January 29 , 2020. China.
As Obi approached the Kanglong Taizi restaurant in Wuhan city, he fumbled with the letter in his hand, he had rehearsed this part well,it all seemed normal and conventional to him,he would just hand over the letter to Xiwang and bid her goodbye. For a moment he felt uneasy and infatuated: he was about to part with his Chinese inamorata,"if only this Corona virus pandemic had given them other options" he thought.
It was too late for brooding now,he was already in their tryst,and from where he stood he noticed the nervousness in Xiwang's composure,that looked like something he remembered,yes! it was the first day he bumped into her on his way to history class in Peking University,but this wasn't the university, and surely not bumping time,it was reality.
"I thought you wouldn't make it",he said trying to sound casual.
"I need you now more than ever Obi..."Something about her sincerity made him frail, the way she learnt to pronounce his Igbo name...how would she feel if he deserted her like this?,what would his Parents in Nigeria say if their only son failed to heed their instruction and contacted the malignant Asiatic virus?,all these thoughts eluded the mind of the twenty year old History scholar,the abruptness of the virus surely showed him no clemency.
Dawning on...
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Pestilence at nineteen
Historia CortaTO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. I was alone in my sanctum when I thought of it. "It didn't have to happen the way it did " I thought. Several reports , articles , interventions , letters , memos , essays etc have been written on the pandemic at hand : The...
