The Holidays Start Now

 A new horizon spans across, where the ocean meets the sky. I sigh and then taste the salty cool air moist and rich, almost like the taste of a precious memory. That memory of a fearless child, licking the moist content of the Atlantic ocean from the back of an empty sea shell. The shell I picked on the shores of the rich bar beach, one of the many natural gifts of my native land. I want to stay here forever and live by the seashore and I don’t mind the tide coming in. My dad decides to keep us here a little longer, so I can witness the rage from a fierce sea. It starts slowly then begins to thrash at the ten foot wall of sand bed, slowly we all retreat and watch from a safe distance as the sea reclaims a vast expanse of seashore. I don’t remember been scared but I wanted to run and pull my siblings and parents far away from the violence erupting from a former calm sea. Even from afar the waves stretched and reached us and started to claim the road beside the sea. My dad and mum grab us all and we run into our car and drive off. I was screaming and crying and begging my dad to drive faster, the engineer in him explained to me why the car has to be slow in flooded water. I refuse to accept his explanation, so he points at the car in front speeding away and then it stops. It had water in its engine so had to wait until it was all dry. I wanted us to stop and save him but the surge of water that rammed our car made me manually lock the door. My mum was trying not to laugh at me or trying to hide her fear, I couldn’t tell the difference. All I know is that the rush of adrenaline made me forever in awe and at the same time afraid of the sea. I feel the waves touch my feet and stare at the water in the car and then I wake up.



    The feeling was strange and I try not to move, I am no longer where I thought I would be. Then I feel the water spray and land on my toes, I sit up and stare at my exposed feet. The air conditioning unit was spraying ice all over my feet and I crawl on my bed, towards the remote control and turn off the air conditioning unit.
 There’s a lot to do today and I am already stressed and exhausted from dreaming about the Atlantic ocean chasing me as a child. I sigh and throw my tired limbs off the bed, I make the bed and pick up my toothbrush and toothpaste.
It’s been a while since I have gone out and I think I’ve adjusted and become a house hermit. It’s an internal battle I fight with my mind to get me back into my extroverted self. Christmas is close and my decorations are still in the drawer and as I think about it I begin to feel stressed. I don’t want to be alone this Christmas but I also cherish my privacy, so how do I solve my holiday blues.
I shower and dress up and stare at my phone, it’s still off. My smartphone I mean, I know so much is happening and I have three appointments but I am tired. I start to moisturize and style my hair and then stare at my makeup kit, almost two weeks. That’s how long ago I really made up, I don’t even know if my eye lashes glue is still alright  or dry and rock solid.
My phone rings and I didn’t even know it was on, I flip it over and see Celine’s face and screech and scream and pick up the call.
‘Silly girl,if I don’t call you. You won’t call me'
 Celine was pissed and I blow her kisses and try to calm her down.
‘Ma bi nu, please I just wanted to be off the grid for a while'
‘Away from me your best friend?’
‘No, just all the routine. I’m back now’
We both squeal and jump up and I see her daughter, she even said something that sounds like mama.
‘My goodness'
‘Ade I can’t believe it too. Just look at my child'
‘I need to come and join you there’s
‘Alan is still single'
‘Babe, next year is my deadline for everything'
‘Meaning?’
‘I get it all, not one but four…’
‘Four husband’s?’
‘Celine no kill me abeg’
 We laugh hard and for long and my door bell rings.
I hear the engaged sound on my phone and walk towards my door, no need to check I can smell her one of a kind perfume. I open the door and hug Ajoke and she eyes me and storms into my house.
‘Even Ajoke dey vex, let me put you on speaker’, I I form Celine as I do.
‘Celine, better person how you dey?’
 I side hug Ajoke and she shoves me off.
‘Why are you like this?’
‘Ajoke, Christmas is in a few days. I miss Henrik, miss my twins, miss his family and miss our home. Do you know what I did yesterday?’
   Tears were streaming down my face as I continue to explain myself to my friends.
‘I drove to our former house, walked inside and sat in our bedroom. The new owners almost passed out when they walked in and I was in there, I cried eh. They had to help me calm down'
 Ajoke hugged me and then raised my head.
‘You kept it’s, she was referring to the keys.
‘I went there to return it but no one was home, so I have the couple the key and tell them to cherish every moment together'
‘What did they say?’, Celine was genuinely curious.
‘The man had lost his wife four years ago and met his new wife last year. He said that I will heal and that I should give myself time. He also said finding someone else helped'
‘So what do you want to do?’, Ajoke asked.
‘Hid here forever', it was the truth.
‘Let me solve this problem', Ajoke started to say.
Celine interrupts her, ‘how?’
‘Simple, you get to experience the holidays with everyone that loves you'
Celine and I ask again, ‘how?’
‘Twelve days to Christmas and the twelve days of Christmas, spend four with three of us, if you don’t like the holiday by the third day then you go back.
‘Which three?’, Celine asked.
‘My parents, my brother’s and Ajoke’s, I say and the idea made me smile.
‘I am impressed', Celine adds.
 Suddenly, the world isn’t such a lonely place and the holidays does not sound so scary.
‘I will call my brother and his wife&, I announce and as I do. He loves the idea and was thinking of coming over with his kids.
 I am so happy that I open the drawer and then Ajoke and I start to decorate my house.
 Life may give us lemons but we can always squeeze it into lemonade and add a little sugar to tweak the situation.

 Now I will have dreams of hope and laughter and not dream of impending doom. Good friends really make this world a little better and I hope I am as good a friend as they are to me.