The silent farewell

It was a sunny Monday afternoon in Kabba Kogi State, and I had just returned to my hometown after completing a three-month internship at Ido FMC Ekiti State as a medical laboratory technician student. The weather exuded an eerie aura just too creepy enough to send goosebumps all over me. But I brushed it off, ascribing it to the advancing harmattan and its unsettling temperature.

Sitting passively in the shop, I felt a surge of boredom and weariness. It had been a stressful day with customers coming in and out of the shop nonstop. Well, what can I say? That's the rhythm of business. I reminded myself—the busier, the better—but at this point, I was too exhausted to think about that. With my siblings who haven't returned from school and also my mom was away at an important meeting, the shop is just too quiet.

And to make matters worse, my phone battery is dead. Though earlier in the day, I had dropped it off at a charging center down the street, trusting my reliable charger would not disappoint. I know by now it should be fully charged. Since the center wasn't that far, I decided to make a swift run.

But who would watch the shop while I was gone?

My gaze suddenly landed on Tom, my sweet and loyal dog. "Just perfect," I thought. Well, she couldn't attend to customers, but I trust Tom was more than capable of guarding the shop and chasing away strangers.

"Tom, stay here. I'll be back soon—I will just grab my phone in a jiffy," I said, knowing full well she understood. That is just how connected we are, and her attentive eyes gave her away.

I hurried down to the charging center, retrieved my phone, and hurried back to the shop. From afar, I saw Tom wagging her tail eagerly; excitement filled my heart at the sight. As I reached her, I knelt to rub her head. She loves it when I do that. "Good girl," I said softly, smiling at her.

I was so excited to have my phone back. At least I had something to keep me busy and happy, or so I thought. Little did I know what the heavens had in stock for me. I turned on my data and went straight to WhatsApp. I knew I’d have a lot of chats piled up for me. I replied to a few and then decided to check people’s statuses for anything exciting. While scrolling through, a particular post caught my attention.

It was a picture of my colleague—though not in the same department, but at the same level. Her name is Temi, but we call her Sister Temi. She is a well respected sister in my school. Loving, caring, and humble—she has all the qualities you could ever ask for in a sister.

Do you know what it means for an entire school, including lecturers, to love a student with such respect? That’s how important she was to every student. A good listener, a friend, and more. She would inconvenience herself just to see others happy.

When I saw her picture, I was so excited. The good deeds she had done came to mind. I even thought it was her birthday, which was why she was posted on the girl’s status. I scrolled to the next status, but something caught my attention. Almost all the students were posting crying emojis, and some statuses had the inscription "Black Monday."

Out of curiosity and concern, I went straight to the girl’s DM and asked what was going on. That’s when she dropped the heavy bombshell.

"Sister Temi is dead," she said.

Dead? That’s not possible. I rushed back to check the first post where I had seen her picture, only for me to receive the same bombshell. I had assumed it was her birthday because I hadn’t read the caption. But when I looked again, I saw the message under the post.

"May your soul rest in peace, sister," was written under that picture. I went back to the lady who gave me the information and asked her how it happened.

" She went to church for a night vigil. According to those at the scene, she was praying when suddenly she fell to the ground. They assumed she was in the spirit and decided to let her be. But after almost three hours of her lying there, unconscious, a church member went to check on her. They discovered she wasn’t responding to their calls and noticed she was unresponsive. They immediately rushed her to the hospital, but it was too late. Sister Temi had already passed before they could get her there.

" Heavy tears rolled down my eyes as I read what had happened to our lovely sister. I wasn’t in school at the time, as I had gone back to my hometown, but from home, I could feel the heavy impact of Sister Temi’s death on the school.

Students, out of fear, left the school campus and went to their various homes immediately after the candle night for Sister Temi. The school was empty for a while until the incident died down, and students eventually decided to return.

It was a big bombshell for all the students of COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ILE-ABIYE ADO -EKITI.