Okay so starting off with our “Series Wednesdays “, me and my procrastinating self along with my good friend @ Awurabena Amponsah of www.thecreatars.wordpress.com have written this series.
It was quite exciting because we took turns writing chapters and sent them to each other over whatsapp. One wrote a chapter without the other knowing fully well what ending the other had in mind😂…All in all, here we are with our little tale!…It was spontaneous and we enjoyed writing it…. We hope you enjoy reading it too!😋
Ps: I have missed you guys so much!😍😍😍
ETCHED
CHAPTER 1
“What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?” Mr. Fiagbe’s voice bawled out in the half empty -half full college auditorium.
“Anyone…somebody …yesss you Dwomoh”he said pointing at me.
“I have….i have…”
“You have…you have…”
“I have ….no idea …sir”.
I finally conceded when I could get no help from the limited knowledge about Education and Professional studies that was stored in my brain.
“Ewuo!…Berma, you for do something before you die ooo…in fact if you don’t say something ,you shall continue to stand till next semester” the tutor yelled as my colleagues laughed.
And then She walked in…was what Eloise Obeng did walking?….It was much more of a series of carefully placed steps which gave her movements a semblance of waltzing.
She was late as usual. She was always late. I once joked that she would even be late for her own funeral and she had rammed her elbow into my ribs so hard I felt the pain for days.
“Miss Obeng you are late,” Papa Fiagbe admonished as she was taking her seat.
“Anyway…kindly help us out with the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning,” papa Fiagbe continued.
She stood up without a little bit of hesitation and recited the entire page 34 of our EPS handout like she co-wrote it.
Papa ordered the class to give her a standing ovation and so the day began as it always did at Fountain College of Education, with Eloise doing something incredible and the rest of us clapping for her. All seemed right till the end of the lecture when Janet Kumi approached me_no she had approached Eloise who had also referred her to me_to help her with what was taught in the day’s lesson.
After a little reluctance,I agreed then Eloise bellowed for me.
Eloise Obeng and I are friends…at least that’s what we call each other to forget about the dreadful day I approached her and tried to woo her. We were in our third year now and the said day had occurred one auspicious night during the second semester of first year. I had decided after deep thinking sessions and several “you can do it” affirmations to myself that I was in love with her, after all who wouldn’t be?
Eloise was kind,strong,beautiful,intelligent and a rather wide array of positive adjectives.
She was a goddess and I was awfully mortal yet I had decided that she was my beloved and I was going to try my best possible to bring that to her knowledge….(behold!… Chapter 2 cometh😉😁)
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Ps: If you still haven’t read the first chapter, you can catch up to speed by clicking this link http://zindagi46.blogspot.com/2018/01/okay-so-starting-off-with-our-series.html
Now that we are all caught up, let’s check up on the two lovebirds 😉
That day I had gone over my ‘I love you and would you be my beloved’ speech over and over and all the vocabulary I knew from when I was born came to good use.
I rehearsed the manner in which I was going to do the presentation in front of the mirror in my room so many times that you would have thought I had an interview for a multi million dollar job.
That should tell you you how much I loved her. Eloise. The thought of her was enough to send shivers down my spine.
So you can imagine what her name could do,not to talk about seeing her in person.
I could not wait for night to approach.
Selecting an attire was a different story altogether as I really wanted to impress this lady but then again I realized if she already liked me, my attire wasn’t really going to matter although it counted.
Night finally did me the courtesy of showing up and I was a nervous wreck. How was I going to do it? I stood at our usual studying spot waiting up for her. Of course I had lied about meeting up with her. I told her I needed clarity on an Assignment we had been given and so she should meet me up.
She had gladly obliged. What would she not do for me?
As I was pacing up and down ,trying to put my jumbled thoughts together someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped and turned to see who had startled me that much.
There she stood. Eloise.
My heart missed three beats straight and I’m probably sure if CPR hadn’t already been in use by doctors, that moment would have been its discovery.
She just took my breath away. As always.
I just stared at her in awe. She was a masterpiece of God’s creation and the very essence of beauty. If she was a painting, I’m certain every hue, pencil etch and brush stroke was done with meticulous care.
I mean God really took his time with her. She had this innocence about her and even more amazing was that she had no idea about her beauty which made her even more lovable.
Forget about the appearance. Let’s talk about who she really was. She wasn’t perfect but she was just right. Let’s just say she always did what she could, to make you know she actually cared. Simple.
I mean where had she been all my life?
It was these thoughts and more that were running through my mind when I had turned to look at her that I didn’t even realize I was staring at her and it was a little bit spooky and getting weird.
‘Phyll!’ Eloise finally got my attention after smacking my forehead with the back of her palm.
‘What in heavens name is wrong with you.’ She asked with a concerned look on her face.
She continued. ‘You should not be getting me worried like that. You looked like you were going to pass out the moment you saw me.’
And I was still speechless.
When she was confused or angry she just looked too adorable.
I watched her silently as she continued and I couldn’t help but smile.
‘…I mean what if you actually.. Wait why are you smiling…OMG…I knew it…I didn’t brush my hair?….wait did I leave the hair net on?’
She frantically touched her hair. That was when I burst into laughter. Did I say adorable? Pardon me. That’s an understatement. I don’t think there is a word for that yet. I just could not control myself and I found myself laughing even louder.
She was near tears. ‘There is a chunk of meat stuck in my teeth huh? I knew I shouldn’t have eaten before coming.’
The thing about her was she was such a neat freak, little things that had to do with cleanliness got to her.
But this, this was just classic.
I was still laughing when she punched me squarely in the chest.
‘Ouch.’ I playfully screamed out in pain. But seriously she could pass for a martial artist. She had one strong fist.
She was about to hit me again when I raised my hand in mock surrender.
‘Hey, it’s nothing. You just look so cute looking confused….and…the look on your face…’
I burst into laughter again.
She was about to hit me again when I grabbed her hand and turned her around.
We playfully struggled for a while,still laughing and suddenly, I realized I was hugging her from behind.
Slowly all what I felt for her came rushing back and the silliness and fun of the moment faded away to be replaced with an intense feeling of longing and love.
As her perfume slowly glided through my nostrils I became even more drenched in love and my perfectly rehearsed speech flew out of the window.
As I hugged her more tightly, I guess she began to notice the change in atmosphere and funny enough she drew closer so I could hold her better.
‘Lois, I love you.’ I suddenly blurted out.
She giggled and whispered back, ‘I know Phyll and I love you too. Chai my guy! You know that already. Why do you think I put up with your silliness?’
She held me closer, turned around to face me and put her arms around my neck. To her it was friendly gesture but to me it meant more.
‘Now where is that assignment we have to deal with?’ She asked looking around searching for my very colorful study bag which she couldn’t obviously find.
There was no assignment.
She looked back at me questionably.
And I looked right back deep into her eyes.
‘Lois, I don’t mean that. I mean I love you. I Love you.’
I said it ever so slowly.
I guess it took a minute or two for it to sink in. Then the realization of what I had said dawned on her.
She was still holding on to me and being taller than her naturally my arms slid down to her waist.
I pulled her closer and held her face in my palm. Our faces were now just an inch apart.
I could feel her breath on my face and I leaned in.
‘I Love you.’ I whispered.
As she cuddled closer, I could have sworn the breath of my whisper felt better against her skin as compared to the gentle night breeze….(to be continued?
Zataraxia ©
Photo credit: Bayel Porsaa Netty ©
“Earth to Philip Dwomoh!” I heard Eloise’s voice call to me.I was jolted back to the present and I realised that apparently I had dreamt the whole thing in my head…at least the part about me holding her very much closer.
“Where was your head?”she quipped.
“Nowhere…I was just thinking…”
“Thinking huh…what about?”
Then it dawned on me that I still had not confessed my undying love to her yet so I mustered all the courage my little faint heart haboured and told her.
“Eloise…I have…ummm…feelings for you…”
“Hihi …Phyll I have feelings for you too” she replied even though what I had uttered was in no way a question.
“No…no…I mean I have feelings…feelings for you…And If I’m not afraid to say, I think I’m in love with you!” the dreaded words escaped my mouth. No sooner had they come out than the world turned silent. My heart beat quickened and a lot of blood coursed through my veins to reach my ears just to provide them the nourishment they needed to enable me heed to what Eloise was going to say next but she stood there still, her face showing a spectrum of emotions…a little bit perplexed and I thought I saw what resembled a frown and then finally she burst out laughing.
“Dwomoh…I don’t know how to say this…”she finally let out. She never called me by my surname so I knew what followed was not going to be good.
“We can’t ever be lovers you and I and it’s not you…it is me…i just have to focus on my studies now…and then there’ll be my carreer to worry about once I graduate and then also how to advance my carreer…you see, I have a full plate and I can’t afford any distraction,” she lied.
“Distraction” The word hit me like a nuclear missile. It wasn’t like it was a word anyone has never said before but coming from Eloise , it sounded like a divinity’s resolute merciless judgement on an unruly human worshipper .
How could I be a distraction?
I’m pretty sure Juliet did not call Romeo a distraction nor did Kate , Jack in the Titanic and why couldn’t my love story be like theirs? I thought as I walked away, angry at the fate Eloise had condemed me to. How very weird this world is…a while ago I was her bosom friend and then quite swiftly now I was a “distraction!”
Eloise and I did not talk for almost a month. I didn’t want to ‘distract’ her after all and then one fateful day…it all changed again. In the various Colleges of Education across the country, it is not very uncommon to find in a hot afternoon sun every Wednesday, all the level 100 students engaged in rigourous weeding exercise. It was on such a day that Eloise and I buried the hatchet.
That afternoon started as it always did except that this time, the sanitary prefect who oversaw the work was the infamous “physical” who had made it his life’s mission to make my life miserable in the school ever since I reported him to one of the tutors for extorting first year students for cash so that in exchange they never had to partake in the work we all had to do. On this aforementioned day, he apportioned a large part of the school field for me to weed alone…a plot that should be weeded by at least six people.
I complained and then he started pushing me.
“What are you going to do about it!?…I have got you today haven’t I ?!” he sneered trying to provoke me to action and I would have but my inner voice counsled me not to. I turned around to walk away but he started hurling insults at me and one particular expletive he used prodded me to halt and look back at him . What I saw alarmed me. There stood Eloise right behind him wearing a scowl.
My jaw dropped while my eyes watched what was going to happen next for I knew that look Eloise wore on her face and it only meant one thing…’physical’ was going to be shocked today….
PS : Charley, don’t keep it to yourself, share with your friends and family and don’t forget to leave a comment ooo😉😀
PSS: The next chapter will be posted God willing tomorrow… Don’t forget to check it out and ahaaaa, like our Facebook page by searching for “Zindagi46” and liking the page… See, is that simple meboa? 😂😂😍😍😍
Zataraxia ©
ZATARAXIA! 