Hearing a lot about the eclipse made me wonder if I could ever see it with my two eyes but I finally realized that it could only be in my imagination.
That year, I had news that there was going to be an eclipse by 12 pm noon, and I was so anxious to see it, unfortunately, that time was my napping time when am done with house chores, so to stay awake I thought of something that would keep me active and I decided to get a cup of coffee.
A day before that day I called everyone in my family and informed them that I would be sitting out on our rooftop from 11 am to 1 pm waiting for the eclipse and would not want anyone to interrupt me during my stay on the rooftop, because I might miss the eclipse if someone calls me out of the rooftop for any reason.
I was still wondering what the eclipse would look like, and I also was scared that the cup of coffee would really help me remain focused while I waited.
I woke up very early, by 5:am that day, and did all my household chores; I went to fetch water from the stream, washed the dishes, and prepared lunch for the family because my mother instructed me to do all my chores if I really wanted to have a peaceful quiet time at the rooftop.
My mother was just looking at me, and she said to me, "I wonder what you think you're doing." I focused on finishing up my chores.
While I was doing those chores, I was furious because I thought about so many things, my mind was telling me that the eclipse would be a scary thing or it might hurt me since I had given instructions that no one should interrupt and no one would know if anything went wrong.
When I finished all my chores, I had my bath and was ready with my cup of coffee. Immediately, my aunt called for me, and I was so upset, but I couldn't say no to my aunt.
When I got to her place with a sad face, she said, "Mma, what's wrong?" I replied, "Aunty, please can you tell me what you want me to do? I have something important to do by 11am," she asked me. "Which is it?" I said, "I had that there would be an eclipse today, so I am rushing all my chores to meet up with the time".
My aunt laughed aloud and said "Only in your imagination can you think or believe that you would see an eclipse in this part of the world" I replied "That's why I chose the rooftop because it's high enough to let me see it", My aunt kept laughing at me and that was getting me more upset, she was wasting my time and mocking me at the same time.
Finally, I finished the chores she called me for, I came back home so tired and exhausted, and it was already 10:30am, I had my bath and went up to the rooftop with my cup of coffee.
As I was about to go, my mom said "Can we come to wake you up by 3pm to prepare dinner?" I replied "Mom I am not going up to sleep but rather to see the eclipse" My mom smiled and said, "Okay, no problem" She knew I was very tired, and she knew I would sleep off, even though I knew I was so tired, I placed my confidence in that cup of coffee.
Anyway, I went upstairs and sat down on a rolling chair with my eyes fixed up, just five minutes later, I started feeling so sleepy with my cup of coffee that I stood up, walked around, and sat down again.
Long story short, nature overpowered me. I slept off, and by 4pm, my mom came up and tapped my hands and said, "Madam Eclipse, please can you come to prepare dinner, or are you still waiting for the eclipse?".
I jumped up and looked at the time. It was already 5pm, and I couldn't even explain what happened from 11am to 5pm.
Was there an eclipse? My father asked me, I couldn't even say anything because I didn't know if there was an eclipse or not, my father said, "You should have just said you wanted to have your nap on the rooftop." I was sad about the whole thing.
No one can cheat nature, maybe I can try another time.
Wondering where you got your resilience and determination to see an eclipse. Thought you were gonna see it in your dreams😂
It was really in my dream hahahahah hahahahah
Haha. At least you slept. So, it was not entirely a loss.
Yes that was a consolation
Hi @beauty197. We just want to make sure you understand the different between fiction and creative nonfiction. We accept both types of short stories in The Ink Well.
Fiction is from your imagination. These kinds of stories should be made up and not be from your real life.
Creative nonfiction means real life stories from your own experience.
You submitted this story for this week's fiction prompt, but it sounds like your own experience. Please see our article on creative nonfiction, as well as the information in the fiction prompt to learn more.
Thank you, for the explanation, but this is not a real-life story is just an imagination, but I appreciate the correction and my nonfiction entry is loading.
Okay, thank you for sharing that, @beauty197. Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate fiction from creative nonfiction, when it is told in first person and is very realistic. Our mistake!
I understand and also appreciate that you took time to read my content, thank you so much
African parents will actually think that you just wanted to sleep but they didn’t know how serious you were about the eclipse thing😅