Chasing Greatness :A Journey Of Hope

chapter 13

My aunt was a woman of many contradictions. She had done so many awful things to us, yes—but before all of that, she was my favorite aunt. She was beautiful, kind, and full of life. I still remember the warmth she used to carry, the way she made us feel loved. Even in the heat of the battles with my mom, she never treated us, the children, badly. That’s why her sudden death left us all so shaken, so confused.

I had just seen her three days ago. I was on my way to church when I bumped into her. She greeted me warmly, smiled that familiar smile, and even dashed me some money. Nothing about her seemed off; she looked healthy, full of life. My mom, no matter the bad blood between them, still had a soft spot for her. She was still family. And now… now she was gone? How could this be?

As we stood in that crowded house, whispers filled the air, each person recounting what they’d heard about how she died. Apparently, that morning, my aunt had woken up early—so early that the streets were still mostly empty. She had cooked for her sons before leaving the house. No one knew where she was going, but she made her way to the bus park.

According to the bus driver’s account, she had arrived at the park and settled into a seat in the bus, waiting for it to fill up. It was quiet. No other passengers had arrived yet. Then one passenger showed up, walked up to her, and asked her to shift.

“Madam, abeg shift,” the passenger said casually. My aunt didn’t respond.

Thinking she hadn’t heard, the passenger repeated, “Madam, shift small, I wan siddon.”

Still, no response.

“Driver oo, come check this woman oo. She just dey siddon here, no dey talk,” the passenger called out.

The driver came over, touched her shoulder lightly, and that was when she slumped forward. Lifeless.

“She just fell down like that,” the driver later narrated. “No breath, nothing. She just... gone.”

The confusion in the park was palpable. “How? She was just sitting here, fine. What happened?” the other passengers asked. The driver checked her pulse again. Nothing. “Driver, take her to the hospital!” someone shouted.

At the hospital, the doctors confirmed what no one wanted to believe—she was dead. Still unwilling to accept it, they rushed her to another hospital. Maybe there had been a mistake, maybe she could still be revived. But the second doctor confirmed the same thing. She was gone.

Someone who had been healthy, strong, and full of life just three days ago had died without warning. “What went wrong?” people kept asking. “How could this happen?”. 

      

                    
       Author note
     
This was so hard for me to write,it's a day I will never forget despite everything she was my lovely aunt and I miss her so much.  
      R.I.P