Kingsley Ukwueze @kingsleysom

A few weeks back, I went to get some paints from the market. Some of my neighbors contributed money and asked me to buy from the same seller. The seller had various prices, but they gave me the colors they wanted. For me, I chose white. I wanted everything to be sparkling white.

After I got the paints and returned home, I gave them to my neighbors, and they all appreciated it. Some of them hired a painter to paint their houses and paid him 6,000 Naira each. While I thought about paying the painter the same amount, I decided I could paint it myself. What could go wrong? I decided to try it out.

I bought some cello tape and got started. I must say, it worked out perfectly! The cello tape helped create straight line designs, and it felt like I was a professional painter. Well, in case you need a painter, I'm here for you. 20k for one side of the wall

I decided to try something new, as yesterday was Saturday.
Of all things to try out, one mumu thought chose to try out skating!

I borrowed some skating shoes from my close friend. I asked him to come with me too because I needed a little support and someone to laugh with.

We headed to a nearby square, and I thought to myself about how it was all going to be a piece of cake. I started skating, moving slowly at first. My friend held my hands, guiding my steps so that I dont trip.

But then, I started feeling brave and thought I could do it on my own, So, I told my friend to let go. He hesitated but finally let my hands go.

Happily, I was skating all by myself. It felt like a champion as i was sliding smoothly down the street.

That was when disaster struck, the devil couldn't even let me enjoy two minutes of my champion feeling, my feeling of sliding like a pro.
I lost my balance and gbam, I saw myself crashing into one of these big metal dustbin on the road side.
My friend burst out laughing.

There I was, tangled up with the dustbin struggling to get up but those shoes kept throwing me down. At that moment, I knew I was not going to try out skating again any time soon.

It has been about four months since I last attended evening church service. Usually, if I miss the morning service, it’s because of school or a big assignment that needs to be handed in by Monday. But today was different.

I accidentally overslept and woke up around 8 AM. I had overworked myself watching football matches the night before.
When I realized the time, I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to take my bath and get ready for morning mass. I felt a little sad, but then I told myself that I could go to the 5 PM service instead.

So, I got busy with chores as I waited for the evening. When it was time, I got ready and made my way to the church.
It felt really nice to experience how the evening atmosphere usually is in church again! I was happy to see that most of my classmates were also there.
I bet we all enjoyed it, everyone was radiating smiles when the service ended

After church services, I returned back to my lodge feeling hungry, my stomach sang like it was just newly signed to a record label.
I had some beans remaining in those sagged bags under my kitchen cabinet that it's cibtents had sustained me till now.
Cooking today was just out of place.

Nonetheless, I still pondered on which was better and more better, to cook or buy two plates of food outside.
If I was to cook, it'll take at least 2000k from my pocket just to buy the condiments, and some extra loss: gas, strength and spices.
But if I was to purchase food, it would only cost 2600k for the two plates, my strength would be conserved and i wont have to waste my gas.

I was about to conlude my decisions when a thought hit me: soup would last you more than a day.
The thought rang in my head over and over and then I took up a pen and wrote down the required condiments for cooking egusi soup and also gauged it with my budget, the cost arrived at 3700k after calculations.

I went ahead with my plans, skipping to the last part. The soup came out so nice that I lick the plate after eating.
Currently, only remembering that my pot of soup is full and that there's an assured meal after lectures tomorrow gives delights me.

During my time in secondary school, I was pretty attached to wired earpieces and headphones. I always preferred reliability of the ones with wires and I can’t quite explain why, but there was something comforting about it, nobody should call me a cave man.
For me, it was never about the price; I just fancied earphones and headphones more than the wireless.

When I entered university, I noticed many of my friends using wireless AirPods.
I never took it at heart and have never talked less on how everyone on the street was using air pods, but after one day, they ridiculed my earpiece, I had to get a pair, but I initially saw them as just another gadget and nothing special. So I just put it away in my box while I rocked my earpiece.

It wasn't until about a week ago when a friend of mine got AirPods and let me try them on again after months of not using mine. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience this time around. The convenience of being wireless, the way they fit in my ears, and the ease of use all came rushing back to me.
After I got home, I threw the contents of my box apart and searched through for my long preserved Airpods.

This morning, in our WhatsApp group chat, we received a message reminding us to purchase a whiteboard marker on the way to school. We didn't know what to do, everyone was asking questions on the group chat. I on the other hand did not know the use of the whiteboard marker that we were told to buy so instead of wasting money I decided to just go with my usual 6B pencil

. This raised concerns among us about the unusual requirement, as we were accustomed to using 6B p

encil for our exams on computer answer sheets. Many of us didn't buy the marker, unsure of how it would be used in the exam.

When the exam began, the coordinator explained that using a marker would allow the computer to detect our answers more easily compared to those marked with a pencil. I had brought all my materials, but I felt anxious as I watched my classmates struggle with the last-minute change.

Quickly, I dashed out and got my own whiteboard marker. No be me Go risk my exam marks

I had a roommate for a while, but he wasn’t fully a typical roommate. He didn’t pay rent or share utility bills. It was more like a kind gesture.
You see, he was in a tight situation and needed somewhere to stay temporarily, so I let him crash at my apartment for some weeks or rather a month per say.

He was an interesting guy, always full of stories and laughter and I was helping him out during his search for a new hostel space. After about a month, he found a spot in a hostel. When he settled in, he started packing his things, ready to move on.

I had to help him pack in order to avoid him leaving behind any valuable belongings. But despite our efforts to avoid this, he called about a week after and reported that he had forgotten in my kitchen, the ceramic plate which he won as a trophy as the fastest runner during an inter house sports that hosted about 10 schools in the region.

The next morning, I decided to help him out. I placed the ceramic plate on the table, beside the door where he would easily see it. I thought it would be super convenient for him to grab it on his way out.
But as fate would have it, while I was carrying some other things around, I tripped, shaking the table where it lay, and I watched in horror as the ceramic plate slipped from my saving hands. It fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

I knew I had to lie to him about it, maybe tell him that I didn't find it, or that it was broken when I found it. But I am not a liar and he doesn't deserve to be lied to either.
I could hear the surprise in his voice as I told him about the broken plate.

He took it surprisingly well. I guess he understood that accidents happen. He wasn't so happy after I narrated what happened, but still we put that behind.

I came home after some time at school and working outside. As I was returning, I enjoyed looking at my neighborhood. The palm trees were tall and green, just like I remembered.

Suddenly, I had a flashback. I thought about the days when we were all at home together. I didn't have to work back then. My big sister was still in university, and my little sister was in secondary school. We used to pick palm fruits after they were cut down from the trees. We had so much fun together.

How I laughed when I recall how cunny I was then just to ease my own workload. I always had a way to sweet talk my way at the slightest detection that I was lagging in picking speed.

Thinking about those times made me happy. But now, it felt different. My big sister is married, and my little sister is still in school. Things have changed a lot. I still love my family, but I miss the good old days when we were all together at home but that's growth for you.

Back then, it wasn't really like I enjoyed the stress of picking those fruits with my siblings, but remembering it, all I see is family love.

Today was a busy day. A few people from my work were picked to go meet the Vice Chancellor at IMT, which is a well-known school. I was excited about the trip, but I stayed up late the night before and didn’t sleep enough.

When I got to the bus stop, I saw that the bus had already left without me. I felt sad and worried. I checked my phone to see if my coworkers had called, but my phone was dead because there was no power. I was really frustrated.

I didn’t want to miss the meeting, so I got on the next bus going to the same place.
In the bus, I was so restless and even without my phone to get in contact with my colleagues, I was almost in traumatic shock.

Luckily, I caught up with my colleagues on the way!
Sighting them in the moving bus next to the one I boarded, my joy overflowed, what haven't I assumed.
I got to the location before they did as my bus moved a bit faster than theirs, even though I thought I would be late, now I'll be receiving them, I thought.

Being the first one there made me really happy and relieved.