Fiction: Drowning in tears of joy

I secretly named him Eros (god of love); he was the most fine-looking human being I had ever laid my eyes on! Tall, dark, lithe like a jaguar but not burly, his face, a unique work of art chiseled by the hands of the most skillful sculptor! So began Adelle’s tale. During my senior six vacations, I was the loneliest, saddest person on earth. Early that year, my mother who was also my best friend and confidant succumbed to cancer! I spent the following months home doing nothing but crying and sleeping. I lost hope in life. Though my dad was always there for me, I was never close to him and the death of my mother did nothing but widen the gap between us. To make matters worse, we shifted from our old home to a new house in another province. I thank God my kid brother who was six, didn’t suffer as I did. He didn’t know much of what was going on, play stations and other computer games did a good job of making him busy and stole him from me. I had this huge void inside of me that I thought would never be filled. I was edgy, lost appetite, then weight and interest in everything, I was a nervous –wreck! I would spend hours with our five dogs the only source of minuscule happiness. Waking up one morning, I found a stranger in our compound, I rushed and told dad. A few minutes later, he introduced the stranger as Ben. He was the new care taker of our dogs (when we shifted, the old man who was taking care of our dogs, refused to come with us). Ben (the god) was the stand-in. Looking deep into my sad eyes, he flashed me a captivating smile and offered a well manicured smooth hand to shake, something about him turned me inside out! My legs turned to jelly! My heart was pounding like a bass drum! I quickly pulled out my shaking hand from his warm clasp! Since that day my life has never been the same, I fell in love with Eros instantly. I would hide behind the window curtain all day and watch him going about his business! I got obsessed with him; all I could think about was him. After a couple of months of agony, I slowly crawled out of the shell and went out to his quarters pretending wanting to see the dogs, he seemed visibly happy to see me. “Where have you been?” He shyly asked. When he said he missed me, my heart skipped a beat! I blushed terribly, I wanted to run and hide! He used this moment and confessed how he’d been thinking about me since our first meeting. Every word that sprung from his lips was like pure honey, the sweetest music that soothed and caressed my aching soul! I listened to his husky voice without uttering a single word. Why did it take long for the heavens to send me this angel? I secretly asked myself? Could it be my late mum saw the misery I was drowning in and sent this angel to come and wipe my tears? I got lost in thoughts, without knowing tears started streaming down my cheeks. I was awakened by his warm embrace and warm hands brushing away my tears, he held me for a very long time! I cried and let out all the tears and pain that was stored in me, our bodies seemed to communicate with each other, I don’t know how long it was we stayed like that but after what seemed like forever, I finally got courage to disentangle myself from him and without thinking thanked him and slowly went back to my room. We spent the months that followed in total bliss, one fine Sunday morning he proposed to me. When I broke the news to my dad, he was also very delighted. Two months from the date he proposed, another surprise hit me. He confessed how he saw me once at church; he didn’t know how to win my love, so he came and asked for a job just to get close to me. He revealed his real identity to us, he was a university graduate, a son of one of the country’s tycoons. December this year we are celebrating our third wedding anniversary and the birth of our first born. martin.bishop18@yahoo.com