Wednesday's evening

Every Wednesday evening, there is a midweek church service that Mariam never misses. Many times, she joins the church service on her way back from lectures, getting home around 6:40 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

On February 14th, 2010, which is Valentine's Day and also a Wednesday, she attended the church service from school. When the church service ended, Tina, who lives on the same street as her, approached her so they could walk home together.

"Oh my God! Thank God you came because I've been thinking about how to walk home since I don't have any money for transport," Mariam said.

"Me either. I don't have a transport fare, and during the church service, I was searching everywhere to see if I could find someone to walk home with. When I saw you, I was so relieved. But at one point, I prayed that you didn't have transport fares like me so you would easily agree, hahahahah!" Tina replied, and they both burst into laughter.

They began to walk home, waving to greet people they knew along the road. Their street was a bit far from the church, so it took them quite a few minutes to walk there, but they didn't feel the distance because they were walking and chatting.

They finally reached their street around 6:50 p.m., and although it was already dark, they could still see their way.

"These dogs again," fear gripped Mariam. She paused her movement as soon as she spotted three dogs that usually come out to play on the street.

"Aren't you used to these dogs already since you've been living on this street?" Tina asked boldly, continuing to walk towards the dogs, while Mariam stopped in fear, unsure of what to do.

"How have you been surviving them?" Tina asked again and when she noticed Mariam didn't reply. She turned back to see Mariam standing frozen in place.

"Mariam! Are you this lazy?" Tina walked back to her.

"Tina, I've been chased by these dogs many times. That's why I don't come out at night, and if I do, I usually return home by bike." Mariam's voice trembled.

"Calm down, girl. The trick with dogs is 'do not run when they approach,'" Tina put her hand on her chest to calm her nerves.

"Let's go; stay by my side. Do not run, no matter what," Tina held Mariam's hand, and they walked towards the dogs.

As they got closer, Mariam tried to match Tina's bravery, but when the dogs approached them with their tongues out, looking like they wanted to devour a bone, all hell broke loose.

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"Mummmmmmy!" Mariam screamed for help and ran, with the dogs in pursuit.

"Mariam stopppp! Don't run!" Tina shouted for Mariam to stop, but she and the dogs were already far away.

She waited for a while, and when she didn't see any sign of Mariam coming out, she assumed things were okay and continued her journey.

The dogs chased Mariam relentlessly as she screamed for help, but nobody came to her aid.

Although she ran towards the road leading to her house, the dogs' relentless pursuit forced her to change course, so she decided to deceive them by darting into a corner behind a building. As soon as she ducked in, the dogs spotted her and rushed to the spot, barking furiously. Realizing her plan had failed, she attempted to escape through the same corner she had entered, only to find her leg trapped. She brought out her phone, put on the touch and saw her leg trapped in a damaged wheelbarrow.

She screamed so loud, "Help!"
The dogs surrounding the corner intensified their barking as well, which almost neutralised her cry for help, but luckily, she heard a voice saying, "Go away! Go away!" The dogs ran off, and a huge guy on black outfit, with a flashlight came to her rescue, pulling her out from where she was trapped by a damaged wheelbarrow.

Breathless, Mariam said, "Thank you."

The guy replied, "I'm sorry, I didn't know when the dogs left the compound."

Mariam's mood changed immediately she heard him, "Wait, you own those dogs? What do you mean you didn't know when they came out? All those dogs roam on the road every night, and..."

"Hey, I'm sorry. Can we just let it go?" The guy said as he bent down to dust off the dirt on her trousers.

"By the way, my name is Donald. And you?"

Mariam hissed, pulled her leg away, and began to walk away towards her house.

"Hey, I came because I heard your cry. It's actually the shout that made me realise my dogs weren't around. And also, I made a prayer to God today to bring me a friend and a life partner on Valentine's Day. I... I... I love you already. Donald stammered, sounding like he was reading a movie script.

Mariam turned back to look at him, wondering if he was mentally stable.
"Hold on, are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay; please, can you just let me into your heart? Can you give me your number?" Donald walked close to a wall for the ray of light from the bulb to reveal himself to her.

She didn't give a damn; she began to walk away.

"If you don't give me your number, I'll call the dogs back. Woooh! Woooh!" Donald jokingly barked like a dog, and instantly, the dogs from nowhere began to bark, and Mariam, out of fear, didn't know when she ran back to where Donald was, and that was it. They exchanged numbers jokingly, and that was the start of their love journey.

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