, (I told myself).
My heart waved goodbye to fulfillment, my hand waved farewell to "Done and co"
Sadly, and most heartbreaking, I turned my back against the golden gate I had suffered that long to get to, and infact, right at the brinks of the bamboo bridge. This time, there was nothing surer that going home.
(Spank!) *Something dropped into the river*, I heard this loud and clear. I couldn't look down into the river, but I was dead sure something had dropped in to it. The branches of the tree right overhead the bridge began to thistle and shake, it became obvious something/some animal was making its way back to my side of the bridge.
(Slap!) *It hit the ground* starring at me directly as if it was sent to prey on me. "Mogbe o!" (I am finished) I screamed in my native tongue, but this black-brown mixed-coloured snake continued heading towards me like it was also going to cross to the other side through the same bridge. "Iwaju o se lo, ehin o se pada si" with no one around, and the skies turning dark, I was now torn between the devil and the deep blue sea!
*Thinking, as my heartbeat quadrupled* Jump into the river? NO!, Run accross the bridge to the golden gate? I fear I can't, Hit the serpent? There isn't even a plastic spoon in my hands let alone a stick!
Am done for! Now my heartbeat rate has quintupled, not knowing which way to turn nor what decision to make.
............................................................................................To Be Continued!
The Wordsmith™
(C) 2013.