Must Read: Behind The Veil

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: Behind The Veil

“Here they come again.” Someone from the crowd shouted. There were more cheers, whistling and applause as they came through for their third lap.

Still ahead was Yusuf. There was determination on his face as he led the race. He had given the
rest of his opponent a big gap which they might not be able to cover, but they were still in hot
pursuit and had as much determination to win as he does.

The debutant wasn’t competing in the race.

His presence wasn’t felt by his opponent. Just as he had tried to get cheers from the audience the first time, he decided to impress them once more.

“What is he trying to do again?!” Zeenat watching Sadiq as he tried to stand up right.

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Humaira and a number of other audience. There was confusion and panic as the audience rushed to attend to Sadiq who had fallen from his horse!
It was a hard fall. While trying to stand, the speed forced him backward and he fell aggressively,
landing with his head and tumbling till he la!d down flat. In the process, he twisted his neck and was lying on the floor motionless.

“He is not moving!” someone had said.

On hearing this Zeenat and Humaira became frightened as they thought about the worst that
could happen. Their palms were covering their face, too shocked to look, too shocked to talk,
too shocked to move, too shock to ask if he was still breathing!

The sad truth about death is it never tells us when it’s about to come. It doesn’t even care about the situation you are in or if your loved ones are close to you, no, it doesn’t care, it doesn’t have shame.

It doesnt wait for you to make amends to your life, it doesnt care if your life that is about to be
ephemeral needs more time…more time to appreciate the little and everything you took for
granted. Death just doesn’t care about these things. It just takes you away like that, like you
never existed except just maybe it’s not yet your time.

“I came last didn’t i?” Sadiq’s low voice asked.

The tension in the street immediately dropped.

Everyone were relieved that the worst they had
feared hadn’t happen. His question brought smiles to their faces. Zeenat and Humaira were
the most relieved. Their heart were almost numb when they saw him on the floor. For the very first time they realised how terrified and despondent they would be if something terrible had happened to him.

It wasn’t like he was overly special or anything, it was just the fear of losing someone close to them. Someone you share a lot with.

And for Zeenat, it would have been more tragic for her especially after losing her parents in an accident.

Minutes later he was on a hospital bed, with the doctor concluding that he didn’t break any bone nor twist his neck and would be fit to leave the hospital in no time.

That very week he was psyched! The culmination of all the events that took place in his life for the past one year gave him a rush and he took advantage of it by starting a new book. It wasn’t
entirely a new book, it was a sequel to the ‘Who is she’ novel. Uncle Idris advise was paying off.

Sadiq’s dalliance with Janelle which was one of the most tempting time of his life, the encounter with the armed robbers on his way to Kano and now his little stunt on the horse which almost cost him his life. These were all what inspired him to write further, not forgetting how Zeenat
and Humaira had reacted when he fell. He knew he had a master piece brewing and couldn’t wait to hand over the manuscript for publishing.

He was interrupted by a new message. It was from Vanessa. She was back in the country and
was complaining of how much workload she has at school. Although she had someone who helped her with her attendance, test and assignments, but what about the exam? How would she be able to prepare for it in such a short time!

“How did you do yours” she asked him referring to the time Sadiq was in such a tight corner.

“It wasn’t easy and not impossible.” he replied.

“My advice; just get the area of concentration and focus on it. But be sure the area of concentration is genuinely from the lecturer.”

“Thanks i will do that. But i am scared that I won’t be able to assimilate everything.”

“The Vanessa that i know can.” he replied.

“Remember how we always competed in secondary school? The first to third position kept
rotating between me, you and Majid. I am sure that smart girl is still in you.”