The Waiting Game - a flash-fiction-story-from-a-renowned/write
..A Quick Read Series by Nnenna Uma
Who waits longer between the twins is very difficult to tell. Nene and Akunne loved waiting. They would swing to the tick of the clock. Idle, at least it seemed that way to a passerby. It was till I figured the waiting game that I realised they were not patient persons at all, or even strange.
Today as I walked by the office corridor to take the stairs, Akunne was sitting by the staircase breaking the already cracked blue polish from her nails. Her nail was brown with a dark line indicating where the outgrown nail started.
“Are you waiting for someone?”
“Yes”
“Where is Nene?” I asked not seeing the second around, which was rare.
“She went to use the restroom.” she explained still holding the smile.
“Who are you two waiting for?” I asked sincerely concerned, though I didn’t care one bit for them. It was charity; charity is something you do because society says it make you good, not because you are good.
“Our parents.” She said. That was strange, I never knew their parents were anywhere around here.
“Where did they go?” I noticed the strain on the girls face, she either didn’t like that question or was getting weary of me, but I had made up my mind to get answers today.
“They went inside and asked us to wait,” The girl said looking at her feet then she looked up at me with a defiant stare “don’t asked inside where. Please.” she warned.
It’s been two weeks and no one has seen either of the twins. No one was asking or worried. They were always here.
“Has anyone seen or heard from the twins? It’s been a while since I last saw them.” I asked my colleague who was engrossed in the movie she was watching. “They always hanged around the complex, why did they stop?”
“How will we know? I am also waiting.”
“Waiting?” I asked confused.
“For the month end to get my salary, and today, I am also waiting for the day to end so I can go home.”
That was a funny but odd answer that started to make sense after my six year old daughter told me she had been waiting for me. Then I turned every time I heard the word waiting. The hair at the back of my neck stood whenever someone said they were waiting which was strangely fearful.
It was until today that I learned the truth, the waiting game that we all are playing. We wait for dawn, we wait for food, for water, for a child we sent on errand, for a call to get through, for a cab to take us out, for our food to be ready, for our children to close from school, for our children to finish school, then for them to get married, then for our grandchildren, and then for that job or meeting or class.
We are indeed playing the waiting game. The life that all we do is waiting truly is meaningless and predictable. But the twins even after discovering this truth kept waiting happily. Today, Nene told me.
“We are waiting for our saviour to come take us home” and typical me, gave her a response.
“Can you not do anything here while waiting? That will be of some good to you and others.”
She smiled and walked away.