The Morning Before It All Changed.

In the time before the call , Ada’s world was a very quiet pattern of ordinary things , the hum of the blender every morning, and her mother's voice from the kitchen as always singing old gospel songs , and the lazy afternoon sun pouring through the curtains like a very familiar friend,life was not perfect, but it was hers, and most importantly, it was so predictable.

“Ada o, do not forget the pepper on your way back,” Her mom had said that morning, wiping her hands on her wrapper, her voice was just laced with the warmth that only mothers can have. “okay mama won’t forget, Mama,” Ada replied with a grin, slipping into her slippers. “I’m not Dami na .”

This made her mother laugh ,you know the kind of laughter that echos down the hallway and stays in your heart much longer than it should, She walked to the junction as usual,nothing felt out of place at all, not their neighbors’ generator noise, not the shouting street vendor that were selling puff-puff, and certainly not alos the odd silence that followed after her phone rang , it was an unknown number flashing across the screen.

“Hellooooo?” she said, stopping in her tracks.

“Is this Miss Adaobi?” the voice on the other end was so calm like too calm, “There has been an incident, please di come to St. Luke’s General Hospital immediately, It is your mother.”

Then the world stilled......

In the time after the call, everything was noise, the rushing of her heart, the clicking of her heels against the hospital tiles, the echo of other people’s voices saying words that did not even make sense to her, “Cardiac arrest,” they said to her, “We have tried our best,” they added, but all Ada could hear was the blender humming her mom's singing now distant, like a dream being erased. The days after that became blur, friends and relatives visited ,they came in and out, but nothing felt the same anymore, the house was now quieter, the mornings felt colder,the curtains still let the sun in, but then it no longer felt warm.

One Saturday, just as Ada was clearing out the wardrobe, she stumbled on a bright blue colour scarf , It was mom’s favorite scarf , it was the one she always wore in the morning while making food in the kitchen, she brought it close to her nose and froze immediately, the scent, the faint smell of palm oil and her mother’s perfume , it hit her like a wave.

She sank to the floor , hugging the scarf. “You did not even allow me say goodbye,” she whispered.

In that moment, something unlocked , a memory, clear and sharp, her mom dancing in the kitchen, holding a wooden spoon as a mic, spinning around while Ada laughed and begged her to stop.

And just like that, the time before returned, not to stay..... But to remind....

So from that day, Ada allowed herself to remember, the pain just did not leave, but the memories became a balm,she still missed her mother deeply, but the ache was no longer sharp , it was soft, like the scarf she now kept under her pillow.

Sometimes, she would catch herself humming old gospel songs in the kitchen.

And on Saturday mornings, without fail, she always made akara ,with the windows wide open, the scarf around her neck, and the sunlight also warming her shoulders.

Because in the time before, there was love.

And in the time after, there still could be.

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