A Whole World Of Fun Missed

Gabriel waved at me and then carried the bags and went off. The bags were heavy and tightly packed.

“Goodbye big brother” I said in low voice.

I imagined how lonely I'd feel once he was gone.

“I wish you the best for your academics.” I said again.

Gabriel gave me a light nod and then went off to the bus station with a family friend. He was to travel 8 hours that day to his new school.

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That was some 20 years ago. Gabriel my older brother was transferring to a boarding school to continue his secondary school education. It was a very popular school attended by people from different countries. One was certain to meet a lot of friends and interesting things occurred in the school all the time.

I only saw Gabriel again when he came home at the end of the term. I noticed he had changed a little. He was lanky and a bit taller than before. He told me stories of what he experienced while in school. I enjoyed listening to the stories.

“A lot of students from very rich families attend the school,” he said to me one hot evening.

There was barely any wind and the heat was terrible.

I gave Gabriel a look of amazement. He went on.

“I've met children of governors and high ranking government officials and even well-known billionaires. We do a lot of interesting things together.”

Gabriel rose and paced the sitting room in a leisurely manner.

“We have a lot of supernatural phenomena that happen in the school all the time. Can you imagine one night someone entered the hostel but we didn't see anyone. We only heard footsteps and we saw the doors opening.”

“Hmm,” came from my pursed lips. “What happened then?”

“Nothing.” Gabriel gave a supressed sneeze. “We just went away from the hostel until the whole thing subsided.”

He then told me of the many interesting escapades students got involved in in the school which often drew punishments from the school authorities.

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My parents wanted me to have my secondary education in the school Gabriel attended. So I took the exams and passed with flying colors. But at the very last minute my parents decided against because it would strain them financially. The fees of the school was higher than the fees of some universities at the time.

So whenever I sat and listened to the interesting stories Gabriel told about the school I often thought of all the fun I had missed.

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Whenever Gabriel talked about the school his eyes always lit up and you could feel the excitement in his voice. It's certain he thoroughly enjoyed his stay in the school.

“If you come to the school thinking your parents are well-to-do you are certain to be intimidated when you see other students whose parents are much better off.” Gabriel said one night. “If you had attended the school you'd have had the time of your life. It's an experience I'll never forget to my dying day.”