Many months went by and Uchechi had gotten closer to finishing her first session. At the end of her classes one evening, in her room, she got a call not knowing it was from her dad's friend; Mr. Chigbuike whom she now addressed as uncle.
"Hello, am I talking to Uchechi?" a husky voice spoke from the phone. Uchechi not knowing it was her uncle at that time answered a little harshly.
"Yes, it is. Please who are you? And how may I help you?"
Again, he answered.
"It is me, your uncle, Mr. Chigbuike. I wanted to talk to you, so I asked for your number from Mr. Emeka" Uchechi gasped once she realized who she was talking to before she responded again.
"Ah! Uncle, how are you? I'm sorry for the way I responded before. Hope everyone is doing fine?"
"We are fine my dear. Hope Lagos is not too noisy for you? How are your studies coming along? Hope it is not too stressful?"
She chuckled before responding again.
"Hmm, uncle, Lagos is noisy but sha I'm coping just fine. As for my studies, they are coming along well. It is not too demanding, but it gets a bit hectic especially now that we are about to end the first session, but by His special grace I would be fine" "Amen" her uncle answered.
"Ehhn! Uncle how is grandma? I've been very anxious and worried about her of recent especially after the disturbing dream I had few nights back" her uncle sighed and took a deep breath before replying.
"My daughter.... your grandmother is no longer with us. I am very sorry. Her last words were 'I'll love you for a thousand years'.... She lives on in your hearts and memories". Uchechi's eyes had already begun to water once she heard 'no longer with us' but she let her tears flow once she noticed her uncle was done talking. "Thank you, Uncle. Take care" she managed to say through her tears.
She disconnected the call, threw her phone to the nearest bed before dropping to the floor, allowing her tears to embrace her without holding back. Her roommates walked in immediately she plummeted to the floor. Noticing the distraught Uche on the floor, they shut the door and ran to embrace her. Uchechi need not explain herself. They took a guess that she had lost someone close to her and right they were.
They all stayed in that position until Uche regained herself.
"Thanks" she said while getting up, making her way to get her phone before crashing on her bed just to begin with tiny subs.
... Uchechi opened her eyes to see herself in a very bright room. A slide show of different moments with her grandmother appeared before her eyes while tears rolled down her cheeks. In the background, she could hear a few songs that reminded her so much of her grandma. It brought back many memories-It went like this
A Thousand years by Christina Perri
Hold On by Chord Overstreet
Ghost by Justin Bieber
Before the last song played, she saw her grandmother by her side before she began to walk towards a very bright blinding light. The last song played.
Please Don't Go by Joel Adam
Uchechi finally woke up to meet her pillow soaked with her tears. The sad thought of not being able to attend her grandma's burial consumed her, none the less, she had to console herself.
A new session had begun; Uche no longer grieved. With so much diligence, Uchechi became a star student. One faithful day she received a call from an unknown line, and she found out it was her old friend Martha. Uche could not contain her joy knowing it is her friend Martha. After exchanging pleasantries, Martha invited her to her Uchechi to her graduation ceremony scheduled to hold in Calabar. Uchechi declined her request giving reasons why she wouldn't be able to come due to her forthcoming examinations. She also didn't hesitate to tell Martha about the passing of her grandmother. Martha felt gloomy and consoled Uchechi and they wished themselves goodbye.
Uche sat for her exams the next Monday and ended the following Monday. She read, prepared, focused, paid quality attention and focused during lessons in order to pass her exams. Her lectures encouraged her to keep up the good work, on most occasions hearing those last words brought tears to her eyes, wishing she had her family around, seeing how well she is doing in her academics.
Two weeks later, the results were out and to everyone's surprise she topped her class. She was very happy and told Martha. Martha was equally excited for her. They made to meat during their holidays after Martha's graduation.
Martha came to Lagos after her graduation feeling warm and welcome. She visited Uchechi in her uncles house during her stay.
Fortunately, Uchechi's birthday was around the corner and Martha had planned a surprise party for her alongside Uchechi's uncle and his family. Uchechi's birthday finally came. She woke in the early hours of the day, walked into the sitting room, everywhere looked dark. Suddenly the lights came on and she heard "Surprise!!" She felt her heartbeat rise and wondered if anyone else could felt it too. Atlas it was her surprise party. Set aside, were two long tables extremely filled up with food. She ate like a wild pig that hadn't eaten for days. She ate so much; she became as blotted as an Elephant.
After the party, she approached Martha with a warm smile "thank you, this party was amazing, as you can see, I am full, the food was wonderful" "you are very welcome, after all, what are friends for" Martha replied. She also thanked her uncle greatly. Days passed; Martha had to back to her uncle in Calabar.
