Hushed Echoes

Marco spent a long time reflecting on his past, he was equally not sure of what the future had in store for him, but one thing kept him going, though; and that was the resolve to make it in life and then make his mother happy.

‘No circumstances shall deter me from actualizing my dreams. Besides, I must always thread the path of hard work so as to become a successful man’ marco was thinking as he lay on the bed.

He got up from bed, threw the coverlet aside and limped towards the mirror to catch a glimpse of his face.

As he limped his feet made a crunching sound with each step he took. When he intensely gazed at the mirror , he was overtaken by a sorrowful sight of his cracked and blistered face.

“My God! This is terrible! I wonder how long it would take me to recuperate fully” he snarled and took a few steps away from the mirror.

His next step would have landed him on the bed were it not for the interruption by a sudden twist of the door knob, the door was flung open and Fred entered the room instantaneously.

“Good Morning Marco, how was your night?” Fred greeted

“It was extremely unpleasant, I could hardly sleep, my body ached severely. I was surprised to note you were not on bed when i woke up.”

“Oh! Somebody came and informed me that i had a message from my wife. So, I went with the person to receive the message. In fact, I had to sleep there because it was very late and risky for me to come back.” Fred told him.

“Have you gotten the message?”

“Yes! She sent a letter that she would be coming back today”

“That means you have to start preparation so as to give her a warm reception”.

” She does not need any special reception. she has to walk into this room, the same way she walked out” Fred said jokingly.

“But she is your Queen, and as such, she deserve a Red carpet reception”.

” she has never been a queen. Her name is Diana”

“However, she is used to walking on this bare floor thinking of laying a red carpet for her now would amount to over stretching myself”

“Okay! Mr Tailor , before you start cutting your cloth, make sure you give her a warm kiss first when she arrives” Marco said trying to sound witty.

“Baaadd boy! That is all you know, don’t you know that everybody is looking for money now”.

“But if there is no money won’t you enjoy your wife again?” Marco replied.

They both laughed at their comments.

While Fred went to shower in preparation for work, marco on the other hand remained in bed undecided about what to do next.

In the far corner of his mind, he was not pleased with the idea of having to lie down on bed while the day gradually wears away.

He had always been desirous of bathing himself with the sun, even if it meant just walking and looking at his own shadows.

It never really mattered much to him because he was holding tenaciously to the fact that one day, the sun would shine into his life and he would stand out before large crowd and beat his chest that he had emerged out of the fog to become successful in life.

As he was thinking of those, he stopped for a while to take a critical look at himself again, and all he saw were injuries all over his body, Which made him to consider it unwise trying to go out in such condition.

He could not get over the thought that if he continued to lie in bed like that, opportunity would never come and knock at his door.

Whatever he wanted, there was no other way to get it than for him to go out physically and hustle at every opportunity he had, Otherwise , he would be like a careless striker.

“I must go out and look for a job! I can’t continue lying here like this” he said aloud to himself.

He got up from the bed, picked up a bucket and went straight into the bathroom, When he had taken his bath he came back into the room and began to dress up, Fred was amazed as marco put on his clothes.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To look for jobs of course” marco remarked.

“What do you mean? You are going to look for jobs? You want to tell me that in this condition you still want to go out?”

“I don’t have any choice Fred, it is very expedient that I do something fast so as to be able to fend for myself. Ever since i came, you have been responsible for my upkeep, and it is not supposed to be so. You have a lot of responsibilities, yet you cater for me, even with your meagre salary”.

Fred remained quite, his expression solemn and respectful, but marco noticed a glint of amusement in his eyes.