Fiction by Fadhili Ogova
Published October 12, 2008

The letter arrived rather late in the evening. It had taken a long time. I was unprepared completely for the news it gave me. Although seeing is believing, I could hardly believe I had got the position of assistant manager in the big and famous Media Group company. I laughed, jumped, rolled down, cried and acted out all the crazy things I could think of.

My brother came in as quickly as lightning, wondering whether there was a fire in any part of the house. He was followed closely by the dog who was curious about the noise I made. I guess he didn’t know that curiosity killed the cat. Moreover he did not think of himself as a cat.

Things had never come to me as good as this before. Of course blessings come in pairs. My mother also did the same as me, once she had been informed of the news. I was to assume my position the following morning. I didn’t think it was acceptable to be late on my first day in my new position so I went to bed early. After all early to bed and early to rise.

The early morning sun saw me off as the dew on the grass evaporated. I was dressed smartly in a navy blue suit and shiny black shoes. I carried my briefcase as if it contained the national budget speech and to sum it up had a shiny top hat over my black hair.

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My brother looked at me with green eyes. I almost laughed at him looking at me like a cat in the rain. I got into my new car and drove off, leaving dust floating in the air.

Arriving at work, I met cold stares and nobody responded to my greetings. “What a bunch of losers”, I thought to myself. My allies, who I had worked with for some time, now looked at me like a tomato in a pumpkin farm.

I hurried away from their hard looks and into my office. If looks could kill, I would surely be lying like a stone on the floor. I had just settled into my new job and was playing a computer game, when an announcement came over the intercom. A few minutes later, Media Group radio and television had both stopped broadcasting. All the other stations reported a strike at the Media Group.

“Oh no!” I groaned in wrath and wothe. This had started happening on my first day of work. I felt it was my duty to address this issue, so I called a meeting. As I said my long, boring speech, some of the staff took forty winks while others looked at me as if I had come out of hell.

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“Let us not make mountains out of molehills because soon you will be given your wages and a promise in a debt”, I completed my speech. I got up and left. Someone crumpled a paper and threw it at me but I gave it a cold shoulder.

I had completed the third level of my computer game when I heard noise that sounded like doomsday. I looked out of the large panels of my window. Down below, in the car park, my new green jeep had been overturned and lay in a pool of oil. Stones made contact with windows breaking them into small pieces. I looked unbelievingly.

Soon, a stone flew and shattered my window panes, while employees were carrying off computers and everything else they could lay their hands on as their pay. I ran towards the nearest lift but the power was off so I took the flight of stairs.

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I arrived at the gate breathless and speechless.

“Stop!” I shouted and got a stone in the forehead, as a response.

Soon fists and stones were flying. I was beaten to the extreme of almost bleeding to death.

Had it not been for an onlooker who called the police, I would have been reuniting with God in kingdom come. I woke up two days later after a surgery in my leg. My kith and kin looked at me sympathetically. They had bestowed showers of gifts on my rescuer. After all, one good turn deserves another.

After fully recovering, I resigned from my job since I wasn’t willing to live through another experience like that one almost ended my life.

As long as the sun sets in the west and rises in the east, I will forever remember that day. The day I almost died.

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About the article
Fadhili Ogova wrote this creative story at the age of 12.