By Timi Sanni
Of all days to die. You die on the very Friday you decided to abscond from the masjid. This is how the day began: You get out from the house, dressed in a T-shirt and a jean, then you drive your crimson-red jeep to the bar next street.
Your buttocks magically find your favorite seat, the table just behind the bar door. You’re an Alhaji, but it doesn’t mean. Does it?
The waiter’s a man. He shows up with your order: two bottles of whiskey and one of gin. He fills the wineglass, the liquid throttling into it. You run your tongue over your parched lips and swallow. Then as you raised the glass and took a hearty gulp, you notice the waiter now has dark wings fluttering behind him and a hideous hollow in place of his face. You’re shocked, and scared. He sees your expression and says bluntly, “Oh! Forgive me, I’m Death”
The glass drops from your hand and shatters and you find yourself coughing and spluttering. He speaks again, this time there’s a hint of authority in his voice, “Please finish your drinks, I have two other souls to reap today.”
You look around, every other person is oblivious of the charade. Your heart is beating fast. Of all places, you’ve never envisaged you’d die in a bar, like a drunkard. What would people say when they come to carry your corpse? Omuti ni man yen sha.
“Don’t waste my time, mister” Death snaps, reaching for your heart with his steel scythe.
“Please, no… please” you say amid tears, shifting back in tour seat. “No, pleeeease!”
And then you wake. You’re on the sofa in your house. The adhaan is calling in the distance and the sun is grinning outside. It was just a dream, a nightmare even in daytime. In a flash you grab your clothes from the hanger and head at once to the masjid. You’re lucky, you know. Not many people get a second chance at life.
…
About the Author:
Timi Sanni is a creative writer, poet and essayist. He has written short stories, essays and poems published in various anthologies and literary magazines published both online and in print. He hopes to change perceptions of Muslims and Islam through Muslim literature advocacy.
The Muslim Write 