Sudden Tragedy

As the sun rode on the horizon, it became clear what had happened: I had lost a potential friend.

Peculiar was one person I admired so much. She was tall, dark, and very beautiful—an embodiment of black beauty.

We became friends in high school and bonded like sisters, but we hadn't always been friends. In fact, she was my worst nightmare when I got admitted to our school. I hated her guts; she was such a talker. However, a class project led to our friendship.

The night before she died, we talked well, chatted, and shared jokes, making pranks into the cold night. It never dawned on me that my best friend wouldn't be there the next day. What baffles me the most is that she was perfectly okay the night we spoke before her death.

I woke up around 6 in the morning, eager to prepare and head to school because I was going to see my best friend again after 2 months of holiday and being apart from each other. I quickly did my chores, said my prayers, brushed, ate, bathed, and got ready for school.

As I headed to school, I couldn't help but talk to myself and smile. I was very happy to be back at school.

On getting to school and my classroom, I didn't see her. I started looking for her because she usually arrives before me, but she was nowhere to be found. I asked some students and teachers, but they said she hadn't arrived. To confirm, I headed downstairs to ask the security personnel at the gate if she had passed the gate, but he said no, which I found very strange.

I headed to class, dusted our desk (she was my seatmate), and continued waiting. I was becoming impatient; she didn't arrive even after morning devotion. After the morning devotion, the head teacher of my school, Mrs. Victoria, popularly known as Madam Vee, came into my class and asked for our attention because she was about to make an important announcement. 'We are sad to inform you that we lost a member of this class to the cold hands of death this morning. A PECULIAR VICTOR IS DEAD. She was hit by a truck on her way to school and died on the spot,' she said, leaving the class.

Those were the most unbelievable words I have ever heard in all my 13 years of existence on this planet Earth. It felt like a prank, and I sat there, hoping and praying that the head teacher would return and say it's a prank. But as the sun rode to the horizon, the reality of her loss sank in, and it became clearer that it was no prank. I had lost my friend, and all I could do was stare at her seat beside mine.

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