Project 9ja Mag The Revolution. 1st Edition | Page 11

therevolution
Girls like Amina

She sat in front of the casement window that looked out Aminu Street. Her journey of making
it a routine to sit in front of the seat with chipped leather three times a day was something beyond
loneliness and old age. It was borne out of a dream to relive life and bask in the temporary back flip of
a heart that rejected a verve that merely existed and not lived. It was more like a failed ambition; the
complete state of helplessness and regret of a life unaccomplished and a vision thwarted by cowardice
and fear.

In the mornings, just as God paints the skies with dancing hues of pink and burnt orange, she
will toddle to this window and sit with a tall glass of clean water and look out, permitting her nostrils
to wander and perceive the sweet smell of dawn.

She would watch with a rare keenness as children in bright coloured school uniforms hold unto
the stubby fingers of their guardians taking them to school; and for the umpteenth time her heart would
cascade into ruins of regret.She, Adanne had been posted for her mandatory National Youth Service in
the Northern part of Nigeria, and despite her resolute refusal to have an open mind towards this, she
had packed a big bag and had planned that after camp, she was going to redeploy to somewhere she
felt would make her heart swim and dream, and exploit the ostentatious side of life.

This story begins just like every other tale; on an unplanned random afternoon when Adanne
was sitting behind the desk that found a spot in the staff room of the Government Girls’ Secondary
School she had been assigned to for her service year. There was nothing out of the ordinary; the air
was hot, the ground was hotter and the fact that she had eventually decided on not redeploying but
staying the twelve months was still surreal.

Amina had entered the office, slightly limping. Her face depicted a countenance that had ac-
cepted shame and defeat as a facial ornament, which dangled each second and reminded her that being
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