Bethrand Chibuike @betty

Emma was rich, and he was really good at catching bush meats. He sold them for at least #600, which felt like a lot of money as of back then when Naija's financial corruption was still kinda minimal.
I was jealous because while he bought all sorts of snacks at school, I was stuck with my small #100 snack pocket money.

One day, my dad came home from work with an iron trap. I had been begging him one for months! I was so happy! "This is my chance!" I thought, hoping for the best time to lay my new trap.

The next day, I set my trap eagerly. I picked a nice spot near the bushes where I saw some wild animal activity on the root of crops. I was filled with hope and anticipation as I slept that particular night.

I couldn’t wait to catch something. But the next morning, I found... nothing! Just my neighbor’s cat, who seemed to be judging me for my failure.

I didn’t give up, though! I tried again the next day. And the week after. I kept setting that trap, thinking I would catch something delicious. But every morning brought disappointment. No bush meat. No success. No fancy snacks like Emma.

By the third week, even the cat had lost interest in me and just slept in the middle of my trap. I could almost hear it laughing at me.

Finally, I gave up. I realized I wasn’t going to be a great trap setter. I would have to stick to my small #100 for snacks.

As I lay in bed after 1 a.m., my mind was racing. Tomorrow was our big exam on gastrointestinal physiology, and I couldn't sleep.
The tension was high, I once read the textbook a week before, but now everything had become so different, and here I was, stressed about my studies.

The course was supposed to be easy, but our round-bellied lecturer, made it hard. He talked too fast, covering anatomy, nerve innervation, control centers, and postganglionic fibers. I felt lost trying to keep up.

I had been studying hard today and finally reached the last chapter, thinking I was almost done. Then, out of nowhere, we received a fresh info with a new PDF to read.

I need to stay focused. I couldn’t let the man's complicated lectures overwhelm me. I have decided to skim through the new PDF, highlighting the most important points. If I concentrated on the main ideas, I might do well on the exam.
Good night.

Today is the day when we kick off our first papers for General Physiology 407. Our exam is set to start today, and time is ticking against me as I write this story.

General Physiology 407 is supposed to be a fair course, giving us an understandable exposure to basic physiological topics. However, the professor, who we affectionately refer to as the fat-tummy man, seems to make the course twice as complex. Despite everyone's efforts to understand the material, it never seems to be enough.

I spent the past few days reading the course materials, but it feels like the more I read, the more there is to learn. Last night, I stayed up until 12am to cover the last few chapters before I dozed off. This morning, my alarm woke me up at 4am to continue studying.

Well, I think that the whole tension is triggered by the feeling that this is our first paper, but we'll triumph.
See y'all later.

As I sat late at night, buried in chores and studying for an upcoming MCQ test, I suddenly heard a loud explosion nearby. It was the transformer close to the street, and within seconds, the entire area was thrown into darkness. I couldn't help but hope that the transformer had just blown due to some minor glitch and that it would be fixed soon.

The next day, when I woke up, the entire street was still blanketed in blackout. It seemed that the issue with the transformer was more severe than I had initially thought. I had wished that I ironed my shirts earlier but I didn't.

After what seemed like an eternity, the electricity came back, but to my surprise, it was of low current, and the appliances struggled to work properly. Despite this, I found it amusing that I could still iron my clothes even though the pressing iron heated slowly and that my phone was still adding a charge after charge from the low current.

At that moment, it struck me that perhaps the brightness was unnecessary. In that dim glow, I found what I needed. The low current allowed me to meet my basic necessities, and I started to think that maybe I didn't need full brightness to carry on with basic life needs and you all must agree with me.