THE PATH OF TIME

         “Four fufu .” Bayo felt his stomach rumble for the hundredth time that afternoon as the aroma of good home-cooking wafted through his nostrils.

         “Whish obe you want wit it?” The serving lady spat out in obvious impatience.

         “Egusi and...”  Bayo paused as he longingly eyed the fried meat at the corner of the counter.

         “Eh hen..? What es again?” The serving lady was fast growing irritated. Bayo quickly made a mental calculation and reluctantly gave up the idea.

         “Just pure-water.” He said with a sigh. With an angry thud, the thick-set woman set his food on the table. He quietly picked it and sauntered to an empty table at the far corner of the buka. As he hungrily devoured the food, his mind wandered back to the result he had just seen. Although he’d managed to scrape through, the grade did nothing to help his GP. Taking a gulp of water, he sat back. Nothing was going right in his life. Everybody seemed to have at least one thing happening for them. Those that were struggling academically either were making it in business or something sha. He? Nothing.  Was it academics? He was barely pulling through and now an extra year to show for all his efforts. Was it business? Every business idea seemed to land him in debt. Was it even ministry? He was the transport secretary of his fellowship, a fancy way of saying he was the fellowship errand boy. None of this would have bothered him much, I mean, he had always considered himself a very optimistic fellow and had a reputation of never letting anything get him down, except that God had given him enough reason to believe that he was destined for great things. How on earth was he supposed to reconcile a 3^rd class degree, little business and organizational sense, driving bus all over the place, with statements like ‘you will be a pillar in your generation and a succour to many’ ,  and ‘I will give to you the wealth of nations’ ! For heaven’s sake, was it asking too much to at least know he was on a path that led to destiny? Shebi human pikin sha look like human being? As for him, he had no resemblance whatsoever to the man God told him he was. Maybe I mistakenly hacked into another person’s prophetic database and thought it was my own, he thought dryly.

         Having finished his meal, he got up quickly...or a little too quickly because he upset the table and its content fell to the floor with a loud clang, the ceramic plate shattering in the process. The whole restaurant had their eyes on him in an instant. The cross serving lady, fuming and swearing in Yoruba marched angrily to pack up the mess.

        “Ntori ounje N60 lasan...” She said a little too loudly. Bayo wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. Muttering apologies, he virtually ran out of the restaurant, the eyes staring after him like fire to his skin.

       “Ah ahn,  Bayo...take it easy. Where are you running to?” Bayo looked up in time to see the familiar face of Temidayo smiling inquiringly at him. He was always happy to see her but today it was all he could do not to hug her immediately. Sensing immediately that all was not well with her burly friend, Temidayo led him to the wooden benches supposedly intended for a ‘park’ by the school management.

“Oya...ki lo n shele? What’s the matter? She asked worriedly. True to the nature of the male sex to be self-sustaining and involuntarily believe he could brave anything that came his way,  Bayo was instinctively about to answer “Nothing”, when somewhere deep within, he felt the strongest urge to just pour out his heart.

Call it the dire need for a friend, or the effect of feminine compassion, or simply the emptying of a weary heart; whatever you may, so strong was the effect of the ensuing discourse that big, strong Bayo actually felt a tear or two escape his eyes as he emptied his heart to his friend. And true to the nature of the feminine sex, Temidayo couldn’t bear to see her friend’s heart so burdened without shedding a sympathetic tear or two. Eventually,after Bayo felt he had completely shed himself of his burden, he fell silent, feeling rather exposed and self conscious and half-wishing he hadn’t said anything. Meanwhile, Temidayo searched her heart for what to say to comfort him. Her mind suddenly flashed back to what she had written in her scrap-book that very morning. Digging through her large hand-bag filled with fashion magazines and all manner of odds and ends, she found the small worn note-book. After frantically fishing through pages and scraps of paper, much to the puzzlement of Bayo, she held up a rumpled piece of paper in triumph and handed it to him.

“I heard it on someone’s laptop and I just had to write it down. This was the only thing I could find.” She said apologetically when she saw the sceptical look on Bayo’s face as he collected it. Still not fully convinced, Bayo reluctantly read the hastily scribbled note

Time is not a series of short periods like days and hours

such that next year is a completely separate entity from

this one, but is a continuum; a long winding path leading us to eternity.

Tomorrow is simply a continuation of today and though

today may not look like tomorrow, who says it should?

Every point along the path of time is as important the next.

So, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride...

for the future is only a little way off and the Word of Prophecy

is strong enough to get you there.

“Wow.” Was all Bayo could say. Closing his eyes, he leaned back, letting the words course through his mind. Sensing that words were not needed at this point, Temidayo silently held his hand and prayed with him. And true to the nature of the One who dwells in eternity and created time itself, He breathed strength and new hope into the tired, restless young soul.