My eleven-year-old brother screamed and rushed towards me. His face beamed with smiles as he fell into my arms. I laughed heartily, staggering backwards to gain balance.
My eyes fell on my parents, who sat comfortably on the couches, their bright eyes and warm smiles greeting me. I let my brother carry my bags to the room, while I went to greet my parents.
I knelt. “Mom, Dad, I've missed you two so much.”
My father pulled me up into his embrace. The touch... the smell... everything was the same. How much had I missed Daddy's warm hugs!
“My angel. This house has missed you more.”
Mommy nodded, topping it with a smile.
As I went to greet Mom, that was when I began to take note of the new details of the house. A bigger plasma TV displaying Arise News hung on the wall. The walls radiated with white paint. The interior decor was mind-blowing. Three years ago, before I went to complete my senior high school at Uncle Moses’ house, our house was in dire need of renovation. The paintings on the wall had faded and they peeled off at every slight chance. The flowers in the vase placed on the veranda had little or no life left in them.
And there was no plan to fix things in the home.
But now, everything looked new and radiant, including the set of couches that my parents sat on. I scanned again, disoriented for a few seconds. And as if suddenly remembering something, I turned to Daddy.
“Dad? Where's the wall clock?”
Daddy smiled broadly.
“Is this a way of saying that I did a good job with the house?” I could feel pride in his voice, yet, I wasn't willing to fuel his ego.
“I'm serious, Dad. The clock.” And I was serious. Daddy would not joke with the rectangular analogue clock that had been there even before I was born.
“It was faulty so I had to take it for repair,” came Daddy's reply.
Again. Before I left home, I lost count of the number of times that wall clock was fixed. Now it had been taken out for repair again. I concluded in my mind that the analogue clock had become a member of my family.
The table was set with china, cloth napkins and four glasses. Four white ceramic dishes sat on each of the four table mats with two big brown coolers placed in the midst of them. Although tightly covered, the aroma filled the house and I couldn't wait to consume Mommy's ofada rice.
It was two days after I returned, and just as promised, Mommy had prepared our favourite meal at home. I pulled out a seat, and so did Mommy and my brother, Joel.
Three minutes passed. Mommy had not served us.
Joel yawned for the umpteenth time. “Mom, can we eat already?”
I chuckled at the redness in his eyes. My brother was the only impatient one when it came to food.
My mother eyed him. “I said your father is on his way.”
Before he could form another word, the door to the living room burst open and Daddy appeared. My mind instinctively travelled to the days when we were much younger, and would race to the door to hug Daddy because we knew cookies were sure.
Now, we just sat where we were and chorused a greeting. I noticed the sealed package in Daddy's hand. I stood up to go receive it from him, but he declined.
“Don't worry, dear. Let me handle it so it doesn't break.”
He peeled it off gradually. Alas, the glass of the analogue wall clock had been fixed. It looked new... even more beautiful. And for a second, I thought Daddy had purchased the same kind of clock.
My brother and I stood to watch Daddy fix it on the upper part of the wall, just above the plasma TV. When Daddy stepped down, we remained on our feet to have a better view.
The image of Jesus holding something that looked like a bread took me back to childhood days — those days when my brother and I would sit to imagine how Jesus would appear from the wall clock to give us the bread of life. The inscription on it had also helped when we were learning how to read.
As if planned, my brother and I chorused the inscription — “I am the living bread. Therefore, don't look to the bigness of your needs, look to the bigness of your God...” — and everyone of us burst into laughter.
Dinner felt different that day. Beautiful. New. As we chewed silently, it was evident that each one was lost in their worlds.
All images were generated with Gemini AI
